The Last Day of March

Just in time to wish you a very Happy Easter!

I really hope that you've had a beautiful day.

The catkins are dancing in the breeze, blossom is showing us fluffy flowers

against a blue sky.

Daffodils are still blooming

Dark chocolate Easter bunnies have been nibbled

and Honey Cat is happy just to enjoy life and the sunshine on my balcony!

Some tender pink blossom bringing us joy

Stretching flowery boughs up to the blue of the sky.

Cheery daffodils all in a row

and yellow Forsythia after the rain.

The first butterfly of the season

enjoying the blossom.

One day this past week, I went down to the lake and walked along

a pathway lined with flowering Magnolia trees.

It had rained quite heavily the day before.

Despite the residual clouds, it was much warmer and there was fresh snow

on the mountain peaks.

I sat on a bench contemplating this view and treated myself

to a vanilla ice-cream on a stick, covered in dark chocolate!

Sometimes, you just have to do what you fancy, don't you?!

I hope these pictures and words find you in good spirits and enjoying

the good things that come your way.

See you sometime in April with more spring images.

In the meantime,

"Don't wait, love your life right now!"

My Blog Disappeared and Has Been Found

 

It's already the month of February 2024

and my blog disappeared for me last April 2023!

Don't ask me how or why, but here I am again.

This 2024 calendar was given to me by my son as it celebrates my special birthday

last year with a zero on the end.

He took me on an unforgettable holiday to France near a town called Annecy.

This was the view from my hotel room.

Wasn't I lucky!

It will impossible to catch up so many months from last year, but I will tell you about 

a very important decision I made!

I decided to adopt a little kitten!

Here she is at only 3 weeks old when I chose her from a litter of seven.

I named her Honey

She would be able to come and live with me when she was three months' old!

This is Honey when she came to live with me when she was three months old.

Her colouring is just coming in .

Her breed is British Shorthair and her colouring is called Golden Black-Shaded.

At three and a half months.

Her shading is more apparent and her eyes are changing from blue to a mixture of gold and green.

This is Honey now at ten months.

Her fur has thickened and is described as 'plush' and it's very soft and silky to the touch.

She's sitting on her adopted chair for which I crocheted a cover that matches her colouring and eyes!

You can tell, by the number of photos of my little cat in this blog entry,

that she has become a very important part of my life!

She has a sweet nature and loves to play.

At the beginning of February, my son and his wife came over from Canada

and they rented a chalet in the mountains, called Haute Nendaz.

My daughter and I went up to spend some time with them and enjoy the views and walk in the snow.

This photo was taken from their chalet at sunrise.

When the early morning sun illuminates the mountain tips.

So beautiful!

Here we are in the snow coming up the hill on a kind of moving escalator.

My son, his wife, me and my daughter with her arms outstretched!

Then it was Valentine's Day and out came my crochet hook to create hearts.

I even found heart-shaped candles.

I've had the two heart-shaped dishes for a while now.

These are double-sided and stuffed hearts and perfumed with Neroli to give to my walking group.

We get together every Friday to walk, sometimes in my neighbourhood,

sometimes higher up - or a little futher afield.

Neroli is an essential oil produced from the blossom of bitter oranges.

Its scent is sweet an honeyed, but definitely not sickly, thanks to green and spicy undertones.

A heart-shaped candle

Slightly bigger stuffed hearts, made for a family reunion.

A walk with family above the lake just before sunset.

On the same walk in the Lavaux area.

In my neighbourhood, the first signs of spring as the daffodils spear the autumn leaves

as they push through the earth!

About ten days' ago, the catkins were getting plumper and filling with pollen.

bobbing about against the lovely blue sky.

I took this photo this morning as I came off the bus from downtown marketing.

The catkins are getting very long now. 

They seem to be telling the holly bush, and red berries, in the background

that spring is definitely on the way.

I do hope that you are all well, those of you who still pop in to visit this photo journal.

