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)

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 !!!)

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 !)

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 !)

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 !

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

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)

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 !