Post 586 Mostly knitting

Three personal events dominated this week, with Pilates on Thursday and dinner on Saturday providing sanity breaks. The three events were the World Embroidery Study Group meeting on Wednesday, 70 minutes in a dentist chair on Friday, and today's deadline for my Walk for Justice beanies.

In between the sun and the moon rose and set, the carpet was strewn with scraps of wool and biscuit crumbs and the coffee machine worked overtime as I knitted beanies, while listening to the radio, or to the television. I haven't read the Book Club picks for next Sunday, the pots haven't been fertilised or repotted, I bought Dulwich Bakery pies for Monday's family dinner, and there are knitting and embroidery projects waiting attention.

The Evil Eye had a go at stopping our WES meeting. The  Guild Office Manager, tasked with setting up the laptop and projector for us, notified me at 7.30am that she was ill. One regular member of our group has a key to the equipment cupboard, but when I contacted her at 8.15am, her car was out of action and she couldn't get there. I offered to pick her up along with the key. 

When we arrived just after 10 and opened up the cupboard,  an essential connecting cord was missing.  Our tech guru could find no substitute anywhere on the premises. Fortunately I had my laptop with me - operating on battery only. We reorganised ourselves around the lunch table, me in one corner with my 13” laptop pointing towards the 15 gathered faces. We managed. It was a lively meeting - some said the best we've had. People loved the intimacy, the ease of hearing, the sharing and discussion. I'm now considering buying a 17 1/2" smart photo frame to conduct future meetings in a similar way.

In summary, the Evil Eye is a concept at least 4000 years old and consistent across cultures of Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. It is the notion that evil can be transmitted by a glance, from eye to eye and always derives from envy. The concept that envy is dangerous underpins the Evil Eye in all cultures. Not only does it mean the envious might seek to take what they covert, but if you allow envy into your heart or mind, it will harm your very being. Amulets, symbols, materials and placement protect from the Evil Eye. Basically they distract so the evil will not focus on, and enter, your eye. They often take the form of an eye - frequently blue in southern Mediterranean societies, because blue eyes were rarer and therefore more likely to attract the Evil Eye’s attention, deflecting it from its target. In some societies red was the predominant distracting colour.

Mirrors (including shisha) not only distract the evil eye, but reflect the evil back to the transmitter. As with other amulets, they are placed above doors , entrances and around the openings on clothing.  It is envy as the underlying evil that distinguishes the Evil Eye from other sources of evil and associated  amulets.

Seafaring nations have long used opercula, or Cats Eyes, as amulets to ward off the Evil Eye. I wear one in a ring. It was given to me when I was 8 by my Uncle Sid, amongst a shell collection he brought back from New Guinea after WWII. My mother put it aside because it was such a good example and returned it to me on her deathbed. I wear it most days, to honour both my mother and my uncle- and just in case.

It, and the power of community, served me well on Wednesday. We overcame the obstacles thrown in our path, to have a most successful meeting.

My 4 root canals are now clean and disinfected. There were no complications and I return in 5 weeks time to have them filled.

The Walk for Justice took place this morning, an all-round success. The AG's team was fully equipped with beanies to deal with the 7.30am 6C temperature.

I've had a rewarding time knitting the beanies. Now the walk is over, the details are in my embroidery blog. I've learnt quite a lot, thought healing thoughts for my friend ill in hospital, staying warm and in the moment. 

I'm feeling protected, blessed and engaged.

Post 585 Mostly Marta and Medical.

I’m not sure what it was my camera caught in the sky over the slate roof of the old Rymill coach house on Thursday morning : perhaps it was a glitch in the glass of the window through which I took the photo; or a drone. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a UFO...

Wednesday didn’t turn out as planned. When I arrived at the Guild right on 10 am for my Desk Hostess duty, the place was still locked. I waited 10 minutes to see if the office manager was just late before making phone calls. Eventually I got hold of the President who asked me to open up as the office manager was waiting with a sick grandchild until the mother arrived, and would be late. At 11.25 the office manager sent me a message that I should go home as she was taking the child to an urgent care clinic and would not be in. I locked up and arrived home in time for a parcel delivery (Christmas presents!).

This meant I could walk the 3 blocks to my 2.30pm appointment with my orofacial pain clinician. She was hugely helpful in making sense of my recent and upcoming dental work. The pain that led to my proposed root canal work has gone, leaving me wondering whether to proceed. She removed my doubts. She also discovered I have already cracked the mouth guard I had made in January! She adjusted it a little and it should last a year, but we have made an appointment to make a new one next year, this time entirely of hardened material. Apparently a mouth guard with softer material on the inside is prone to breakage by serious biters! 

