Lockdown Lottery

Two weeks ago I won the lockdown lottery when Moorabool wasn't locked down and I could go orchid hunting. Today I lost the lottery, and Moorabool is going back into lockdown from midnight for 7 days. In general I don't mind staying at home, but Monday is my mother's 93rd birthday, so this lockdown means I will not be able to visit her. My sister and her family are not in a locked down municipality, but none of them are fully vaccinated. That means no-one will be able to visit Mum on the day.

Fortunately I had her birthday gift ready, so this afternoon I was able to pop over and give it to her before the lockdown starts.

She was in the dining room ready for dinner, so I couldn't give her a sneaky hug. I know the pandemic has caused much more pain and suffering than a missed birthday, but I'm upset about this one. I hope we will be able to have a family gathering at Christmas time.

As I left I took a photo through the fence of the pot of bulbs I put outside Mum's window so that she would have something interesting to look at during previous lockdowns. There were some daffodils, but they flowered during a time when we weren't allowed to visit. Spring stars and tulips are out now:

The tulips haven't grown very tall for some reason, but Mum can see the red of them from her window. 

Harvest

 Time to pick the first crop of mushrooms:

I should have weighed them, or at least photographed them, before they were chopped up and cooked.

 

A couple of weeks back I was talking to a friend (by phone) about rule compliance here and in her part of Melbourne. I said that around Ballarat it seemed the people least likely to be wearing a mask were young men in hi-vis gear. So when today a few covid exposure sites emerged around Ballarat, I wasn't surprised that several are construction sites.

The result is that from tonight we will be in a strange situation of being "lockdown adjacent", as Ballarat is entering a 7-day lockdown. We don't live in the city of Ballarat, but it is where just about everything we do is. It is where we do all our shopping, and where I work, so in many ways it will be just like being locked down.

Added later: A neighbour tells me that they had booked a week's holiday at a regional tourist destination, but that the accommodation provider has now cancelled their booking because they "live too close to Ballarat".

Successes

Lockdown 6+ or whatever number it is started almost 3 weeks ago. That day I posted about two new projects; a mushroom growing kit, and a wallhanging.

During the lockdown I have worked on the wallhanging, and regularly misted the mushroom kit. Most days we took the dogs for a walk, and on those walks we came across some interesting wildlife.

A swamp wallaby, seen on 4th Sept:

Actually there were two, but I only got a photo of one of them.

A koala, seen on 6th Sept:

I think there might actually be two, because the shapes seem to not be quite right for just one. It could be a mother with a largish baby. But it was a very long way up in the tree, so it was impossible to get a clear view.

A mob of kangaroos, seen on 7th Sept:

They were suprising, as initially I only saw three or four of them. But once they started moving, more and more appeared that had been lying down resting in the long grass. There are 16 of them in this photo.

Yesterday we got the news that this lockdown is finishing at midnight tonight.

I finished the wall hanging this afternoon! I was so excited to have it finished, I forgot to take it outside to get a good daylight photo before it went up on the wall.

It is hanging above the dresser that came from my parents' home last month.

And the mushroom kit?

Tiny mushrooms are appearing. Another success!

Not Finished

Today was meant to be the end of our lockdown, but that isn't happening.

Last Saturday I posted about the first ever open flower on my Vulcan magnolia, but look at it now!

There's still one or maybe two buds to open. The flowers are just gorgeous:

And here's the first tulip of spring:

 

With our lockdown being extended to who knows when, it doesn't matter that quilting my Greenhouse wall-hanging is taking longer than I thought it would. Progress so far:

About three quarters of the background remains to be quilted. Sorry the photo is so dark. I've tried to lighten it up without bleaching out all the background, and this was about the best I could do. Once it is finished I'll take it outside so I can photograph it in good light.

Pinned

Nine days ago, when our current lockdown started, I began working on a new project. It's a wall-hanging using Elizabeth Hartman's Greenhouse pattern. The lockdown was meant to last until 2nd September, and I wondered if I could finish the project before the lockdown finished.

Here's where I got to today:

I have also prepared the binding. Now I just need to get quilting!

