AND STILL MORE SOCKS...

Here's the latest pair that has just gone off in the post to Marius in America. I've decided to sell these (not his, but a series like them) on Etsy.

It's been warming up a bit during the day in Brittany, but not at night when it freezes most of the time. What a strange winter! I took Oslo to the beach last week, picked up a few cockles for my lunch. She enjoyed it, if a little painfully, she does have a problem walking on sand now. She paddled a bit but didn't swim (I think the water must have been awfully cold...). And I've started to garden a bit, only in pots around the two terraces, tiding up, planting up a couple of things in prettier pots. There are a few snowdrops out, and my spring camelias are taking the place of the winter one (Yuletide, a lovely red one with small flowers in profusion and dark green leaves, lovely at Christmas) which flowered in November, December and January. Camelias are so cheerful and so little trouble. You can have one or other in bloom from October to April.

CREATIVE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

I was very lucky at Christmas to receive presents to help creativity!

My ex husband gave me a wonderful book on Jingdezhen Porcelaine, which really has to be read from cover to cover in small chunks to understand all the lessons it contains.

Nicholas has paid for my pottery lessons for the rest of the year (Jan to June), which is really very generous. Pottery is my real recreation session on Wednesday afternoons.

And Cécile gave me a hank of hand painted, hand spun wool from http://feltstudiouk.etsy.com, which is such a work of art, I at first hung it on my wall like a painting. But then, fearful that sunlight and dust would deteriorate it, I have knitted it up into a neck warmer. Here is a photo of the skein, I'll post a photo of the neckwarmer when I've finished "finishing" it!

A few of my latest creations

I take photos but most of the time, no one ever gets to see them. So here are a few of the things I've done over the last months:This is a Norwegian cardigan I did for Marius before going to the States in September. He's 2, I did it size 4 years, and it's only just big enough.

While I was in the States, I knitted a scarf for Cécile in Koigu, a wool I can't get over here. It's very fine and knits like cotton, but it's silk and wool.

I've been doing lots of things since I got back, but I can't show photos because they are Christmas presents. I'll take photos before I wrap them up and put them here in January! I sent off an enormous Christmas stocking that I knitted for Marius last week, but I forgot to take a photo beforehand.

And then I've been doing pottery and sculpture. A bit weird most of the time. I love my monster, but it is very difficult to photograph. And my fat lady, except that I decided to to her extremities pointy, and the points sort of curled a bit during the firing process. Never mind, that's why I go to classes.

The monster has only one eye, and a beaky nose/mouth, and is resting his chin on his hand. He looks very sad and tired and wistful. He just grew out of my hands and I love to reflect on what I had inside me at that moment that created a piece like this!

This is a bowl in the shape of a shell, that I've planted up with succulents.