another beginning

After aproximately two weeks of ice and snow

it started raining warm water last Sunday.

The neat white covering 

disappeared rapidly over night.

But look what I discovered this morning

Little green sprouts sticking up their heads through the mud :

covered by the thick snow blanket 

they were probably getting ready,

thinking the time would be right

.....

we'll see, in the near future ...

The bright yellow Eranthis (winterakoniet) are always the first to pop up.


(Aaaaah ... still a loooong wait for Sus .....)

*

EXTRA
There is an important but not so nice story here for people who like felting !

a rose ... and a beginning

Since it's almost the end of the month

I had to make haste to finish 

the little felting-exchange piece.

Ha, just like last month

I made a serious mistake 

so I had to do it all over again

(that's learning ... is it ?)

I had to make something with flowers or leaves

and it just jumped into my mind :

a rose

is a rose

is a rose

(the first ánd second attempt)

Almost dry and waiting for a few stitches ...

it's on its way now to J.

*

Last Stitch'nBitch-Saturday I went to Rotterdam,

but if the weather had been as bad as it would turn out later

I probably would have stayed at home !!!

Snow and an icy wind :

not so nice when you're on your bike ! 

We were five, who defied the bad weather ...

and ofcourse it was fun 

as I showed my trumpet flowers of Loani Prior

I got an e-mail of the "Queen" 

about the pattern of her double-knitted scarf !

Though it took me quite some time looking at You-Tube 

to manage the double-knit

.....

I started a gauge swatch today

(with two skeins of Noro Kureyon Sock 

that were patiently waiting in my stash)

with the result 

a "positive" and "negative" side

.....

yeeeeaaaah !

Thanks Loani !

trumpets

Last weekend we sounded the "trumpets"

for our birthday boy :

9 years old !

Blowing the candles 

(and making a wish ... ?)

*

And there were other "trumpets" that I found here.

When I'm honest I must confess 

that I'm not thát keen on tea cosies myself ...

Though I must really laugh when I see all those fun designs 

Loani Prior comes up with :

she really is the Queen of tea cosies !!!

But these little trumpet flowers came with a free pattern 

I simply hád to try

A little leftover Noro Kureyon Sock did the trick

Mmmmmmmmm ...

lovely little trumpets !

*

In the garden we have lots of food for the birds,

they badly need it, in this snowy cold wintertime !

Sparrows, finches, all kinds of tits and the occasional robin,

blackbirds, starlings and turtledoves ...

While the water is frozen

the moorhens often seek a safe place high up on the pergola

... because there are cats wandering around on the ice !!!

(Aaaaah just too bad : all that snow makes the ice

unsuitable for skating ...)

nice and cold

The grandchildren visited us today :

the youngest one in his child seat on mom's bike.

Because of the cold weather

he had cheeks like little red apples !

 He adores the cáts

(and they like hím)

Oooooh, how he loves their long soft swishing tails 

Yes ... they (still) like him ...

* 

Cóld weather is sóck weather !

I had to make a short (painless) visit to the dentist again today

so :

wearing my new socks 

and another pair started to knit on the boat.

Another ball Magico 

(Meilenweit , Lana Grossa)

The cold freezing weather makes that 

the ice skate fever is building up in Holland ! 

13 - 1 - 13

Oooh, what a wonderful bright and cold 

Sunday

We went to a birthday party 

and when we drove back, there was this thin slice of moon

kind of lying on it's back

but you could detect the shadow of the rest

A wonderful sight !

(no picture, my moon pictures always go wrong)

*

On the boat yesterday to the Stitch'nBitch group

I did what I always do :

knitting !

The work on the mitered red vest is nearing the end 

as to knitting squares, 

only the half ones at the bottom need to be done.

But I also have something simple with me, because

 talking and knitting 

not always goes together quite well,

so these are my latest socks

(Magico yarn) 

(Ha, also have the wonderful "mystery" socks to continue

with the pink yarn J gave me for my birthday,

but that's NO option doing while talking) 

finally fixed

Pffffffffffffffft

Sometimes the solution to a problem is quite simple

though it's not always the thing you want !

Well, Blogger / Google made me do things

I didn't want to but left me no alternative

(at least I'm not clever enough to find an alternative)

Let's move on !

* 

My face is better, thank you,  

;-)

So much better I dared go to the Stitch'nBitch group

in Rotterdam today

which was lovely.

At last I'm able to show the little pieces

of felt I made for December.

I finished ánd sent them both

(as a kind of bonus for being too late)

This was the first one where I forgot to add the black and white prefelt

And this the second one I made. 

With the stitching, I mirrored the black and white circles.

 (now I can start with the next one !)

HA ! felting is só much fun :

you can't start early enough !

(not so) nice

Ha, what a way to begin the new year :

last friday I went to the dentist

(a two-hour appointment !)

Now the pain is over but when I look in the mirror

I would hardly recognize myself

when the right side of my face was doubled !

I'm glad our youngest grandson

didn't start to cry right away

But what must be done

must be done

*

All the busy felting for the Fair prevented me

from doing the little felt for the felt-exchange in time :

I started it on the second to last day of "last" year ...

and made a mistake.

So, I made a new one on the second day of this year

But then I thought :

why not finish them both ?

And that's what I did !

OOOOOH  NO ! 

Blogger acting funny again uploading photo's !!!!!

The envelope went in the mail this afternoon. 

Patience again, till I sorted this out !

*

January  9  Wednesday :

Still NO solution for my problem !!!