Quote of the day:

"What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal

on what you bring to the New Year."

***

Hello April!

Emerging from hibernation!

The first spring flowers have been gracing our gardens for a little while now.

I am also appearing again with all these colourful blooms.

It is true that I had some frustrating computer problems and when they were resolved,

I found it difficult to get back into regular blog entries.

Anyway, here we both are: the spring and me!

The first Camellia on my bush this year

A walk along the lake in the small town of Montreux

The daffodils and pansies were blooming as well as a beautiful Magnolia tree.

An elegant swan and her reflection glided along

The Cherry Blossom here in Lausanne has been beautiful

Another day with a walk along the lake in the town of Morges.

The band of cloud and its reflection create an eye-catching design in the frame.

Closer to home, the beautiful pink Magnolia are blooming

and I managed to capture these still looking lovely despite the frequent rain showers

we've been having.  We have had moments of blue sky too.

Pretty against the greenery in the park.

Yesterday, we had two hours of sunshine and blue skies breaking through the clouds.

I loved seeing the reflections in this modern building downtown!

The Anemone looking so bright and cheerful in a public garden.

There have been new crochet projects and this is a lacy shawl which I recently finished.

I took it on a walk with me to be able to take pictures in nature!

Another photo on a wall.

I picked these tiny pansies from my balcony garden and put them in a circular vase.

I thought that the colours went rather well

with the Rainbow Blanket I made last year.

You can read about this blanket here:

The Month of Roses

I hope that all my blog visitors who comes to visit me here

are all quite well.

I look forward to connecting with you again!

The Christmas Spirit

The little crystal Gingerbread House always gets displayed in my home in December

It's made by Swarovski.

There were several snowfalls, but sadly it didn't last for very long.

A few autumn leaves were still hanging on

until some strong winds blew them away.

The colder days inspired me to make hot and comforting meals:

Risotto rice with cheese and courgettes and bell peppers

with a small glass of light red wine.

I don't have a Christmas tree this year, 

but I like to create candlelit scenes around my home.

This little snow-capped wooden house, which holds a candle,

was given to me by my grandson a few years' ago.

One day this week, I crossed the lake from Lausanne to Evian in France.

It only takes 35 minutes.

Although the weather was fairly grey, it wasn't too cold.

It was lovely to take the steam boat which was going on a luncheon cruise afterwards.

The clouds were clearing on the Swiss side as we left the port.

The front part of the boat, with the French flag flying, shows us grey weather ahead.

Inside the warmth of the boat, the Christmas decorations were beautiful.

With big red bows either side of the staircase leading up to the upper level.

By the late afternoon, the weather had become sunny

and the snowcapped mountains were bathed in light.

By the time I took the boat back to my side of the lake, the clouds had returned,

but the sunset was still beautiful.

At home, a cheeky little angel brings in the Christmas spirit

I've been crocheting some snowflakes to hang up.

I used a white yarn with a metallic thread running through.

Today is the Winter Solstice in the Norther Hemisphere.

It is when the days are at their darkest.

I hung up six snowflakes against two of my windows and I took this photo this morning

just as the day was starting to lighten the sky.

The colourful bokeh is created from the lights in the houses on the other side of the road.

I've been busy crocheting a two-sided cushion cover to match my Winter Blanket.

Now the two sides have been joined together with red yarn.

This is the other side of the cushion.

The traditional Christmas Cookies are being made.

Everyone's favourite are Viennese Crescents made with almonds.

The Christmas garland is on the wall

Let's shine!

In the true sense of the word.

Let's shine for ourselves

so that we may shine for others.

Where there is darkness, may there be light

Where there is sadness, may there be also joy

Where there is solitude, may there be a hand reaching out

Where there is despair ... let us give hope.

Every evening I light my red candle whose flame is reflected in the window.

Wishing all who visit me here, a very Joyful Christmas

and a Healthy New Year!

Sandra