Who wants my heart?

Once upon a time there was a mouse that was so happy that it decided to give its heart away. It felt a strong and warm feeling inside and knew what it had to do. Seeing the mole up on its dam it run towards him. "Mr. Mole," it said, "I'd like to give you my heart because I feel so happy today." "No time for hearts, my dear mouse, I have a dam to build," the mole answered and continued his work. The mouse was not the kind to give up and so it continued its wanderings in the forest.

Suddenly it felt a thump in the head. A walnut. "Good morning, Mrs. Squirrel," the mouse said upon seeing her up in the tree. "I feel so happy today that I'd like to give you my heart." "No time for hearts, my dear mouse," said the squirrel. "I have walnuts to crack." Feeling a bit blue, the mouse continued. It sat down on a little piece of bark in the greenest of clearings. "Why doesn't anyone want my heart?" The mouse asked itself with a sigh.

Then a tall, thin creature with a never-ending neck came up to the mouse. The mouse had never seen any such thing. "Excuse me, miss, but what are you?" "I'm a giraffe," said the giraffe. "What a beautiful heart you have." "Thank you," the mouse said with a sigh. "I used to be so happy that I wanted to give my heart away, but no one wanted it because they had no time." Thinking for a bit, the mouse suddenly lightened up. "Maybe you want my heart, Miss Giraffe?" It said with excitement in its voice. "Oh, I couldn't," said the giraffe. "It's too much and beside no one has ever given me anything before." "But I want to," said the mouse, and stretched its arms out towards the giraffe.

And from that day on the mouse and the giraffe shared something special and lived happily ever after.

A travel back in time

Having enjoyed looking at old French postcards for quite a while, Willow decided to take a trip back in time to see how the world really was when the postcards were made. Anji (the master mind behind Time And Oft) said she'd just go fetch her coat and she'd come along as well.

Meeting for the first time, Willow showed Anji her brand new invention - a red, white and blue time machine with a cockpit resembling that of an airplane. Closing the door, buckling up and pressing a few buttons, they were on their way, going at a steady phase of 10 years per minute. Destination had been set to 19th century France.

When the time machine suddenly began to shake, Willow gave Anji an insecure smile, hoping her fellow traveller would continue believing everything was at it should be... When the time machine finally came to a full stop (after more shaking that a 5th degree earthquake), Willow slowly opened then door. She didn't know what to think; just that the view that met her certainly did not look like Paris or Marseilles or any other French fashionable 19th century town.

There were rocks in all shapes and sizes as far as the eye could see, some so big that they would be classified as mountains. Norwegian mountains. Trapped between these wildly majestic mountains was a wooden house that must have been an abandoned (or still inhabited?) train station. The mountains probably made it look smaller than it really was. Willow sent a guilty look Anji's way, trying to decipher what she might be thinking about the unfortunate situation Willow unknowingly had put them in.

All Greek to you?

Instructions:

1 100 gr ball Iceland color 9660, violet
1 50 gr ball Nubbles color 404, celebration
16" circular needle, size 11
Double point needles, size 11

Accessories: Stitch markers, waste yarn, tapestry needle

"Using Nubbles, CO 24 sts. Join, being careful not to twist. Work in Stockinette Stitch (knit every round) for 2". Change to Iceland and work K1 P1 ribbing for 2". Change to stockinette stitch and work set-up round: K 12, pm, m 1, pm, K 12. Lower palm: K one round even, then work increase round: K to marker, sl marker, m 1, k to marker, m 1, sl marker, k to end of round. Continue in stockinette st, working increase round every other round 3 times more and ending with a plain round - [33 sts]. K to marker, remove marker, place next 9 sts on waste yarn for holding, remove marker, CO 1 st to bridge the gap, K to end of round - [25 sts]. Continue working even in stockinette st until piece measures 6" above ribbing.[...]"

And when you break the code, start understanding what it says and manage to transform it into action; you'll end up with two nice and warm woollen mittens.

Determined

The black sun was filling the city with darkness. The neverending silence was deafening. All the regular people had most likely hidden themselves out of fear or out of intelligence. The young girl was out on the slippery sidewalk all alone, walking quicker and quicker. The sun made her cold, so she slowed down to be even colder. At last she reached her destination. It was a big forged iron gate. She put her finger on the doorbell and waited. Time had seemingly stopped. Then she heard something incomprehensible on the highly modern speaker and the gate opened. She went in, found the hidden door on the inner wall and opened it. Complete darkness. She turned off her vision and opened for touch. Feeling her way forward she found the staircase. A flickering yet playful light met her on the second floor and she turned on her vision again. Reaching the forth floor she was met with a great big hug and followed the hugger inside. Everything was different there.

Nothing is forever

I have not had a glass of milk in seven years. It was about the time I went to live abroad for the first time that I stopped drinking milk, but I cannot remember anymore what (or who) it was that made me stop. I cannot even remember my last glass of milk or whether or not I knew at the time that it would be the last.

Out of nowhere came the idea that I should have a glass of milk again. I don't know why, but I just felt like pouring myself a glass of fresh milk. So I did. And it did actually taste quite good.

€ 35

Some persons prefer bar-hopping. Others prefer island-hopping. I prefer bookstore-hopping in January. I find it impossible to believe that there should exist anything more thrilling, more breathtaking and more arousing than January bookstore sales for a booklover.

Today's conquests to be incorporated in my sacred collection of books include: three wonderfully illustrated cookbooks to giveaway prices, two hardcover books for children (one with funny nursery rhymes and the other a beautiful story of a melting snowman) and a Dan Brown book.

Mission: highly successful.

Flies united

Willow was pouring tea down her giant cup, looking forward to a calm morning reading the paper and listening to the radio. As she was about to take the first sip of her lovely blueberry tea, she noticed a foreign body in her cup. A fly had dived into the pool of warm tea, and drowned. Turning up her nose, Willow poured out her untouched tea and the dead fly. What a waste. Making new tea and pouring herself a new cup, tranquillity ones more filled her. The newspapers didn't report too much misery (at least not the cultural pages) and the music coming out from the radio belonged to the category "feel-good". Halfway through her morning cup of tea, a new kamikaze pilot was circling itself in above her cup. Then it dived in and died. Willow poured the remaining tea with the new dead fly out, turned off the radio and folded the paper. The magic of a nice morning had certainly been broken.

Happy New Year 2007!

Here's to new beginnings, new opportunities, happiness, good health and flourishing love.

May dreams be made real.