February Musings

These winter months are perfect for handiwork of any kind.

Since crochet is my passion, besides photography,

I need no excuses for playing with my colourful yarns and hook.

This little heart turned out so prettily and fit the heart-shaped dish so well.

When we do any kind of handiwork, we need good, sharp scissors.

I have several. These are perfect for cutting off loose ends once they have been sewn in.

The big surprise of this first half of the month was an unexpected

and exciting snow storm.

This house is in my street just opposite from where I live.

I took the photo from my balcony.

The snow was mostly all melted by late afternoon when the sun came out again!

Flowering plants are so welcome in the home at this time of the year.

These hyacinth flowers are beautifully long lasting on the small round table in front of the window.

It's just next to where I sit surrounded by yarns and patterns!

A detail on the beautiful fully opened flowers.

One early evening, I went to see the latest film version of Little Women

adapted from the book by Louisa May Alcott which was written in 1868.

Life was certainly much different back then.

I was disappointed by this new version of the story. The story didn't flow

and some of the actors were sadly miscast.

The settings were beautiful.

As I walked back home from the bus stop at the top of my street,

I saw this beautiful shimmering moon  framed by the branches of a pretty birch tree.

Now something different!

I do love capturing abstract images with my camera 

and I'm not going to tell you what they are!

Abstracts pull us into a new way of looking at colour, shape and texture 

without wanting to label what we see.

This was taken on a structured, shiny surface and has not been post edited.

A different colour scheme on a similar sort of surface.

I love the feel of swirling energy.

This one is made by a special technique called Intentional Camera Movement!

I used a slow shutter speed to help the process and then the camera

is intentionally moved to create a soft blur.

This is the same subject but with different movements.

I love the feeling of the energy we feel and this shimmering vortex

which seems to lift me upwards.

It feels like painting with my camera!

Back to reality with some pretty flowering Viburnam blossom

looking so bright and cheerful in the soft neutral tones we see in February.

I even picked some adorable pink-tipped daisies growing in the grassy verges in my neighbourhood.

I thought they were perfect for Valentine's Day.

This is the day when florist's charge extra for their extravagant flower arrangements

that many ladies seem to expect.

All this brings us to think about the meaning of love.

It certainly isn't necessarily in the form of some grand gesture

like a dozen red roses, diamonds or the keys to a new car.

Love, in its broadest sense, englobes (or includes) all.

Not just one person.

It's about giving of oneself to everything worthwhile.

Everything is worthwhile.

It can be something as simple as offering a smile to someone that crosses our path,

or who sits next to us on the bus.

Love is choosing to protect and nurture our environment

for ourselves,

but especially for the children of today.

Love is not conditional, nor exclusive.

Universal love is the one we need to practice the most.

The whole planet, and all those who inhabit it, need our love.

Author and spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, says it so beautifully:

"Love is a state of being. Your love is not outside. It is deep within you.

You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you.

It is not dependent on some other body."

Continuing the year-long project of crocheting a flower a week.

Here are the latest ones for weeks 4, 5 and 6.

See more details here:

Crochet Flowers 2020

Every Day in Life is Beautiful

A gentle morning sky

taken from my balcony.

Soft petals and curves in pastel colours

which remind me of the colours of my temperature blanket so far.

Under a large oak tree, these bright and charming tiny cyclamen were growing.

There's such beauty in skies at any time of the day.

This was taken today as the tiny moon rose in the pastels of the sky.

With the 75th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.

last Monday on January 27th,

I wanted to re-read the story of Alice Herz-Sommer.

She was a gifted concert pianist and Holocaust survivor.

She said that music kept her and her young son alive.

I have two books about this lady. 

The one above and another entitled: 'A Century of Wisdom'.

I can recommend them both.

Alice was an incredibly positive person her whole life.

She is truly inspirational.

Her quotations are really meaningful.

Here is one of them:

"Life is beautiful. You have to be thankful that we are living.

Wherever you look is beauty.

I know about the bad things, but I look for good things"

Alice Herz-Sommer

The colourful presence of tulips in our homes brings such joy.

I crocheted a reversible heart for my front door with daisies.

The month of February makes us think of hearts!

I like the plain red side, but the three colours is fun too.

That's the one that's on show today.

I may change it for the red side on February 14th.

Here is a link for the heart pattern

I went for a lovely brisk walk in my neighbourhood

and on my way back, around 6 pm,

I stopped to enjoy this beautiful sky.

When I got home,

the sky was deepening.

"Every day in life is beautiful ... every day."

Alice Herz-Sommer.

The beauty is there even when we fail to notice it.

When we look around us with awareness

we can see it or hear it in the songs of the birds at dawn and dusk.

