kareina

I woke up this morning at 04:45, did my sit-ups and other abs exercises, packed up the last minute things (like the pillow that had been in my checked luggage, and so isn't waiting for me at Hong Kong lost and found), and was out the door by 05:30. Check in of luggage went smoothly, but when I got to security they informed me that I had failed to take my sewing scissors out of my carry on. Oops! Raced back to bag check, went to the head of the line, turned in my scissors and the rest of my sewing kit (in my tiny toiletry bag, which was what I had in my backpack in the way of a container for them), and hurried back through security again.

Made it to the gate while they were still boarding, but didn't have time to re-fill my water before boarding, so was forced to purchase one of their tiny bottles of water on board (for $3.50!). Although as it turned out we were a little late taking off because some other passenger failed to board, so they had to remove that person's luggage. The flight was uneventful and short enough that I survived with only the small bottle of water, and both my suitcase and tiny checked bag of sewing stuff arrived safely.

I was met by a friend of the family and we set out for a day's adventures. We started the day in Richmond, where we wandered from one tourist shop to the next, fondling the fine Tasmanian wood working and admiring the occasional other item. It mostly rained when we were in the shops and was sunny while we wandered along the river and took photos of the bridge (oldest in Tasmania) and church and cemetery. (I don't have a camera with me, but she did.) A nice little blackwood box which surrounds a seal-able glass bottle followed me home--the plan is to use it to store the lotion I put on the psoriasis patch on my knee. The really lovely, huge blackwood bowl did not follow me home (though she took a photo of me drooling over it) due to reasons of budget and space available in luggage when I head home. A decent pair of sturdy leather shoes followed her home.

From there we drove through Hobart, along the coast through Taroona and past the shot tower, through Margate and down the Channel Highway till we came to Woodbridge, where we set off up hill in search of a hand-weaving studio I had once been to. What prompted that journey was my description of the tunnel through the trees to get to the Swiss-style house. We managed to find the place, and the tunnel in the trees was as cool as I remembered, but the studio was closed, so we didn't go in. However, it was snowing (really, really lightly), and that was a nice bonus.

From there we went to Grandvewe Cheeses, since she had never been and it was so nearby (she picked up some of their blue cheese). Then we continued on south around the channel highway then up through Huonville and to my new home, in New Town.

I will be living here with mushroom_maiden while her usual housemate is off in Iceland for a few months. It seems like a nice house, but it is COLD! here. I am tempted to invest in a thermometer, just to find out how cold it is in here. There is a woodstove in the living room, which I could use if I want, but I have set my computer up in my room, so that when I do my early morning video calls to archinonlive I don't disturb her. I do have a nice, warm, hot water bottle on my lap, but that doesn't help my arms/hands, which, despite the fingerless wool gloves, two wool sweaters & a shawl, are still cold enough to cause lots of typoes. In fact, it is time to go wash them in hot water, again, to get some blood into them. I wonder if I can get some office space at Uni to finish writing those papers someplace with heat?

In the morning I go in to Uni to meet with my erstwhile adviser and see what needs to happen for the one I should have finished promptly after completing my PhD. He didn't like the last draft I sent him, months ago, but an in person conversation should help sort out exactly why and what I need to do about it.