I'm not sure where this fits into my WOOFA (Working On Or Finishing A ...) plans. It is not something that was hanging around waiting for me to work on it. But having this to do has helped me feel better about this lockdown. I've spent time in my sewing room almost every day, and although it looks likely the lockdown will be extended, I'm still aiming for the original finish date.

Check out Cheryll's WOOFA Party post to see what other people have managed to do this month.

New Projects

Yesterday things were a bit different. We could go to shops, and travel around. I went to Bunnings to buy Vermiculite, and came across the last of their mushroom growing kits:

This morning I set it up:

Hopeful that in about 3 weeks it will produce mushrooms:

 I'll let you know if it works.

Then we heard the inevitable, and not unexpected, news that regional Victoria was going back into lockdown from 1pm today. Is this lockdown 7, or is it part of lockdown 6 because 6 is still running in Melbourne? Perhaps it is 6a, or 6.1, or...? With only 2 hours notice, there wasn't time to rush out buying toilet paper (this is a joke), so we went for a walk.

I've decided to devote this lockdown to a new project. Something where if I work on it every day I could finish it before the lockdown ends. Some time in the last couple of years I bought Elizabeth Hartman's Greenhouse pattern:

I'm going to make a wall-hanging version, with just a few of the "plants". After the walk (and a cup of tea) I started work.

One pot made!

Walks

Daily walks are important during lockdowns. Each day I look for something to add to iNaturalist while out and about.

On Friday I saw this small-leafed clematis:

 

On Saturday I found that scented sundews had started flowering on our block:

On Sunday I discovered a patch of nodding greenhood orchids:

Today we took a drive to the edge of our 5km limit, to see if the Lal Lal Falls were flowing well after our recent rainy days:

They were!

The dogs enjoyed some off-lead running around:

And I found some pretty coloured fungi of unknown species:

Today regional Victoria were told our lockdown is ending early at midnight tonight! I'm very thankful, as it gives me some extra time to finish emptying my parents' place. That is a great relief as I really didn't know how I was going to manage it.

I'm sorry for my friends in Melbourne still in lockdown, and particularly sorry for people in Sydney who have already done over a month of lockdown without any sign that their outbreak is being controlled.

Another Lockdown

The 27th July was the last day of our 5th lockdown. Hooray!

Once we could move around again I was able to get back to emptying my father's house. On Thursday morning this week, with the help of our next-door neighbours and their large trailer, a lot of the remaining furniture was taken to an op-shop, the fridge and washing machine were moved, and a lot of rubbish was removed. That left some pieces of furniture my sister wants, a dressing table to go to another person, and various small bits and pieces to be sorted out, re-homed, or disposed of.

On Thursday afternoon, another 7-day lockdown was called. I just couldn't believe it! It is hard not to get annoyed with the state to the north of us that has been the source of the three outbreaks and subsequent lockdowns that have happened in the last three months. Or with the federal government's vaccine stroll-out.

If it isn't extended, I will have 3 days between this lockdown and the day the keys have to be handed over.

Today's numbers don't look promising though. I'm not sure what the legal situation will be if I can't get to the house to remove the rest of the stuff before the key hand-over day. Plus there are tradespeople lined up to renovate the place so it can be sold.

I just need to do some productive things to help the lockdown pass, and not spend too much time each day watching the press conferences.

Photos are of my hellebores. Nothing to do with the lockdown, just happy flowers.

July Progress

Hello cocky!

 This cockatoo came to say hello this morning as the sun came up.

What can I say about July's WOOFA progress? (Working On Or Finishing A ...) I did a small amount of work on the project I had nominated for this month, but it was hard going. The thread broke constantly, and progress was so slow that it was a real chore to keep at it. Then came covid outbreaks, and our fifth lockdown, and I just needed something more fun to do. The result was the Scrappy Mountain Majesties quilt top I posted about last Saturday. Since then I have done a bit more work on my Birdhouse quilt. Here are the various components pinned up for me to play with their arrangement:

There is another set of pinwheels for the top border, but you'll just have to imagine them for the moment.

