birthday and painting

Yesterday
I had a lovely birthday with friends
and there will be more celebrating this Sunday :
a dinner party for a special round-figure birthday !

80


Right now the garden is looking lush with blooming trees and new greenery
(haha, birthday beauty for me !)

Just some days ago I started a new gouache painting.
After the initial idea sketch I made a bigger one 
with more elaborate details,
one ready to move onto the heavy water colour paper.
(I often use a grid for that)

I work in layers, starting with the background.
Earlier on I made the whole background in one colour
but with gouache, unlike acrylic paint,
the pigment dissolves again when the next wet layer is added
(colours start mixing !)
So now I changed that and leave certain parts open.

This far I finished today.

 

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Wat a lovely festive day it was today !
After a (very) quiet birthday on Friday
family and friends were visiting today.

Presents and LOTS of flowers

One of many beautiful bouquets !
(amazing, where these out-of-season flowers come from
hmmmm glass houses of course)

Though NOT a sunny day
(in fact even cold)
the flowering trees in the garden
are bravely showing their colours (for me) !

The green points on the Ginkgo tree
are promising bright green leaves soon too.

Another small gouache painting finished and framed.

(detail)

last day of Mai . . .

Though it is cold
(for Mai)
we had such a splendid week :
the Harry Potter party
for out youngest grandson (10)

He, and his friends, will surely remember
this for ever and ever !

Daughter did a fantastic job organizing it all.

It was a kind of scavenger hunt
with stops at our and a friend's house

We had a lot to prepare beforehand,
and I could help her out to make some of the items needed.
We made wands.

(and a box that they would fit in)



A sign to go on the door.

And of course there had to be a Sorting Hat !!!

Though not all the preparations were successful :
like the test to make "slime", in MY kitchen (!)
(some awful gooey stuff children love to play with)


However, later at home with the right ingredients,
she made a good recipe for it.

There were also lots of things to try out potions !

On the big day we were lucky to have no rain
and eight children were eager to start !
After a bit of a walk and questions to answer
they arrived here to receive their wands !

From here they went to a friends house
to be "sorted" into their Houses.
They finally arrived at "Hogwarts"
to play some Quidditch,
made some frightful "Azkeban" videos,

make potions and that fun gooey stuff . . .
and of course !

And enjoyed
THE  BEST  PARTY  EVER !

a sunny (birth) day

Bright sunshine
is not always a birthday present for me
but this year it was !!!

This was how the day began !

(tiny Ginkgo leaves are just starting to emerge !)

Family and a dear friend came for coffee
and stayed for lunch.
Daughter and grandchildren
came over too with sooo many lovely presents !

And imagine this :
I used to make almost all the cloths
when daughter was little . . .
and now she makes a FUN jacket for me !!!


It's not finished yet :
a lot of quilting and also stitching still to do
but I LOVE it already !!!

So
a perfect birthday !

day 14

The 14th of October
is always a very special day in our family :
a birthday-day !
(and Man had a very very special birthday today)

So this time I had already worked ahead :
no time
for stitching with preparations in the morning, and
no time
for stitching with guests in the house !!!

But,
here is my PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel for day 14 :

a wet felted brooch, stitched with a dot of velvet
and many many beads and sequins.
(5cm   2")

For a donation of at least

€ 15

SOLD  !

this joyful jewel comes to you
to brighten up your sweater or jacket,  or
you have a wonderful present for someone dear !
All you need to do is send me an email at
fiberrainbow@gmail.com
(or tell me in the comments)
After that we'll arrange the rest.
(PayPal is possible and easy !)

ALL the money you donate goes to Pink Ribbon !

(in the hand of Man   :-)  !)

"DEEP BLUE SEA"

Tomorrow . . . .. 

there will be a new Textile Jewel for
Pink Ribbon !
Hope to see you again

can you believe it : 21

When you have a pet
you never know in advance
how long you will enjoy its company.
We (kind of) inherited daughter's Burmese cats
(brother and sister)

We had to let go of the big brown brother Bagheera

in January 2017

BUT

little blue sister

BELLA

(still going "strong")

has her  21st  birthday today !!!

Well,
she doesn't jump on the kitchen counter anymore
(but I have to lift her up)
to have her drops of water from the tap,
(which is much better than the water in your bowl !!)
she walks slowly and a bit shaky,
but she loves her food
(tells us when it's REALLY time for a bit more,
and asks for her cat treats
when Man comes down in the morning,
she loves to sit on your lap
but thinks her cushion is a fine place too
as long as we place it on the floor in the sun
or even outside.

She is a dear old lady
and all of us hope to have her around still a bit longer

wordless Wednesday

quiet ...

A bit too quiet perhaps

.....

but lots of loooong telephone conversations :

that was my 2020 birthday.

Man went shopping very early

and brought sole for dinner

and sunny flowers !

In the garden the flowering Malus and the very first Bluebell

(one that survived the garden-makeover

but I hope there will be more ...)

And then, late in the afternoon :

(after I already reconciled with the very quiet day)

the surprise visit of daughter with two grandsons

and presents !

A wonderful birthday after all

another year ...

A lovely day

with friends and family !

Though it with extreme cold outside for April

inside it was a warm bath with lovely people

A big boy and a small boy

playing together

(checkers)

A lovely (birth)day

Preparing and especially washing dishes was quite a bit of work,
but every bit of effort was worth it!

18 - 5 - 18

It is soooo hard to remember

how small he was :

our birthday boy of today !

Six years ago to the day :

only a few hours he had to stay in the incubator,

just to keep warm.

He's such a big boy now compared to this !!!

Though his legs are almost getting in the way,

he still loves to play with the wooden cart

(that his big sister and brother used before him)

Tomorrow we will throw a BBQ party for him !

*

The garden is still flowering like mad

Drawing each and everyone takes time ...

(much easier to take pictures !)

:-)

a very quiet ...

birthday

(that's what I had today,

but next week some more people will 

catch up !)

So Man and I had a flowery, quiet, but sunny day

after daughter and her dearest friend came by, 

before leaving on the Fast Ferry to Rotterdam,

bringing some very nice presents !!!

What a little treasure daughter found for me !

*

Another tiny painting was completed yesterday

Daisy

Madelief

Gänseblümchen

(only 7 x 7 cm

2.75 x 2.75")