The headache-causing  tension in my shoulders has eased, but I need to find a physio.  I walked home with a lighter step.

It’s a week for medical appointments. By 10 the next morning I was staring at the stone wall of the Heritage-listed Rymill Coach House through the window of my Renal physician’s waiting room. I was interested to see the iron capping - evidence of the popular old Adelaide method of dealing with leaning walls - inserting rods through the building and periodically tightening them. Our Gawler house had them. I also photographed the slate roof,  capturing the strange object at the top of this post.

Half an hour later I left elated. All pathology readings were good, we had a helpful discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of Ozempic and I heard about progress in the astonishing  blood type conversion research in which he is involved.🙏🏼

I was sufficiently buoyed to have the lunch special at Queen St Cafe  after Pilates, slow cooked lamb shoulder with spiced sweet potato and barley, with, of course, a lime milkshake. Quite delicious, nutritious and very filling.

It gave me the energy to cut out and stitch the Mola cushion covers when I got home.

On Friday I began with a GP appointment, scheduled to discuss the renal results from the day before and get my flu vaccination. We did that and quite a bit more. I got advice on a physio, exercise, bone density and weight. Because I now have a health plan, there was no charge. Deo gratias. My flu vaccination arm ached mildly for a couple of days. 

From the GP I headed to Dillon’s Bookshop in Norwood. They had reserved  a copy of a book I thought would be useful for my Celtic Embroidery talk later in the year. I noticed it in the Can Do Books catalogue but it was sold out by the time I tried to order. Parking was a bit of a trial at Norwood but I had a fine time in the bookshop and found one of next month’s Book Club reads as well. It’s a couple of years since I’ve been in Dillons because major building work removed most of the car parking. I will visit again but try to do it earlier in the day. All I have to do now is read the books.

On a roll, I headed back across the city to Kent Town and a shop called Pillow Talk. They found me inserts for the two cushions. I’m very pleased and  hopeful they will meet with approval.

I was close to Bunnings, but resisted the efficiency of stopping there to buy plants, recognising the inefficiency of being too busy to plant them!

It's been sunny but cool for most of the week, just the weather for the zygocactus to bloom. I'm aware this is commonly called Christmas Cactus in the northern hemisphere, but we don't go for that here in Australia! At the moment, however, I'm a bit inclined to allow Thanksgiving Cactus through my censorship net, in a general, rather than a festival sense...

It took a while, but we are now truly in autumn. The best images are from the car, which I can’t take while driving, but this one from the my eastern balcony as the waxing crescent moon rose on Friday evening, gives an idea of the gradually changing colours by moonlight.

It doesn’t convey the racket the birds were making at the time.

The colours are clearer at sunrise.

I had the weekend to myself as the family were attending a 21st Birthday in the Barossa. I shopped for Monday’s lamb shanks on Saturday morning, checking for white flowers along the way.

It seems white flowers no longer dominate Mothers' Day! I did, however, find an interesting bunch of Australian natives that I thought would do justice to the vase. While I was right, it also showed me that native greenery would work as well. The white banksias work, but are not necessary.  That should simplify things in future!

I finished another beanie in the afternoon and evening, some of it while sitting in the late afternoon sun on the Western balcony. While there I trimmed and tidied a few plants. , itching to do more, but resisting.

I did, however, make the effort to cook the sweet potato and zucchini fritters for my dinner, this time in one piece - I guess it amounted to an omelette! I enjoyed it - and ate almost all of it. I think this will become a staple. On Sunday I tried it with mushrooms in place of the sweet potato. It wasn’t as good.

I knitted another beanie on Sunday while the lamb shanks cooked. That bought the beanies and registrations once again in harmony so I went back to working on Kasia Jacquot’s Marta. My friend is still in hospital, so I think of him and stitch good wishes.

Today, taking my GP’s advice, I made an appointment for next week, with a physio at a clinic at Calvary Hospital, a block away . They have a hydrotherapy pool which I will be exploring too!

In between routine chores, I finished the Marta panel. I have machined it on to the craft bag, but haven't embroidered around the machined edge.  I thought of leaving it, but think it would complete it.

When I checked this afternoon, there are another 5 registrations for the walk, so I'm knitting more beanies. Fortunately I'm more or less prepared for WES Group tomorrow, so time to pick up the knitting needles.

Post 584 A very mixed week.

On Wednesday I decided it was time I used  the sweet potato and zucchini I had bought several days before with the intention of trying a fritter recipe I found.

