It is a truth universally acknowledged...

...that, if you only have two hands,

you can't read and crochet at the same time!

And when you would much rather read than crochet,

you can't expect to finish a blanket in a year - or two!

But when you decide you have to finish it soon,

otherwise it would be  a joke

- 'nice blanket!' 'oh, thanks! it was a fast project really! It only took five years to make!'- 

you scratch your head, think hard and bingo!, technology is the answer.

So with the audio book of Pride and Prejudice in the cd/usb player

and hook and yarn in my hands,

I can still hope that I'll manage to finish my son's blanket

in time for his birthday next month!

Wish me luck!

today...

...I discovered these in The Shell Seekers

(have no idea when I put them in there)

... I noticed one of my favourite colour combinations in my pan.

It's always the little things...

xxx

saturday evening at the orchard

"Under the apple tree?"

I nodded and he got out the picnic blanket from the trunk of the car. We lay back, gazing at the feathered clouds sailing slowly above our heads. Bees were buzzing over the clover, crickets were chirping, and we could hear the children playing...

Karen Andreola

Lessons at Blackberry Inn

my {home-alone} sunday

some reading and crocheting

washing curtains, washing windows (the whole thing)  and putting curtains back up

 a simple meal for one :omelette with  pasta (angel's hair), spring onions and green peppers

a favourite film (you've got mail), coffee and a little treat

~ Can you tell by the way I write that I'm not really into words? ~

Have a lovely week!

xxx

a weight on my chest

no pretty pictures tonight;

just a weight on my chest;

i've just finished reading this;

i really needed this;

i only wish i were there to hold her hand, too.

inspiration in pink and green

It seems that I've been using a lot of pinks and greens for my creations.

This colour combination really appeals to me.

I find it very relaxing and I've (very slowly) been working my way towards bringing more of it at home.

So when I started looking for a sewing book to order from the Book Depository in order to take advantage of a friend's offer (thank you J!), this one made my heart miss a beat. This must have been the fastest order I've ever placed!

I knew I didn't need another sewing book, but I also new I needed to spoil myself with some serious dosage of eye-candy!

You wouldn't believe me if I told you how much time I spent looking at these two pages above while drinking my Sunday morning coffee at the balcony!

Maybe I can finally find something to make with these fat quarters I bought back in autumn!

I realise I've basically showed you here some of the great photography that accompanies the projects and not much of the projects themselves.

 I told you: in serious need of eye-candy!

Hope you have a great week!

xxx

scenes from the weekend

Hello lovelies!

Hope you all had a great weekend and a wonderful start to your week!

Here things are quite laid back; slowly but surely, I'm going through the stuff we brought back home - a couple of boxes here, a suitcase there...

This morning, when I proudly stated that we could finally see our floors, hubby answered :'what about the sofa?'

Ahem..., we have another one, plus a very comfortable armchair; what do we need our (now full of winter clothes to be sorted out and put away) smaller sofa?

Our weekend was a very good one.

There was ...

...reading a very interesting book in my comfy flowery pjs (and a cardigan; it was a bit chilly in the mornings)

...lots of playmobil action (after the caravan, knights, pirates and a castle came out of their boxes and mummy discreetly turned to her book -shhhh!)

...some yummy action in the kitchen (chocolate-nutella tart; most of it still in the freezer to tempt me - no, no, I need to lose some weight)

...a birthday celebration with just the three of us at home followed by dinner at a restaurant with friends (it was hubby's birthday, by the way)

 

...a family breakfast - pancakes + honey+ almonds. mmmmm

 

...my blanket being put in good use by little one while watching cartoons early in the morning (good thing it's acrylic and not wool!)

...some (light) housework which resulted in fresh bedlinen (the piles of books are among the things that were revomed from the floor but have in fact nowhere to live!)

We also attended a Christening; my youngest nephew bacame godfather to a little girl and ...

watched the news... a lot :(

As you can see, regardless of the general chaos in my country, life at our little home is good.

Thank you all so very much for your lovely comments. It feels great to write 'I'm back home' and see that so many people I've actually never met understand what this means to me and feel happy for me. I'm so grateful for your being here!

Take Care!

xxx

the shell seekers

The past few months, I've bought quite a lot of books.

I discovered that buying books online is far cheaper than buying from a bookstore here, plus, in this small village I am now, it doesn't take a whole morning of queueing at the post office to collect a parcel as it does in the city. Most of these books are already back home, where I took them last time I went there.

So, once again, I'm reading The Shell Seekers.

There's something about this book, that gives me enormous pleasure...

the setting, the characters, the flashbacks in time...

And although I've read it so many times, I never feel bored; I never skip a single page. I devour it!

What's one book you've read again and again and never get tired of it?

my today

While packing her bag in the morning, she remembered that it was Wednesday and there would be some free time between classes to unwind. The novel she was reading was the perfect choice to take along with a cup of coffee at the school yard bench.

