something red !

Ohhhhh what fun it was

when I received that wonderful envelope today !

both sides looked magnificent 

I think it was a joy to the postman as well

Inside was my third little felted piece

of our felting-exchange

(in fact it was the piece that belonged to March

but the maker already warned me that it would be later

due to all kind of things,

ha : she kind of lost it .... hi, hi, hi)

Well, it was more than worth waiting for !

Thank you very much Helma.

I studied all sides 

and admired all the stitching

(by machine and by hand)

and then I even discovered a tiny snap

so you can open it up !

Of course I had to take pictures 

together with my little garden owl !

I think they look great together, don't they !

Thanks again, Helma !

child's play

The sun came out again today !

 

So good to enjoy some sunshine in the garden.

 

While I was sitting there

I decided to take some pictures

of the wonderful little jungle next to the water, of

Solomon's seal

 

(Polygonatum multiflorum)

 

Then I heard some children playing

on the other side of the little canal :

they have a week of school holiday

and exploring the water's edge is always fun !

 

A little later one of them came back

took off his shoes (again) ...

 

en stepped carefully into the water

 

... a little fisherman ?

(I don't think he was looking for a fish

like the one on his Tshirt !)

 

*

In the afternoon daughter and her three children came by.

 

The little one liked my shoes so much

 

that he wanted to try them on

 

but walking wasn't that easy !

 

He also found the baskets that were used on Easter

but there were no hidden chocolate eggs left !

What a pity.

 

 

 

 

exchange

Due to my clumsiness

with the kitchen knife,

I'm a bit late with my felting exchange

(but it might be just in time

if it gets in the mail tomorrow)

 

My theme for this month was

"nature"

(it even could be abstract)

 

 

This picture, that I took in the beginning of the month,
I had as inspiration.

 

I used Bergschafwolle

It comes in batting and is easy to lay out

 

I Always lay out on a template so I know

it will be postcard size after felting

 

 

Wet after a few rolls and drying with the template under it

to compare the size.

 

Ready to go in the mail,

only with a few stitches as focus.

 

*

Yesterday

it was the first "Kings day" in Holland

since we now have a king instead of a queen.

Lots of things are organized, but ...

we just did some cycling in the nearby surroundings.

 

(ha, love these cows with their big white stripe

like they're bandaged !)

 

Some of our famous windmills

were adorned with the national flag

because of the special day

 

;-)

 



a fun day

 

Yesterday

the Easter Bunny had a lot of fun

hiding the chocolate eggs,

this time for real.

 

Though there were drops of rain through the day

that didn't interfere

with the "big search"

 

 

For the little one it was all new

and he didn't quite understand what

big sister and big brother were doing all the time :

he liked his little basket

but didn't want anything in it

 

and threw the egg out as soon as

it was put in his basket.

 

Mister Bunny had an easy job hiding the eggs :

the garden is lush and green already.

 

HA !

you may not see his face clearly

but due to the raindrops

a slug

had climbed on top of one of the eggs

(yuk)

.....

 

After the first bite

 

the little one liked what "Easter eggs" tasts like.

 

*

 

Today I received my next

RED

piece of the felting-exchange

 

Ahhh, so sorry it doesn't fit my wrist ...

 

It came with a lovely card in colour

 

Thanks very much Joke !

 

 

(my own piece I'll have to send  this month

is a bit late due to the nasty encounter with the knife,

but will now soon be ready)

ready ... GO !

 

Yesterday evening

my Easter Bunny looked finished

 

but was not !

 

When making a wet felted animal like this

you build up the whole figure with

soft gentle felting

...

Later on

 

the rubbing gets a lot harsher ...

 

and a very good soak afterwards !

(and then ... still a lot of harsh rolling in a towel)

 

But now,

after all weathered hardships,

mister Bunny is quite ready

for his important task tomorrow :

hiding yummy chocolate eggs

for the grandchildren !

 

(he did a bit of a try-out today)

 

He did it quite well

 

so he enjoyed the sun afterwards

with his basket emptied.

 

*

 

Ahhhhhhhh

 I couldn't help myself : simply HAD to make this picture

 

of the lovely sock yarn daughter is knitting with

and the gorgeous Bluebells !





easter bunny

Some people are really good sock knitters.

A friend is.

She brought me this on my birthday

 

(only 24 stitches instead of the "normal" 60)

 

The last few days the cold came back.

So I was inside reading this time

(Ordinary people  by Judith Guest)

 because I cut my own finger

while cleaning the big kitchen knife.

Stupid.

Yes, it was.
 

Today I finally did some felting again

(with one surgical glove on my right hand)

 

Though it doesn't look like much yet

it's gonna be an

easter bunny

 

(I'm following Gabi's Filzhase PDF again)

 



There doesn't seem to be much progress

but many thin layers have been added

 

He's not finished yet

 

 but some weird splashes of colour are there

.....

 

 

(I hope he's ready to perform his duty, soon)

 

Wish you all

Happy Eastern

 

(with some Sunshine and yummy chocolate eggs)

 

 

birthday (14 - 4 - 14)

Ha !

This time the special date

coincides with ...

my birthday

 

I was awakened by a (creaky) voice singing Happy Birthday

(well, try for yourself, you're probably not a great singer in the morning either)

 

and a wonderful bunch of flowers

 

Family and friends visiting

 

brought lovely presents

(and more flowers !)

 

Guests for lunch, guests for dinner,

a wonderful day.

 

It often happens on this day that we can sit outside in the garden,

alas, it was much too cold and windy.

But

inside the sun was warm !!!

 

 

And the little one : 

was playing with everything that was around.

Turning the table upside down is easy,

sitting in it is fun,

but 



getting out again ...

seemed a bit of a problem !

Stolpersteine

 

Today we experienced a sad and emotional day.

 

 

My sister-in-law applied for the placing of three

stolpersteine

 

(stumbling blocks)

 

in the city of Dordrecht

in front of the house where her and my husbands

grandfather, uncle and aunt

had last lived

before they were taken away

and killed in Auschwitz.

 

Her and my husband's and two brothers'  mother Sofia

survived the war.

 

She had lived in that house with her father,

two brothers and sister,

their mother had died some years before the war.

 

 



She had married just before the war began

and had moved to Rotterdam

where she had her first son

(my husband)

Her oldest brother went into hiding

and survived too.

 

Her father, younger brother and sister

never came back.

 

For them

the German artist and initiator of  "Stolpersteine"

Gunter Demnig

placed three little stones

in front of their last home :

for us and everyone else

to remember.

 

Three great-grandchildren of Meijer De Liver

each gave a stone

which Gunter then put in the pavement

 

My sister-in-law held a short speech

and a friend finally

said kaddish

for Meijer, Mozes and Rosette

Amen

 

stitch and ..... ?

 

Sometimes all the other plans are going on hold

when something else jumps to my mind :

I thought ...

I needed to make something special

for a special friend.

 

Though I had serious felting plans for today,

this project came up

and got priority.

 

 

 A tiny sketch is most of the time enough for me

 

After that I made a new stash

of "wonder-undered" polyester velvet.
 

(first time round I didn't heat up the iron enough

or didn't stay on the stuff long enough to make

the wonder-under (vliesofix) stick ...

btw : always use baking paper to avoid

nasty things happening to your iron !) 

 

 

After all the preparatory steps

 

the stitching is the really fun part !

 

 

This is the back side

 

 

 

The stitching is done

and you know what ?

 

I really don't know yet if I will burn this one too

.......

 

(and no overall view,

this will be in the mail soon

and when it arrived safely

you'll see)

 

 

And now I'm off to my mandala evening

 

;-)