While the sun shines

These photos of the cherry trees in my garden were taken over a month from late September to today. The blossoms arrived late, burst into glorious pink wonderment and then, suddenly, the leaves came and now it's all but over. Still, the blossoms were as beautiful as ever and attracted loads of bees.
I've been thinking about taking a photo a day for a year of the trees and then running them all together as a slide show. Probably its already been done and I'm not sure that I have the discipline to do it but it would be amazing to see the trees go through the seasons in a matter of minutes.

Spring sewing

Spring is on its way. The fig tree has tiny, bright green leaves and there are a few blossoms appearing on the cherry tree. Summer clothes! After months of winter woollies I can't wait to get into floaty summer stuff. I used to sew most of my clothes but I had a few failures and little time so I haven't made myself anything for years. Until I found this silk fabric at Global. I used a tried and true old Vogue pattern for this pleated skirt. The flower/sunbursts are a lovely rust colour - a bit like the fading camellias I love.

I've bought some more fabric for my next sewing adventure but I must get back to the quilt. Only five rows of quilting left to do before the baby is due in October.

Block-block

I've been a knitter for a very long time and I have never blocked a piece of knitting. However, I've just finished knitting this little scarf and the instructions say "block to size". As it's a birthday gift I wanted it to be near perfect so, for the very first time, I'm blocking. The scarf has cables and I was worried that blocking might flatten it and destroy the texture of the pattern. (The photo shows the back of the work). Of course, I had to look online to find out how to block.

There are various methods: wet blocking by spraying, wet blocking by soaking, and steam blocking. Wet blocking by spraying seemed to be the method most likely to result in the least amount of damage. So, again, following instructions, I pinned the scarf out to size on a towel on my ironing board and sprayed it with cold water. It needs to be completely dry before removing. I left it overnight but it's still slightly damp so I don't know how successful or worthwhile blocking is yet. But how badly can it turn out? Eek!

And while I'm knitting wintery things, spring is erupting in my garden with these gorgeous freesias. It's nice to bring some inside out of the rain and wind. Their perfume fills a room.

I should clarify from my last post that the baby I'm making the quilt for is not MY baby but the grandchild of friends.

Things that lurk

Freesias

Kowhai

Cherry blossom

Although the weather is still a bit wintry, it feels as if spring is lurking. Blossoms and other spring flowers are out.

And we have (what I assume is) an escaped pet rabbit lurking in our street. He is so cute. Every now and then you see him hopping across the road or grazing in a neighbour's garden. Someone must've taken pity on him as I got a "rabbit found" notice complete with photo in my mail box. But he remains unclaimed. Or, at least, uncaptured. I think, in spite of any danger from cars or dogs, he's having the time of his life.

I'm afraid this photo is not of The Actual Rabbit.
But he looks a lot like this. Whenever I see him I never have my camera.

And I'm delighted to report that several of my slugs are now clinging to good fridges since a few blog lurkers made themselves know. It feels good to share my stuff. Thanks!

This and this and this

This is the first freesia to bloom in my garden this season. I've been inspecting the garden regularly looking for signs of Spring.

This Crown Lynn side plate is a recent purchase. Somehow it makes anything eaten off it taste just a little bit nicer.

And this is a birthday cake. I cheated a bit with this photo, as I was desperate to create a flower theme for this post. This is the cake I made last year for my mother's birthday. The photos of this year's cake didn't turn out so well. But, curiously, this year's cake was very similar to last years. I think I'm in cake rut.