Beautiful Surprise.

A friend gave me an orchid as a birthday present 18 months ago. It flowered for months; then the blooms withered and dropped off and I was left with ... well ... a dry stick with some leaves. I stopped watering it and I didn't throw it out (pure laziness on my part) and there it stood in the sun room; sad,  neglected and dusty. Then a few weeks ago I spotted a few buds, and watered it for the first time in about 10 months. And two days ago I saw this:

Which just goes to show that laziness does have its own rewards.
Have a lovely weekend, dear friends. Be a little lazy!

Ragbag.

A friend recently suggested that I knit with rags. Rags and a pair of big knitting needles. Tearing strips of fabric is satisfying in a rather perverse way, I found. A bit like ripping pages from a book. You have a sneaky suspicion that you shouldn't be doing it. That people would disapprove. "Cut neatly!!" I heard the voice of my Grade 6 needlework teacher. Or her favourite description for my pathetic attempts: "Knoeiwerk!!" (A bit difficult to translate that one - it means "shoddy work", but it sounded so much meaner coming from her lipsticked mouth in a kind of screech. I may add that she wore those 50s style pointy glasses, and she had stiffly lacquered black hair that swooped into two frightening wings on the sides of her face ...)

Well, sod you, Miss S.

I still have to make the lining and stitch the whole thing together. But already I love its crude, unneat beauty. HA!!

The Answer.

Oh, you are all much too clever! Yes, a lighthouse it was. This one ...

- - - - -.

I had friends from Colorado visiting this week. Amongst other things, we went to a -----:

Do you know what -----  is?
Have a beautiful weekend, dear friends. Try visiting a ----- .  They are great fun, although they can be a bit tiring!

Shades of brown.

It is almost summer here. I should be photographing blue skies, green grass, colourful flowers. My camera seems to be attracted by shades of brown though. Hmmmm. Maybe it is because I have been re-reading that wabi-sabi book?

Love.

If there is one thing that Snous doesn't lack, it is love, treats and hand-crafted blankies. (Okay, that is more than one thing.) I finished this one last night - a light cotton blanket (for summer), knitted in strips, and joined with crocheting in wool.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone! Do yourself a favour and go walk a dog, yours, a friend's, or one of the dogs at your local dog welfare society. They  get such joy from simple pleasures - we can learn at least that from them ...

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

Art journal page.

New Acquisitions #17

I bought these a week ago at a local "lifestyle" market. A cushion cover ...

a ceramic pendant ...














and a ceramic ring ...

It was a pretty sad market - not many traders / craftspeople, and very few customers. For a while I was the only person wandering from table to table. So, although I like what I've bought, and am using all three items, under normal circumstances I probably wouldn't have purchased these. I bought out of pity. Do you sometimes buy something because you feel bad for the seller?

Trophy Head.

I think hunting is a horrible sport, and I think that taxidermy is quite gruesome, so what am I doing with a trophy head on my wall?

Because I thought it would be interesting to make one. (Plastic detergent bottle, recycled cardboard bits, old dressmaking patterns.)

Flagged.

We haven't been in Hout Bay for years, and yesterday was such a beautiful day that we decided to take a drive round Chapmans Peak.

This gentleman is inspecting the area next to the road - Chapmans Peak is well-known for rockfalls and opened earlier this year after having been closed for several years for maintenance and upgrading of safety features.

Me, with aforementioned hat, and Snous.

Taking Snous for a walk on Hout Bay beach. We took a green flag along - do you know what it's for?

Quite a novel idea, I thought. Have never seen it before. Snous did not make use of her green flag, but we did leave a tip!

After our walk we sat outside at the Dunes restaurant and looked out towards the harbour, guzzling pizza and a chicken burger. Snous, of course, had both.

Bread Plate Hat.

I have been looking for a hat for a long time. Black (what else?) in a fabric such as linen or cotton canvas, with a short but not floppy brim, and big enough to pull over my ears with my eyes just peeking out. In fact, I was looking for something old-fashioned, kind of 1920's or 1930's style. Of course I did not find such a hat. So I made one this weekend.

I am particularly proud of it as I made it without a pattern - I cut out a crown using a bread plate (side plate) and then measured the side and brim a little bigger than I thought, then tacked it together to see that it (kind of ) worked, then cut the pieces a bit smaller, and then hand-sewed the whole lot together.

I also made a flower from the same material to pin on. Not sure that I will wear it like that though - it looks a bit too formal. I am thinking of sewing different bands that I can decorate in different ways and slipping that over when I need some variety - what do you think?

Bird.

"That bird sings only when she is unhappy."  Said of Dorothy Parker.