Annual Spring Report 2022

It looks like if it were not for my annual spring report, this blog would be dead by now. But here I am again, with a few photos from our garden.

Winter this year has been mild, but spring has been rather cold, until we suddenly got a warm spell around Easter.

Then one morning two weeks ago we looked out of the kitchen window and discovered that the woods had turned green overnight. We had some beautiful days before the chilly weather returned.

Hopefully the colder weather will cause the flowers to bloom a little longer. Almost all the narcissi came out at once, and the early rhododendrons are just starting.

The narcissi by the south wall are starting to fade.

Also by a south wall, 36 tulips are in bloom.

On top of the old compost heap, two kale plants have survived winter, and are starting to form flowers.

The lilac has large buds already, and looks promising.

The staghorn sumak is budding, and behind it, the flowering currant has been in full bloom for some weeks now.

The wild anemones show up everywhere in the garden, and in the woods. Great food for the insects. Very soon the cuckoo flower will bloom all over our lawn. We usually postpone cutting the lawn, or some of it, until the flowers have faded.

Spring snowflake is also in full bloom, which is a bit early, – but of course they are welcome. I seem to remember having theese in bloom around June 1st in previous years. But it could have been a cold one I am remembering.

The downside to posting so seldom is that the platform has changed a lot since my last post, so it took some time to find the functions that I needed. I have not figured out everything about photo placement yet, but hope it will look ok in the post.

Happy springtime.

🙂

Eldrid

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Annual Spring Report 2021

This spring has been quite cold, as was also the winter this year.

On May 1st there were not many green leaves to be seen in the woods, and there is still snow in the mountains. Crocuses and snowdrops are all finished, and most of the daffodils along the fence have large buds.

The earliest daffodils and those by the south wall are in bloom, and so is the flowering currant. The rhododendrons have lots of buds this year, so we expect a riot of colour later in May.

Last year DH cleaned out our raised beds by the steps, – they were so weed infested that they were impossible to keep. So instead we bought some large pots to place in the beds, planted roses and perennials in them, and filled some gravel around the pots. We will be getting a couple more pots this year. Everything has survived in the pots despite the cold winter.

The begonias have come out from the basement where they have been kept in a chilly and dark place all winter. Usually they have a lot longer sprouts than this, so maybe our basement was colder this winter. Keeping an eye out for the weather forecast to see when we can put them into the earth. May can not be trusted not to bring on some night frost and snow occasionally.

Our white rosebush is sprouting despite the chill, and the spiraea bush is turning green, but no flowers yet. The old rowan tree has large buds, at least on the branches that are not dead yet. It is very old, – my husband who is 68, can remember there were two trunks when he was a little boy, and his grandfather cut down one of them. So it was already a big, grown tree 60-65 years ago. We will have to cut it down eventually as it is getting unsafe.

The lilac bush to the right is not quite as old, – only 45 or 46. My father brought a sapling from their garden, where I grew up, and planted it here the year we moved into our new home. Some of the oldest stems are starting to give, and we had to remove a big one a few weeks ago. But there are lots of younger stems, so we hope for lilac blooms many years to come still.

Our so called lawn has got quite a few wood anemones now, as we do not bother to remove the moss. I think they are prettier than grass.

Some years ago we planted 8-10 tulips by the south wall, and they have returned every year, although in varying numbers. This year they are at an all time high as I counted 32 buds. Fingers crossed that the deer do not get to them.

And lastly there was a nice surprise in one of my pots as last year’s violets seem to have seeded themselves. I will only remove the dry stalks carefully, and then leave them alone to do their thing.

🙂

Eldrid

Annual Spring Report 2019

Not much has been posted on my blog the last twelve months, but this post goes up every year. It is fun to sometimes look back over the years to see just how “normal” the spring time has been.

As for this year, it will be placed in the “not normal” group.

I cannot remember everything being so early before. We have had a very warm and dry April, and during the last week, everything was suddely in full bloom, including the fruit trees, which normally bloom at least 3 weeks later than this.

All kinds of bushes normally blooming in May, has either started to bloom, or are already in full bloom, like the red rhododendron bushes.

All the narcissuses are in full bloom, or are finished, depending on variety and placement in the garden. Even the tulips are nearly finished.

