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!"

The Month of Roses

Down by the lake in Ouchy, there's a really lovely rose garden

with mostly climbing roses.

I really liked these single blooms.

Lovely layers of petals in this one.

Such a beautiful rich orange colour and petals full of curves

Another rose from the same plant but with a touch more pink in the petals.

The colour changes as the flowers mature.

Pretty in yellow and perfumed too.

Cascading pink roses with a little visitor in the central flower.

A touch of apricot against the blue sky.

Very bright pink in a shady spot with filtered sunlight.

I do love this colour in a rose which is a lovely soft orange.

Yellow tinged with pink taken in my neighbourhood

The single roses have their charm like this delicate yellow one

and another in pink with a visiting insect.

One of my favourites so far because of all those marvellous petals.

One day, we took a short train trip to the lakeside town of Montreux

There were still some rhododendrons blooming.

One of the steamboats was passing and I know that I'll soon be tempted to take a little cruise.

I've put up a photo of this modern hanging art before, but I love framing part of the

landscape in the circle!

A swan couple were obviously intent on becoming a couple.

as they swam back and forth and around in circles in an aquatic dance.

A sailing boat with the well-known Dents-du-Midi mountain chain in the distance.

The steamboat and the mountains on the French side of the lake.

We had a delicious lunch on an outside terrace overlooking the lake.

The yellow parasols were most welcome on a hot day.

I've been adding rows to the Birthday Rainbow Blanket.

Last time I showed the nine central squares, 

this photo shows the second row and the start of the third row of smaller granny squares.

Now a few rounds of border in something called a 'block stitch'

Here it is almost finished with just a couple of rounds more to go.

I hope that you like roses as much as I do!

I've shown so many here as this blog is also for me to look back on

and remember all the wonderful things I see each month of the year.

Bee Happy!

With a joyful music clip to listen to.

Just click on the words below:

"Don't worry, be happy."

"Here's a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note

Don't worry, be happy

In every life we have some trouble

But when you worry, you make it double

Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy now!"

written by Bobby McFerrin, American folk and jazz artist.

On this joyful note, I wish you a beautiful month of June.

It's getting pretty hot here - around 30C at the hottest time of the day.

The best time for walks is in the early mornings and after supper when the day has cooled off.

Yellow and Blue

 

I think we all now know what the colours yellow and blue represent.

They make us think of sunshine and blue skies

but right now, they remind us of the Ukrainian flag

and what the Ukrainian people are going through. 

Whatever we are doing in our own daily lives,

our thoughts turn, irrevocably and with empathy, to all the suffering experienced

by innocent people as they are forced to flee their beloved country.

This is the yellow and blue mandala I made.

I have not posted for a while as I have been very busy doing important crochet projects

for gifts, and they have been taking up a great deal of my time.

When they are completely finished, I will post them on my blog.

 I love going down to the big market on Saturdays 

to buy fresh fruit and vegetables and farm eggs.

There are often musicians playing and this young musician was playing his

cello very beautifully to earn some money for his musical studies.

I gave him something, of course!

As I passed one street, I looked up to see the elegant tower of Lausanne Cathedral

which looked so lovely against the blue sky.

I've received an early birthday gift of a book on photography

on the work and life of Vivian Maier.

She has become famous for her clever street photography and self-portraits.

Since I am still doing my self-portrait class. I was inspired to try out a similar style.

This shot was taken in a richly decorated shop window where there were also mirrors.

The reflections have given a double self-portrait!

One of the exercises given was to take a picture of our hands,

so I held up a glass ball to try and capture my garland of hearts!

I finally got the ball centred after several tries!

I did receive some beautiful red roses and decided to make a collage of different details

of the lovely petals.

My pink Amaryllis grew a second stem with stunning and photogenic blooms

The back views are beautiful too.

A few petal details in this collage.

There have been visits down to the lake in Ouchy

and our weather has been so beautifully sunny - even if the March winds

have made it feel colder.

Both these photos are taken from Ouchy looking over to the French side and mountains

and the town of Evian.

One day, I took the train to the lakeside town of Vevey. It's not far at all from where I live.

I did love the sparkles on the water.

It was a little tricky to take the photo as I was almost facing the sun.

This is from the same town, but with a closer view on the majestic Dents du Midi.

They are a three-kilometre long mountain range in the Chablais Alps

in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Closer to home, and in my neighbourhood, I saw these charming snowdrops.

On one of my daily walks, I noticed this tiny Harlequin Ladybird nestled

in the leaves of a flowering Viburnum bush.

Some of the south-facing Magnolia trees have started to bloom.

This particular one had such beautiful petals.

A yellow and blue collage for Ukraine.

The pansies are on my balcony

and I crocheted the yellow hearts set in a blue granny square.

It was also time to put a spring wreath on my front door. 

I chose pastel colours and a flower pattern

from Apple Blossom Dreams

where you will see many beautiful flowery patterns.

************

I hope that spring is waking up where you live and that the sunshine

and blue skies are uplifting your thoughts during these troubled times. 

We can help those in need by donating to the charities that are suggested in the media.

I like to use La Chaîne du Bonheur

which is a well-known and trusted Swiss organization

and also Doctors Without Borders.