22 - 12 - '22

Quiet December time.
Winter but not really winter
only a short time of frost and ice (skating : 
though not for us anymore !)
(Luckily it isn't as cold as it is in the US right now !!)

Felting small things :
Yara is generous with all kinds
of fun little projects for Xmas !
I myself am busy felting small things
as presents . . .
(so hardly anything to show, YET !)

But this MISTLETOE is really doing the trick :
I've been kissed under it quite a few times !

XXX

The shortest day and longest night
of the Winter Solstice went by :

it is so dark when you get up and the light is gone
late afternoon . . .

Youngest grandson has his Xmas dinner at school
and they baked (here) nice pizza rolls
to take with him.

Still a few days to go to Xmas
still a few things to do
(though Man has nearly done
all the shopping for it)
. . . . .
we're ready for it  !

:-)

P.S. :
because the photo didn't want to load
midnight was already gone and a new date there

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 !

stitches by machine and hand

This sunny week started

with a "bunting-day"

because our youngest grandson

came to us from school on his birthday !

(special vegan brownies by granddad)

The new backpack as a present needed

a bit of a personal touch !

A bit of sketching,

a trick to transfer it to the felt

and then I took my machine out to stitch.

Here the result ready to insert into the plastic sleeve

in the flap of the bag !

AFBLIJVEN

(Hands off)

One happy boy

*

Because the free challenges of TextileArtist.org are now finished

(and it goes on as a subscription per month)

it doesn't mean that there is no more stitching !

There was one piece in the challenges I liked very much :

blue, and there were lots of leaves in it

and a lot of stitching!

I asked the South-African lady if it was okay

if I used the leaves too.

So on my normal glue-stitched background

I added some leaves

and started stitching as usual.

Done !

(I like the result, though it's not totally mine)

*

The challenge of Christine Chester
was sent to a dear hard working health-care friend,
with 5 older stitched pieces to thank more people.
*

Sunny days

so the garden needs water !

But then

you get something !

Iris germanica

I heard once that you don't have to be too nice to those bearded irises :

we weren't very nice with all the digging for the new fence,

was surprised they even survived ...

BUT

love the result !

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

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")

Easter holiday over

Warm sweaters and home-knit socks

it was the best to wear
these Easter holidays !

But in the end

we had this cold but sunny day :

just right to look for Easter eggs 

a big basket to be filled ...

(the garden is so green ... I hope we found them all )

Man made a big browny cake

and we had a lovely dinner at the end of the day.

I used up a lot of Saturday (at the St'nB)

and Sunday doing very tiny crochet

with some of the "birthday-balls" of fine "Scheepjes" cotton !

I made some extra presents

a tiny monkey !

The youngest grandson adores his "Jacobus" monkey(s)

daughter made for him when he was born

and he still sleeps with them !

So when I saw this tiny crocheted monkey

.....

I had to try make one !

(sorry ... only in Dutch)

Though the tiny pieces gave me a headache

(and I could hardly hold them between my fingers !)

I managed to finish one ...

and started on the next !!!

For big brother   ;-)   ... they both LOVE green !

(the "girls" had some crochet flower for their key ring) 

I really LOVED the challenge

but

making tiny amigurumi will NOT be my new hobby !!!

(though I might try one or two .....)

birthday (and more)

I love birthdays,

even my own that says I'm a year older ...

A day to remember you're there,

count your big and small blessings

and enjoy the company

of family and friends.

It was a quiet day with lovely people

(which was good considering the circumstances of

the last two "unpleasant busy" weeks)

Many balls of thin cotton (Scheepjes Maxi Bonbon)

to use for some fine crochet.

And of course lots of flowers (for inside and outside)

*

Because Easter is near

I made some felted eggs.

(thanks felt-friend Tine, for the idea)

*

Of course I owe you the last picture

of mister "Starry Eyes"

It might lóók as though nothing much has changed

but there are hundreds more stitches.

*

The garden is more and more blue every day

Wishing you all a lovely Easter weekend

(though it will be rather COLD here !)

PARTY !!!

Oh my, what a weekend !!!

In April I had my birthday with a nice round number

and Man will soon have his birthday,

also a nice number,

so we wanted to throw a big

PARTY 

this summer.

Yesterday was the DAY !

A lot of our friends and relatives

were able to come

to the "THEETUIN" in Rijsoord

for a sumptuous lunch there.

For the children there

was lots they could do, outside or inside.

The lunch ánd dessert buffet

was outstanding.

(One of our friends even made a song for us !)

We had such a good time

having all these dear people together !

The weather

(we really have an "Indian Summer" right now)

was nice too, though not too hot yesterday.

So

THANK  YOU  ALL !

Ada, Anita, Anja, Anne Julia, Bob, Brenda,

Damian, Daniëlle, Danny, Delphine, Dylan, Gene,

Hans, Harold, Ilse, Jaïr, Jan, Jeannet, Jef, Joke,

Lara, Larisa, Lia, Luuk,

Maartje, Madelon, Marijke, Mario, Marja, Mick, Mireille,

Naylsa, Nina, Onno, Patrick, 

René, Rhonda, Roos,

Sacha, Silvia, Sophia, Sven,

Valerie, Willem en Yvonne,

it was a day to remember !!!

(most of them gone now as goodbye present .....  ;-) ..... )

*

On Saturday daughter and I

plus the two big grandchildren

were with out stall with felt and other stuff

on the "Open Monumenten Dag" near Oud-Beijerland.

The sun was shining all day and we were glad

there were some big walnut trees for some shadow.

Working n the shade it was better than in the sun !

We met some lovely people,

stall holders and customers,

but I was pleasantly surprised

when someone called out my name :

My dear blogging-friend Sandra,

she's the one who convinced me to go blogging, 

at the end of Jude's "Beasts" class ...

We finally met in real life !!!

What a bonus to a lovely day !

*

And of course busy with new things ...

(necklace in the making) 

September ?

Oh my, September already indeed !

Not much stitching was done after

"Vincent's Cat" was finished.

(that's the way it is with me :

I need some time-out before I can start

on something new ...)

Though I've been doing the "Dong"

folded good-luck charms

(I need a lot of them)

so busy with that.

Ien  Rappoldt's little booklet

 (so far 38)

Another one nearly finished.

This one close up.

It is fun finding new ways of wrapping them

.... uhmm ....

kind of addictive !