Wool on...any day ending with a ‘y’.

From February 2016 I wrote dozens of monthly posts titled Wool on Sundays. The idea of bloggers sharing posts about fibre arts such as knitting, crocheting and stitching was the brainchild of Janine who organised the link ups through her delightful Rainbow Hare blog. 

Times and directions change, and this forum for sharing ‘yarny’ projects is no longer a formal monthly feature. And even though I’ve been a bit slack at blogging in recent times, I’ve found that I really miss chatting about projects. So here’s my version, Wool on any day of the week! Lol

In a previous post written in the last month, I showed some photos of blankets made for Knitting for Brisbane’s Needy; a combination of crocheted squares given to me and some granny squares made by me. The solid squares made by my friend Susan were perfect for a plan I’d finally come up with on how to use a big bundle of crocheted motifs that had been passed on to me a few years ago. 

Originally I thought I’d square them up by crocheting more rounds. But I went off that idea as the motifs were quite thin which I thought would not make the resultant blanket warm for the homeless. So I’ve stitched them to the solid squares; the stitches disappearing into the crocheting, so the backs of the squares are neat. 

All the squares laid out ready to be joined together...

Finished blanket ready to keep someone warm. 


A few months ago I bought some Bendigo Woollen Mill’s Classic 8 ply online. It took a while to arrive which wasn’t surprising as on the BWM Facebook page they showed a photo of huge wire bins full of parcels ready to be posted. The company had been overwhelmed with the support from knitters all around Australia. And apparently the orders are still coming in  as witnessed by this recent FB post. 

Some incredible statistics there! And this is what I’m making with my order...the variegated Shepherd yarn was in my stash...completely forgotten about for a number of years too 🙄😉

It’s lovely working with wool again. 

Easter 2020...

In a way my story of this year’s Easter started back in early March. I bring out the Easter decorations early now that we have grandchildren, as they love to help set them up and love hearing the stories behind some of the older pieces. 

We had been in the habit of taking Anthea out on an ‘adventure’ each Thursday and one of our last Thursdays before Lockdown, we went by bus to Toombul Shoppingtown. Riding in a bus is an adventure in itself for the grandies! 

And of course morning tea was on the agenda when we got to the shopping centre. 

Of course a ride on the escalator painted in rainbow colours was a must as well 😄! 

I love the decorations that Bed Bath and Table sell, so the next stop in the centre was in that shop. The plan was to let Anthea choose an Easter decoration to start her own collection. As in every other year the store had the most beautiful items on display for sale. I have  to admit that I tried to steer her away from the snow globes because of the glass but she really had fallen in love with one...so after discussing how careful she would have to be, we bought it. 

Back home at our place, she was just so delighted with her gift. 

A few days later Anthea and her little sister came for a visit and with their help, we started decorating the hutch. 

And it wasn’t long after that, that we went into Lockdown. So I rearranged the display slightly and put some of the more fragile ( and sentimental) pieces on lower shelves. There was no risk of accidental breakages lol. 

As Easter got closer, I went out and found some lovely Easter eggs in a quiet local shop. I made up 5 packages for the granddaughters plus some for our neighbours. Luckily our out of town grandie was in Brisbane for appointments so we were able to give her her package in person. Two of the other households, we did drive bys and left them on doorsteps. The drive to Kallangur was actually breaking the regulations as it isn’t a near suburb, but we didn’t see any roadblocks on the highway to or from there...phew! 

I used the last of the bunnies that I bought at a sale a few years ago. They held the little eggs. 


Just before Easter, restrictions eased to 2 visitors as long as it was either in your own suburb or adjoining ones. So we went to morning tea at DsD2 and her family’s place taking the Easter treats we had for the girls. 

Nom nom chocolate 🍫😜! 

We had some FaceTime with Miss Holly and her mum so she could tell us how much she liked her package that we’d left at their place. 

I wore my bunny ears for that session. 

We joined in Zoom services for Good Friday and Easter Day...and maintaining a little tradition in our parish, the females all wore hats/Easter Bonnets. 

And our neighbour came and joined us for the Easter Day service...

So there you have it...our Easter 2020. It was certainly different but the essential elements were still there albeit a lot different. 
For our children and their families, Easter was very different this year. Most years they go away for the 4 days but travelling was banned so they all stayed home. The 2 families who camp couldn’t, as parks and grounds were closed, as were barge services to favourite islands such as Moreton and Fraser.  Since retiring, DH and I rarely travel at Easter any way as accomodation is always at higher prices, so we had usually travelled in off peak times. 

 

Lots of ‘firsts’...

I’m gradually recording the life changes and adaptations that have occurred in my life throughout the lockdown, social isolation and social distancing measures caused by the Pandemic. Pondering has become quite a big thing in my life and one conclusion I’ve come to is that life in recent months has been a whole series of ‘firsts’. In this post I’ll write about one of the first ‘firsts’ that occurred...worship in a pandemic. 

Like many parishes, we went online. Firstly we tried out a free version of the Zoom app but that is limited to 40 mins per session, but it was good to get a feel for the technology. A lot of us were familiar with FaceTime and Skype but many parishioners weren’t. But even our 90 year olds started to embrace the system. Very soon, the parish moved to a paid version of the app (paid for by the Diocese so we were no longer restricted to 40 min meetings) and not only was it used for services, but also parish meetings and training sessions for our trainee priest placement. 

Palm Sunday was a ‘first’. I wanted DH and I to have the little palm crosses so I had looked around the garden for leaves I could use as we don’t have a Queen’s palm tree that is traditionally used. I thought, dianella, liriope or lomandra leaves could be used but thought I might try strips of the leaves of the pony tail palm which apparently isn’t a palm tree after all. 

