anemones

soft almost feathered petals 

uncurl to show hidden depths of darkness

which open out in the sun

and enchant me.

Friday random

It's Friday already.

which is worrying. what happened to Wednesday?

Oh yes E had a migraine. The new miracle medication didn't work. at all. ok maybe for 10 minutes.
One day lying in a dark room, one day recovering from the "hangover" effect of the migraine.
At 13 the consumption of red wine is probably not the cause, nor is coffee, and it isn't chocolate either.

Apparently it's spring. Which would explain the howling gales, hailstones and grey skies. Last week it was still winter and the weather was glorious. Can I have winter back please. oh and I'd also like some blossom, everyone else in blogland seems to have some.

I made flapjack. I posted some to my dad as a random gift. I also made rock buns. There is none left of either.

We have to go clothes shopping for both children tomorrow. It fills me with dread.

I cut the grass for the first time this afternoon. Apparently our lawn is mostly moss. It is like walking on a green spongy air bed. Which is quite fun.

There are birds looking in the bird house. They did this last year and then changed their minds.

Probably disappointed by the quality of the lawn if you ask me.........

and the lack of rock buns.

random update. I have found a hidden secret stash of Green & Blacks chocolate.
All is well with the world.

 (Not sharing with the birds though. They can eat moss.)

the year in books - march. ice lake

I will admit I chose this book out of need for some mindless literature to read in the bath. 

It was one of those weeks. 

From a huge box of my parents books destined for the charity shop I chose one that looked like it didn't require concentration, engagement or deep thinking.

In fact there were quite a few long sections of description, detailing Montreal's history, culture and some science which I scoffed at. 

Mostly I skipped these sections and read about chasing criminals in the snow, driving on ice, and gruesome deaths. There were plenty of those.

I shall now leave crime fiction alone for another 10 years or so, which is probably how long it was since I read anything from this genre.  But it served it's purpose. 

Sometimes escapist literature is what we all need. 

Even if we don't read all of it......

february patchwork month

I've been meaning to make one of these monthly mosiacs for oh so long.

Olympic crochet, patriotic cushion, ferns for design work,
paper snowflakes, lavender fish, blanket in progress,
one day of snow, new pjs, snowdrops and hellebores from the garden.

truly satisfying. now to make sure I take enough photos in March to make one next month.

the year in books - February. The Fault in our Stars.

I chose John Green's The Fault in our Stars for February's #ayearinbooks mostly because the 15 year old kept telling me I had to read it. When I was a teenager I mostly read science fiction - Arthur C. Clark, Anne McCaffrey, Douglas Adams, crime writing - Agatha Christie, and fairy tales. I found my book of Russian Fairy tales and reread them after watching the Olympic opening ceremony, and seeing all manner of fairy tale creatures in the narrative. As far I as I can tell teenage fiction that is read by my children falls into different categories,action - the Cherub series, Time Riders and the Dark Lord series are all favourites of the boy, whereas the girl flits between books about angels and other divine beings, about hopeless romances and ghosts, (with thankfully not too many about vampires) and amongst them all there is an underlying tone of angst. 

The Fault in our Stars has already been read in #ayearinbooks by that adventurer and 700 words - who said she read it on a train and had to fight to keep back the tears. I read it at home and cried too....... After I finished it, it's a quick read, and not one you want to put down, I found myself rereading certain sections and wondered if I read it from a different perspective to my daughter. You are drawn into the lives of the teenagers within, and feel their pain, but I also felt it from the angle of a parent of teenagers, hence receiving a double dose of tragedy.   Tragedy aside it was also uplifting, and I shall be interested to see the upcoming film to see how it translates as a movie.

What do you think about books that are made into films? Which do you prefer? Does it make a difference if you read the book first? Or does that mean you are always disappointed by the film because the characters aren't how you imagined them to be?

My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations. John. Green.

liberty love

February half term.

The guaranteed grey and damp weather has occasionally been interspersed with splashes of blue sky, and a break in the bitterly cold winds that make you want to curl up with a book and a cup of tea and hibernate until June.

Splashes of colour are starting to creep in amongst the mud brown and the sky greys, there are bright white snowdrops, fresh green shoots, and a few brave purple crocus petals to be found if you look carefully.

I am finding my own colour in my oh so precious stash of liberty scraps, slowly but surely they are turning into a shoal of liberty lavender fish.

Most of the liberty love this week though is being given to this tiny cushion, a kit that was a Christmas gift, and is being fought over by most of the family, apparently it is "just so cute".

enjoying the winter Olympics

A recent tidying up of the study unearthed a wealth of unfinished projects. 

A cushion was quickly finished to add patriotic support to the sofa.

A basket of crochet granny squares in varying stage of completion was a project started during London 2012 Olympics. It seemed a fitting time to start it up again, and there is now a satisfying pile of growing squares which correspond to snowboarding slopestyle, half pipe, curling, and ski jumping. Ok I'll admit it. I'll watch any of it.

We made some decorations to celebrate the Olympics

which very briefly summoned our own snow, not enough for any extreme sport, which is fine by me, as I much prefer to watch it, it all looks far too dangerous to consider attempting.

I prefer to sit with a cup of tea, in my new flannel pj's.

 excuse me I have to go, the ice hockey has just started again.