Hello!
First of all, thank you for all your kind comments about my new pattern, here and on Ravelry. Thús has already been downloaded many, many times. It’s been rather overwhelming, but very nice too. Maybe you’ve already noticed – there is a new button in the black bar ↑↑↑at the top↑↑↑ saying ‘Patterns’. If you click on that, you are taken to a page where you can always find ‘all’ of my patterns. There are not all that many yet, but I hope to add a few more over time.
But let’s not keep standing here in the driveway. Please come through into the garden! There’s a chair waiting for you in the shade of the old pear tree. Placed at a safe distance from mine, of course. I have a day off today, so there’s all the time in the world to catch up.
Please make yourself some tea. There’s hot water in the thermos and a selection of tea bags in the bowl with the blue decorations. The Dutch Blend is really good. Or you can pick some fresh Moroccan mint, if you like.
Looking up, you can see that there are already lots of small pears on the tree. It wouldn’t be safe to sit here later in the year. You’d need a helmet with pears falling from the tree left and right. But right now it’s the best spot.
And look, there is one of ‘our’ young great spotted woodpeckers. Several of them and their parents are in and out of the garden all of the time. Only the youngsters have red caps. Their nest was probably in a tall tree in the nearby wood.
This particular youngster is slightly clumsy. It has difficulty climbing up the stem of the apple tree, and last week it dropped down – thud – right in front of me into the long grass, squawking, squawking for its parents.
It will have to learn how to climb up, because it’s what woodpeckers do, and also because that’s where the food is. Here’s another youngster with dad. First they sit looking at the feeder filled with peanuts together…
… then dad gets a piece of peanut with his son or daughter looking on…
… and feeds it to his offspring (we know it’s dad, because unlike mum he has a red spot at the back of his neck).
I often sit here watching them. And knitting.
I’ve just finished a pair of socks, knit from the toe up to the cuff. There’s enough yarn left for another pair with the colours reversed. I’m knitting those from the cuff down to the toe. I’ll tell you more about them when the other pair is finished.
If the socks look slightly on the big side, that is because they are. I made them for someone with bigger feet than mine.
I’ve also been thinking about the pink striped cardi I wrote about two weeks ago. My friend Marieke suggested hanging it up with some weights on it to see whether it would sag. That was a great idea and I used clothes pegs as weights. Not only did it show that it didn’t sag, it also gave me the opportunity to look at it from a distance.
It’s fine. There is nothing wrong with it at all. It’s just that I’m not crazy about the stripes and can’t see myself wearing it. So, rrrrrrrip! There it goes! I’ll put the yarn away for a while and think of something else to make with it.
But here I am, wittering on about my knitting. How about you? How are you doing? I hope you and yours are well. Does your government still tell you to stay home? Or can you go out and about a bit more now? Do you have some nice knitting on your needles? Or do you prefer crochet, or embroidery? Or a good book?
Oh, how time flies. It’s been lovely to have your company here. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!
I so enjoyed this visit with you in your beautiful garden, especially seeing the woodpeckers. Thanks for the tea, delicious!
Tot ziens
You’re more than welcome to come back anytime. Tot ziens!
I enjoyed that! Peaceful and relaxing, bird watching, all good things to share. Thank you!
And I enjoyed your company here. Thank you for flying over!
Thanks so much. I enjoyed our visit. The tea with mint was delicious. I’m looking forward to our next get together. Thanks
I love the mint too – so refreshing! Hope to see you again soon.
With such a lovely garden, it’s not hard to stay home. I love my virtual visits with you.
You’re right, we are truly blessed with this garden.
What a lovely virtual visit. Thank you.
I am getting used to this strange life. The time of the year really helps. My garden is no way as big or as beautiful as yours, but it has its moments. Right now I am eagerly awaiting the bloom of my red peony. I planted it a few years ago and I have never seen so many buds on it, more than 15! On the other hand, my pale pink peony does not carry a single bud. A picture of life, I guess.
I have no less than three knittings on-going! A linen top, lovely indigo shade, a baby blue alpaca cardigan (stocking stitch, too boring to work on full-time) and a red/pink and black shawl with a nice but rather complicated petal pattern with many wrap-and-turns.
I too had a woodpecker come visit me almost every day to feed on the apples I provided him (?) with in the bird feeder. But I haven’t seen him lately. The neighbors also feed the birds so he has plenty to choose from.
Wow, so many flowers on your peony. Ours (the pale pink one) had only three. I think it’s a good idea to have several knits on your needles, for different moods, times of the day or levels of concentration. Indigo and alpaca are my kind of thing, and your shawl sounds intriguing.