The ones above normally bloom in June, but have now started at the end of April.

Our lawn is in full bloom too, so the bumblebees should be happy, – or maybe they are already overworked with everything else that is blooming.

Even the wild blueberries and the strawberries are in bloom, and it was not yet May when these photos were taken.

Today, on May 1st, we are further inland at our “cabin”. It has obviously been a bit cooler here, as we can see the tulips have just started to bloom, and the leaves on the trees are  bit smaller. But still very early here too.

A happy wagtail on top of our roof. I hope it does not eat too many bees as they are needed for their job just now.

 

🙂

Eldrid

Annual Spring Report 2018

I am a bit late in writing this up, but the photos were taken on time, – on May 1st, and then again when we arrived home on May 3rd.

On May 1st we were further inland visiting family, and this is how it was like there. The ski slopes were still sporting a good amount of snow, although they had been closed for a couple of weeks already.

No leaves on the trees yet, but the fields were quite green, although it looked like the snow had only just disappeared from the fields and was still lingering in the woods nearby.

The garden outside the flat, facing south, had one blooming mini daffodil, and a few budding tulips, and quite a lot of dandelions sprouting everywhere.

On arriving back home on the coast two days later, the picture was a little bit different. Fields were not as green, but the woods had started to change their colour. No need to mow the lawn just yet. The bulk of narcissuses were still not in bloom, but with growing buds.

The ones by the south wall were in full bloom. The crocuses were finished, along with the snowdrops.

The flowering currant was in full bloom, and had been for a few days.

Rose bush was sprouting new leaves, and so was the spiraea bush, but no white flowers just yet.

Tulips by the south wall had large buds. At the time of writing they are in full bloom, since we have had a few warm days lately.

All in all: a quite normal spring.

🙂

Eldrid

Annual Spring Report 2017

It is interesting to look back on my previous spring reports to see how they vary from year to year. This year seems fairly normal.

Even though the crocuses were record early due to a mild winter, both March and April have been quite cold, so the pictures taken on May 1st is almost exactly like last year.

The woods have just the smallest hint of green to them, and this is mostly due to the last couple of days when the sun came out, and it is warming up. There is still snow in the mountains from the latest snowfall not many days ago.

The winter tyres have just been removed from the car, washed and are drying in the sun, and the summer tyres are on, – more than a week later than the general rules allow. However, they were needed just a few days ago.

The cherry tree has large buds, but no blooms yet. Just as well since there are few insects around.

The bulk of our daffodils are not out yet. The exception besides the early ones is the ones in sheltered spots and next to the south wall. The tulips by the south wall are also budding.

The flowering currant has been in bloom for some time, but the spiraea bush has just a hint of green around it, but no blooms yet. However, with the nice weather we are having now, it will not be long, I expect.

The sheep are enjoying the good weather too, although the lot in this photo were a bit worried. Someone with a dog, – on a leash, mind, as it should be this time of year, – was crossing the field below, so they ran for higher grounds. Lambs were separated from their mothers, so there was a lot of bleating and running around before the little ones got back to their respective guardians for a comforting suckle. Then all was well, and they could settle down and enjoy the glorious day.

 

And so do we. The weather forecast for the next week is glorious.

🙂

Eldrid

Lagre

The Quilted and the Non-Quilted Feast

The first day of our tour we spent sightseeing in Moscow, and in the afternoon we ended up inside the Novospassky Monastery, where a delicious meal had been prepared for our international group.

We were to dine in one of the towers that sit on every corner of the wall surrounding the monastery.

The entrance was through a low door in the inside wall, up some long and narrow steps to the gallery, and again ducking through low doors and into the tower room.

It was a lovely sight: tables already set with lots of delicious food, old cupboards against the walls holding beautiful pots and crockery, traditional costumes on display, along with various crafted items, – and everything lit only by candles and the natural light coming through the small windows, filtered through blue and white glass.

Many old and newer samovars were displayed around the room and on the steps to the upper room:

We were told that we were going to have a traditional Russian meal, – as in a feast, – and our guide inside the monastery described each course as they were served: what they were, a little about tradition and production, how they should be eaten, etc.

