woensdag 29 mei 2013

spring ? brrrrrrrrrrrr

It's hard to understand :
yesterday (and the day before) 
I was sitting in the garden in bright warm sunshine under a blue sky,
today (going by boat to Rotterdam)
I was wearing trousers, socks
and my winter coat 
....
and was still sssshivering !

I'm soooo glad I finished that other pair of socks

Though Mother Nature is definately telling us

that Spring has begun
(so good they're wearing their down feather coat !!!)


And although I'm quite late with my present


this birth mandala gives a bit of "Spring feeling" too 

(it will go in the mail tomorrow)



zondag 26 mei 2013

green ... and ... knitting

The garden is green !
We had quite some rain lately 
so that's why !



But it also means that the flowers last a long time.
There are still a lot of Bluebells, 
but I took away most of the Forget-me-not's 
(they sow themselves só massively ...) 
*

Last Friday I visited with a friend 
the "Breifestival" (knitting festival) in Nieuwpoort
Nieuwpoort is a (partially rebuilt) old fortified town
not too far from where we live.
It has one of my favourite quilt and yarn shops : De Schapekop 

The entire little town was adorned with knitted items :
on windows, benches, flagpoles, lampposts, trees ... 
even from the old town hall tower blew a knitted banner !
(forgot to take my camera, but believe me, it was fun)

Some of the lovely yarn I bought
(the twó on the right are purple, always have difficulty photographing thát colour !)

I am still busy knitting socks for myself
(ha ! very clever with this cold spring weather)
and since the surprise present for Anne's baby is finished
and arrived safely Down Under

I can continue the socks for grandson nr 1


(Arrrgh : look at the difference in colour of the floor : 
just because the yarn has a different colour !
the green of the monkey is real green !!!)




maandag 20 mei 2013

sheep !!!

This extra (Whitsun) day off
was a great opportunity to visit 
the nearby sheepfold.
The weather wasn't exactly great :
no sun 
and even a drizzle every now and then ...
But it was a nice outing
and we saw some friends over there

Outside the sheep were waiting for their turn to be sheared,
inside were stalls with lots of goodies

"Rain in May
makes you grow"
my Mom used to say when I was little ...

 when you look at this, you see she was right :
everything is lush and green !

(though I wouldn't mind a bit more sunshine ...)


Mmmmmmmmmm ...
"flowers"
interesting 
...

Even our tiny front "garden" is green and white !

(it's really tiny, so most neighbours have it paved over ...
not me !)



zaterdag 18 mei 2013

birthday !!!

One year ago 
we had an emotional but wonderful day :
our third grandchild was born.
So today we celibrated his first birthday 
yeaaaaah !

with a birthday cake with one candle ...

... with,  mmmmmmmmmm,  lots of yummie cream !

What a day it was !
*

When we arrived home, there was an envelope in the mail

with my next felting-exchange piece !


Thanks Inge !
*

There were só many presents today 
that I like to add one more :

I have collected many seeds 

of these little beauties 
(Eranthis hyemalis)

You have to be patient because normally you buy little bulbs ...
Two years you'll see only little leaves,
but then the yellow cups (5cm high) will tell you 
winter is nearly over !

(tell me, and I send you some seeds !)

woensdag 15 mei 2013

mandala Wednesday ... and a new family member

Tonight was the last time 
we came together with our mandala group for this season
(in September we begin anew)
It was the last time for the four elements :
fire, earth, air and water,
all together in one person

(don't know where the aurora borealis "came from" but I like it)
*

Earlier today arrived a rather B I G envelope !
In it, was a wonderful new member 
for my "felted family" !!!

This clever, perhaps a bit impertinent, but als lovely fellow
is made by my dear blogging-friend Gabi !
She really makes the most wonderful felted animals
(that's where I learned to make mine  ;-)  !)

As soon as I saw this fox some days ago 
I knew he had to come over to me.
I'm glad he arrived safe and sound

I lóve the little polymer clay feather
that Gabi attatched to his dungarees.
It has delicate stripes and is a little gem !

Thanks again Gabi, we'll make him feel at home !



zondag 12 mei 2013

felt-exchange

My last piece for the felting-exchange 
was in fact too late,
so I did the one for this month 
right after I finished that one 
It's in the mail already
pffffffffft in time.

These were the photos of the spiral piece 
that for some dark reason I couldn't load last time

This time the theme was rhythm
(with no specifics for colour)

I used the same dark purple background for this one
(yes, it is purple, but that colour always turns more blue when photographed !) 

I gently prefelted the background and dried it a bit, 
otherwise it's hard to get the needle through !




rhythm



donderdag 9 mei 2013

details

Yesterday I went with my friend W to Gouda
where we were "on duty" at the exhibition.

There were nice people visiting 
and the fun part was talking to them
about all the beautiful Art Quilt pieces
(even talked to some people from the US
and a lady from Belgium)

In between I had the opportunity 
to take some extra pictures of 
details







so many different ways of telling a story


Finally :  "me" hanging in this wonderful spot
in the doorway (so you can see both sides) 
in the stairwell
with the special lighting feature
that changes colour every second 

(If you click with the right mouse button on the photo
and then click on "open in a new window"
you can see the much bigger picture)


maandag 6 mei 2013

a dye day and felt-exchange day

We have some lovely Spring weather 
the garden looks stunning : 
after the dull wintertime
the earth has turned green all over.
The different flowerbulbs give us lots of colour
and the Forget-me-nots are filling up the rest.
I looove when the Malus is in bloom


Yesterday I started brewing a pot with onion skins
with a strip of thin cotton cloth (IKEA curtain)
and put some fresh red Maple leaves 
and leaves of the New Dawn Rose
in between the layers
This morning I opened the package 


Aaaaaah : só promising when still wet ...
and I immediately rolled another one and added some new onion skins

So sorry that the Maple leaves almost disappeared
just some vague bluish colour ...

*

Then it really was about time 
to start my (April !) felting-exchange piece !

(something funny happening with the making-of pics so only this finished one)

The theme was "spirals"
(and I used the requested colours)

When it's dry it will come your way Judith !