The best things in life are free Vol. 04

Today I got a larger envelope in the mail. I was surprised to put it gentley. Hubby and me inspected it closely and wondered who would send me a letter.
On the backside I read the name and smiled :-) A friend of mine who I haven't heard of for about 2 or 3 month. She suddenly vanished from the earth and since they don't have a regular phone noone knew how to find out if they are well. A few weeks ago I decided to send a letter (pink envelope and kitschy Thomas-Kinkade-motive) but... no answer, until today.
They are all well (she's due July 7th) but have trouble with their phone company who also provided internet service for them. They had booked the cheapest offer available (times are hard for them) and the company decided to simply pull the plug because "flatrate" doesn't mean "all you can phone and surf" :-( They were offered a new contract three times more expensive but declined, of course. So... now they have to pay their old contract but don't get service for it. To change providers they urgently need the money that they pay to the other company currently. Life sometimes is unfair :-/
Nevertheless, the most important thing is parents and baby are fine, she has to rest a lot but otherwise their little boy grows and seems to be well. Let's hope and pray that it stays that way.

Getting a leter from a friend is one of the best things in life. And it's free too :-)
Why not take a pen and some paper and actually write someone you have thought of lately? :-) I'm off to do that right now.

not free... but SQUEEEEE! ;-)

My yarn order arrived and I cannot describe how happy I am. 6 gorgeous skeins of sock yarn, 5 of them 4ply, one 6ply for a new pair of fingerless gloves.

Here, take a look :-)

The yarn was ordered at Zauberwiese.de on monday and today it already arrived although I had to pay in advance (you can order internationally but I don't know how long it takes, since I live in Germany). The colors are actually prettier than on this photo (I am a bad photographer) and I can't wait to use it :-)

A nice touch were the little goodies you can see on the picture: a small sachet of lavender and a vanilla scented heart for taking a bath. The yarn itself is georgous enough but those littel gifts make you feel even more appreciated.

Thank you Zauberwiese!

The best things in life are free Vol. 03

My grand-cousin just called and told me proudly that her grades are great. Nothing reminds me of the girl last year who decided to skip school. Instead she works hard to get good grades, wants to attend nursing school afterwards and has plans for her life. She was always and still is one of the nicest teenagers I know. I'm so happy for her :-))
What is better in life than seeing a young girl finding her way? :-)
(And an additional plus, she'll visit hubby and me in summer, yay.)

The best things in life are free Vol. 02

One of the things I really love is wind. A slight breeze when I'm outside in the garden working, the sound of wind in the leaves of nearby trees like a lullaby. I've always slept safe and sound with weather like that.
So, of course I'll go outside now and play in my garden (that means: planting a few autumnal flowers and checking for weed... )
I hope you have an equally wonderful day :-)

the best things in life are free vol. 01

She is not only the great mind behind patterns like Hermosa but also the initiator of "the best things in life are free". I'm pretty late to the party but love the idea so much that I plan to write about this too :-)

The best things in life are free.
For example a purring cat on ones belly :-) I'm thankful that our older cat is well (she's only 4 but slightly disabled) and such a cuddle mouse :-)

beauties ;-)

As promised I took some pictures. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did :-)

Since this is mostly a knitting blog, I'd like to start with my finished Secret of the Stole II :

Artistically draped over a blooming Weigela that someone planted before we moved in. The stole itself is awesome. Awesomly large, awesomly beautiful and according to hubby also awsomly bright. I love it! ;-)

My Mr. Greenjeans, made out of Cascade 220 in Japanese Maple. I hope I'll be able to have my picture taken in it over the next weekend. The pattern was easy to follow and I had a lot of yarn left at the end. On the other hand I didn't go down a needle size for the cabeling. It is ok as it is in my eyes :-) The only thing I hated was kntting the sleeves since the bamboo needles I got for this task felt yucky :-/

I also found the time to sew. This Tilda-Angel now lives with my parents :-)

The pattern is from Sew Pretty Homestyle by the awesome Tone Finnanger (hope I spelled that right). I used scrap fabrics so it isn't the angelic little angel in pastels, more a wild girl, but I love her :-) (mental note to myself: I need a Tilda angel too :-))

And now I'd like to invite you to a stroll through my garden. We just started to work on it (always in mind that we shouldn't do so much there since we'll move out sooner or later) but I love flowers. As it seems, especially pink ones *lol*

Here, take a look at this one, not pink but oh so beautiful. Unortunately we have so many snails that this is the last surviving one :-(

Have you met my fuchsias yet? They are pretty little ballerinas, at least they remind me of them:-)

And here are my bleeding hearts. Those were my (almost) only plants I had last year. I'm so happy that they grew back :-)

oh look...

it's uhm... me?! I meant to post for ages but first couldn't log in and then... no pictures. I hate to post without pictures but oh well... I thought I'd just post a small message of what I was doing for the last weeks :-)

Since Valentines Day I:

- finished my Mr. Greenjeans (ravelry link) (love it but changed the button placement. The cardigan now closes right at my bustline and it looks really neat that way :-))
- did knit 2 pairs of stockinette stitch socks
- finished my Secret of the Stole 2 aka Savannah (ravelry link)
- started on the "Dem Fischer sin Fru"-faeroese shawl. (ravelry link) I love it so far but it is extremely time consuming. Those rows are extremely long and I just finished clue 2. Seems it will be an ongoing project for quite a while
- started another pair of plain stockinette socks in an awesome semi solid (I just turned the heel on the second sock :-))
- started a pair of Hannover-Socken (ravelry link) I finished No.1 and love the pattern. It is clearly written (will be available in english soon) and pretty easy to memorize. The overall effect is awesome. (So, I'm not afraid of twisted sticthes any more ;-))
- signed up at the Domestic Bettys KAL (ravelry link) (we are knitting 13 pairs of socks over the year <3)
- frogged my Hedera Socks (ravelry link) since I didn't like how they looked in this particular yarn
- dipped my toe into the theory of canning food and plan to try out some basic strawberry jam as soon as local strawberries are available (which also means, I try to go more green by chosing local and seasonal foods)
- quit on sodas (and by that found out that I'm allergic to aspartame. I feel so much better now, no fainting - don't laugh! - and upset stomach, yes I'm sometimes a slow learner ;-))
- took up gardening and forced hubby to help me with the heavier stuff
- chose to take fewer university classes and for the first time I feel as if I'm able to work on my tasks and finish my homework in a timely manner
- had my hair cut and dyed (love! it!)
- tried out patchwork and loved it but noted that it will take up a lot of my time since I try to sew per hand
- spoiled hubby and cats
- annoyed our neighbours by laughing to loud (hey, what can I say, I'm a happy person most of the time ;-))
-....

uh, I guess, that's it for now. I'll try to take pictures and post them soon (meaning somewhere around wednesday most likely if I don't find the time today)

until then: smile and be happy because whatever happens, it's not as bad as it could be :D