by Marja-Leena 
Happy Friendship Day! Happy Valentine’s Day!
No, there is no snow here. All is green – green moss on rocks and lawns, evergreen trees, spikes of green spring flowering bulbs poking through the soil, some with white blossoms (snowdrops). No signs of heart’s red in the garden yet.
This image is from the archives, previously posted here.
by Marja-Leena 
Well, the predicted snowstorm turned out to be just a light fall overnight. I was awake in the wee hours after midnight and noticed that a little wet snow started falling. A couple of hours later, I was again awake and found it was raining. Last week’s cold snap is broken. I do rather miss the bright sunny days though.
Today was the second annual Family Day holiday in our province. The mountains had reportedly many happy families enjoying some new snow cover after a shortage of the white stuff this winter. We stayed home enjoying our visiting family. This evening they prepared a lovely dinner to celebrate my birthday a day early – always a delight for me not to have to cook for a change! Tomorrow my husband is taking me out for dinner at a nice restaurant as is usually our tradition in combining birthday and Valentine’s. We might even pop in to see one or two exhibitions…
Have you noticed the days getting longer already? The snowdrops in the garden have been out for weeks. The photo above however is of my supposed-to-be-for-Christmas paperwhites which bloomed late – a touch of spring indoors instead. Life is good.
by Marja-Leena 
Some strange holly trees and their berries and leaves underfoot.
Alternately busy and lazy here with family visiting all week.
Very cold and clear here with night temperatures as low as -15C with windchill.
Possible snow on the weekend.
by Marja-Leena 
snowing all night and this morning
nature dressing up for the winter solstice
lightness for the north’s longest night
December solstice falls about 3 am tomorrow, Saturday morning Pacific Standard Time according to this wonderful site. This snow may not last until then, so I’m celebrating early. Happy Solstice!
Another timely gift arrived for this occasion from a dear friend, Susan of phantsy that who wrote:
I found these pictures this morning. Knowing how much you enjoy examining the magical space between nature and technology, thought you might enjoy seeing them too.
Thank you, Susan, you do know how much I love frost flowers! Happy Solstice to you!
by Marja-Leena 
about 1:00 pm. December 7th – the sun’s rays are low even near high noon
about 3:00 pm., long low rays of weak sunshine reach in far
create delicate shadows of paper snowflakes onto wall and artwork
reminding us that we are nearing the winter solstice
by Marja-Leena 
a test photo taken with my hand-me-down iPod, of the view to the right of my computer…
I know, it is not of great quality…just practising
slow starts with Christmas preparations
first wearing of winter coats and mitts
outdoor lights onto shrubs and trees
a wreath at front door and in solarium
bought a tree to bring in later
and some paperwhites to pot up
spoke to family in Victoria
on the other side of Salish Sea
all excited by some snow
hope daddy gets home safe from London
before any snowstorms
by Marja-Leena 
A gorgeous sunrise to welcome a cold and clear day
Clouds gather to cover an ominously beautiful sunset
Freezing temperatures coming, maybe some snow
I move more pots of tender plants closer to the house
I say goodbye to November, with a little self-congratulatory pat on the back for completing the NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month challenge to write a blog post daily. This was only the second time I have done this, the first was in 2010. Now onwards with printing cards and writing letters!
by Marja-Leena 
Today I have thinking again about possible designs for this year’s Christmas cards. I usually like something red and something that has a bit of a story and is a bit personal. We have many weavings in our home, many were gifts to us or inherited from my mother. I thought I’d play with some scans of sections from a few of them. Above is one that came from Switzerland, I think. It is a reversible table runner. The other side has the red colour dominant.
This one is a section from an old Finnish weaving that had been in my parents’ home as long as I can remember but I don’t recall who made it and gifted it. I would not be surprised if it came from a great-aunt who was an amazing weaver, but there are others in the family as well. This is a small wall-hanging, also reversible, but with two layers, a very old traditional technique I believe. The design areas are woven together while the top edge is sewn together. The bottom edge has a fringe.
To me, both of these are like children’s storybook illustrations. So, I then became inspired to try a card design with one of them – can you guess which one?
by Marja-Leena 
This seems to be a month of transitions.
A major one is the sudden decision to switch this blog over to another platform. I’ve been working with Movable Type for almost 10 years but they have recently announced that they have now removed the free licenses and will have only a commercial offering. My son-in-law/tech support moved quickly to switch this to WordPress – he takes good care of the family blogs! I am always slow in adapting to technical changes though I’ve had lots of help from designer daughter Erika (thank you!). I’m finally ready to go live at WordPress, though there are still some tweaks to be done. So welcome back, dear readers, I have missed you! I hope there will be no commenting or other problems but do let me know if there are.
Other distractions, transitions in themselves, that have slowed me down are a granddaughter’s 13th birthday yesterday with all our family here for the weekend. Yes, that explains the card above and it is a special and happy event for us all.
Fall is of course a transitional season and October has been the most glorious month, with only a couple of stormy rainy days early on. The colours are exceptionally brilliant, the weather warm. We have admittedly had about a week of overnight fog which usually burns away in the morning but sometimes lingers all day. I rather like the effects. Fall gardening means we have planted a new garden area where our hedge had to be removed next to the new neighbour’s new home construction and dividing wall. We have brought indoors some tender plants including red bell peppers, we’re pruning, pulling out ivy and weeds, mulching, planting bulbs… still more to do as time, weather, sore backs and knees allow.
Finally, my art making, always quiet anyway over summer, is still in transition this fall for I am very sad that the print studio where I worked for many years has been shut down. It’s a major adjustment for me to work alone in my small home studio. I will be writing more about this later.
by Marja-Leena 
Views of Vancouver from Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver. That’s Mt. Baker in Washington state showing faintly in the lower photo. The small image size doesn’t do justice to the amazing panorama.
This is a quick wave to say we are happily busy with visitors from Europe for ten days. Husband’s cousin and his wife arrived on Monday and it’s been non-stop sightseeing, eating, talking and laughing. Will be back with photos and maybe a story or two when all is quiet here.