Girona

Sometimes, the night coach to Barcelona stops in Girona. I had glimpses of a coach station, in the middle of the night. This time, we stopped there in the day and took the time to visit the old town. As you can see, it is built on a hill... This town has a history of jewish, muslin and christian religions. It also reminds me of Firenze, because of the houses along the river, and the gardens.

Right now, I'm enjoying my time off. The weather is really beautiful, hard to believe it is the end of September already.

Amandine is back from her grand-mother's, Emilie arrives tonight. Tomorrow we'll go to Monaco for the day!

We'll run some errands on Thursday, and on Friday, we'll drive Amandine to the airport...

By the way, did I tell you what Amandine did when she was 16? She asked me the permission to go on holidays with her boyfriend (also 16), only the two of them, in a nice and peaceful country. As they were great and responsible kids, I said yes. Why not? The nice and peaceful country was Australia... it was her first big travel on her own, for 6 weeks. I guess she liked the experience...

Tossa Del Mar

I have been away this weekend. To Barcelona. Not a surprise, uh!

But this time I went with my car, to fetch my daughter and all her stuff: she is leaving Barcelona for Australia...

We took advantage of the car to visit the Costa Brava. Many towns clearly targetted at tourists. Tourists who just want to lay on the beach. I was one of them when I lived in Paris, but right now, I would not fancy any vacations there. But among those towns are a few cute ones. Tossa Del Mar is one of those.

Click here to learn more about Tossa del Mar.
It has an old city center, very nice to visit. Beautiful views too.

So, let's visit together:

Belly Dancer

This is a doll I made for Neki.
We had dinner last Saturday, in Barcelona. It was so great to chat about textiles with her!
Thank you Neki for this time together!

Thanks also to Nellie from whom I get the inspiration.Go check her blog, she is a very creative and gifted lady.

Passport bag, another one

I've spent most of last week in the garden, fighting a big, out-of-control hedge, full of thorns. So very little textile occupation in the meantime.

However, I managed to keep my promise to Amandine and I made another passport bag for her.

This is the same, just a little bit larger

and a little cash carrier.

Have all a great week!

Crazy Noel - continued

Behind every designer is a wonderful mother. Laurence T is no exception. Anonymous just told me this one was designed by Laurence's mother, aka Anonymous, aka Annick. And Annick does have a website : les Zizouilles. Go and visit her, she makes cute little things!

Yes Nikkipolani, it made temperature more bearable: stiching on linen is a pleasure when it is so hot!

Yes the ants did feast yesterday. And I made pancakes as a substitute... Sigh. I still wonder how I came to that idea...

Have a nice week all!

Crazy Noel

It has been so hot that I needed something cool:

This is Crazy Noel (Noel=Xmas) by Laurence T. a young talented French Xstitch designer. I don't think she has a website...

Now the temperature are getting slowly down. Enough to spend several hours in the garden yesterday, yeah, and to do some cooking this morning. I even prepared pasta for a pizza tonight. I wanted it to raise a bit, but not in the hot sun. I had a wonderful idea: at the bottom of the lemon tree, in the shadow. So I left the bowl here the whole afternoon... Well, how can I be that stupid???!!! Now I've got thousands of best friends, ant friends... and of course no pizza. I'm not happy at all.
Add to that that I decided the temperatures were no longer high enough to justify cat wet food.But the cat in chief does not share my opinion on that subject. She is very upset and very vocal... The evening is going to be very interesting, between my bad mood and hers... :-)

I hope yours will be better!

bagmania continued

So, the bag insert is working fine. I can change my handbags in a few seconds. The real dream for the bag addict I am!

This one is a bit different. This is a voyager bag, the smallest version (6x61/2 inches).

Pattern: Ghees voyager handbag #761 - see www.Ghees.com
Pattern Description: 
Perfect small bag to hold your basic essentials. The voyager is the ideal size for a person on the go by land, air or sea.
Pattern Sizing:
6x61/2 or 8x9 or 10x11 inches
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes
Were the instructions easy to follow?
Very easy and fun
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
The way the zippers are sewn
Fabric Used:
Quilting cotton
Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
None
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
yes and yes
Conclusion: 
Quick to do. Practical. Can make a nice gift.


Love to all!