I had the gist in my head so proceeded, without looking it up, with the ingredients I had; zucchini, sweet potato, my last 2 eggs, oil, and a little polenta. It worked really well. I had fritters for lunch and again in the evening with the last of my soup.  Eggs are scarce at the moment because of  avian flu, but my local greengrocer had an organic farm supply last time I visited, so I dashed out and snagged another dozen - free range from Kangaroo Island. I don’t use a lot of eggs but don’t like to be without them. These are good for a month. I’ll make sure I use them all.

While at the greengrocer I looked for white flowers and bought bought a bunch of verbena for the vase. 

Our entry buzzer was still not working on Thursday when my order of two books was to be delivered between 10.15am and 12.15pm, so, working on the usual timing of delivery, I stationed myself on the low cement wall outside our entrance with my knitting at about 10.40. Ten minutes later, just as I was hearing my mother's voice telling me I would get piles, the postal delivery van arrived with the parcel.

The knitting book has a couple of useful shawl patterns and what looks to be an excellent pattern for super chunky yarn slippers. Most slippers  I’ve knitted slip off the heels too easily. These come further above the ankle. Serendipitously, the same morning, Bendigo Woollen Mill advertised a new 16ply yarn from recycled wool, silk and cotton. I’ve ordered 4 balls. 

First, of course, I have to finish the beanie project. I’ve been experimenting with a specific variation within the brief. I took the first experiment with me to work on  after Pilates ,when I visited friends. They have both been ill, he critically. 

We had a relaxed afternoon catching up and chewing the fat. There was plenty to talk about. They had used a nearby pre poll facility to vote that morning, since neither of them are able to stand in the queues that are a feature of most polling places on polling day (Saturday). While there is a certain excitement and camaraderie about voting on the day, the queues are difficult to manage as we age - hence my postal vote.

I woke on Saturday to a pre-dawn pink. It disappeared as the sun rose, so I was confident neither shepherds nor sailors were issuing warnings about the election. Perhaps I was wrong.

I spent the day doing washing, remaking the bed to add a blanket under the quilt, and knitting another experimental beanie before heading to the family dinner and election count watch.

On the way, at 5.45pm, 15 minutes before the polls closed, I drove past my local polling station to take a photo. The queues had gone, along with the BBQ, but there were still a few straggling voters and faithful volunteers..

It was a great night, glued to the count on the ABC, with Niamh and Anthony in particular, seeking additional information and answers to questions online. Our system of preferential (and compulsory) voting leads to hours - even weeks - of vote counting, reported from tally rooms across the nation to the Electoral Commission’s National Tally Room, which posts them progressively online. Fortunes shift as votes are counted and preferences distributed. Many of us follow the public tally and swinging fortunes at least until the losing leader concedes and the other claims victory - in this case around 10pm on Saturday. Counting of absentee votes and distribution of preferences goes on for days. possibly weeks.

While the campaign has been divisive, lacklustre, and at times aggressive, the result was decisive, its  acceptance public, civil, gracious and respectful. Anthony Albanese, somewhat unexpectedly re-elected as Prime Minister with an increased majority, stopped a few in the enthusiastic crowd of Party faithful from cheering the opposition leader’s defeat with the assertion What we do in Australia is treat people with respect. 

I am left with a strong sense of shared values, healing, common purpose, decency and - the PM’s word - kindness. We all need to hang on to this through the hard process of implementation.

After an hour catching up with a friend by phone on Sunday morning I paid a short visit to the Bowerbird Market at the Adelaide Showground. It only happens 2-3 times a year and features craft goods from around the country, including, this time, a good representation of spirits and cocktails, none of which I investigated..

I did buy a couple of gifts for later birthdays, and a mug for myself. I have mugs aplenty, but liked it , so went home and made myself coffee in it, while finishing beanie no.24. I’ve now stopped. If the team reaches that number I’ll resume.

I have my annual checkup with my renal physician coming up next Thursday so I was at the pathology clinic for a fasting blood test just after 8am yesterday🤞🏼. By 10.30am our apartment entry buzzers were fixed (🤞🏼), the potatoes and meat prepared for  dinner, the kitchen clean, the rubbish out and more coffee in the mug. Perhaps I should have more early starts! I kept the momentum going this morning by cleaning the kitchen, including oven racks, before breakfast. 

My critically ill friend is back in hospital. He and his partner are much on my mind. I live in that state of heightened awareness where the world looks different - much more mutable.

My hands are benefitting from my return to the Kasia Jacquot panels, this time Marta. I’m still enjoying the variety of both colour and stitches in these designs. I’m going to run out of some of the recommended threads again soon and will need to work out whether to substitute or buy.

