Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Barcelona, continued

Over the harbour, there are cable cabs that bring you from the beach to the top of Montjuic hill.
Here is what you see from the sky.


I wish that you have all a nice end of week!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Comments

Lisa, I'm glad not to be the only one who does not understand contemporary art!
There are lots of palms in Barcelona, and if you look upwards, you can see lot of nests on them, with green small parakeets. In fact, you hear them before you see them. That is another pleasure of the town.
Startare, my daughter told me that not all grafittis are left, some are quickly removed. I guess they only keep the best?
Kerri, I agree with you, this art has personality, just as the whole town.
Zquilts, Francoise, Nuvofelt, thanks for the comment.
Fifiquilter, it is a postcard, 4"x6". There are also ATC to swap, but I felt more comfortable with the postcard format.
G_mirage, many flowers here won't take a winter rest, or only a very short one. But I always fear the weather around Eastern, when it gets colder all of a sudden.
Jane, the scent of the hyacinths is overcome by that of the narcisses, by far. You can smell them meter ahead. Anyway, I love both.
Wurzel, danke für Deine netten Kommentare, die sind immer wilkommen!

TIF in slow progress

No, I did not drop out from TIF. It has just been progressing very slowly... I'm back to my routine now and spent the afternoon on it, watching a couple of TV series. I've done quite a bit.
The picture is full of wrinkles because I use a loom, and since I've used a blue fabric pencil, I cannot iron it. Ykes! So far, i've used stem stich, button hole stitch and sorbello stitch.
Green Thumb Sunday

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It looks like spring is here.
First meet the winter jasmine:

then the lavender that has been blooming all winter long:some bulbs:These are aliums:
and poenies:

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Socks finished and Cyber Fyber Exhibition

I've just finished my second pair of socks. I love their colors. OK I do not master all the craft of making socks yet, but they are warm and comfortable... I made the big jump yesterday and decided to take part to the swap organized within the
Cyber Fyber Exhibition. This is the card I made for the swap. Embellisher and beads. Quite simple.
I wish you all a nice weekend!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Street art in Barcelona

While I was not impressed by contemporary art at the museum, I was by street art that can be found all through the town. Here are a few examples:



Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Back from Barcelona!

It has been quite a weekend!
Started with dinner out with daughter #1, Emilie. Although she knew I was away this weekend, she had come back to attend a party held by a friend of her. Since the bus was leaving at 11:00 p.m. from Aix en Provence, we decided to have dinner there and spend some time together.

It is my second trip by bus to Barcelona. On the first trip, the drivers were absolutely nuts and noisy. It was impossible to relax and sleep. This time, the drivers were "normal", I mean they took roundabouts on all wheels, respected red lights and did not speak loud all night long. So I slept most of the time.

Amandine was thrilled that I had come and made our weekend unforgettable. It was more a girls weekend than a tourist one, with lots of talking, shopping, eating, etc. Her friend Celine joined us. She is a very nice girl too, and it was fun. I don't go out very often, and the atmosphere of Barcelona is quite special, very different from here. It was really like been on hollydays. One advantage of this city is that you don't have to worry about driving. Between the buses, the tube, the trains, the taxis and the bikes, you really don't need a car. This means that I could even enjoy a drink, which I never can here, since I have to drive back home.

We went to the Contemporary Art museum. We were glad we went, it is a beautiful building where art is displayed at its best. Unfortunately, that kind of art does not speak to me, nor to Amandine. I promise I do try but for some pieces, I don't even understand why they call that art. On the other hand, art is present everywhere in Barcelona...

Apart from the above, Amandine had made an appointment in a spa. It was gorgeous. During two hours we had access to a Hammam, two saunas, one room with snow, one with a dew shower, and several pools with hot or cold water, bubbles or no bubbles. One was even filled with oranges. All that decorated in a Tarzan film style, in a huge room. I think this will become a must everytime I go to Barcelona (which I intend to do regularly).

Here are some pictures from the weekend.



You can see more typical pictures here. I took them 18 months ago. And I will post some more in the near future.
Have a nice evening all!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Off to Barcelona

I'll step in the bus tonight and will wake up in Barcelona tomorrow to visit my daughter. I'll be back on Monday, just in time to go to work ... Have a nice weekend all !

Monday, February 11, 2008

Squares and wool

I agree with you (who left a comment about the amaryllis), it is very nice to be welcome by beautiful plants. And guess what? at the end of each month we can adopt some of them (without the container though). I hope I can get one or two of those bulbs.


On Satturday, I've been working on some squares. Annica, I promise I did not copy from you :-)
And On Sunday I was off to visit a Fair of the Wool. Unfortunately photos were not allowed. That's a shame for you because there was an exhibition of textile art with very good pieces. Really worth the trip. And the crafters had beautiful items too. Some of them go from the rabbit (for angora) or sheep or alpaca to the finished garnment, through hand-spining, hand-dying and hand-weaving. I was quite a good girl and bought only two batches of wool:

very thin mohair
almost raw wool
As you can see, my assistant is in great shape...

Have a nice evening all!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

GTS

Green Thumb Sunday

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This is the entrance of the place where I work. They change the flower decoration every month. This month, we are given a treat with those amaryllis:





Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

TIF

Sharon has launched the TIF challenge for February.
Have a look there.
This time, I'm working on the concept. What are you old enough to remember?
This brings me back to the 60'. Some songs that I did not really understand and seemed so mysterious. Images of the Vietnam war on the black and white TV, one in particular. And the obsession of my mother for furniture and domestic devices.
This is a sketch about that, that I intend to embroider in black and white.
Happy TIF to all!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Frost!

I'm glad my little piece brought some colors to you! And I've enjoyed all your wishes for the weekend.
It has been indeed a good weekend. Although we have always remained in contact, my last visit was 10 years ago, they have visited me about 7 years ago. So you can imagine that I did not recognized my nieces at once! Despite of that, I felt at home at the second I stepped out of the car. Even for people I met only once, I was definitely family. This is a great mood booster, believe me.
And this gathering was only a teaser: my brother in law turns 50 in June. He, his mother and one of our nieces are born on the same day. My daughter Emilie was born 2 weeks later. So there will be a big familly party, with bbq at the river and many other things which I don't know yet. This time I did not hesitate and said yes at once :-). I'm sure that will be fun.
The other surprise was frost. I have not seen such a frost for ages, about 23 years since the weather is mild here, and my house is in the middle of the village. Of course I don't miss the "cleaning the windows of the car" part, but I miss the beauty of the landscape. So i took some pictures back home:





Now back to work!

Have a nice week!

Friday, February 1, 2008

Squares

I'll be off for the whole weekend, paying a quick visit to my in-laws near Agen. One of my niece is turning 18 and the whole family will be there to congratulate her. Apparently, she is very glad we can all make it, so its going to be fun.
Here is a little piece made on hydrosoluble, with free-machining embroidery, just to send you a bit of color! Have a nice weekend all!