November Takes a Bow

A pink rose in my neighbourhood.

The first half of November was warm with blue skies

and many flowers continued blooming

for our greatest joy!

Leaves started to turn golden and orange and the red berries were plentiful

Falling leaves decorate the cars in my street

These Lantana flowers were still flowering down in the park.

The graceful white Cosmos too.

Probably one of the most beautiful leaves in the autumn

are the Maple, especially against the blue of the sky.

This tree is in my neighbourhood

The fallen leaves create a carpet of red and orange stars.

Some of them get caught in the fence

Golden leaves and generous blue skies for the month of November

I often pass a whole fence of Morning Glory blooms

when I walk home from the metro stop which brings me up away from the town centre.

American Oak leaves down in the park

right at the beginning of the month when the beech trees in the background

still had green leaves.

Now the autumn chrysanthemums have been planted and these were joined

by a fallen Tulip Tree leaf.

Pretty cloud formations dance in the sky

The wind coaxes them into different shapes continually

My daughter had her birthday at the end of October and she came to celebrate it

here at the beginning of November and we all ate birthday cake!

I made this one with dark chocolate and ground almonds.

I recently heard about something called Fika.

Fika is an important part of Swedish culture where people meet mid-morning,

or mid-afternoon for a 'fikarast' or 'fikapaus' for a coffee (or drink of one's choice)

with preferably a cinnamon bun, or something similar.

This was taken on November 7th, when I started crocheting squares

to make a winter blanket!

Here are some of the different stages

I chose the colours to represent frost and snow and snug winter days.

Can you recognize the squares that make you think of holly and red berries?

I hope to finish this blanket by mid-December.

I also crocheted some lightly stuffed hearts to give as gifts.

The pattern is called Sunburst Hearts and is from a pattern by Bunny Mummy

Since there will soon be no more flowers or colour in nature,

I wanted to end this blog entry with a collage of colour.

The days are still getting shorter and the temperatures are going down.

We'll soon be getting zero Celsius at night

and then there will be snow!

I hope that you're enjoying the season and using these long evenings for occupations

that you really enjoy!

Emerging from the Summer's Heat

 

I did not plan to take a two-month break from my blog,

but the repeated heatwaves just sapped all my energy

and computer time was not my priority!

These lovely sunflowers are growing from a plant on my balcony.

One day, this charming white butterfly visited my lavender plant and stayed there

for a whole hour. I couldn't quite believe it!

The windflowers (or Japanese Anemone) always flower towards the end of the summer.

This one growing in my neighbourhood is particularly lovely.

The roses are still blooming, much to my delight!

There were many trips down to the lake

and this was taken in the town of Vevey

I like the bright red Impatiens flowers and the lovely shadows of the railings.

This is one of two statues made of bronze just beyond the railings.

A water-sprite riding a seahorse.

I love seeing cloud formations in the sky.

This one seemed to be promising rain which did come in the night, but not enough.

It's so dry everywhere.

Can you guess what this is?

Returning from one of my walks, I saw this reflection of the sky

in the back windscreen of a parked car.

I liked the surreal quality of the seemingly 'floating' windscreen wiper!

There has been a lot of crochet during the months of July and August

mostly smaller items and in cotton because of the heat.

This is a bunting I made to hang up.

It was really fun to make.

African Violet Granny Square

On August 15th, it was Granny Square Day.

This is one of the nine that I made.

This year, I discovered iced coffee

It made a delicious refreshing drink after lunch instead of a small, hot espresso!

The days are getting a little cooler now

and this week, our temperatures are around 25 - 26C

which is a great improvement from 33-36C that we had in the heat of the summer.

I had to take my walks very early in the mornings

and then I pulled down the blinds to stop the beating sun from overheating my apartment.

I had a ventilator (fan) in each room

and sometimes it was necessary to have it switched on at night to be able to sleep.

Now I am beginning to enjoy the cooler days and especially the cooler nights.

I have lots of photos from the summer and my favourites will find their way onto my blog.

I have a feeling that there may be weekly blog entries for quite a while.

Each dawn

is a new beginning

Every day

we can start anew

Tiny crescent moon

leant back and smiled

in hues of pink and blue.

Early Morning Walks

During our heatwave, with temperatures reaching 32C,

I've been doing my walks very early in the morning.

Sometimes leaving home as early as 5.30 am.

Many of my outings have taken me to one or other of the parks. 

I did love these bright pink Hollyhocks.

The bees love them too

I often go down to the bigger park as I love the tall trees there

and the little pond with a bench right next to it.

This is the very early morning sunshine.

Here's another entrance and I really appreciate the shade of those beech trees.

The path is still wet as it rained in the night.

Don't you just love being surrounded by greenery?

I took this photo this morning around 7 am, just as the sun rose high enough

to filter between the trees and illuminate the grass.

There are beautiful flower beds of hydrangea

Both dark and lighter pink

Here's the little pond and you can see the bench on which I sat to have my picnic breakfast.

There are lily pads and lots of waterlily buds

The Agapanthus flowers are starting to open

against a bubbly green and blue bokeh in the background.

One morning, I sat by the fountain and a tiny robin perched on the lower part.

You can see him on the left in front of the pink hydrangeas.

Click on the photo to see all images in a larger size.

One morning, I met a friend in the nearby lakeside town of Morges.

I have to take the train to get there and I left home at 6 am

to be there before 7 am.

We sat at a lakeside terrace with this lovely view to have breakfast.

It was so hot that particular day, that we walked in shady spots 

and finished up on on a bench in the shade to eat a water ice and drink water!

Two more delicate Agapanthus looking fresh and summery against a house

with closed shutters.

A collage of the flowers blooming on my balcony garden right now_

Geraniums, Carnations, Begonias, Zurfinia (in the middle) and yellow daisies.

The Begonias on their own with the greenery from a big tree to the right of my balcony.

My homegrown strawberries

which were small but delicious.

My lavender which the bees just love

The Gaillardia flowers as they develop. 

They are just in front of the kitchen.

As for crochet, I made a sunflower granny square and then a second one

to make a little shoulder bag which is useful for my mobile phone, keys and a small purse

when I go out locally with my camera.

I've also started a new project in the form of a ripple throw in fresh colours.

 I crochet less when it's hot, but even a row or two helps the projects move forward.

I hope that you have been enjoying this month of June.

It's lovely to have the longer days, but I prefer it when it isn't too hot!

My favourite temperatures are between 20 and 24C.

How about yours?