Swap-Swap-Swap

 This morning the postman (no, she is a lady) came by with a small parcell from the USA. Small - but with a great content - please, have a look: this is what Tammy made and put together for me. I love flowers and owls - here they are in my favourite version, seeds, a bookmark and stitch markers. Thank you Tammy - Grazie!

Since it was a sock swap - there was also a pair of socks inside this tiny box. They are so nicely knitted (did you use 2 mm needles??) and they fit so well, I'm just sorry it's too hot to wear them right now. Love them. Have I thanked you, already, Tammy? Ok, maybe another hvala (in slovene) will do.

It's hot, but who could resist???? surely not me - see how perfectly they fit? Bye now, I have to cast on whatever, just to make my new owls fly.....

This and that - mostly about the garden

Here we are - the first flowers....

.... on my balcony.....

.... work in progress in the garden.....

.... with a little help of Gromit ....

....my favourite location....

... and my Eva's shawl.... that's all....

looking for a friend

This is my wax owl - and this is a short post for Annaboo - hope to see her soon

Netresk and Shaun

This healing plant is called  "netresk" in slovene - I really don't know the italian word for it - nor the english. But it's a well known officinal plant, mostly used as a natural antibiotic - using the jelly alike pulp. It works for small wounds, insect bites, bruises... Most of all, this rustical plant grows  in places with almost no soil. I took this photo when leaving home - the green button on our wall was quite happy after yesterday's rain.   

Meet the ware-rabbit Shaun. Proudly showing his villa with a private rabbit-hole on the right side of the ground floor. All the soil you see there is the result of his digging work. He works like this: the stones on the right, the soil out - I thankfuly use his ability for my gardening. 

Strawberries and friends

Yesterday we drove to Klagenfurt. Our son was on his way to Hastings - that's what I call a school trip! - with 50 or so other schoolmates.
The weather in Klagenfurt was not so good. If you know what it means "stormy weather" (and you could even sing this marvelous song), you'll understand what I'm talking about.
But the kids came to London on the scheduled time and this part of the job was done.

Driving home, we (me, in this case) simply could not resist the appeal of all those strawberries seedlings with fancy names - from the White Ananas, to a Ruby red and a tiny Florika. Sure enough they are now waiting for me to plant them and make them grow. That's what I intend to do this afternoon - AKA when I'll come home from the office (yes, I do work on Sundays when I'm on duty).

I'll also have to plant some cherries tomato, same parsley and some cucumers seedlings. Oh, and yellow pepperoni too.

Another empty bag

 Let me make a statement: I have to put order into my life!
I was a chaos addicted, pretending there was a cosmic order working for my documents, bills, writings, shoes, whatever. Now I'm not so sure it really works. That's why I'm clearing my space - starting with the colourful mess of my yarns. It's the easy part, you know, papers will have to wait...
The granny crochet affaire works pretty good, I do not plan in advance the colourway, just make a selection of yarns I'll possibly use in a not so distant future and yarns that does not "talk" to me (anymore). Sure enough you have to watch TV or listen to music while crocheting - that's the trick, at least for me.

Eva's shawl

 I have this pale purple yarn from Araucania and I have enough of it for a large project or for 8 to 10 pair of socks. First I tried a beaded stole project, but then I saw no end to this and I knew I'll never wear such a knitted masterpiece. So I frogged the stole, collect the beads and put the yarn away... till yesterday, when I was strucked by an Eva's shawl pattern on Ravelry. So, here am I - with my sock yarn, my hook and a project for my lazy hours.

 I have also finished a very useful stole  that emptied my Noro yarn leftovers bag. It has a heavy texture and the colours are stunning. Of course, a better photo will help... but. Try to guess

 Doing some gardening ...... before the ironing session

Chess cake 2

 Ok, here we are: ready to assemble the chess cake.
Cut the cakes in two and create a sweet tower while alternating the coloured rings with whatever cream you'll use - I ended up with a plain chantilly.

 You will obtain quite a big cake with an optical surprise inside.

Ta-daah. That's all. Enjoy yourself and have fun playing with colours. Do you have a favourite team? Bake a flag! Play horizontal - why not?

It works again! Chess cake

 My blog was out of order for a few days - so Ladka miss my answer about ubi maior, minor cessat - it means somehow that the weak (minor) capitulates before the strong (major) , or, that where there is a strog one, the weak is neglected (or, is better for him to go away before the "maior" takes his-her advantage). I  don't mean to suggest it's ethical or correct, but when we are talking of dogs and sofa or dogs and throws, I know who the weak has to be.
But today the blog is ok, so I'll share with you my chess-cake-to-be. The first part was made yesterday, the second will be done before this evening when we'll meet our friends for a birthday toast.


It goes like that - you prepare your bread dough and while the yeats is doing his chemistry you start with the cakes.
 Two of them: a white and a dark cholocate batter. Use your secret recipe, a ready made cake, whatever. At the end you have to work on two identical cakes.

 Once the cakes are ready, take a large cup,  a glass and sharp knife to cut both of the cakes in three pieces.








Like that

 It's easy - do the puzzle work and you will have to bicolour cakes.

Put everything aside - better if the cakes are wrapped in alu - and go to sleep. As for me, I'll make the second part of the job. Alas, I have no idea how to decorate it. Maybe a thin layer of whipped double cream will be enough. We'll see.

Watching TV and knitting projects

 I'm sure you have a secret place full of yarn. Maybe it's not so secret - how could you possibly hide all the yarn you've bought in your adult life just because you have to? Well. Now it's time to give a sense to this forgotten yarn. At least I'm in the mood, so I'm clearing (and cleaning) my stash. Right now I'm working on a crochet stole that will put an end to my Noro scraps. It's the right project for TV afternoons, since your crochet hook is going his way and you can follow your favourite program.

While I'm devoting myself to mindless crochet work, I'm also knitting a dark blue cotton gansey for my son. It request more attention, but in the meantime you don't get bored and you just go on knitting.

Gipsy throw

It was so windy yesterday......there was nothing else to do than finish the stash-buster throw. It's funny how a blankett could be used as a knitting reminder. In there you'll find kid's socks,  shawls,  experiments with Kool-aid, gloves and mittens, one or two hats. It's a nice way to clear  your yarn corner and preserve your personal history. Well, maybe we are not really talking of breaking news, it's just a throw, made superb (ooops, again) by the finishing I've learned thanks to an Attic24's tutorial.

Mindy likes it, but she will not enjoy it - he,he. It will be for my personal use.
 Ubi maior, minor cessat

Take a nap

Gromit sleeping with his friend

flowers' scarf and a roof

Here it is: my very personal interpretation of the Japanese scarf pattern. It is something between a scarf and a necklace. Something you'll use to improve your outfit - being green, purple, yellow or brown. I think it was worth the pain of putting it together, but I'm on lazy person devoted to topdown, knit in the round and other paraphernalia that don't need sewing or grafting or whatever.
That said I must admit that the inspiring Attic 24 and other brave crocheters helped me a lot. And I'm thankful for all the tutorials I've found in their blogs. Thank you all.





















As for the balcony, my future paradise has a roof, covered with old "tavelle", flat, once handmade bricks, we had collected from the old house and from friends in the neighbourghood. They were very common more than a hundred years ago, now you have to contact collectors. Funny how people use to misunderstand the local heritage.

Anyway. In a couple of days this bench will be my knitting throne, with pillows and baskets full of yarn.

I'm a dreamer - there's a busy week waiting for me, not for my knitting.