another farmers market bag

Figs. Managed to bring these home, compared with my failed attempt last time at the market. Even Leo likes them nowadays. I made another linen market bag, this time in a thinner yarn and using a simpler pattern. It expands a lot length wise, and can be used as yoga mat bag as well [more project details here].

Perfect summer necklace (scroll down to see the wantworthy seasalt beach ocean frosty glass beads necklace.) by JennReeseSEVEN at etsy.

incessant meditative diligence

Oh, the pace of life in a vivid mountain village in Cyprus. Everybody is busy with two or more businesses. Only perhaps on a Sunday will people take some time off their duties.

We spent one afternoon with a lovely cousin and his wife. In the shadow on his grape veranda, at a restaurant with a spectacular mountain view and at my aunt's place. While enjoying a lovely meze at the restaurant my cousin told me about a really ill uncle in Australia. (Few days later he sadly passed away. It's two uncles in one year.)

These recent incidents somehow worries me when it comes to my aunt as she quite recently suffered a thrombosis. She's better now, and I still find her busy with her hands always occupied with something. Mostly refining nature's goods, which she's growing, collecting, sorting, cleaning, picking over, peeling etc. This afternoon in a meditative motion in silence together with her husband.

I think their diligence was rubbing off on the big kids. While the smallest was asleep the others grabbed a big bowl of black eyed beans and started peeling. They sat like that for a long time, until Leo switched his attention to the plants at my aunt's veranda. Or, more precisely to the insects on the plants. He was particularly thrilled by a green geometer to whom he found a home, in a lupinus flower.

unexpected beauty

Kids wanted to try out their new diving masks and they swam like happy frogs until their lips where blue. They discovered live starfish, triturus, sea urchin and small fishes.

Eddie has moved most of his beach activities to the sea, constantly carrying a spade, for the balance, digging sand or poking his siblings for attention. So we get into the water more these days, even if knee high.

Before leaving home I grabbed my camera in case we would leave the beach at sunset. Well homebound the light wasn't perhaps perfect, but I shot some pics of the muddy stinky area between the sea and the salt lake. Kinda beautiful.

never too late for the beach

After 17 it's still really hot and humid. A good time to head to the beach with the kids in fact, and a good time to meet up with friends.

At sunset everything turns into dreamy shades of purple, blue and pink. While the big kids where being content and longing home after plenty of playing in the water. Someone, a little one, didn't have any plans to leave.

Driving (queuing) home we passed the salt lakes at Akrotiri and the sun's reflections in the muddy waters was spectacular.  (I really must bring my "real" camera to shoot it some day. Some day.)

another saturday

Breakfast and sweet kids in bed. A morning at the local market. I brought a market bag I've made in heavy linen [more project details here].

It was so hot I forgot some super nice figs at the seller's stand. Well home I really appreciated our re-fixed air conditioner and a lemonade ice pop.

Fiddled bit with the tint and sepia of these pics as I wanted to smoothen out some annoying colour differences. Actually giving them an interesting touch. Now off to prepare for tonight's souvla grillig for our soon arriving guests.

tiny fortune from the sea

With really sensitive finger tips I picked beautiful mini shells and molluscs about a meter from the water line.


Leo and I are studying and analyzing them with the help of the book Seashells of Cyprus. We realized we need a good quality magnifying glass to see even more detail.

It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire. 

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Anthea and Leo have started drawing the shells so we can eventually pair them with their names (family/genus) and some other data like where we found them, size and pattern/colour.

Not sure yet if and how I can store these fragile darlings. Perhaps photos, drawings and the knowledge we gain of them is enough?

re-beginner crochet necklace

Made Anthea this flower necklace, which I raveled about here. She wore it for a while during midsummer celebrations arranged by Swedish association in Cyprus, where we had went to see Swedes residing in Limassol.

Busy chasing our two years old there wasn't much time for chit chatting. Someone had made a cute midsummer maypole with gorgeous smelling flowers, and there was a table with typical Swedish midsummer food.

Gorgeous adult version crochet necklaces (patterns): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

clam season

Met up with some of our favourite folks at the sea. It was one of those magic afternoons.

A perfect chill in the otherwise tropical weather. We where watching fishermen pushing their boats into the water and chit chatting with the old fishing men by the shore.

I had a first attempt clam digging, which was a lot of fun. We cooked the clams in wine and onion that evening and they where delicious.





Something unrelated:
Have been admiring and curious how at swim-two-birds Renlide has crocheted these super cozy looking chair cushions. While googling, I stumbled upon another related "crochet" technique - latch hooking. Looks really fun, so now I just need to get myself a latch canvas in cotton, a latch hook and some yarn, or why not old cut t-shirts - oh so 70s.

another walk

We like to walk in the older parts of Limassol, as you may have noticed. There seems to be so much to see and discover every time. Grand and small, posh and street, sometimes sad and mostly vitalizing.

We saw interesting door knocks perhaps from times long past. Safe doors with beautifully crafted trellis work or cleverly placed windows for the light to pass in. Craftsmen's shops. Even the kids where somehow quieter by all impressions.

a nearby zoo

The kids been longing to visit the Limassol Zoo ever since we moved here. It's in the municipal park where we often hang out, but the zoo area has been closed for renovations.

So on it's re-opening we where among the first eager visitors. Apart from being hit on my achilles tendon by a wheel chair (nothing serious), it was a really nice visit.

We saw a lot of animals, some which I didn't have time to figure out. But for sure we saw crocodiles, kangoroos, suricats, vultures, lamas, ostrichs to mention some.


Unrelated:
Fabulous wooden sculptures by Bruno Walpoth - via 13threads.