Dining Out, Applique, Geraniums, Sweet Pea Crochet

Driving rain and high winds and we can now see all the fir branches swaying without ice.  Ice will be the mark of this past winter and it made me think of my years on Baffin Island where ice played a role there too.  I don't think I've mentioned that while there I got to walk on a glacier, part of the Penny Ice Cap just inside the Arctic Circle.
The most surprising thing was that it was a noisy experience...the cracks and creaking sounds were surprisingly loud, echoing in the cold, quiet air.  I found it unnerving. My two little girls were there with me and I worried a crevasse would open up and swallow one of us (which I'm sure has happened sometime somewhere) so it was a relief to step off it.

And while thinking of swaying branches, I thought this very beautiful. The Sydney Opera House illuminated with Glimt's The Tree of Life images (credit Ken Butti). I had a brief Glimt phase in university when I drew many of his curvy branches, all badly.
Unique and meaning laden, the tree of life idea has been rendered numerous times in many art media by many real artists.

And coincidentally while looking through one of my favourite magazines, Quiltmania Simply Vintage No.22 checking out spring ideas,

I spied this project, another Tree of Life version, by Darlene Sabo for Olympic Wool Works.
 And of course, there are both vintage and classic versions of Tree of Life quilt blocks.

Recently I got to eat at a wonderful restaurant and it was so special.  We seldom do this and always say we should be doing it more.
It was Italian so I had the lasagna; we shared something new to me -polenta fries and loved it all.  I admired the swirls on the cutlery handles.

As well as the view from the window. Spring melting and the river is high.

My geraniums have rewarded me with a little bloom.  These are from the laneway pot last summer and I can't wait to get them back out there.

The cool overnight temperatures are making it hard for icy patches to melt. The forest holds onto its snow and ice; I can vouch for that.  But the deck is free at last. Woo Hoo!

While making a mess in the sewing room, I prepped the applique pieces for my next four Spring Strings blocks.  I used all scraps for the darker leaves which pleased me.

My Sweet Pea crochet project benefitted from some attention this week. I'm not sure about this trellis stitch; I think there are others that I've enjoyed working more though this is very easy to crochet while listening to tv or whatever.  I have extra wool so I'm making three rows with each colour.

Especially nice to have a sleeping dog at your feet.  

I'm sorry these photos did not capture the true colours.
I hope you have had a good week and thank you for the kind comments on previous posts. SO appreciated!
Linking this post to Not Afraid of Color, My Quilt Infatuation, It's A Small Town Life, Esther's Quilt Blog and Brian's Home Blog.