Down by the Seaside

My blog has been terribly neglected this year........ but I am back!!!

2016 has been one hectic whirl of activity so far:

My "baby" girl got engaged,  my elder daughter got married to her sweetheart AND we sold our home in Johannesburg and relocated to the Hibiscus Coast!

The perfect place to engage in a bit of "hooky"and be inspired by colourful beach umbrellas

to create the Beach Umbrella Mandala!

The pattern for the Beach Umbrella Mandala can be found HERE

Farewell to 2015

I had a list........ a list of all the patterns I was going to write in 2015 - a very long list!     It was a meticulously planned list prioritizing patterns by percentage completed and how long it would take me to finish each of my more than sixty patterns.

Of course, life never goes according to plan, does it??

2015 was a tough year, with death and illness menacingly lurking in the shadows, waiting to derail our happiness and health.  Although I crocheted prolifically throughout the year, I only managed to complete writing a few of the patterns I had planned to publish.    

Old fashioned "granny" crochet is wonderfully rhythmic and soothing and the double crochet stripe features in most of my 2015 projects.   Some "hookers" enjoy a crochet challenge when stressed out.  I prefer something really simple that not only brings a sense of calm to my being,  but also uses up all the odds and ends in the yarn stash.     The end product is something truly comforting, like hot tea or a thick winter soup!!

The weather in Johannesburg has been unbearably, scorching HOT  Chores have to be done before 7 in the morning - after that it is just too HOT to function! 

Crocheting is limited to small cotton projects like a set of place mats and a circular cloth in a mix of Elle Cotton On and Raeesah Cotton: 

I never quite understood the craze for crochet face (wash) cloths, until a friend of mine recently gifted me with a knitted cloth and a handmade soap.    Oh wow!    So luxurious!  

Of course they are ridiculously easy to make - just pick a stitch with a bit of texture and make a square!   

These two were made using the v-stitch variation used for my RALLY SCARF

The pattern for the PINWHEEL FLOWERS (my very last pattern for 2015) can be found HERE

These two using a mesh type stitch (and a "what was I thinking?" colour combination):

Three using a granny stripe:

 
And this one using a diamond stitch stripe:

The pattern for the Hibiscus Flower can be found HERE

Put to the vote, the Diamond Stitch cloths (my very first pattern for 2016) were the favourite!  

To say that 2015 has left me "shell-shocked" and slightly devasted would be an understatement.   I am stepping softly and quietly into the new year - no fanfare, and my only resolution being to take one day at a time!   

Farewell 2015!

Baby Blanket from Mom's Squares

While working through Mom's Yarn Stash I found lots of little"treasures" - some motifs that my great gran and I had made, a few very old crochet hooks and some squares mom had knitted and crocheted.

I felt really sentimental about these squares as they were among the last things mom made before she became frail.

My baby brother (who is 31) has not yet married, so I thought I would make up mom's squares into a baby blanket - a keepsake for him (hopefully for a little niece or nephew one day!).

The knitted squares were mostly pink so I tried to balance the blanket out with a good helping of blue and some yellow - so that it can be used for either a boy or a girl.

 
I wanted to preserve what Mom had made without making the blanket too "me"!  I kept it very simple,  just adding a join-as-you-go row to the crochet squares to make four bigger crochet blocks, crocheting around the knitted blocks and then adding enough rows to make the blocks the same size. 

Each block was joined-as-I-went with a row of Denim Blue.     The border is a few granny rows, edged with a simple half shell!

I have a busy week planned - taking photos of all my makes and adding a few new patterns to my RAVELRY PAGE

Off to have a nice cup of tea and bake a BANANA TEA LOAF before I get sidetracked by my crochet.........

Until We Meet Again!

A special tribute to my Beloved Mom (to share with those who knew and loved her and were not able to attend her Memorial Service)

Late on Friday, 03 July 2015 the Angels came to take mommy home.....

What we were left to say goodbye to was just the "vessel".   The body is not what defines us, it merely contains us and, yes, sometimes confines us.

It is our soul (or energy or whatever you want to call it) that is US - when that departs from the vessel we are finally and truly free to BE.

Mom believed that when you die you "go where you have always wanted to be"! 

I would always ask Mom what she wanted for her Birthday and she would always say "a house by the sea" (so Mom I hope you finally got your wish!!)

Even though there is a full stop at the end of Mom's story here on earth - her story has been written and will  live on in the hearts and memories of those left behind.     To be told and retold many times over!

The words printed on the photos are from the song "To Where You Are" (Josh Groban) - mom and I cried together the first time I played it for her!

Mom used to love going on outings and we always had a ball.     She loved attending Ladies' Days with me.      We would go shopping for our outfits during the week before and "dolly" ourselves up for the "event".    Mom "got" my sense of humor and I would often have her in stitches.

She loved to have a chat over a cup of tea and a rusk!  Her favorite was weak black tea with a few drops of lemon juice - not slices - just a few drops of the juice!

Mom loved flowers and colours and gardens.   When I visited her she always reminded me to bring her flowers from my garden.   She especially loved proteas and when they were in bloom I would pick her a big bunch.

We often chatted about going on a little adventure together on a bus tour to Namaqualand to see the wildflowers

Sadly mom was not able to travel for many years and we never got to have our little adventure.    

Last week when I was not even able to crochet, I started rolling yarn together and in the rolled together yarn I saw....... Namaqualand!!

Mom was one of the most unselfish people I have ever met.    She would always put others first, often to the detriment of her own health and well being (one of the few things we used to argue about).

Mom looked after my sister and niece for many years.    She would get up early every morning (when old people should still be snuggling in bed), make breakfast for everybody, drive my niece to school, then fetch her again and help her with her homework, do my sister's washing and make food for a full house!   This took a toll on mom's health - but never once did she complain!!

Mom was a friend to everybody - she would often feed and take care of the neighborhood children when they got home early and their parents were not yet home!

Mom you will forever be missed by everybody who knew you!!

..........  I know you're there
A breath away's not far
To where you are.