I think there were more than ten different courses, – I lost count somewhere during the meal, – and all of it was delicious; the pumpkin soup, chicken and mushroom pie, pancakes with caviar, fish, pork, cucumber rolls and everything else.

We had sweetened mint flavoured juice to drink, – very good after a long and warm day out in the streets. Then there was cake and desserts along with hot tea made from lots of different sour fruits and berries, and sweetened with comb honey.

What a treat!

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A week later we went into another monastery, in Suzdal, and inside one of the churches there, we laid eyes on another feast.

22 year old Xenia Shlyakova had single-handedly provided a full table of yummy food, – all made from fabric and set onto a large, handmade, table cloth.

There were all kinds of food:  fish with both red and black caviar, mushrooms, and chicken…..

……. pelmeni, cucumbers, roasted pig with vegetables, goose and apples, prawns with lemon and strands of dill……

….. breads in a basket with an embroidered napkin, and decorated bread or cake.

Bearing in mind the topic of the festival was Love, and Wedding, this would probably be the kind of decorated bread made especially for weddings. Note the poppy seeds on the braided loaf, – they are all tiny french knots.

Of course there were desserts too, – fruit, berries, cake, and cookies.

No feast is complete without something to drink.  In the bottle there is moonshine, and my guess is tea in the teapots and the samovar.

I wondered a bit about the boot on the top of the samovar, but Mr. Google informs me that it is used instead of a bellow to fan the fire inside the samovar.

And then the tea is sweetened with comb honey, – everything so neatly made, down to the last detail.

One the artist’s beautiful quilts was overlooking the table.

 

Both feasts were amazing experiences, and even though the last one was for the eyes only, it is remembered just as well as the one which we could also taste and smell.

 

🙂

Eldrid

 

 

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Lagre

Transforming a Pillow

The mention of shoddy in my previous post, reminded me of a pillow I rescued from the bin when sorting out things at my parents’ house last summer.

I think it originally came from our grandparents’ home, and I remember sleeping with that pillow when I was a little girl. It was very lumpy back then, and even worse now. Nobody else wanted it, and my first thought was to toss it, but then I rather liked the two fabrics it was made of, and since it would also be good for supporting the breakables during our drive back home, it went into the car instead of the bin.

Back home I opened it up and emptied the filling into a plastic bag. This is what shoddy looks like after it has been inside a pillow that has been used for more than 60 years. Very lumpy indeed.

Shoddy is made from old woolen garments, like the socks in my previous post, which have been shredded and carved into fibers, and then carded and made into fillings for pillows and duvets. Close up, one can see some of the original threads and many different coloured fibers.

I washed the fabric and put it away in a plastic bin.

Then we bought a new sofa, and I needed a couple of new pillows. I had seen one in a recent quilting magazine which gave me some ideas, and when looking through my stash for some background fabric, the old pillow came to mind.

I brought it out, and decided to use both fabrics, and I could even keep the old seam. I cut it one ruler width from the seam on both sides, and then cut the length into two parts, one for each pillow.

Then I added strips of a blue cotton damask fabric, which I had dyed myself many years ago. The two backgrounds are a bit different in size as the inner pillows I had available were of two different sizes. I also turned the stripes horizontally on one, and vertically on the other.

Then both backgrounds were layered and quilted with a wavy, on point, grid.

Next, I drew lots of circles in three different sizes on paper backed fusible web. They were ironed on to the back side of many different yellow, orange, red, and some purple scraps.

 

Then I placed my “flowers” on the green and blue background. I moved them around till I was satisfied with their placement, then ironed them down.

 

I sewed around each circle using the satin stitch on my machine. Since the background was layered and quilted, there was no need for a stabilizer.

I drew some stems with chalk, and then sewed them using a wider satin stitch.

In order to make some leaves, I ironed strips of different greens onto fusible web. Then I drew some leaf shapes in different sizes, and made some templates which I used to draw on the paper side of the fusible web already ironed to the strips. I cut out lots of leaves so I would have some to choose from when distributing them on the background.

When I was satisfied with the placement, I ironed and sewed around all the leaves using the satin stitch.

Then I only had to make backings for the pillows. Since I did not have zippers available, I made the envelope style backing. I use that a lot.

