Every Day in Life is Beautiful

A gentle morning sky

taken from my balcony.

Soft petals and curves in pastel colours

which remind me of the colours of my temperature blanket so far.

Under a large oak tree, these bright and charming tiny cyclamen were growing.

There's such beauty in skies at any time of the day.

This was taken today as the tiny moon rose in the pastels of the sky.

With the 75th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.

last Monday on January 27th,

I wanted to re-read the story of Alice Herz-Sommer.

She was a gifted concert pianist and Holocaust survivor.

She said that music kept her and her young son alive.

I have two books about this lady. 

The one above and another entitled: 'A Century of Wisdom'.

I can recommend them both.

Alice was an incredibly positive person her whole life.

She is truly inspirational.

Her quotations are really meaningful.

Here is one of them:

"Life is beautiful. You have to be thankful that we are living.

Wherever you look is beauty.

I know about the bad things, but I look for good things"

Alice Herz-Sommer

The colourful presence of tulips in our homes brings such joy.

I crocheted a reversible heart for my front door with daisies.

The month of February makes us think of hearts!

I like the plain red side, but the three colours is fun too.

That's the one that's on show today.

I may change it for the red side on February 14th.

Here is a link for the heart pattern

I went for a lovely brisk walk in my neighbourhood

and on my way back, around 6 pm,

I stopped to enjoy this beautiful sky.

When I got home,

the sky was deepening.

"Every day in life is beautiful ... every day."

Alice Herz-Sommer.

The beauty is there even when we fail to notice it.

When we look around us with awareness

we can see it or hear it in the songs of the birds at dawn and dusk.

Yesterday, on returning from my walk, I heard a blackbird sing for the first time this year.

Continuing the 2020 Flower Challenge with a new flower to crochet every week of the year.

Here is Flower number 3

A little daisy.

If you would like to join the challenge.

Check out Anabelia craft design

May you find something beautiful every day of your life.

The Colours of January

The illuminated Lausanne Cathedral

as the bells rang out to celebrate the New Year!

The crowds were dense, but we found a bench to sip our mulled wine

which I had made at home and put into thermos mugs!

The tower was bathed in a deep blue light afterwards

and the crowds dispersed to continue their celebration

or to go home

I'm not a night owl, so I did the latter!

A delicate sunrise taken from my balcony with the cock on the church steeple.

I enjoy my daily walks and loved these tiny oval red berries

hanging on the branches like Christmas lights.

The centre of a beautiful Amaryllis bloom which opened up on Christmas morning.

A late afternoon walk with sun-kissed branches and a waxing moon

rising higher in the sky.

I decided to crochet a Temperature Blanket for the very first time.

These are the colours that represent the temperatures in the first seven days of January.

Cool colours, which are my favourites.

The average daytime temperature has been around 6-7 Celsius.

The dominating colours so far are Wisteria and Sherbet.

The middle round of the small squares is the coolest temperature of the day 

and the second round is the warmest.

I'm using white to join all the squares.

I couldn't resist getting a small pot of sunshine in the shape of these yellow Primula.

My daughter and I went to see the new film version of the musical 'Cats'.

It was very good. The costumes and settings were wonderful!

We had already seen it in London some years ago on the stage.

The Magnolia buds look very promising against the Winter's sky.

A small perfect rosebud was still blooming in one of the neighbourhood gardens.

Tightly encased catkins still know that they have to wait a little longer

before stretching their limbs!

I have used this image for my January header.

It's a subtle reminder that Spring follows Winter.

More catkins in the park nearby against a gorgeous limpid blue sky.

Another beautiful sunrise in shades of pink, blue, lilac and purple.

This one inspired me to take out my coloured yarns to start a separate crochet project

Here are all the colours.

Seven squares already joined in a row.

I'm considering adding single coloured squares to frame the others.

I've chosen Bluebell to do this.

This month of January is full of new energy

and we're already gaining an extra minute every day.

We are getting some grey days but a generous amount of sunshine and clear blue skies as well.

January doesn't need to be dull

it can be whatever we want it to be!

