ISOLATION MUSING

Little Aussie: Portrait of Grannie 

Week 5 of isolation, and I am looking increasingly like my portrait, as painted by Little Aussie in a capricious mood a year or two ago....

My hair is getting longer, and the silver tone has some resemblance to the blue hair in my portrait.

Don't think I have grown horns yet, but you never know....

Red eyes, green lippy - anything goes in these strange times.

With most unfortunate timing, our stove top (at least 20 years old) decided to die dramatically a day before our daughter arrived in March.

Just as Covid 19 hit Australia.

In haste we purchased this funny little number from K Mart, a single burner Induction cooker of  very limited sensitivity.  Its temperature goes up or down in leaps of 20 deg, which makes fine-tuning your delicate egg cooking close to impossible.  There have been a few burnt offerings.

We got by during our family visit with the funny pot, an electric frypan, and the oven.

We are certainly longing for the day we can choose a new stove, and probably new benchtops and splash back at the same time.    At the moment, we cannot go out for non-essential business, and we do not let anyone into the house, on Government recommendations.

So no tradesman to have a look and give a quote.

But it is something to look forward to when the day comes....

Thea Proctor, Australia 1879-1966: Summer 1930, hand coloured on Oriental paper. QAGOMA

I am slow-sewing my way through isolation, with a target of one garment per week, reducing my fabric stash in the process.  As we are self-isolating, the rule was to find everything needed in the sewing room.  No new purchases online.

Week 1:

Simple rayon tunic top with dragonflies.  Very comfortable home-wear...

Week 2:

'Canada Geese' rayon shirt.  This was intended to be made for our last trip to Canada and time overtook me.  I love it for the coming cool weather...

Week 3:

Vintage 50s fabric bath robe...

Week 4:

Vintage 50s cotton voile shirt, with puff sleeves.

White buttons, non-matching, from my button stash.

Week 5 is still a work in progress.

I will update in a few more weeks.

Cute little Prince Louis of Cambridge celebrated his second birthday with a bit of finger painting.  Did anyone else wonder how he kept his shirt so clean?

What a sweet little boy.

I made some blueberry muffins today, just in case we starve..

Have also been to the dentist, following lifting of some restrictions on dentistry.

Unfortunately, I have to have crowns on two errant teeth.

Fortunately, I can delay it for quite some time as dentists are not permitted to do crowns at the moment.

There is always a silver lining, even in our current difficulties.

The dentist says he has been enjoying his time off, getting things done at home.
I feel the same, am quite enjoying the down time, and will be happy for it to last a few weeks more.

This weekend, we are permitted to drive for pleasure up to 50km from home.
We can have a picnic and walk in a different park.

Along with probably hundreds of others, but we have a little plan.

Take care

XXXX

ANZAC DAY 2020

Today is Anzac Day.

At dawn, we joined Australians across the country in a unique ceremony -

we stood outside our homes, holding candles or torches, for a commemorative service broadcast across the land.

Unable to participate in the usual marches, ceremonies and church services, Australians devised their own way of remembering the Fallen, as they have done every year since 1916.

The silence was broken only by the sound of the Last Post echoing down our hill.

It was haunting and beautiful...

The original Anzacs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) served in the Middle East and Europe in World War I.  From a population of under five million, Australia sent almost 500,000 men.  62,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded or taken prisoner.

We will remember them.

George W Lambert, Australia/England 1873-1930: 'Walk (An incident at Romani) 1919-22, Oil on canvas. QAGOMA

This painting from the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery depicts an incident from 1916 during the Battle of Romani.  An Australian 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance, sent to retrieve the seriously wounded, came under Turkish fire.  The horses started to bolt, but the corporal signalled 'Walk', riding to front to steady the teams.  The horses were calmed, the enemy recognised the Ambulance's mission and averted fire.  For their bravery and composure, the corporal and drivers were awarded Military medals.

The artist, George W. Lambert served as an Official War Artist attached to the ANZAC Mounted Division, and served in Palestine, Gallipoli and Egypt.

The Australian Light Horse units were mounted infantry who brought their own horses from Australia.  The Field Ambulance used 'sand carts' : they had two wheels with tyres wide enough to stop the cart digging into soft sand.  In heavy sand four horses were necessary.

After the War, in 1919, Lambert was commissioned to paint this incident, three years after the event.  A re-enactment was staged in Egypt, and photographs were taken of Lambert sketching the cart for his painting.

My paternal grandfather served in the Light Horse with two of his brothers.  They trained in Egypt after sailing from Australia.  My grandfather was then sent on to France and served in Flanders with a medical unit, driving a mule cart into the battle fields to retrieve the wounded.  Here are his medals:

Grandfather survived the war,  went on to London and married an English girl before returning to Australia.  Their first child was my father.