And onto the sofa they went.

🙂

Eldrid

Annual Spring Report 2015

May 1st has come and gone, so my annual spring report is overdue, but here it is.

I guess there is no such thing as a “normal” spring, but if there were, this would be close, I think. At least this is very close to my memories of what spring used to be.

Since we were going away on May 1st, I took these photos in the evening the day before, and nothing had changed much overnight, so I think they count as May 1st photos.

We have had a relatively mild winter with little snow here on the coast (inland dwellers will tell a different story), but the spring has been quite cool, especially April. The leaves on the birch trees have just started to come out, but very slowly.

 

The daffodils are budding, and a few are in bloom.

The exceptions are the ones by the walls facing south, they have been blooming for some time. The crocuses are all finished, unlike the very cold spring 2 years ago, when they were still in full bloom on May 1st.

The flowering currant bush is also in full bloom, ….

…. but none of the rhododendrons have shown their colour yet, – not even the early ones.

The tulips by the wall are ready to bloom, and were opening up when we arrived back home two days later.

The rose bush has got some green leaves, but the spirea bush only has a hint of green on it.

No leaves on our old rowan tree yet, but it is budding. We still have snow falling now and again.

As we travelled into the fjords on May 1st, we could see that there was still a lot of snow in the mountains, and the greenery varied from quite green to none at all, depending on whether the slopes were facing south or north, and on the altitude. Some high lying farms inland still had their fields covered with snow.

 

 

🙂

Eldrid

Fair Weather Hexagons

The weather has been nice, – in fact more than nice: really, really hot for these parts of the world.

That is when I pull out my ongoing hexagon project and sit in the shade, cutting, basting and sewing.

When making the shorts shown in the previous post, I ended up with a lot of odd shaped remnants, perfect for cutting up into hexagons. They have all been basted, along with a few other remnant pieces laying around my sewing area.

A few have been made into flowers, with a few background pieces added, ready to be attached to the growing top.

I am starting to think that this will become a small throw for the sofa. It is wide enough by now, but has only a third of the desired height, so I will need to add about a hundred new flower blocks, plus some half blocks to make the edges even.

I see I will need a lot of fine weather to finish this one 🙂 🙂   Bring it on!

🙂

Eldrid

Ukrainian Folk Costumes II

We have just celebrated the 200 year anniversary of our Constitution on 17th May, and as usual on the National Day, everybody who own a national costume, wore it to the festivities.

While I was enjoying myself looking at different dresses with a myriad of interesting details, I was reminded of the rest of the photos of the Ukrainian costumes that have been sitting in my computer for some time, waiting to make their way into this post.

Well, here they are at last.

The first one here is a costume from the  Transcarpathian flatlands. We are still in the era of the sewing machine, as can be seen on the vest. It has colourful ruffles made from a very thin fabric, which have frayed a bit over time. The shirt has fantastic smocking and embroideries on the cuffs. The photo of the skirt is sadly out of focus, but shows the multiple colours of the ruffle border.

I have been studying the belt, but cannot quite decide on the construction technique. I have been wondering if it might be made in the old braiding technique called “sprang”, but I am not sure. Maybe someone reading this will know. As I wrote in the first post, there was no information on the individual costumes other than the region they came from.

The costume above comes from the Lemko area. Again, the amount of detailed work is amazing. I like the dense embroidery of the head dress, which is also repeated on the cuffs, and I love the large pearl collar, – and not just because quilters are partial to hexagons.

When studying the embroidery on the skirt, you will notice that each motif is perfectly aligned with the pressed folds of the skirt.

I wonder how many pearls would be used for a dress like this.

Then we move on to Bukovyna, and here they had costumes for both men and women on display. The one above is for males, and it looks like they were not averse to wearing flowery decorations embroidered in many colours, – including hot pink.

The detailed work done on leather is impressive, and I love the woven belt. Also, I was surprised to see that the bottom of the trousers has a border of drawn thread embroidery. They show very little wear, so these trousers  must have been for very best use.

Above is the female costume, which, as a whole, appears less colourful than the male counterpart. The most impressive parts are the sleeves, which look unusually long, by the way, – and all covered in embroidery in three very different patterns. The edging on the vest with alternating dark and light fur, must have taken quite some time to accomplish. The belt has a similar pattern and colours as in the male costume, but seems to be narrower.

