Hexie love

I do like hexagons, and over the years have made quite a few hexie quilts. But hexies require hand stitching (I know there is a "roundabout" way of sewing hexies by machine, but the end result does not appeal to me that much. I just prefer to do them "the hard way"). Call it old age (!) but I find it increasingly overwhelming to stitch a whole large quilt by hand (this one is still about the same size as when you last saw it).


So hexie cushions suit me just fine. This one from last summer is the first one I made, and still a firm favourite. Yet last month I wanted to give another one a go. And this is the end result of it. Truth be told I was not at all sure about this one at the outset. But I like to think it turned out a-okey. I especially like the way it snuggles up in my old denim chair.


Fot the backing I have used one of my fave Cath Kidston fabrics (is it just me, or do you also find that Cath´s fabrics are not quite as pretty as they used to be...? To me the colours do not seem as fresh and bright any more). This particular fabric is in fact part of the curtain valance that used to dress the laundry window (and just in case you wonder... this is what the room looks like now).

Moose, kelims and some such

An other beautiful winter´s day today. I went for a long walk in the woods today, making my way through the snow covered ground. Snow is such a wonderful thing, making the woods come alive before my very eyes, as I marveled at the various footprints I saw. Creatures great and small; moose, deer, foxes, rabbits and tiny woodland mice had left traces of their goings on in the snow.


Not just traces either, as I saw a large bird of prey (could it have been the one that was the end of Klara Klok?) and a couple of moose, that crossed my path. I am in awe of these magnificent creatures. Usually moose are harmless enough (unless you come across them in their mating season, or when they have young ones) and the two I saw today quickly made a run for it when they saw me (just as well, or I would have soon enough been the one on the run!)


Home again, safe and sound, I decided to bring down the kelim rug from the attic again. If you think you have seen these pictures before, you are not far wrong, as they look very much like the ones from last September. Back then the rug lasted about a day, but this time I think it is in for a longer run.


For one, since I started working on my last crochet project (that incorporates the "dreaded" orange) I kept seeing images of this very kelim in my head. Once it came down from the attic I could not help but notice how well the two of them work together. Also, kelims seem to be "in" again. Not that I really care about such things, but seeing I have such a treasure in my possession it kind of makes sense to let it "shine" again, don´t you think?

A Wednesday in February

Just an ordinary Wednesday in February. Albeit a beautiful one. Blue sky, bright winter sun, white snow... and a nippy northerly wind. All looks bright and peaceful, yet there is a bit of "life" to be found.


In the barn "Peder", the ram, has done his job for the season, and the girls are expanding nicely. Only a month or so, and the first wee lambs will be taking their tentative small steps in the barn.


In the henhouse the ladies are taking their first tentative steps outside since the recent snowfalls. But the white world outside does not seem too appealing to them, and they hurry back into the relative warmth of the henhouse again.


In the woods behind our house hubby keeps himself busy, making sure we have enough firewood for next winter.


We seem to go through an amazing amount of wood every winter, but then again the fire is our main source of heating throughout the cold winter months. And we do like to keep warm and cosy!


As for the garden, it lies dormant under a protective layer of snow. There is no sign of life to be seen, not even a slight promise of things to come, but give a couple of months, and it will be an entirely different story.


Yes, a few more months, and I will be busy by the potting bench, filling the pot with soil and summer blooms. Meanwhile, you will find me by the fire, keeping warm and dreaming of the warmer days to come.

Fine tuning

Gosh, I am overwhelmed by all your lovely comments in regards to my previous entry. Thank you! It seems we are definitely not indifferent when it comes to orange, as most of us indeed either love it or hate it.


Yet I am still trying to make friends with the aforementioned colour. But I think we are getting there... Even though a fair bit of fine-tuning and tweaking has taken place since my last post.


Over the weekend I crocheted quite a few squares, adding several more colours as I went. Only to find out they did not work, and proceeded to undo the whole lot. After having put the sorry affair aside for a few days, I picked it up again last night, determined to make it work.


I think my stubbornness has paid off and that I am finally onto something... the white wool has been discarded, along with the lightest pink, while another turquoise and a lighter lilac has been added. Now I think I like it...

Happy Valentine´s Day to you all!

How about orange...?

