Pins and needles

Rain above, sunset behind

Yesterday on my way home it was raining but the setting sun reflected golden onto the wet road behind me, very pretty.

 

Not a straight line

Going to work should be really simple for me, see diagram A. But because of some road works, which will be great when they are complete, and because I'm so impatient, I am now taking a longer route, see diagram B. Believe it or not, it takes the same amount of time, and I now get to see some farm land, horses, sunflowers and veld grass. There is a Food Lover's Market on route B, where I stop off some mornings. Mangos, pineapples and milkshakes. A great start to the day.

Picked from our own garden. Yum!

Quiet moments in the garden

Swaying in the wind

 

Saturday lunch with friends

Protea, deconstructed

Evening sky with lightning flashes

Dried flower arrangement

I cut these day lily and sprayed some white and some cream and now I have an arrangement for my dining room table.

Low-res views and blue hues

A friend of mine had this book made of photographs he took going to and coming back from work. This was a few years ago but I love the images and the stories they tell. Thanks, m'wah!

Hand-drawn plates

My mother gave me a dinner service when I moved into my first home 31 years ago. Of the dinner plates only 4 of the 6 have survived, but they have developed fine, hairline cracks so you can't really serve food on them anymore. I didn't want to throw or give them away for sentimental reasons, so when Nikki started decorating plates I thought: What a great idea! Thanks Nikki for the inspiration. I still have to bake them to seal in the ink.

Pictures one through to eight

1 - Sunlight through water. Watering the new plants. 2 - Choosing the healthy option. 3 - Mixing up a body scrub. 4 - Lunch with K. 5 - Snail creeper. 6 - lunch. not mine, I had the lamb;-) 7 - Coffee break at the book shop. 8 - Proteas again. Thank you, you know I love them.

Building a teepee

Test pattern

Saw this stitch on the internet and did a block as reference for a blanket I'll make later in the year.

Hearts from Heartfelt

Breakfast this morning

Pink hand bag

I'm slowly finishing off all the projects I started last year to make room for some new ones. I crocheted this bag last year. Added the lining and handles this week. Wearing it to work tomorrow.

How to eat a kiwi fruit

I always used to peel my kiwi fruit and slice it but my colleague, Nuisia, showed me a much better way. Just cut the fruit in half and scoop out mouthfuls. Yum.

2048 - getting better and better and better

Honestly, I have been banned from playing this game for the next two weeks ;-) but I just wanted to say, my latest score is 32580. Not another word about it, I promise!

2048 - getting better and better

DIY mobile for baby boy

Nadine asked me to make the characters for a mobile for her baby's room. She bought the material and I took forever to make up the patterns and sew it all together. But at last it's finished. She just has to assemble it, the way she wants it. I like the elephant. And the fish ;-)

Flower from the garden

Cut some flowers in the garden for a friend.

About love

Lunch at the Bryanston Organic Market

They spread the rainbow across the entire sky

2048 update

I'm sort of hooked on this game. It drives me crazy how I am unable to be consistent with it - my score will range from 680 to 23412. Yipee! Yay! My new high score.

Ginger and mint tea

Fresh ginger and mint tea, so refreshing, so delicious.

With this ring...

... ha, ha. Yes, I know, just joking. But I love it, thanks so much, my angel.

Original art acquired

My nieces each painted a canvas for me, as a gift this Christmas. Love them, love the artwork. M'wah!

Blowing on a vuvuzela

I hadn't realised until I heard him again on Sunday evening, that our vuvuzela man has been absent over the past few weeks.
There's someone in our area that blows the vuvuzela almost every evening.
On Sunday it was quiet a long performance ;-) like a coded message or a bird's mating call, the same tune (message) over and over.

I replied with two short bursts of my own, but it was not the answer he was hoping for.

Nothing like a good book on a rainy afternoon

The extraordinary journey of the fakir who got trapped in an IKEA wardrobe
- Romain Puértolas

This book is not affiliated with, authorised or endorsed by IKEA or the Inter IKEA Group or any of its companies.

Page 23: The page had been torn from the June 2012 Ikea catalogue, 198 million copies of which had been printed worldwide, double the annual print run of the Bible.

Page 30: Inside his chest, his heart was beating to the rhythm of a Bollywood soundtrack.

Page 74: One of the men laughed. It sounded like a spring mattress groaning under the bouncing weight of two lovers.

Page 207: The rhythm of his heartbeat went from hip hop to techno, finally ending up on Vivaldi.

Page 222: Ajatashatru Oghash Rathod had been pacing up and down for several minutes now, like a dog that cannot decide where it wants to sleep.

Page 243: But his hand was shaking so violently against his briefcase now that it was audible. He sounded like a Brazilian percussionist during carnival season in Rio.

Page 278: ... and he would spend his evenings watching her beautiful curled eyelashes batting in rhythm with his heart.

© Le Dilettante 2013
English translation © Sam Taylor 2014

Wool + idea = bag

My sister-in-law made this awesome bag. A great gift. Thank you.

Two smoothies and a day filled with sunshine

Starting the year off with great intention. Lets drink to our health, my dear.

Collection series 1

2048

I am addicted to this game. All I want to do is beat my own score. Argh!

Moving forward

I was going to catch up on all the posts I didn't get to last year because so much time was spent making the PrettyUglys but now I'm thinking that time has moved on, it's all in the past, who cares.
New year, new day, live in the moment (or as close to it as you can).

Wishing you a wonderful 2015