The florist's are selling their uplifiting spring bulbs already.
I really liked this watering can planter filled with pink Hyacinths.
The words on the can say:
La Vie en Rose
Bleu Ciel
Plein de Soleil
Meaning:
Seeing life through rose-tinted glasses
Blue Sky
Lots of Sunshine
That first phrase, is best described as living with an attitude or outlook of positivity.
Trying to see the beauty in the everyday,
rather like when you first fall in love!
On January 6th, which is the Epiphany, it's tradition to eat a Galette des Rois.
They come in different forms, but the most delicious one is made with flaky pastry
and a ground almond filling.
There is always a tiny 'king' statue or similar figurine somewhere in the filling.
The person who gets the slice with the tiny king gets to wear the crown
and is king, or queen, for the day!
We had a few light snowfalls at the beginning of the month
and after watching the beautiful flakes float lazily from the sky,
I noticed my little glass dish of marbles catching the reflections from
the crochet cloth below.
Early one morning, there were beautiful pink and blue colours in the sunrise
and I ran out on the end of my balcony to capture them.
Can you see the tiny bird in the distance flying high?
It's very small, but if you click on the photo, you will see it better.
I set off for a walk to the higher part of my neighbourhood.
I love passing these tall poplar trees on the way.
The branches are still bare so early in the year, but look at that blue sky!
When I walk uphill for about half an hour, I can reach some fields.
They were quite muddy, so I only stayed at the edge to see the view on the mountains.
After a period of misty and fairly warm days, it became much colder again
bringing a big drop in temperatures, to about 2C in the daytime and below zero at night.
A few days of cold wind, blew the grey skies away and we are experiencing blue skies
and sunny days. It's so uplifting, don't you think?
A cheerful collage of yellow Primula flowers on my spring cloth.
Little sunshine flowers that remind us that days are getting longer and we shall soon
have gained a whole hour of daylight since the winter equinox on December 21st.
My deep red velvety Amaryllis gave me twelve beautiful big blooms
over a long period.
I love having these plants in my home over Christmas and the new year.
Now it is the turn of the pink striped Amaryllis.
It's so elegant and somehow feminine and delicate.
This is the very first bud.
Then a second one opened on the other side.
Here they are both together with two more buds to open up.
"Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees"
Lawrence Weschler
I've always enjoyed creating the abstract quality of subjects to concentrate on shape and colour,
and in this case, flow.
This is the brochure of a wonderful Van Gogh Alive art exhibition
which is on show in Lausanne.
I loved it so much that I went to see it twice!
If you are a Van Gogh fan, you will love this exhibition.
Here is Van Gogh's bedroom which he painted when he was living in Arles in 1888.
His beautiful Iris
The Almond Blossom which he painted to celebrate the birth of his nephew,
also named Vincent, to his brother Theo and his wife Johanna.
Theo was an art dealer in Paris.
He was a good brother to Vincent, encouraging him in his art and helping him financially.
This was one of Van Gogh's Starry Night paintings.
It looks slightly blurred because the images are moving with shooting stars.
I'm showing it because of the sheer and beautiful intensity of the the famous blue
that Van Gogh liked to use.
The self-portrait in this collage is one of my favourite ones he painted.
The manner in which this exhibition is presented is difficult to explain, so I'm including two links
for you to see for yourself. The first one is here
in Lausanne
The second one is a longer YouTube clip is from the
I preferred the chosen classical music in Lausanne.
The whole show lasts for 45 minutes.
It's tragic that Van Gogh remained virtually unknown until after his death.
He died, far too young, at only thirty-seven
but he painted more than 2.100 works of art.
Some of Vincent's quotations were projected onto the walls and my favourite one is this:
" I dream my paintings and then I paint my dreams."
Thank you, Vincent Van Gogh, for painting your dreams and sharing them with us.
If you like Van Gogh's paintings,
please go and see this immersive art exhibition.
You will come out of it transformed.