 

Now, this one from the Pokuttia region has everything: embroidery, fringes, pearls, handmade cords, – you name it, – and then some detailed leather work to blow your mind.

First, I love the head dress with the colourful borders. To wrap it around the head and make it sit correctly must be an art in itself. The shirt sleeves are also heavily embroidered.

But the most impressive part is the vest. I have no knowledge of leather work, so can only guess at how these things are done, but even to an untrained eye, there is no denying that a lot of work has gone into this piece. Just look at all those small pom-poms, – they look like they are felted. Anyway, each and every one of them have been fastened, – probably sewn, – to the leather along with an accompanying dark triangular leather piece.

The narrow checkered borders on both sides of the the front looks like narrow dark leather bands have been woven into slits in the light leather background. Then there is some cross stitch embroidery, and red and yellow twisted cords are couched on both sides.

The alternating pieces of dark and light fur on the edges of the vest, are even narrower than on the vest we looked at above, and there are also lots of small triangular leather pieces, looking like praerie points, on top of the fur pieces.

 

This women’s dress from the Hutsulian area is also rich in details, and colours.

The head dress is interesting, consisting largely of pearls, – but I wondered about the tinsel. I guess it must have been highly valued at some point to be displayed so prominently.

I love the pattern in the pearl necklace, – although there are repeats, it appears quite irregular.

The upper part of the shirt sleeves has a very dense, colourful embroidery.

The vest has similar decoration details as the one above, but they are arranged a bit differently. Lots of couched cords, and the edges of the dark triangular pieces are also couched in dark thread, – so much so the leather almost disappears. Lots of eyelets are also used as pure decoration. It also has a colourful embroidered border at the bottom, in style with the shirt embroidery.

Here it is obvious that the base leather is sheepskin, which I also suspect is the case of the vests in the photos further above.

In addition to a woven belt, there is also a woven band adorned with pom-poms wrapped across one shoulder, reminiscent of a ceremonial sash, some times used at weddings. Now, if this is a wedding outfit, maybe that would explain the tinsel, – just guessing here.

 

The corresponding men’s costume from the Hutsulian area is even more adorned than its female counterpart, minus the pearls.

The shirt front is richly embroidered in many colours and patterns, including numbers which indicate it was made in 1961.  The woven belt is quite wide and has stronger colours in it than the one on the women’s dress, – maybe it is newer and less faded.

The vest has similar decor elements and placement as the one above, minus the embroidered border at the bottom. This one has larger, dark triangles, and they are adorned with lots of eyelets and have their edges couched with green cord. The checkerboard strips are wider and have three bands woven into them.

The footwear is also similar between the two costumes.

This is a woolen cape from the same area as above. It has some embroidered decor around the neck, down the back, and along the seams.

The tip protruding at the back looks like it could be a hood, but  I have not been able to detect an opening for the head. It is a mystery to me why it looks like this, unless it is meant to cover a load carried on the back.

The last two costumes that were on display, are from the Podillia area. The men’s costume has a long shirt, with a wide embroidered border around the opening at the front. Stitches around this opening also serve as a strengthening of the fabric, which can easliy tear at the bottom of the split.

The decorative leather work on the west is more similar to the ones from the Bukovyna area than to the two shown directly above. This also goes for the belt, which seems to be woven in a jacquard technique.

The most prominent feature of the women’s costume from Podillia, is the strong decor on the sleeves. With two heavy, black and red pieces at the top, – not sure whether they are embroidered or sewn in fabrics, – and a wide, black zig zag ribbon sewn in a spiraling pattern around the sleeves, they sort of define the whole costume. The red colour is also repeated in a many stranded pearl necklace.

The vest is decorated in similar technique as the one above.

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Seeing this exhibition, and then studying the individual photos afterwards, has been like a journey, – very interesting. People everywhere like to dress up, and being well dressed is always a way to show off either wealth or status.

A lot of these costumes has been very time consuming in making, showing that these people had time on their hands, and material, to spend on other things than just scraping a living.

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The first post about the exhibition can be seen here.

 

🙂

Eldrid