I know, I know. I have not been kind to the colour orange in the past, even stating that it is one of my least favourite colours. Then what is it that draws me towards that very colour every time I see it, especially in crochet. In fact it has become so bad that it almost feels like a physical craving.


In the end I just had to give in, and give orange a go. So yesterday saw me marching into the yarn shop, and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing out I came with orange, red, deep purple, bright green, hot pink, turquoise and white.


Now some of the colours are "old friends" that I have used several times before, but the first three are new acquaintances. So far we are just getting to know each other, and only a few tentative squares have been crocheted.


But I am surprising myself by how much I am loving them. There is no way of knowing where all this will end (worst case scenario being in the bin!), it might become another cushion cover. Or better still, another crochet blanket.

How about you and orange... love it or hate it?

The roses are back!

How I do wish the roses really were back in my garden. But since this will not be the case for a good while yet, I will have to get my "rose-fix" elsewhere. And what better place than in the bedroom. On the old chair.


For the past three years this very chair has been clad in a white vintage sheet from France, but since it was about time to give the loose cover a wash, I decided to replace it with these roses.


The rose fabric is my favourite of all Laura Ashley fabrics (long since discontinued, I believe). I love the slightly vintage, 50s look of it. And I love the various shades of pink. Just as I love the cotton/linen mix of the fabric itself.


I made this loose cover years ago, but for the past three years it has been "resting" on the loft. But now it is back, while the white one is in the wash. And not just for now... I think I shall leave the roses on for a good while. At least until I get to enjoy real ones in my garden again.


Thank you to Jodi@Pleasant-Home for your lovely post and kind words about Mias Landliv.

Making the most of it...

More snow today. Yet I am making the most of it... by staying indoors, close to the fire. And by making waffles!


I am so pleased with the nifty waffle iron (from Moods of Norway) I got for Christmas. I find the hot pink of the iron quite comforting... not to mention the delicious waffles it makes.


Since Christmas the iron has hardly had a day´s rest (well... a slight exaggeration!) But honestly, there is a lot of comfort to be had in a cup of coffee and a warm waffle. You take my word for it!


I prefer my waffle with blackcurrant jam (no good for my waistline, of course). And now that I am warm and comforted, I am about the brave the elements and take the lovely Zara (and my expanding waistline) for a long walk in the woods.

Sunday

At this point it seems that winter is never ending. It has been quite nippy here of late, down to -26 C at worst. On top of it all it is even snowing today. Truth be told I am getting a wee bit tired of winter, and long for spring.


I know it will be a long wait, but what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than sitting by the fire, reading gardening books, whilst dreaming of spring. Monty Don is my gardening guru, he is so knowledgable and I totally enjoy his writing.


The cherry branches I brought indoors in early January never really made it to full blossom. The tender buds turned brownish before opening up properly. So into the compost they went yesterday, to be replaced by these small pussy willows.


Now they have not exactly reached the desired fluffy softness yet, but I live in hope. Just as I live in hope that this winter will come to an end, and that there indeed is light, warmth and spring at the end of this long winter tunnel.

Tidying up

First a confession; this first photo has nothing at all to do with today´s entry. I just wanted to add one pretty picture, as the rest are anything but. So... to the business at hand; tidying up. I am sure none of you faithful readers remember this entry about my interests and passions... or vices (I have very nearly forgotten about it myself).


But since it is mid winter, and I spend more time indoors than I really like to, I can not help but notice the piles of magazines and books that have accumulated on the floor. So today I decided (finally) to try and do something about the matter. After having sorted the various magazines into piles of "keepers" and "non-keepers", I started to flick through the latter pile, in order to see if there is anything worth keeping.


Of course it is more than easy to get distracted while going through old magazines. But I have managed to cut out quite a few interesting articles, and gathered them in old ring binders. It is somewhat tedious work, but the end result is worth it, as it is so much more pleasant to look through a binder full of lovely articles, as opposed to flicking through piles of magazines in search of something potentially inspiring.


But I still have a long way to go before I have dealt with all my magazines. And then there is the pile of books, on the floor of almost every room in the house. Since all the books are "keepers" I guess the only solution is to get more bookshelves (that is if I want the books off the floor). So my tidying up is still very much a work in progress...