T stands for This and ThaT

Hi Everybody!

On Tuesday we are starting a new challenge at

Tag Tuesday

and the lovely Wendy is our host. Her theme is

🌼Spring Flowers🌺

I love all flowers in spring, and there is nothing nicer than seeing the trees burst into blossom and the window boxes, parks and gardens full of the beautiful colours of spring. I made a hybrid tag using a painted background and various elements from Serif and me:

I hope to see lots of you joining in with Wendy's challenge!

Today is also Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday, so here a warm welcome to all of the nice ladies of the T Gang.

I received some happy mail recently, some of which is food and drink related, so here it is:

From Jeanie I received this wonderful painting, showing one of my onion pattern cups, after winning a blog candy on her beautiful blog, where she shares her art and photos:

I was totally thrilled, and am looking for a nice frame to hang it. It was accompanied by this sweet card:

Thanks Jeanie!

The second parcel of happy mail came from Chrissie, who sent me one of her delightful knitted creatures with a chocolate orange tucked inside.

After eating that delicious chocolate I am quite happy that they are not sold here, the temptation would be too great!

Thanks Chrissie.

Yesterday G came over for a visit, bearing some of his home baked raisin cake, which I love. I just remembered to take a photo before the last morsel

 disappeared:

After fortifying ourselves we went to the old castle at Kalkum for a walk. On our way past the old water mill we saw a big, fat nutria (coypu) sitting on the lawn feeding:

I love the orange teeth!

The castle is still under wraps - and not because of the cold!

Some parts of the moat were frozen:

The ducks enjoyed being fed:

And in the late afternoon, as the daylight was fading, I got a call from my neighbour, who told me that deer were in the field behind the house. I went straight out and got some shots:

All in all it was fun day, even though it was bitter cold outside.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Friday this and that

Hi Everybody!

It's another extremely cold and frosty day today, and we have Siberian winds blowing even more cold in our direction, so the next days will continue to be frosty. The sun is shining, which makes for a good atmosphere in spite of the cold. And the spring flowers are starting to spring in spite of the icy temps.

Today I am sharing another A3 doodle made when I was at my group, I can chat with the others while doodling. The verse I have written around the tree is from Ogden Nash. I am linking to Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin

This is an older piece I found in one of my many files, it just reminded me of spring,  for  which I am so longing.

It's lovely to see the sun rising over the frosty fields each morning:

We have blue skies:

The banks in the castle grounds are covered with snowdrops, crocuses and sprouting daffodils:

And I just love the name of this ship:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Signs of spring

Hi Everybody!

It's still cold and very frosty here, but the days are longer, the sun has been shining, and nature seems to be leaning towards spring.

Today I have another A3 mixed media collage, once again using a napkin from our lovely Yvonne. I made it 2 week back when we having a lot of grey days and I needed some colour. The background was brayered with gesso with a hint of red and then stenciled with  red using a CWS stencil. 

I am linking to Paint Party Friday and to Simon Wednesday challenge, make your own background.

 I love watching the sun rise up through the frosty mist:

The texture of the trees is amazing:

Spring flowers are emerging in spite of the frosty temperatures:

  The crab apples are budding:

Catkins by the stream:

The Chinese laurel in the hedge is budding, too:

This was completely flooded a few weeks back:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!