After dinner last night I was able to get Brigid’s advice (aided by consultation with other family members) on a couple of Mola panels I bought to see if she’d like them as cushions.

Consequently I visited Spotlight today for fabric and zips. I'm unlikely to construct them until Friday. I’m looking forward to it.

Post583: Beach, beanies, ballot and bag

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The week began with a catch-up lunch with friends, set between travel dates, three back from trips, one about to go. The restaurant was at the beach. I was there a bit early to find a parking spot and walk along the front, noticing for the first time the mosaics on the rocks along the path. Lunch was a leisurely exchange, a chance to catch up and relax.

That evening I had a text message from my GP to say my bone density test results show early osteopenia and I need to concentrate on VitaminD and Calcium. Good of him to be so prompt. I discussed it with my Pilates instructor the next day. I now have some extra exercises in my Pilates routine and am taking a supplement.

Aside from the lunch excursion and Book Club, I focused  on finishing the beanie project. On a couple of days I even knitted before breakfast. By Saturday I had 20 completed beanies, knitted over 18 days. At the time, the team had 16 walkers registered for the mid-May walk, so I stopped.

I have yarn for about 12 more. Yesterday the registrations hit 19 so I am picking up again. 

I am enjoying the exercise and feeling quite excited to have written a knitting pattern. 

Sunday Book Club was lively. I had read the suggested books but not a lot more. A couple of members were away but a new one widened our conversation and recommendations.     I had my postal vote for our upcoming election ready to mail on the way home. Anthony had acted as my witness the evening before. When I realised the postbox wouldn’t be emptied until 4pm on Monday I changed my mind about dropping it in. I  handed it in at the Post Office on Monday morning. I had inadvertently used the envelope to test my pen but it did not invalidate my vote. I got acknowledgement of its receipt from the Electoral Office today.

It’s been good to switch back to embroidery for a while. My hands are appreciating the change. A seated hoop is kinder than a knitting needle held in the hand. This is Stanley, one of Kasia Jacquot’s colourful designs. I like the economy of her stitches on the colourful fabric. It makes for texture, pop and quirkiness.  I have followed her example of using 6 strands, so used up the 2 skeins I had of the brown. I was about half a metre short. Since I was likely to use the same colour in a couple more of the panels, I called at Create in Stitch yesterday to buy more, rather than cut sections out of a variegated skein.

I then went on to OfficeWorks and bought myself an iPad Air.  I am very fond of my iPad Mini, but the on-button  now frequently sticks, or slips when pressed. It's a nuisance, but eventually works. Current models are made without an on-button because of this fault. Fixing is apparently possible, but unreliable and expensive. After a lot of reading and heart-searching I decided to keep using it as it is, but to buy an 11" iPad for a smooth transition when the inevitable happens. The larger screen will help with some tasks. My local Officeworks had a purple one, relatively scarce, so I went to them: a bit pointless because I also bought a cover which is, inevitably, black. The set up was easier (and longer) than I had expected but I spent a couple of hours unsuccessfully trying to set up the pencil. Additionally, the screen protector didn’t fit under the cover.

Today I was supposed to go to a Retired Secondary Principals’ lunch. Since I was anxious to sort out the iPad and I had notice of two large parcels to be delivered around lunchtime, I apologised and opted out of the lunch. Late in the morning, while awaiting the parcels, I was notified that our entry buzzers weren’t working so the first parcel delivery had failed and been diverted to the Post Office! As I didn’t want to wait in the street for the second one, I took myself off to Officeworks with yesterday’s purchases.

It took a while, but the service was faultless. It turns out the assistant had given me the wrong penci, an easy mistake to make. I’d checked it myself in my attempts to connect. Model names and numbers were confusing. In the end, none of their stores have stock of the correct pencil. Neither do they have a screen protector that fits with a case (advice: "go to stalls that sell phone cases"!). Staff were thorough. patient and knowledgable. Once they refunded my money, I checked other shops, took myself to JB Hi Fi and bought the correct pencil (checking and rechecking). At home the pencil connected immediately. I felt oddly elated.

I'm atill pleased with my new vase. The daisies have lasted well. I've been topping up  or replacing the water, discarding any drooping daisies. I'll need to replace them in a couple of days.

In between playing with my new iPad Air and helping a neighbour work out how to contact a celebrity she once worked with, I finished Stanley, and added it to a bag.  I managed this time to stitch on the loop that comes with the bag, so it can be folded.

So now I'm back to beanie knitting for a few days. I'm aiming for 3 more this week.

