WOYWW #592 :wood and vines

Here we are again, having a sneak peek at each other's workspaces on a Wednesday, courtesy of Julia on the Stamping ground.

 I mentioned last week that I love different woods. I’ve now created a little space on my work shelves for some. It’s a space that gives me quiet pleasure  

At the back is a jewellery roll made for me by my best friend LLJ, and a needle case my local friend Liz made for me. Front left is a bowl with a few treasures in it: a first pruning of the vineyard in Beaujolais,   2 Furls crochet hooks (pretty, but..or all fur coat and no knickers as we’d say at home 🤣) and some beads. More details below, after the craft section.

I’ve had to do some sorting this week. My bobbins are great for multiple colour changes but the rotation snatches up any loose thread and needs sorting before it gets into the mess below. A bit of untangling required.

                                       

I struggled this week with that Gloria crochet project I fell in love with, but the yarn and pattern are so fiddly I really wasn't enjoying it. So I've admitted defeat and have put the yarn, which I worked so hard to source, up for sale. 😿. I don't ever like giving up, but what's the point? I simply wasn't enjoying it.

So I am continuing with my Persian tiles (triangles now, I need 12) and I have a new project: 

The vineyard scarf. this is just a proof of concept piece so far.  

I saw a vine blanket pattern, with nice bobbles for the grapes, but the leaves were apple rather than grape vine, and it was very neat. I'm going to create a wilder 3d scarf, with green and autumn leaves, twiddles for the little curly tendrils, and it will all be fun to create. The background colour will be variegated stone, but these photos give an idea.

it’s 44 years since my better half discovered grape picking in Beaujolais, and 41 years since I first went there with him. 

The family there have become our family, and the granddaughter of our first boss is now our goddaughter.

We don't pick grapes any more (it is HARD work, especially when you party till 03:00 and get up 4 hours later to start work again!) but we keep in touch. This year is a very good year for Beaujolais- it was a very hot summer. 

 
 This is my favourite photo of the vineyards, taken by our friend Jean-Pierre Commarmont . 

Here is our god-daughter, Alexia, in the vineyard this year.

Mystery object

Well, last week's mystery was a bit easier, it was indeed a bone folder. 6 of you guessed it correctly, and I picked Sarah Brennan’s name out of my hat!

Sarah, your mask adapter prize is in the post. Well done all! 

This week is a little different. the picture below is clearly of a carved owl, but what was it used for?

Family

Well, we've all been a bit laid up this week, apart from Thea, pictured here warming up after being out in the rain. 

 We finally gritted our teeth and took Dino to the vets. They confirmed his lungs are ok, did a swab and it's a feline bacterial infection so he has antibiotics that hopefully will cure it. He didn't speak to us for about 3 days after, and hid under the settee whenever we came into the room. I must talk to the vets about feline PTSD but I fear it's incurable. You can't exactly do CBT with a cat, can you?

He's forgiven us now and is back to practicing hibernation with Thea.

On the right of my wood shelf s a little covered bowl which my father brought back from WW2. It’s one of my most treasured possessions. It has a carving of the shrine of Miyajima, in Japan, on the lid. Miyajima was an almost mythical place for me when I was young, my father venerated it so much. He taught me to use chopsticks, to count to 5 in Japanese and always talked of the beauty of Miyajima. 

It is a mystery how he could love Japan so much. Most of his contemporaries hated Japan for its atrocities. My father, as a Marine, accompanied many of the POWs home . Sadly he died in 1979 before I realised the oddness of it. When I went to Japan 4 years ago, this week, I got off the ferry in Miyajima and burst into tears. 😭 I wanted to tell him I’d finally made it.

My better half has had gout and I pulled a tendon in my knee so we haven't been out for walks. 

Both are minor irritations, and responding to treatment, so soon over. My treatment was CBD ointment and sitting with my feet up crocheting and watching the French open tennis, so no hardship! There are some excellent youngsters making their mark this year, so it's very interesting.

Anyway, have  great week, and stay safe! 

I really appreciate your visit and a comment would be lovely

many thanks

hugs

Lynne