miss marie's miscellany

Chameleon explained

Do you remember the yellow tulip in my last but one past, the one called the chameleon tulip? 

 

I didn't know why........but I do now!

This is how they look today

 

I've never grown a flower which has changed colour before :-)

 

Kelvingrove treasures

I took a trip to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. I hadn't visited for a good while;  the lure of the 'Glasgow Boys' Exhibition enticed me there. I couldn't take any photos at this, but if you are anywhere near the gallery in the next few months, do go and see it, it's brilliant, a feast of colour and style, landscapes portraits and still life. 

I could take pictures everywhere else, and did! Here's the imposing facade........

 

A room full of sculptures, busts of Queen Victoria and Homer are there, and hanging above were lots of.....?
 

grimacing and smiling heads......tragedy and comedy.

 

On the other side of the building, a Spitfire hovers above a stuffed giraffe and elephant
 

 

Some of the standout sights for me were........this Cezanne still life, simple but beautiful

 

I love the dreamlike quality of this lady's beautiful face

 

A portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn, 'Ann Pattison, Mrs Wiliam Urquhart'.

 

Donald Dewar, sculpted by Archibald Forrest.

 

Wipe away the tears, this sculpture is called  'Motherless'.

 
 Elegant lady in a watercolour by FCB Cadell

 

And some more beautiful portraits

 

Robert Louis Stevenson, looking very dashing, as if he has stepped out of the pages of one of his adventures.

 

I could go on and on posting more photos but I think that's probably enough! What a great place to have so close to home, a veritable treasure trove of wonderful art and inspiration. I believe that Kelvingrove is one of Glasgow's top attractions, and it was very busy on a Wednesday afternoon, which must prove that to be true. Whatever, it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours. 

 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 

Final flush

All the tulips are nearly past their best, they've provided some wonderful colour in the garden for the last 2-3 weeks. 

This variety is called  Antoinette.

 

On the pack it says this is the chameleon tulip, I'm not sure why!? The colours remind me of pear drops

 

I planted these to have cut flowers in the house, but I've hardly picked any, i just couldn't bring myself to take the scissors to them!

These dwarf tulips were the first to emerge, they're called Johann Strauss (yes, I have to get some musical names in there!)

 

This is  Flaming Parrot.

 

 

Jan Reus, fantastic dark red 

 

Madonna, delicate white ruffles with a tint of green.

 

Palestrina 

 

 

Spring Green

 

And just because it's so pretty, this lovely parrot tulip  'Rococo' again.

 

 I'm glad I included some ruffled parrot tulips this year, they are exciting to watch as they go from tightly bunched up petals which give no hint of what's hiding inside to richly coloured and frilly flowers. A lovely contrast to their more upright sisters.

I love tulips, they're one of my favourites,  and I'm sad these lovely flowers will soon be gone from the garden, they make me catch my breath every time I walk past them!

 

But they'll re-appear next year, and there's plenty more to look forward to as spring turns into summer.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Granny green and black

When I was down in Liverpool at Easter, my sister-in-law asked me to make a granny square cushion to go with their living room decor. She liked the ones I'd made already, and I was happy to oblige. Their living room colour scheme is soft grey with accents of green, black and red, so I chose a mix of light and dark grey, black, apple and moss green, red and white.

 

This is one side, a large granny square, just like my 2 previous granny square cushions. There are already some cushions with large flower designs in all of these colours in their room, so for the other side, I decided to use this design,  Sarah London's wonderful  Rose Motif pattern.

 

I made 12 of these 

 

In these 4 variations of the colours used.

 

 

Here they are all joined together

 

I love making granny squares so that bit was easy, I'm a dab hand at them now! The rose squares appear complicated but were not too tricky at all, and they really look the business. I like the contrast between the flat granny square side and the raised texture of the roses side. I used a 4mm hook, and a mixture of wools, all from my stash. 

Black and apple green -  Sirdar Countrystyle DK

Red - Patons Diploma Gold DK.

Dark grey, light grey and moss green - Rowan Pure Wool DK.

White  - Sirdar Snuggly DK.

And here's the finished article

 

 

Fastened with some red flower buttons

 

 As luck would have it,  it was my SIL's birthday yesterday, so I managed to finish in time for the big day :-)

Happy Birthday, Deb!
 

 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Scenes from the park

I went for a stroll around Queen's Park, a few miles from where I live. When I bought my first flat in Glasgow, it was just up the road from here, so I often visited, but that was some years ago and I only manage the occasional visit these days. It is looking good (better than I remember).

Lovely rhododendron and azalea bowl

Glasshouse (nice cafe inside, that's an addition since i was a resident)

 

Camellia flowers

 

Sculpture in the Scottish Poetry Rose Garden (no flowers yet, but it will look wonderful in mid-summer, I'll go back)

 

 

Lush greenery

 
   

The view across the rooftops

 

 

 

Tulip

I planted lots of tulips in the autumn, and of course they are now coming up and looking fantastic. I love tulips, the more in the garden the better, I think.

 
 

Last week I spied this parrot tulip; I couldn't quite remember what colour it would be, so I waited expectantly for its petals to unfurl.......

A few days later, it was looking decidedly rosier

 

Then after my working trip away at the end of last week, I returned home to this beauty

 

 

I'm very glad I braved the freezing cold to plant all those bulbs, what a treat to have all this colour.

More of those lovely tulips to follow soon :-)

 
 

 
 
 
 

 

Watch the birdy

I drove back to Glasgow from Inverness this morning and stopped for a naughty cake and coffee. It was so warm and sunny that sitting outside was a must and a pleasure. After a short while I had 2 unexpected visitors at the table.

 

Ahh!
 

April collage

Time for another monthly round-up; during April there has been a trip to Liverpool, the garden has started to come to life, colourful crochet, time spent with friends and family, and the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week rounded it off nicely; all in all a good month with plenty to be happy about:-)

 

 

Granny revisited

Revisit a past F/O

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much. 

Better late than never, this should have been yesterday's post!  Here is my first granny square cushion, sitting in splendid isolation on the sofa(now it has some colourful friends!) just after I finished it.

 I love the colours, perhaps the finishing off is a bit untidy, but I'm still proud that I made this only a month after learning to crochet. Here it is today.

 

I wanted to say how much I have enjoyed taking part in the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week and a big thank you to Eskimimi for bringing everyone together. It has taken me to visit many new blogs and make some new friends, and it's been interesting to think about my love for making things with wool in the medium of crochet, and my youthful attempts to knit. Blog traffic has greatly increased, and I hope all my new readers will come back to visit again soon, everyone is most welcome!

All Tooled Up

Do you have a particular knitting/crochet tool or piece of equipment that you love to use? Maybe it is an old bent pair of needles that used to belong to someone special, or a gorgeous rosewood hand-turned crochet hook that you just love the feel of? Write about what you love it.

 

Prym hook - £12.99 for set of 12, PurpleLinda Crafts.

Blunt needle -  £1,  John Lewis

Scissors - 79p, Tesco.