Yesterday, on returning from my walk, I heard a blackbird sing for the first time this year.

Continuing the 2020 Flower Challenge with a new flower to crochet every week of the year.

Here is Flower number 3

A little daisy.

If you would like to join the challenge.

Check out Anabelia craft design

May you find something beautiful every day of your life.

Walking for Health

First of all some beautiful spring flowers

just because they're so joyful!

Then on the homefront, a new crochet project which goes by the name of

Granny Rose Heart Pillow.

Please visit the Astri's lovely blog for this latest pattern

Apple Blossom Dreams

Isn't it beautiful?

I'm waiting for my heart-shaped pillow to arrive so that I can continue this exciting project.

Now about the walking.

Three years' ago, I bought some really comfortable walking shoes

when I did the Lausanne Walking Event

and the Quarter Marathon.

That was a good experience and my daughter came with me too

even though she normally prefers running!

Studies have been done to show that walking briskly for 30 minutes

every day is one of the most beneficial things we can do for our bodies

and our morale.

It has been found that this type of exercise lowers blood pressure, 

reduces cholesterol and helps maintain a healthy weight.

I took my pocket camera with me to take this photo in a door with a mirror incorporated.

I rather liked the fact that the Christmas decorations were still up!

Regular brisk walking strengthens bones and muscles

improves balance and coordination

helps prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

A beautiful and very colourful sunrise which I captured from the end of my balcony.

My Amaryllis blooms have been beautiful this year. This is the last plant of the year.

I love watching the different stages of opening.

Each day a little more

Until all four buds opened up.

A single tiny leaf in the late afternoon sunshine.

Seedpods blowing in the wind

Fluffy 'Old Man's Beard'

I love passing the railings on my walking circuit

especially in the late afternoon when all these cheerful little lights come on.

All these scenes from my walking outings.

I'm progressing with my January Sunrise blanket.

One square a day and there are currently 21 squares with three more

ready to join.

I'm really enjoying this project.

There will be others to show in my next blog entry.

These cold winter's days are perfect for doing crochet or any other kind of handiwork.

My tiny indoor window box of miniature daffodils is nearly over.

Somehow, the month of January needs the cheerful colours of flowers

that are made available to us.

Are you filling this long month of January with all the things you love?

I'm adding an extra photograph as part of a 2020 Project 

for crocheting a flower a week for the whole year.

Look at Anabelia Craft Design

Here

if you feel like joining in.

These two patterns are for the first two weeks of January.

I will be adding the others as they are generously given to us!

The Colours of January

The illuminated Lausanne Cathedral

as the bells rang out to celebrate the New Year!

The crowds were dense, but we found a bench to sip our mulled wine

which I had made at home and put into thermos mugs!

The tower was bathed in a deep blue light afterwards

and the crowds dispersed to continue their celebration

or to go home

I'm not a night owl, so I did the latter!

A delicate sunrise taken from my balcony with the cock on the church steeple.

I enjoy my daily walks and loved these tiny oval red berries

hanging on the branches like Christmas lights.

The centre of a beautiful Amaryllis bloom which opened up on Christmas morning.

A late afternoon walk with sun-kissed branches and a waxing moon

rising higher in the sky.

I decided to crochet a Temperature Blanket for the very first time.

These are the colours that represent the temperatures in the first seven days of January.

Cool colours, which are my favourites.

The average daytime temperature has been around 6-7 Celsius.

The dominating colours so far are Wisteria and Sherbet.

The middle round of the small squares is the coolest temperature of the day 

and the second round is the warmest.

I'm using white to join all the squares.

I couldn't resist getting a small pot of sunshine in the shape of these yellow Primula.

My daughter and I went to see the new film version of the musical 'Cats'.

It was very good. The costumes and settings were wonderful!

We had already seen it in London some years ago on the stage.

The Magnolia buds look very promising against the Winter's sky.

A small perfect rosebud was still blooming in one of the neighbourhood gardens.

Tightly encased catkins still know that they have to wait a little longer

before stretching their limbs!

I have used this image for my January header.

It's a subtle reminder that Spring follows Winter.

More catkins in the park nearby against a gorgeous limpid blue sky.

Another beautiful sunrise in shades of pink, blue, lilac and purple.

This one inspired me to take out my coloured yarns to start a separate crochet project

Here are all the colours.

Seven squares already joined in a row.

I'm considering adding single coloured squares to frame the others.

I've chosen Bluebell to do this.

This month of January is full of new energy

and we're already gaining an extra minute every day.

We are getting some grey days but a generous amount of sunshine and clear blue skies as well.

January doesn't need to be dull

it can be whatever we want it to be!

We just need to seek out the colour and beauty around us

and if we can't see any ...

well, let's just create it!