Post 582: Quite a week

I had tickets for an ASO concert at 11.30am on Wednesday, at Elder Hall, which is part of Adelaide University, on North Terrace next to the Art Gallery.

I caught the City loop bus, giving myself plenty of time.  It was still warm - 34C.  

I had chosen the concert mainly for the Vaughn Williams, but really enjoyed the whole program, which was recorded for ABC radio.  

It will be broadcast on ABC Classic FM 25 April at 12.30pm.

It was only an hour long, and I planned to have lunch at the Art Gallery, but unsurprisingly, the cafe was full, so I went next door to the State Library Cafe where I managed to find a seat, a very decent mushroom quiche and a milkshake. I was home and knitting again by 2.30pm. Beanie No.11 was finished before I went to bed.

Thursday was a few degrees cooler, so I took my knitting to the back balcony to get No12. started,  I came inside when I finished the band. I hadn't quite finished the pattern section when I had to go to the dentist, after which I treated myself to a visit to Frewville to stock up on soup ingredients and some chuck steak to try out a new recipe. Rain was forecast from Saturday through to Monday and there was a slight drop in temperature on Thursday. Not yet soup weather, but I thought it would serve well while I’m on a knitting mission.

Friday, therefore, was activity day. I washed sheets, since no rain was forecast. While they were in the machine I cooked the chuck steak with onion, capsicum, stock and herbs, as well as preparing stock for the soup from beef bones (I rarely use beef for soup, but no pork bones or hock available), chopped vegetables and soaked pulses. Once this was all done I made the chocolate crackle nests.

Before I left for Katherine’s at 2 for her delectable team-assisted hot cross buns, the soup stock had cooled sufficiently to refrigerate so I could skim the fat on my return, and add the vegetables. The dishwasher was also doing its job fuelled by the solar panels. Regretfully, I forgot to photograph the dozens of hot cross buns cooling at Katherine's, some of which found their way to those on duty at the St Clair Recreation Centre and to an Aged Care facility. 

Back at home I finished the goulash off in the oven, following the recipe. It looked great, the potato and flavour good, but the meat was tough. I discarded the remainder. I might try again with different meat. The soup, on the other hand, is excellent.

The promised rain was slow in coming, and, as is often the case in Adelaide, barely noticeable. I delivered chocolate nests to Sam, my supermarket hero, on Saturday. He seemed pleased and ate one immediately. 

Sunday lunch was at Katherine and Anthony’s - eight of us for relaxed conversation and a feast of roast lamb, pork, pumpkin, beetroot, potatoes, carrots and broccolini followed by an excellent pav. 

The temperature had dropped, and the rain eventually came.

By the time I got home at 4 pm. It had set in. I dug out my warmest slippers from the back of the wardrobe and knitted another beanie,  the 15th, enough for all who have currently registered for the team. The last two are cotton, in case there are wool allergies. 

It seems we had 6ml of rain on Sunday, a veritable deluge for Adelaide.

Monday dawned cloudy but dry. The plants on the eastern balcony were still wet, but the Almandas needed topping up. They have suffered through the hot weather but persistent soaking has paid off.  One that had died around the edges, emerged strong underneath. 

There are even signs of life from one I thought totally lost (left). I’m hopeful they will now recover.

Yesterday I gave my left thumb joint a bit of a change. Instead of another beanie, I made 15 pom-poms, mostly using the Bucilla Doodle Loom, after stubbornly trying variously sized slithers of stiff cardboard. While not resting my hand, this varied the movement a bit so less of a strain. I’m now knitting a few more beanies.

Today was busy. I put the washing on before the cleaners arrived, and forgot to hang it out. I rang  a radiology clinic to arrange an overdue bone density scan and ended up accepting a 4pm slot this afternoon, the result of a cancellation. I fitted it in after my 1.30 audiology appointment, a trip to Norwood to pick up the Violet Cooper vase I bought from their now-closed exhibition, and picking up a parcel from the Post Office.

My hearing hasn’t changed in a year, and my serviced 10 year-old hearing aids are functioning well. My audiologist is retiring in two months, so I’ve made an appointment with another for next February. The bone-density results will be with my GP tomorrow. I see him in two weeks’ time. The radiologist was friendly and efficient - and she liked my new perfume.

I bought some daisies for the vase. They look so good I think I’ll have to keep buying them!

 

The parcel at the P.O. was the two vintage Molas I bought from Spain. They are lovely, and brilliantly stitched. I have ideas, but need to consult about what to do with them. 

In the meantime, I've had soup for dinner and am now well into finishing Beanie No.16.

So much for which to be thankful!