water . . . and materials

When I need some new materials for my creative work
I make a visit to Rotterdam.
That I do by boat,
and to be more specific : me and my bike go by boat.
(that way I can move around more easily
than when I go by bus)

But since a while there is some extra water in the city . . .

right now, a bit quiet, BUT . . .

it can be rough too :
just right for a bit of surfing !!!
New entertainment, in the center of the city !

New odds and ends.

*

The garden in Mai is always great
but, right now in August
I'm quite happy with it too !!!

A few days ago daughter found this fun flower,
fallen from a tree in our village

But what a coincidence when I saw the mail
from the "National Tree Museum"
with a flower similar to this one !

I think it must be the

Albizia julibrissin

(the "Persian sleeping tree")

Sunday and Stitch

Yesterday I went to Rotterdam.

(of course by boat)

Right in the center they are still building :

high rise buildings

because the the building plots are limited

and extremely expensive

These buildings are just on a strip

where there are some small harbor basins,

which are not really in use anymore.

(though the big cruise ships moor there in the river)

Old warehouses are converted into apartments

I thought there was a fun market :

vintage and craft.

The clutter some people throw out

is a find for others.

There wasn't much I liked

(I have enough clutter of my own at home !)

And no craft whatsoever. 

So I had more time to visit a friend

who wasn't able to visit our party

The trip on the boat was just right

for some more stitching :

just a plastic zip lock bag with some thread,

my piece and scissors kept me busy all the way

I continued today

And I think I'm nearly done ...

*
You might remember what happened to my dear
New Dawn rose in July ?

Look at her NOW :

green and in bloom again !

if you only could smell
.........

:-)

s l o w l y ...

Oh yes,

things are going slowly

Don't know why,

they just do.

Here is my Solstice piece ...

but it won't be finished by far on the 21st !

Trying to capture the vibrant sunlight

in a lot of stitches !

Just taking the yellow threads as they are in front of me ...

* 

In the garden everything is green 

because of the many rainy days.

Flowers are struggling with the water

that keeps pouring down,

(with some sunshine in between )

(foxgloves and Phlomis)

But some seem not to mind the wet weather ...

like this little toad

(there are many !)

soooooo tiny !!!

*

Last Friday we were just lucky in Rotterdam :

the rain stopped long enough

to climb the giant (temporary) stairs

that lead up to the roof of a building next to the new Central Station

("Groothandelsgebouw")

Ahhhhh ... a pity :

only till tomorrow ...

Looking down at the Station Square

from the top of  stairs and the building

The wonderful rooftop with faaaaaaar away,

right in the middle, the "Euromast"

(that one is much higher, so you have an even  better view from there  ;-) ...)

three towers of an Oil rig       and more high buildings in the city center 

"Inside" the building

It was fabulous !

And the most fun part was all the people (total strangers)

got talking to each other about their childhood memories.

Because the City Center was destroyed in the beginning of WW II

all of it was build again from scratch.

A cold

It's still a rather cold Spring,

and now ... I've got A "cold"

(got it from Man : he waited a week to pass it on ...)

But stitching and knitting goes on as usual,

so I was in R'dam today.

(uhhhhm ... it's late now : so I must say yesterday)

(my petal scarf is still growing

and the second ball of yarn is almost done)

A lot of scissor pouches and jewels

are finished now.

 (it was a bit of a problem to find big enough snaps)

I mounted some of my little quilts on canvas too.

I painted the canvas so it matches the cloth.

I made two more biscornu,

looooove that shape !

*

Earlier this week we had a celebration 

for some special occasion with daughter and the kids.

We went to "Hotel New York" for it in Rotterdam.

That is the old building from where the big 

ocean liners went with passengers to America 

from 1871 for almost a hundred years.

(now only cruise ships)

(the building on the left, with the two green towers, is Hotel New York)

Mmmmmmmmmmm !

That was GOOD  !

to the "Stitch"

Almost every fortnight

I go to Rotterdam

for the Stitch'n Bitch group meeting

in an old pub in the city

(we are sitting on the second level that we can have all to ourselves :

there are few customers early Saturday morning

and the ones there are downstairs, don't hear our busy talking !)

My trip is by bike and boat :

a wonderful trip on this crisp sunny morning !

Nearly there

A little detour to do some early shopping

(Do you recognize some of it Nat ???)

The flower stalls on the market with their colourful display

ready for spring !

*

Then to the pub

for some coffee, tea and show and tell

What a lovely morning !