Before and after the lockdown I've been continuing to work on emptying my father's house. It is another job that is not at all fun. I couldn't do anything during the lockdown as it is much more than 5km from my place, plus the places that can take some of the furniture were all closed. But now I'm back into it, and I have 2 more weeks until the house has to be empty.

 

Today I had another finish, which has been 12 weeks in the making. It involved a visit here:

And now I can wear this with pride:

Such a good feeling!

My WOOFA goal for August will involve getting a couple of quilt tops sandwiched and the quilting underway. (As well as finishing the house clearance, and celebrating someone's significant birthday.)

Linked to Cheryll's July WOOFA Party. I'm sure everyone has been more productive than me this month. Go and check out the links.

Mountain Top

 Remember those Scrappy Mountain Majesties blocks I made a few of a couple of posts ago?

Now they are a top. A bit hard to photograph in the wind, though.

We are now on the ninth day of our latest lockdown. I've been doing 30 minutes of sewing each day, to try to avoid the lockdown inertia overwhelming me. And this is where it has got me so far:

Now I need to clear my table so that I can baste this one and the Plaid-ish top I assembled in May.

Memorial

This is a stained-glass window in the church where we held the memorial service for my father this afternoon. It is dedicated to the Welsh miners who built the church in the 1860s.
 

This is also the only photo that I took on the day.

 

Part of the preparation I had to do was a photo slideshow. Here are a couple of the photos I included:

My parents with me:

My parents with my son:

 

I also had to speak about Dad. I wrote out what I was going to say, so that someone else could take over if I was too emotional. But fortunately I made it through to the end.

I think the service went OK. We were lucky that the forecast rain held off and we were able to get Mum to the church and back home again in fine weather. A few people had wanted to attend via zoom, but unfortunately an incorrect password was given, so most of them missed out, including my brother who was in lockdown in Alice Springs. The screen that showed the photos was very dark, so most of the detail of the slideshow I'd carefully assembled couldn't be seen. And as masks are still compulsory indoors, the singing was quite strange!

Most importantly, Mum was happy with the service, and really the whole thing was for her benefit. Dad hadn't wanted a funeral service at all, but the people who are left behind need to do something to mark someone's passing.

Mary Quant and the Jade Buddha

How about that for a post title? Actually the connection between Mary Quant and the Buddha is only their location: Bendigo.

Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary is the latest V&A exhibition to reach the Bendigo Art Gallery.

Fortunately the lockdown lifted in time for Melbourne friends to get there before the exhibition closes on 11th July. We chose today based on the weather forecast some days ago, but the weather pattern didn't follow the script. There was a lot of rain! One of these could have been handy:

Entry is timed in 30-minute blocks. But to people coming out of lockdowns, the crowd waiting to get in was very uncomfortable, and maintaining social distancing was almost impossible in the first couple of rooms. Fortunately the crowds thinned out further on:

Although I felt like I wanted one of those glass boxes for myself, rather than the exhibits!

 

This dress, made from a Butterick pattern (3287), brought back memories for one of us who had the same dress:

For people who like to sew, the V&A have a free downloadable pattern available for this dress:

I was surprised to discover it is in a wide range of sizes (even mine) and print formats.  Check it out here: Georgie Dress. There is also a Quant-inspired Minidress pattern for anyone with the legs for it!

After enjoying the exhibition, and finding an almost empty venue for a yummy lunch (all the cafes and pubs near the exhibition were way too full for comfort), we drove out to the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, currently under construction:

I would like to explore the surrounding gardens sometime when it isn't raining. 

Inside:

Looking up, above the canopy you might be able to see the bare steel of the unfinished building construction.

The Jade Buddha for Universal Peace. My photo doesn't do the green jade justice.

It was a good day out, despite the constant rain. The exhibition was fantastic (apart from the crowds). The stupa was interesting, and will be worth re-visiting in good weather, to explore the gardens and see the building progress.

Creatures

 A few critters seen on long walks during our week of lockdown:

Cuties

Close encounter with cattle

Captive emu

Alert guardian of sheep