Sprinkles Anyone?

It was an early start for us,

4 a.m. to be precise,

to get Mike to the airport for his flight to Stansted.

This afternoon

I was sitting on the balcony

missing Mike,

when the phone rang.

It was my friend

inviting me out for a bike ride

to Bernkastel,

and an ice cream when we got there.

Her 12 year old son,

and his friend

were coming too.

It was just what I needed.

Though when she said

ice cream,

I imagined an

ice cream cornet.

So what a surprise

when we sat down to these.

What a delight.

The bike ride was good too!

Just Me and the Hounds

'November,

Month of the drowned dog.

Fields like hammered lead.'

So Mike quoted to me yesterday as we gave the Hounds their first walk of the day.
A poem by Ted Hughes he said.

It was a bit windy and looked like it was going to rain,

having already been raining though the night.

So the lines above seemed appropriate.

Also, I think the fact that in a couple of hours time he would be getting on his motorcycle and travelling nearly 400 km was probably on his mind.
But he made it to the ferry and is now in the north east of England staying with his sons for a week. He emailed me earlier and said that the crossing was a bit rough!

So, it's just me and the Hounds keeping each other company.

This is Mike's 3rd trip away since we arrived in Germany.

Although one of the trips was only 2 nights away camping in Germany.

I took the next two photos this morning whilst holding onto the Hounds.

Just hoping they didn't spot a cat!

Otherwise I would have found myself flat on the floor.

Not for the first time!

They are quite powerful dogs.

The weather felt a bit warmer today and not windy!

Typical, Mike would say.

I wanted to get some photos whilst there are still some leaves on the trees
and showing their lovely colours.
Some of the trees are leafless now.

The next two photos were taken earlier in the week and show how the colours are changing in the vineyards.

It helps when the sun shines!

Usually when Mike is away I get my sewing out to keep me company.

When we were in Sweden, I used to bring some of my sewing stuff over from my workshop and take over the dining room.

But the dining room/lounge is already taken over with my sewing stuff.
As I have already been doing some sewing.
And Mike is acting as postman
by taking this to pass on to my son to deliver.

And some of these to post.

As they are bound for England.

The rest of which I posted today!

I'll show you what I have been busy with once the recipients have received them.

Meanwhile, back to the Hounds.

Here they are after this mornings walk waiting for me at the top of the stairs.
How nice is that?

Well they can't actually get to their beds until I open the door!

I would like to get a photo of Paddy in his Sphinx position that he usually adopts.

Have a happy weekend.

The Sun Has Got His Hat On

Hip hip hip hooray.

Mike was singing this song last week.

He was enjoying being back home

and the sun was shining.

I was happy that he was home.

It was the longest time I had spent here on my own.

During the winter too,

when the nights are dark,

and the dogs have to have their last walk in the dark.

I kept thinking about bears waking from their slumbers,

and wolves walking,

in search of prey.

So I am very pleased that Mike is home

and I don't have to do that walk by myself now.

I was also very pleased to get the camera back.

Mike had taken it with him.

And I do like to include photos each time I post.

These past few days we've had more snow.

What more snow?

Just as we thought it was all disappearing too.

But that's the way it goes here.

You never can tell.

I thought it would be nice to take some photos of the woodpecker against the snow.

I also took some photos of the dogs.

Nothing new there then.

Jewel looks so tucked in, with her paw cushioning her head.

I got some pics of Paddy and Rufus running round the garden.

I was quite pleased with this one.

All of Rufus' feet are off the ground.

On Sunday, Mother's Day was celebrated in the UK.

In Sweden it is celebrated the last weekend in May.

I had wanted to post something on Sunday to mark the occasion,

but the computer was playing up.

However I did make a cake.

And in the background you can see some of my mum's embroidery.

It is a chairback cover.

One I remember from my childhood.

I used to look at it and picture myself in the garden amongst the old fashioned flowers.
I think my sister must have the matching pair to it,

it was of sentimental value to her as well.

Then just as I finished taking photos of the cake,

I went to pick the camera off the worktop,

and as I picked it up,

the strap snagged round a door handle,

and the camera fell to the floor.

So now I have a camera, but it doesn't work!

I'm not sure we can fix it.

Edited: please note, I have included paragraphs and kept line spacing the same, but Blogger seems to have it's own way of doing things.

Missing

I was woken gently this morning by our 3 dogs coming into my bedroom to say 'good morning', or more like 'time to get up'!

Usually the early morning call is one of excited jubilation, accompanied by much tail wagging. But thankfully this morning it was more refrained.

Once I was ready to take them out I looked for Paddy

Where was he? On the bed right where Mike would usually sleep. What is unusual is that Paddy NEVER EVER goes on the bed. I think he was missing Mike.



Something else that's missing are all the leaves on the trees now. It has been very windy here over the last 2 days so there are very few left. It's amazing how quickly they've all gone.

Inspired

Barn Owl by Stevie-B Flickr

Well I'm feeling quite inspired as I've been busy sewing one of these little fellas. Not literally you understand but a red spotted cotton version about 3 inches high. I made it for my daughter who didn't manage to make it over here at the beginning of the month, and I'm still feeling disapointed by it. It turns out she's had a really bad week, so I'm hoping that it at least might bring a smile to her face. I couldn't send her an owlett without sending her son a little something so I made him a black bat and a ghost, seeing as Halloween is coming up. I think I'm safe in that she doesn't read this.

So as I still don't have a working camera, nor will I for the forseeable future I hope that my daughter will take a photo of the things I've made and I'll post them at a later date. Meantime I have used this photo from Flickr. I expect I will be visiting Flickr more, there are some great photos over there.

So what with being busy sewing yesterday and Mike busy on the computer, I didn't get round to posting anything. But I'm really inspired to do some more sewing. I'm still managing to work on my hexagon quilt. It's great giving yourself a goal (to stitch for 15 minutes a day), and I've decided that those 15 minutes are to be spent on my hexagon quilt. So anything else is a bonus.

Mike has just left for 5 days away, so it's a great opportunity to get my sewing machine out. Whenever he's away for a few days, I bring my sewing machine and 'stuff' over to the house where I'm close to the kettle (for tea making), and spread my stuff out. And generally enjoy being immersed in doing something creative. So I should have something to show for it this time, being suitably inspired!