Monday, 19 January '09: Just a little blue-ish

Weekend's over. Monday's here. And I am feeling just a little blue-ish about my 'To do' list. What blue item will cheer me this morning? Granny's willow pattern plate, a photo of my blue-eyed daughters, the blue sky above? No, I think I'll spread the quilt top I made in the hols on the lawn and that will suffice.

Quilting fabrics here are mainly US imports and prices are ever rising. Today the exchange rate is ten ZAR to one US dollar. Ouch! This quilt is made from our own 100%cotton Da Gama fabrics produced in the Eastern Cape and they are half the price of the imports. The range is limited but I thought the blues are pretty.

PS Blue Monday is , of course, the brainchild of Smiling Sal. Do visit her and her contributors for other shades of blue!

Monday, 10 October: Bits and bobs for Blue Monday

The flower of the Plectranthus xerophilus is described as mauve in my lovely coffee table book, The Southern African Plectranthus and the art of turning shade to glade by Ernst van Jaarsveld. However, viewed in my garden, I think it appears blue. So here we are on a Blue Monday! It is a homegrown plant, one of a genus of 53 (so far...new discoveries are taking place, thanks to the endeavours of Ernst van Jaarsveld), indigeneous to South Africa. My beloved country has an amazing flora and fauna diversity. Excuse me for bragging, but the floral diversity is 23 000 species and its historic contirubtion to world ornamental horticulture is enormous. Did you know the pelargonium cultivars (geraniums) and the hardy little hen and chicken hail from here? Others are proteas, aloes, mesembrianthunums, clivias, gladioli, freesias, Barberton daisies (a kind of gebera) and arum lilies.

I love this little plant and have several genera in my garden. Why?

Let Ernst tell you: "These plants tolerate mishandling and can build confidence in gardeners who think they do not have green fingers".
I finished this extra easy quilt top which is blue-ish and pink on Saturday. It is for Joelle who turns six pretty soon and it matches her bedroom decor. Now I must make another for Jaelene (aged 3). These two little girls are at the stage where gifts must be given in tandem and preferably equally pretty!

I had a blast last week with Skywatch Friday and found so many new intriguing blogs in farflung corners of the globe. These bloggers are quite a different mix from you, my regular blogging girl-friends! Very international and some serious photographers. But great fun and I get to communicate in Afrikaans with skywatchers from Belgium and Holland!

Thursday, 15 May: Making heirlooms

I just managed to put the final stitches to last year's quilting project. Here it lies in the dappled sunlight on the front lawn. Gal and Trist were shut in the kitchen while I took this shot. Anything that is spread on the ground is an invitation for them to walk all over it, turn around a few times and flop down. I'm afraid that even though I love them dearly, this particular 'blanket' took too many hours and has too many stitches in it.

It is always good to survey a final product, no matter how imperfect. This week I have been snowed under with urgent deadlines: the draft of a textbook, an article (academic, I'm afraid) and a conference paper as well as the work of some diligent postgrad students to review. The quilt reminds me that there is a life outside of work!




Thank you all for your comments. I have not had time to return your visits yet but am looking forward to indulging in a worldwide walkabout to all my blog friends!