It worked perfectly! I used what I had available and it had worked. But I’d been prepared to try those other leaves if it hadn’t worked out. You know that old saying about ‘necessity’ and the ‘mother of invention’. 


And I cut a frond off another palm-like tree which was self-sown  years ago in our backyard to place behind our chairs in lieu of the normal Palm Sunday procession. 

We used an iPad for the Zoom meeting which only has room on the screen for 9 participants. You have to scroll sideways to see everybody. But some people used their PCs and this friend with a large monitor sent us all this photo. 



And through the wonders of Zoom, we had Bishop Jeremy as a guest preacher. We were all in different places but could be ‘together’ in another sense. 

Soon I’m going to write a post about Easter 2020 and there will be ‘firsts’ in that too! 

Family celebrations After COVID-17 Lockdowns

So I’ve already written a post about 3 family birthdays we celebrated this year before COVID-19 changed so much. 

It was DsD2’s birthday in early April when no one was allowed visitors in their homes. Our son in law made a cake and the little family of 4 celebrated this event. 

It had been organised that the rest of the family would sing Happy Birthday to DsD via FaceTime from our respective homes. 

And then we were able to watch the candles blown out...

And then we watched the cake being cut and watched enviously as the slices were eaten...😀


In May it was my turn to celebrate a birthday. By then restrictions had eased a little and people could have 2 visitors to their home. DD1 and Carrie were the first to come on a visit to help me celebrate. It was on DD1’s day off, a week before my actual birthday. DD1 organised lunch from a local fish and chip shop, delivered by Uber. 

It was lovely spending time with them.

On the night before my birthday I had 2 surprise visitors...DH had known they were coming. Anthea and her mum had made me a cake and delivered it to me. 

Naturally we all had a slice there and then! It was a delicious carrot cake with yummy cream cheese icing.

 

That next night, DH organised a takeaway for 2 from my friend’s cafe...lasagne ( my friend’s mum’s recipe), salad and for dessert, tiramisu. So out came the candles and the fancy glasses...

At 7pm, the family came on Zoom, and sang Happy Birthday to me. Then we chatted for quite a while as they wanted to know what sort of a day I’d had. 

DsD3 had stopped by in the morning of my birthday to drop off a gift from 5 of the family...

Always a winner with me! 
The next day, DD2 and Holly came to celebrate my birthday, bringing morning tea and gifts...I was still being spoiled. 

DH’s birthday was at the end of May and restrictions had eased even more...by then you could have 5 visitors. So we had 2 sessions, half the family at each; a roast dinner on the Friday night and a takeaway on Saturday lunch time. ( we had 2 little girls at both sessions as their mum was working on the Saturday) 

DsD2 made a beautiful (and large) chocolate cake for the Friday night so on Saturday I just turned the cut part away from the camera and we had the candle on top for DH to blow out. 

So now we are in July and once again restrictions in my state have eased considerably more than in late May. We can now celebrate in clubs, pubs and restaurants and can have up to 100 at our home. DH says even our family isn’t that big! Lol 

Later in May on a week day when our local Bunnings tends to be quiet, I had fun spending my birthday gift card...

I wonder how we will celebrate the 2 family birthdays in September? 

Joining in some Isolation Games

In early April I came across a group on Facebook known as Bin Isolation Outing and decided to join in. The premise of the group was that due to Lockdown restrictions, our rubbish bins would have more outings than us. Each week our general rubbish bin would be wheeled out to the footpath and the council contractors would empty those bins. Every fortnight our recycling bin would also be emptied. 

Members of the group were encouraged to dress up to take the bin/s out, video or photograph this and then post it on the Facebook page, giving details of what city/country you were from. I thought I’d give it a go as it sounded like fun. The numbers in the group swelled as word spread; people from all around the world joined. Some of the posts were absolutely brilliant and funny! My efforts were very modest but I had a lot of fun...

First week for me but second week of the group operating saw me dressing up in an outfit I’d worn to a nephew’s wedding years ago...a 2 bin week! 

Another week, I went for the hippy look...

Another week I recycled my 1920s outfit that I had worn to a parish dinner a few years ago...

As the weeks went by restrictions started to ease and after being only allowed to travel within our suburb we suddenly could travel up to 50 km from home. So in my 4th week of dressing up I decided it would be my last. It was time to bring out Sister Mary from the Ridiculous Order who had gone to an adults fancy dress party in the 1970s. But her outfit was newly cobbled together complete with a cardboard cross coloured in with a gold pen. Be blowed if I could find the rosary beads though! Lol

The group is still going on Facebook and the number of members is now over a million. It was fun joining in and so much fun seeing other people’s photos and videos. 

Another game I joined in with was at the invitation of a former student from the 1970s who conscripted a group of us to play a word game. Each day Darlene would send us a word via text and we had to make up a sentence. And they were not easy words I can tell you! 

Peroration, conniption, supervenient, uxorious, zeitgeist, penurious, thwack, quidnunc, brouhaha, coterie, drabble, grimalkin. Aren’t they frightening 😫? I have to admit that I was only familiar with a few of them but online dictionaries were a great help. After 12 words, Darlene must have decided enough was enough, so no more brain strain for us! Lol 

The pandemic brought about a lot of ‘firsts’ as we all tried to make the best of our circumstances. And as I’m using my blog to record rather belatedly my experiences from late March, through to the end of June, I’ll keep those memories coming.