Naturally, I have made Anzac biscuits to enjoy today.  This oat and syrup treat was sent by loving wives and girlfriends across the world to the soldiers, and their spirit lives on in Australian kitchens to this day.

LEST WE FORGET

XXX

BIRTHDAY LADY

Hello from the Red Cardinal nest..

Happy Birthday to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,

94 years young.

Look at the birthday girl, pictured in happier times, wearing her Australian Wattle brooch, a gift from our nation on the occasion of her Coronation, all those years ago.

Gratuitous shot of my copy of the Wattle Brooch, happily bought at Buckingham Palace gift shoppe, 2016

It was a treat to see the actual Coronation robes at the Exhibition of the Queen's clothes, Buckingham Palace, 2016

All that fine beading and embroidery made my heart sing...

The Queen has always been a woman of great style, and she really knows how to wear a grand evening gown..

So elegant..

Love her in pink..

Majestic and inspirational in her recent message about the global pandemic..

Long may she Reign!

In our Isolation Nest, the tiny violas have started to bloom..

I have planted a few in the decorative cage, along with some nasturtium seeds which sprouted very quickly.

Let's see if this can turn into a cage of colour...

Also started a succulent baby nursery in a shallow dish.

So far, so good...

The lavender has expanded its footprint, and is covered in tiny buds...

and the little owl continues to stand guard over the herbs and vegetable seedlings.

We are amazed that in a whole year, the cockatoos continue to be frightened by those staring eyes, and no longer get in and destroy the plants.

Talk about guilty consciences....

I had good news today - full blood count and testing of my immune system.

All is good :)

Apart from playing gardener, I have a goal of sewing one garment a week.

Preparing for next Summer.

Winter never seems to happen here anymore.

I will photograph and show a few - maybe next time.

Cheers, and be safe and good

XXXX

EASTER SUNDAY IN ISOLATION

'The Resurrection', 1544, Titian

Happy Easter, dear Readers

As always, on Easter Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ from the dead after his Crucifixion, the basis of the Christian religion.

We celebrate new life with the exchange of Easter eggs, and family greetings.

At the Red Cardinal nest we arranged our first Zoom meeting with our three grown children and their spouses.

It was such fun...we sat back and listened to them chatting to each other with such pride.  They live in three different parts of the world, but the familial bond is still strong.

I made a few cup cakes as a sweet Easter treat after we attended Church online.  How strange it is, this life of isolation.

I have been planting out some little pansies, as the weather has finally begun to cool at the end of the day.  At last, we can enjoy watching little plants grow, the cycle of new life...

Good old blue violet has been languishing for months, but suddenly this week bursts into bloom, to be enjoyed until next Summer..

Like many living isolated at home, I have started to grow a few vegetables.

The only place we go out to is the organic market and produce store, and they were selling seedlings.  I know many Australians are starting vegetable gardens, and stocks of seeds are vanishing from the shoppes.

One reason for attempting to grow some for ourselves, is that while we are pleased to have supermarket delivery of groceries, the quality of their fruit and veg is decidedly inferior (one always looks carefully when buying in person).

This little guy greeted me early today, sitting quietly in the gentle sunshine.

We have also had an unexpected daylight sighting of a possum, a nocturnal animal.  I know, possums and growing your own vegetables is not a good mix!  In fact, this is no doubt the culprit who consumed one of my parsley plants a few nights ago.

We shall see how we go with my little capsicums, shallots, and snow peas...

Wishing you all good health and happiness..

And a safe hibernation this unusual Easter Day

XXXXX

GOOD FRIDAY 2020

Red Cardinal photo: Musee de Cluny, Paris, 2014

Prayer at Time of Crisis:

Almighty and all-merciful God,
lover of the human race, healer of all our wounds,
in whom there is no shadow of death,
save us in this time of crisis;
grant wisdom and courage to our leaders;
watch over all medical people
as they tend the sick and work for a cure;
stir in us a sense of solidarity beyond all isolation;
if our doors are closed, let our hearts be open.
By the power of your love destroy the virus of fear,
that hope may never die
and the light of Easter, the triumph of life,
may shine upon us and the whole world.
Through Jesus Christ, the Lord risen from the dead,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
Holy Mary, health of the sick, pray for us.
St Joseph, guardian of us all, pray for us. 

(Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Brisbane)

Wishing all dear readers of the Red Cardinal blog a blessed, safe, and happy Easter.

XXXXX

Red Cardinal : St Vitus Cathedral, Prague, 2018