my amaryllis

'Prelude'. The label says blood red and creamy white, although I'll be pedantic and say I think it's more cherry red and ivory. Also, the labeller omitted any mention of the wonderful lime green centre in each flower. So, my kind of amaryllis.

Now that I'm generally viewing winter in a more positive light (late November and the whole of December are the pits as far as I'm concerned, and I always feel like a new woman in January) I'm enjoying some beautiful blogs that have a delicate, pared down style and cool light, an eye for composition and detail, and a joy in ordinary, everyday life. Even though I don't understand a word of Finnish, I keep going back to Liivian talossa for the amazing colours and gentle world view. I even like looking at the words with all their vowels and dots which somehow complement the images.

It may seem perverse to mention 3191 just as the year of mornings has come to and end, but now that it has come full circle it's possible to appreciate the project even more fully - and I can see how it will make a beautiful book.

I love this kind of dedication to a theme and admire the discipline and creativity needed to make it work. Another beautiful photo blog which is already in book form is simply breakfast. As a strictly tea, toast, butter and Marmite girl every single day of the year I also admire Jen's ability to vary the content of her breakfasts.

Just a few other things:

• I'm afraid I don't remember where I bought the yarn for the marmalade socks. It's been in my yarn basket too long.
• Waitrose has Seville oranges in stock this weekend.
• Thank you for your excellent comments on the post about the Kelvingrove Museum and Gallery in Glasgow. I enjoyed reading all of them, even the ones that upbraided me for being politically incorrect. I've since remembered that Manchester City Art Gallery underwent a huge refurbishment not so long ago which has made it more accessible to, and enjoyable for, all Mancunians, and without any loss of dignity and artistic integrity. Just a thought.

Comments

[Cornelia Rose]

Dear Jane,

my english is not good, but this I can say: Your blog is one of the most beautiful blogs I ever saw.

You are on my link-list. Is it O.K. for you?

Greetings Cornelia

[Rae]

For some reason it makes me feel a lot better to know that you also dislike the end of November/December. It's difficult to "remember" then that one will regenerate, but here we are, almost mid-January, moving towards the light!

[nycstitcher]

The beautiful real amaryllis reminds me of the long and short shading that is found not only in English crewelwork, but also in Japanese embroidery. Every striation is captured in silk. If you have a chance to see a sample of this work, look closely at how the stitches evoke the graceful lines and the beautiful color of the real thing! Thank you once again, Jane, for a striking way to start the day. Anne

[carole davis]

love your feedback comments.. on peoples comments...on the contrary i feel january is endless ,leading onto three more dull months and a bit of a reminder that christmas festivities are well and over....

[m]

yes winter is lousy - hopefully I have a trip to london next week if I can find my train tickets - I find travel lifts the spirits

the amaryilis is amazing and I must try and grow one

[msaims]

november and dec mark the begining of summer in Melbourne and i love it! christmas and a long holiday. January is always trying for me. summer in a less positive light... hot hot hot. drought and bushfires. we just had two 40 degree days and everything looks a depressing crispy brown.
even so the begining of the new year brings promise and hopefully rain.
msaims

[blair]

Every year at about this time, I wish I had amarylis around. I always find myself smiling, wondering what colors Jane has this year. : )

[Morgan]

The amaryllis is beautiful! I love them this time of year.

xo

[Margaret Powling]

For so long Amaryllis, like dahlias, had a bad press and now they're in vogue again! With blooms like this, it's no wonder why! They are the glorious, blowsy, bar-maids of the horticultural world (and I don't suppose that's politically correct!) Best of all they give us the rush of colour that we, in the northern hemisphere, are so sadly lacking at this time of the year!

[elizabeth a airhart]

your page is lovely
i enjoy visiting

[Debbie]

Thanks for the link to 3191. I've added them to my Google Reader!

[AJ]

Beautiful photos of the flower.

[Tricia Garrett]

Mmm! strawberry, cream garnished with mint leaf.

[Siri]

The sock yarn is still available at http://www.awesomeewe.com/
I've never ordered from them until now, but I think that they're a small family-run enterprise.
Have been eagerly checking for and "reading" or rather, eyeing, Liivian talossa's new posts lately, too!

[Leslie]

Trusting your taste utterly, I decided to give Liivian a look. And, I decided to see what I could do online to translate Finnish text to English. Here's the paragraph I grabbed to experiment, rendered into internet English. Thought you'd enjoy:
***
Twain bygone daytime am sense myself onnekkaaksi , because morning am access remain home muun bunch since paddock and töihin. Regular opettajantyöni terminating christmas and now am uuden ahead. Is period unsettle nook jota am haudutellut long.
***
I know what she means. I myself had a COMPLETE opettajantyoni on terminating Christmas this year. No translation required.

Leslie

PS: Liivian, your site is lovely.

[RI]

Lovely photos of the Amaryllis...
when I went to the link for Livian Talossa, on the 2007 blogs,there is the English translation under the text,I hope the same will happen to the 2008, thanks for sharing,it was lovely