Me and the Most Patient Husband of Them All like our bicycles. A lot. They are our main method of transportation, and we're riding them year round. Well, I ride my bike with a good dollop of less enthusiasm when there is a significant amount of snow, as it's a 20"-wheeled front-drive recumbent, and that means I pedal more than I actually get forward. Especially when it's up an incline there can be a lot of slip. Still, having a bicycle that it is possible to ride in winter? Totally cool.

To be able to ride said front-wheel-drive 'bent in winter, though, I do have to mount winter tyres. Yes, there are things like that for bicycles - and in contrast to those for cars, bike winter tyres have spikes. (At least most of them do.)

We're also mounting spike tyres onto the tandem, and the bike my husband uses for commuting to work. It's the same brand on all of the bicycles - Schwalbe Marathon Winter - only, obviously, in different sizes.

They do make a hell of a difference on slippery ground. Deep snow will still be awkward to navigate, especially when it has been ground up by cars and there are frozen furrows underneath, but black ice and otherwise icy streets lose most of their scariness. It's a very big boost to security to have spike tyres, and I'm always a bit surprised that so few people know about them.

So if you are in an area where there's snow and ice in winter, and you still want to ride your bike, consider investing into a pair of spike tyres. They are not cheap, but they will last you for years, and the difference between having them to navigate ice and snow and normal tyres is enormous!

Well, we're more or less in the festive season, and isn't that time of year the time for miracles? At least small ones?

A while ago, I posted a picture of an amaryllis plant in almost full bloom:



and you will notice it's almost full bloom because there is a third bud, still growing, on that plant.

You will also notice that the plant is very tall, and the pot is not so very large. Which, early one morning, led to the plant doing a proper suicide attempt in falling off the windowsill, where we had placed it the evening before.

Bang.

The two flowering stems had almost finished being pretty by that day, but the bud was still in the bud, and growing enthusiastically. And now, after that fall off the sill, it had broken off and was only hanging on by a little bit of plant skin. Which made me quite sad.

So what do you do in a case like this? Place the pot into a large, massive second pot, so it can't topple over again. Whip out the masking tape. Gently pull the bud up so it can sit again on its stem... and wrap, generously, with masking tape. Then be rather sure that that was a pathetic attempt in saving the bud and go on with your life.

A few days later: realise that the bud is still green and hasn't browned and shrunk yet.

A few more days later: be very happy and very impressed, as the bud is opening up, getting ready to bloom.

Here you go. Our personal little Christmas Miracle:



Now if that isn't a nice thing!

It's December, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I spent the weekend doing fun things with friends - which included a workshop in enamelling on silver clay jewellery, two things I've itched to do for years now.

It was... interesting. Years ago, I had lots of fun with doing Fimo stuff, including really fine, intricate and delicate things. I've also done stuff with normal clay, but I've never used silver clay before - which is, basically, real silver, powdered and mixed with a water-based organic binding agent so you can shape it much like clay. It also looks like it - a light grey colour. Very, very unspectacular. Not much like clay, though, it costs a shitload of money - a bit more than 3 € per gram of clay. Working with it includes oiling up your hands and work surfaces to prevent it from sticking, and rolling it out into sheets, and cutting and stamping it - so it is a little bit like baking cookies, only in much more expensive.

Much like clay, the stuff dries out quite quickly, especially if you are working with fine stuff. Which you tend to do, obviously, when doing jewellery... so I was sort of medium successful only in getting done what I wanted to do. Still, I went home with three pieces that I'm quite happy with, and one that I will just sort of write off as my trial piece.



I might actually do something like this again. With more of a grasp on the material, though, and perhaps a little better plan... and, if I can, lowered expectations. Lowered expectations can be a really good idea at the start!

I can't believe it's already December! I can easily believe it's already Monday again, though. These pesky starts-of-the-week keep coming with irritating regularity, somehow...

So in case you, too, are suffering from oh-no-it's-Monday-can't-it-be-Saturday-still-itis, here's a consolatory flower picture for you:



...and I hope you have a successful Monday!

Winter now has actually and finally come - it's snowing outside! Just after I sort of complained yesterday that there is no snow yet.

It's not much, and not looking spectacular yet, but it is proper, honest-to-goodness white stuff falling from the sky.



... so I guess the time to change the tyres on the bicycle is also drawing near...

Meanwhile, with such weather outside, guess what the little cat is doing?

Yes. Right.

Seven years ago today, the Most Patient Husband of Them All and I had a party. To celebrate.



As you do when you are getting married.

So guess who's not doing any work today? And celebrates, again, instead?

Because finding someone you can talk to, and laugh with, and share all your ups and downs with; someone who copes with your small and large faults and peculiarities; someone who is happy when you are and would like to lift you up when you are down - finding someone like this is the greatest thing on this planet, and it should be appreciated and cherished day by day.

Obviously you can't have a party every day because of it. But you definitely can once in a while. Also a great reason for having some cake! (If you need a reason for cake, that is...)

I'm back from a really wonderful weekend, teaching tablet-weaving and hand sewing and fingerloop braiding and spinning, and having nice chats and lots of interesting questions and discussions, in splendid company and with a lot of coffee.

I've also gotten a little brain fart for a motif I could try on my brain bender tablet weave... the Franconian coat of arms.

And now I'm in the home run stretches for organising the European Textile Forum, and getting my presentation ready, plus handling the usual in-the-background work stuff - and realising that there's a lot for me to do, in not so much time.

So I'll be taking a little break from blogging, and I'll be back telling you about things again in a week, when I'll hopefully have dealt with all the urgent stuff!