12.35. She rang the bell for everyone to go inside after recess and went upstairs to get her book and make some coffee. Just then, she remembered she had promised a colleague to look after his sixth graders while he took care of an unexpected emergency. 'They are good kids', she thought. 'I'll let them play outside, while I read'. Out in the yard again, she looked at the bright sky and thought it was the best possible weather; sunny but not too hot because of the breeze. The boys had already started playing hide-and-seek but the girls seemed quite indecisive as to what to do. They were all lying on the grass, looking at her. 'What are you reading?', one of them asked her. 'The Violets of March, a novel', she replied. 'Will you read to us?' After pondering over it for a moment, she recalled a little extract she had underlined the night before. 'Sure, why not. Just grab me a chair; the grass is a bit too humid for me'. They all got comfortable, using each others' legs as cushions, some closed their eyes, some looked straight at her, waiting for her to start reading.

"Hello, girls!" she said, walking toward the kitchen. In her hands were a bottle of wine and a bouquet of purple lilacs wrapped in brown paper and tied loosely with a strand of twine.

"They're lovely," Bee said, smiling. "Now, where on earth did you find these this early in the season?"
"In my garden," she said as though Bee had just asked her what color the sky was. "My lilac tree always blooms before yours." She said it with an air of amicable competitiveness that only a sixty-plus-year friendship could bear.

After the necessary translation, there were a couple of comments about the two characters' friendship. The girls were amazed at it and two of them looked at each other with warm smiles on their faces. They probably had the same thought of them being still friends in their eighties. 'Go on. Read us some more. What happened next?' the girls asked their teacher. And she went on, reading about a secret diary, or novel. They were mesmerised. When it was time for their next class, they asked her if she could tell them what would happen next, once she'd read the rest of the story. 'I will most definitely do', she promised.

~~~~~~

~ extract (the middle part of the post) from The Violets Of March

~note to self: always have a camera with you! You never know when you'll want to capture a moment!

May {right now} ...

Today was the first day at work after the two-week break.

I found books waiting for me here.

I'm excited about my new books! I need to show you what I've bought so far this year.

I'll go drink this coffee now and leaf through my books before I go get little one from school.

Have a lovely month!

It's a beautiful, sunny Monday here.
xxx

December 3rd - grateful for ...

{ books }

Medicine for the soul.

~Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes

from the weekend

the village is full of this yellow bliss

riding across the river - well, just a little bit (photo taken by hubby with his cell phone - I've got them all working for me!)

lunch here on a wet, misty Saturday afternoon

(I took the photos with my cell; excuse the poor quality)

comfort food (recipe here)

cosying up the house - new rug for the kitchen

~~~~~~
the new week greeted me with two parcels full of birthday wishes and... BOOKS!!!!! Thank you Feline and Sarah!
(more on this next time)

~~~~~~~

Have a lovely rest of the week!

xxx

The Island

Have you read Victoria Hislop's The Island?

I've read it and was impressed by the power and determination of wounded souls.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I heard that a Greek channel has turned it into a TV series with the author's contribution.

Below is the trailer of the series (in Greek but still really worth watching)

and a short interview with Victoria Hislop.

There's also this great video, which I couldn't embed, with English subtitles wherever necessary.

I can't wait for Monday evening to come!

just before I went to bed last night...

... I left these things on the coffee table,

and by doing this simple act,

I felt happy and content.

It's something I've done almost every evening lately (when I'm at home)

as hubby has been working late all month.

I seem to find comfort and cosiness in simple routines like this.

Another book always waits for me on my bedside table; this time a novel - always.

How about you?

What are your comfort routines or rituals?

simple maths

four books from the library

plus


four books from the post office (bought from ebay)

equals...


h~a~p~p~i~n~e~s~s

~~~~~~
tomorrow is my one-year-blogging anniversary;
interested in some snail mail love?
nothing much - just a little 'hello' from my corner of the world

~~~~~
take care!
xxx

randomness

Last month, Cassie tagged me with a couple of awards.

If you've read this, you know I'm not a huge fan of awards, although I don't mind them either.

Part of the award-posts is usually answering a few questions about yourself; and that's the fun part.

So, today I've decided to mingle things a bit - why can't I ever stick to the rules?- and think of some answers from each post.

Care to find out more about me?

All aboard...

~~~~~~

1. What books are you currently reading?

Marcia Willett - Second Time Around; good for lazy afternoons

2. What is your all time favourite film and why?

You've Got Mail : a sweet children's bookstore, a shabby chic apartment, lovely music, romance, beautiful photography, Tom Hanks.

3. What is the one place that you really want to visit that you haven't been to before?

Scotland, Scotland, Scotland,....

-any invitations from my friends out there? ;)

4. What is something fun and inspiring you have seen online lately and would like to share with us all?

See my 'love these' list on my sidebar.

5. What do you do when you're bored?

I read, blog, watch TV, crochet...

6. Are you an autumn or spring?

Mostly spring, but autumn is a close second; I get tired with summer(because of the heat) and I don't mind winter. (if there are teachers reading, they probably think the last part is irrelevant and unnecessary!!!)

7. Jane Austen or Emily Bronte?

Definitely Jane Austen.

8. What phrase has stuck with you in your life?

Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) from the film Dead Poets' Society.

~~

That's it with me. How about answering a couple of the questions in the comments section? Just write the number and your answer...

or just wave 'hello'.

~~~~~~

the photos show some of 'my today' moments;

little one doing crafts while I sip coffee and read, watering the plants, a bit of baking... slow...