March Sunshine

Brightly coloured crocuses greet us in the park

There is still snow in the mountains - and since I took this, there have been

fresh snowfalls!

The two humps are called: Tour de Mayen on the left and Tour d'Aï on the right.

When I walk for about 25 minutes up the hill (all the way) above my neighbourhood,

I can see this lovely view!

The best part is going down the hill again all the way home!

In February, as the days got longer,

I heard the first blackbird sing in the morning and early evenings!

Such a joy!

I also love the beautiful shapes of the trees and their branches without leaves.

These two mono shots were taken in my neighbourhood.

A visit to the local florist's shop to see what beautiful blooms were available.

I asked her if I could take her photo while she prepared a bouquet for a client.

She kindly agreed.

I noticed the wonderful lines and curves of some graceful pink lilies

I brought a bouquet home with me.

They're such impressive big flowers

The stamen are glorious seen through a macro lens.

When they had passed their beauty and starting to shrivel up,

I put them on the balcony and a snowstorm made them look beautiful again.

One day I needed to go downtown and loved passing these street musicians

playing happy traditional jazz.

They were putting everyone in a good mood!

It was one of those sunny days with a perfect blue sky.

This is the St. Laurent Church

close to where the music was being played.

The pigeons were lined up enjoying the view.

Who can resist tulips in the spring?

These came home with me when the lilies had finished their blooming.

They opened up to a beautiful shade of red.

So perfect against the back lighting.

Things have been very busy on the crochet front.

This is my temperature blanket so far

January and February temperatures are represented here.

They range from 0 to 18C.

Our weather has been changeable and now we are entering a colder period again.

It seems that March is coming in like a lion

even though today is very sunny.

The weekly creations of flowers continues.

These layered ones. Really lovely to create.

Roses too, made from three different patterns.

Check out the 2020 Flower Challenge

Anabelia Craft Design

These first two months of the year are perfect for doing handiwork,

don't you think?

Perhaps there are many lovely things that you like doing at this time of the year.

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!