We just need to seek out the colour and beauty around us

and if we can't see any ...

well, let's just create it!

The Last Day of October

The month of October this year has been beautifully sunny for the most part

and also rather warm until recently.

I wanted to share the wonderful colours that I've enjoyed in my area  

often in my  own neighbourhood.

This first photograph was taken in the park called Mont Repos

which is in Lausanne and only a 20-minute walk from where I live.

The golden leaves in the background are Tulip Trees.

Here is one of the paths in the park

lined with those beautiful trees.

The park is so beautiful with all the autumn chrysanthemum plants coming into bloom.

The  warm colours make me feel happy!

The leaves are falling with the recent wind and rain and soon the trees will be bare

showing the lovely shapes of their trunks and branches.

The Maple leaves take on their bright tones of red and orange.

Cherry Tree leaves catch the sunlight

before floating down and sometimes getting caught in fences.

Big American oak leaves and Beech create their own beauty when they land

on the granite path.

Closer to home, a local Tulip Tree frames a pale blue sky

In my own tree-lined street, the leaves gather on the pathways

making everything so beautiful.

I was walking down my street in the rain one day and saw this little leaf

which had moulded itself on the door handle of a dark blue car.

Another rainy day and a different kind of leaf had landed on a black car.

The lovely reflected colours on the shiny door are the leaves on the ground.

A rusty fence was embellished by this vine turning a colour which seemed to match the rust.

I was waiting for the bus to come home after an afternoon out and just caught this beautiful lighting 

just before sunset.

By standing on tiptoes, I could capture a fine strip of lake and the mountains

The last photo is a still life to honour today.

It is All Hallows' Eve.

What is now known as 'Halloween' is a name that means nothing in itself.

It's a contraction of  'All Hallows' Eve'.

It designates the vigil of All Hallows' Day, which is November 1st,

often known as All Saints' Day.

I have spoken about putting up some photos of a lovely escapade I did in October,

but it will be for another day!

My neighbourhood

One of the things I really like about my neighbourhood is going for walks

in the early morning or after supper just before sunset.

I catch such pretty lighting at these times of the day.

I loved catching the early evening sun behind these beautiful wild roses.

These yellow roses are really lovely too and in an area of individual houses

with lovely gardens and on very quiet streets.

One of my favourite colours in roses: a warm apricot colour.

Wild flowers pop up on the edge of gardens and I love to capture them too!

Delicate little Aquilegia appear wherever they are left to grow.

So dainty!

I often see these beautiful Delphiniums as I pass them by on my evening walks.

Their dark blue petals look like shot silk with reflections of pink and purple.

Bright red roses grow through the fencing - much to the delight of passers-by.

On Saturdays, I like to go down to the market. 

This lovely stall is where I bought the Gaillardia for my balcony garden.

This is the Spelt bread that I buy at the market. This loaf lasts me the whole week.

The strawberries are called 'Mara des Bois' and they taste like wild strawberries.

Fresh organic asparagus is lovely at this time of the year too.

Last week, we had very violent rain and hailstorms at the end of the day.

I managed to save all my flowers by removing them from the balcony edge,

but the Gaillardia still got a little beating.

Despite that, the beauty remains!

The new buds have formed beautiful blooms in the meantime.

Also just changing into the most delicious shade of raspberry pink,

my second hydrangea plant from two years' ago.

They are a good contrast to the paler pink hydrangea from this year.

My lavender is doing well and the bees are getting interested!

A golden yellow Zinnia with red and pink ones too and a cascade of Alyssum

shedding tiny white petals everywhere, but smelling like honey!

I have been crocheting

A chunky yarn couch throw.

I'm waiting for a yarn order to make it grow.

Teddy got a new granny square jacket too. Orange, to match his eyes!

To celebrate the Summer Solstice

I've crocheted a sunny Mandala

which I've called: ' Daisy and Buttercups and Changing Skies'!

Wishing you all a very happy Summer Solstice!

Do you do something special to celebrate?

I'll be taking a little blog break as I'm going to England for a visit next week!

See you sometime in July!