A far away spring

It's getting cold again, after a few sunnier days.
My garden is showing signs of spring already, and the cats are eagerly waiting to get out more often (and so do I!).
And, of course, Japan has been on my mind all the time the past week.

Quilt in progress

Every free minute I have, I try to work on my daughter's quilt.
With all the computer work still piling up, I get so frustrated...
Enough complaining, here are a few blocks I managed to finish in the last weeks.
Trees:

Spring:

Kitchen:

Autumn:


I will use these nine patches for a Red Riding Hood themed block.

First post in 2011

Yes, I'm back... Thanks to the flu and lots of work, I've been away from Blogland way too long.
I'm still recovering from that horrible flu, but I'm coughing a little less every day.
There's a lot I have to blog about, and I'm starting with a knitted cardigan, finished in December last year.


And I got this cutie pie as a Christmas present from my dear friend Danielle, from Pussman Stuffies.

I knitted him a little scarf already.

And I decided to name him Gatsby, because I received this book on the same day.

A White Christmas!

A very quick post, just to wish you all a merry Christmas! This is the first time that I have a real white Christmas, and I have to admit, it really helps to give me the real postcard feeling.

Winter Wonderland

A few impressions of this afternoon.

And the creepy snowman, made by my children. I hope he doesn't come to life overnight...

Winter in Paris

Back from Paris, since almost a week now.
It was very, very cold and we even had a little snow on the first day of our stay. We escaped the snow blizzard Paris was having this week.
Our main goal was the Monet exhibition in the Grand Palais. It was crowded, but every painting was worth the waiting!


There was also the exhibition in Musée d'Orsay of the painter Gérôme. The detail in his paintings is really stunning, you have to see it to believe it.

Our hotel was situated in the neighbourhood of the grands boulevards and the grands magasins, like "Printemps" and "Galeries Lafayette", and near to the Opera, and a 15 minutes walk from the musea.

This close to Christmas, all the shops were lavishly decorated, I took some pictures at the Printemps.

Early Snow

Snow in November, I really wasn't prepared... Tomorrow, we are leaving for three days in Paris, I hope I will see the Eiffel tower with a white bonnet on...
1. Cold Skates, 2. What all the well-dressed squirrels will be wearing this season., 3. Untitled, 4. A Chickadee in hand, 5. Warmly Dressed!, 6. Snowy trees, 7. red fox in snow, 8. Public Domain - Vintage Postcard Images, 9. Norwegian Forest Cat in Snow, 10. winter, 11. Snow Queen Anker 1948, 12. Leaving Footprints in the Snow--vintage Vogue Illustration, 13. Pink, 14. Etude 1932 Jan, 15. Weihnachten mit Ida Bohatta / Bild 12, 16. Gearing Up for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics!

The Children's Book

I've just finished "The Children's Book" by A.S. Byatt and it was a wonderful read about a very interesting period. Just a few topics mentioned in the book: the Suffragette movement, the bohemian way of life of artists and their families, the Great War,...
The end of the Victorian age and the turn of the century are a very tumultuous period, a part of history that is far away and yet very close to us.
And now I want to learn more about William Morris and the Arts & Crafts movement, I want to read Peter Pan and find a good biography of mister Barrie, etc, etc...
I even made a pinboard, inspired by this book.
Patterns by Morris:


The Morris and Burne-Jones families:

Peter Pan, illustrated by the genius Arthur Rackham:


A few interesting links:
Preraphaelite Paintings
Red House
Victoria and Albert Museum
Turn of the Century, pictures and more pictures, to get in the mood of that period.

At last...

...I've restarted to work on Lucy's quilt. I finished the last of a series of spring girls, here with an umbrella in the rain.
And I made a new block, with little embroidered trees, here still in progress.
I'll post the two blocks when finished and ironed. For now only a few details.


My work has been absorbing me the past three months, and I really want to try to work more concentrated, and only 5 to 6 hours a day. That will give me more time to do things I really like to do, like crafting and reading. Life's too short!
In the meanwhile, I bought myself a new pair of shoes and red stockings.

And there's nothing quite like sitting by the fireplace with this boy at my side.

Link of the week#3

Yes! I've got an invitation for Pinboard (thank you!), and now I can pin all my favourite links, pictures, recipes, book titles,etc...
Only problem: I'm losing a lot (and I mean A LOT) of time since I discovered this.
If you like collecting and you love being inspired, then hurry and go have a look!

November 11th

My grandmother, who was born in 1904, used to tell me stories about the two Great Wars. She was born in a small village, at about 20 miles from the Ypres salient . Every night, she could hear the bombs, the windows of her bedroom rattling.
These pictures are taken a few years after the war, when she was already engaged (or married?) to my grandfather. So strange, a romantic picture on the ruins of a war...




In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Bear giveaway

If you like teddybears, hurry to this link, and then keep your fingers crossed till the 6th of December!