knocked out ... but it was fun

This morning the alarm went off early
because daughter and I were making our trip
to the market in Zeeland.

The forecast said sunny weather
but heavy thunderstorms late in the afternoon,
well, we would deal with that later.

When we arrived in bright sunshine
we set up the small marquee
(that we bought yesterday)

in a lovely spot next to a walnut tree.

One of the boxes with yummy stuff to unpack

After our two makeshift sides were fastened
there was quite a bit of wind
.....
would it remain standing ???

The wind was probably caused by some storm elsewhere
but it died down relatively quickly
pfffffffffffft !
(relieved)

THIS was what our stall looked like 

with daughter's wonderful sun-and-moon rug as focal point !!!

Daughter brought her spinning wheel

 and we had a little lottery for Pink Ribbon

Later the sun came out again and it became really hot !

Lots of friends visited and we sat together

in the shade of the walnut tree.

We got many compliments on our work

and we sold some items too    ;-) 

But the daughter of the owner made a tour along the stalls

in the afternoon, "that heavy rain was expected soon" !

That was the signal to end the fun ...

much earlier then intended.

But on the way back we still expected (and got) 

a lot of traffic on the road.

At home, Man had some dinner ready for us

and only then I realised how knocked out I was

but :

we had a fun day !

 (and we hope our buyers will be happy with their purchases)

many, many stitches

I work in waves.

Waves of felting,

knitting,

drawing,

stitching.

These last few days I did many, many, many stitches.

On the back of this number 2 tiny quilt

you can see them far better than on the front side

(hi hi hi, I like this picture)

It all started like this :

an idea, a glue-stitched background

and some snippets of cloth.

(this time most of the snippets came from Sus,

a lovely present she once sent me)

After a lot of stitches with one or two threads embroidery floss

.....

this is the final face,   meooooow !

But, as I mentioned before, I work in waves, so :

another start, number 3 : grass !

And

(it's getting monotonous)

many, many, many more stitches

.....

WHAT'S  THAT,  HIDDEN  IN  THE  GRASS ?

(I'm not cheating)

it's me : 

Cheetah 

(15  x  15cm)

Why am I working so hard ???

Daughter and I are going to a market on 2nd Pentecost

(this Monday)

in Ouwerkerk, Zeeland

(and I will also take these beauties with me)

Hope to see you there  ;-)

wordless wednesday

today felt like stitching

Suddenly came to me, that

today felt like stitching.

I collected some bits and pieces this morning,

then a book to read the last bit till the end,
and some other business after lunch ...

so late in the afternoon I finally could get started.

Three very thin layers to start with

and the pointy turquoise piece :

a star it would be.

Ofcourse I began with glueing the green

layers to the white base

(probably will never do it any different 

since learning that from Jude !)

It felt so good to stitch again

O yes, that black and white strip will be definately in there somewhere !

After dinner I continued till the daylight was fading  somewhat,

I don't like stitching with lamplight in summer.

Here's a friendly face

and the strip is so narrow

I could thread it through a needle and pull it through

to the front :

a star with a tail 

The project I was working on the last few days

has almost come to a standstill :

At this moment the ball of yarn is almost gone ...

and I'm NOT finished with the pattern !!!

So ...

what shall I do ?

Frog the last bit and make it smaller ?

Buy a new ball ?

Ask around if anyone has a bit of this colour left ?

?????

Don't know yet what to do

.....

(ha, that's funny, now that I see the pictures together :

similar colours !)

change in the garden

The heavy rains of some days ago are gone

and there is more sunshine again,

but the garden has changed.

The beautiful poppies are gone ofcourse,

but also the lots and lots of Allium roseum

are over now

no seeeds, but tiny tiny dark red brood balls,

each one a promise for a new plant

in the future ...

but ..... I have really enough of them 

so I cut or gently pull them out.

When I accidently also pull the white bulbs 

I cut them off and will keep them for a friend 

(so she can enjoy their abundance as well !)

But with these Alliums out, there's enough else left

enough so to take some flowers inside

(Rose, Nigella, Prunella, Phuopsis, Ornithogalum magnum) 

There is always something to do and to enjoy in a garden

*

Man is thinking about making a new stitch-and-burn mandala

a beautiful flower on its own

(keep you posted about the progress)

late and early

After all the beautiful sunshine days

you could say the weather today was 

disappointing.

In fact it rained alllllll day long.

What better way to use such a day

than to do someting that you should have done

a long time ago

Ha,  ofcourse there are a lot of such things ...

(like cleaning up the room I'm sitting in right now)

but in this case I mean

making this month's felting-exchange piece.

The theme was "parts" and "uniting"

The idea for it was long in my head,

but every time I wanted to get started

something else happened.

Four parts in dark lilac and three shades of turqoise,

at the side the colour of one part runs along the side of the next.

Four spikes in the same colours, put into opposite coloured parts.

Then I cut open the top layer.

I liked it this way, but ... as I have to send it in the mail 

I opted for this version.

HA ! then onto the next !

The theme for next month was a bit awkward :

"autumn colours"

(well, the exchange goes on for a whole year ....

and some people do love autumn best)

So, in the middle of the green spring : autumn !

First some different coloured spikes, then, they were covered with "autumn"

All felting by hand, otherwise the veins would have disappeared.

And then :

cutting into the surface of the veins 

to reveal the colours inside

;-)

Later in the afternoon

I sewed some seed beads and stitches 

on the "parts" one

Tomorrow both pieces will be in the mail

and I hope each one of the receivers likes her piece.

transient beauty

I'm always waiting for some special flowers 

to appear.

They're there one moment

...

and gone the next.

(well not thát quick of course ...

but in a manner of speaking short-lived)

Ta-daaaaah 

Papaver orientale

(a perennial plant)

Some years I wait and there's not a flower in sight

but this time :

three beauties together

(and more to come)

*

For my challenge with the embellisher

I made two more "lines"

"lifeline"

(without the string, the kite will fall down / die)

and

"washing line"

(I did the washing line another time 

because I wasn't satisfied with the first one)

Now waiting for Sara's next instruction, this weekend

;-)