Mom's and my excellent adventure

There have been three constants on our trip. Beauty, fun and rain. The variables? Gale force winds, lightening and a bit of sun in some of the right places......
We started Sunday afternoon and surprised my friend Dora in Garmisch. She and mom hit it off fantastically.

We made it to Vicenza later Monday than I cared for. The drive was gorgeous but made a bit longer by a closed road with no detour indicated. Several of us ended up on this closed road together so at least I know it wasn't just me....

It was pouring in Vicenza. A little windy too.

Venice started off a bit shaky for me. I was not happy with the weather. Mom was game though and I think her positive attitude brought the sun we had in the afternoon! I went up into the cappelle and took this photo. I didn't know but mom ran around to this side to try and see me. I actually got her in the photo. She's in the lower left side of the square by the chairs.

When the sun came out in the afternoon, we took the opportunity to sit in the San Marcos square and have a snack. We really enjoyed the small orchestra. It was a fantastic way to end the day. It was the Florian and the waiters all wore pristine white jackets. (Carol you should have been with us, you would have loved it!)

Our host for the two evenings we were in the area were a lovely couple, Gail and Stew. They shared the 500 year old restored villa they call home while they live in Italy. The villa has a name, I forgot it in the car. Their landlords are a count and contessa who live down by the main house. I regret that the weather really prevented us from getting decent pictures. It is a beautiful place and they are wonderful hosts.

This is Bella. I didn't get a good photo of her brother Duncan. They were hilarious. Bella is huge and she's just a baby.

A veiw from the dining area to the living room.

Right now I am posting from a gorgeous hotel, San Simeone in northern Tuscany. For our drive down here we had all of the afore mentioned weather. As I write it's hailing. I can't think of a more spectacular place to watch a storm roll through. In a few minutes we are walking down around the corner for a fantastic dinner. Life's good.

Getting ready to go

What do you do when you are getting ready to go on a big trip? I choose not to do the normal things like, say, pack. I take the day off and do things like share a huge hunk of brie and yummy jelly with my mom. This was a gift for us from Mary. Mary, it was perfect. We ate it all. We didn't share.

Next on my list is of course sewing. I simply couldn't pack until I made us these bags! I tried using the iron on vinyl Jennifer let me try. Yikes, that stuff is not made to be flipped back and fourth as this bag has to be. I was very dissappointed, Mom grabbed it from me, running to her room, saying mine mine. It's the one with the dots.... Mine is, yes, the purple one. The last is a gift.

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Ok. I even managed to get myself mostly packed and some chores done. We head out this afternoon. Hopefully we will find connectivity somewhere. Otherwise you will know we are somewhere between Stuttgart and d'Orcia, Italy. We'll be home next Saturday, unless we buy a villa.....

Collin has a blog!

Collin started his art blog. Check it out.

Sunny Sunday Evening

There is just something about the Biergartens here. You can go and sit for hours.

You can be silly or do something artistic.

Eat a lot. Nap.

Play some cards and even bring an elephant.

Mom's here!

And she brought me treasures! This is my guitar. Haven't seen it in awhile. Forgotten how to play but it's nice to have it back again. I estimate that it is about 40 years old. Not bad for a forty year old...... To the right is a cool bag mom made me. On top is a gift my sis gave me. The wool elephant she made. I love this elephant. Me with the elephant, my double chin and a baby alpaca scarf mom knitted for me. Guess I shoulda pulled that scarf higher?

I'm a lucky girl!

Fabric Yummy-ness

This arrived in the mail yesterday. I wanted to blog it last night but we had a situation. We changed our internet and phone service. Because my foreign language skills are, well, none exsitant, I didn't realize it was to happen yesterday. We we unprepared. It took up a little too much time, until a little too late in the evening, after a little too hectic of a day for me to think of blogging. So anyway, enough about me. I have wanted this fabric for a long time. Through no fault of my own I had to mail order it instead of buying it from the shop. I found a nice reliable source in The Door Mouse. Their service was wonderfully prompt. I might actually be able to make this dress for the Arts and Crafts contest! Now I only have to decide which one.........

Jessica's having a giveaway!

If you havn't seen this bag yet, it's cute! See her blog here.

Almost complete, complete, and sneak peek

Lizy helped me with this quilt top..... She got her's done first. I have had this fabric for a year. The line is Basic Grey, Urban Couture. I too used the Turning Twenty pattern. I chose to add in the purples so even though the fabrics are the same and the pattern is the same, our quilts totally reflect what we like! Just like her, I am going to add another border before quilting it. I love it. Don't know why I waited so long. When I got as far as I could go with that top, I spotted this pattern. Well, see, I'd just kinda thrown it on the table and left it there since our visit from our R and Z reps. I was working on same said table and kept shoving the pattern from side to side. After trying not to let any of the same fabrics touch in the quilt (didn't suceed) I needed something a bit more....mindless. I still had some fatquaters left from the quilt and wa la! Kinda funky, kinda 80's but it's done.

Now for the sneak peek. I must apologize for the color in the picture. Who knew energy saving lights could do this? I mean seriously, they not only do not give off enough light, but they totally make colors look icky. This is the Metro Blue goes Green that we just got into the shop. I'd been waiting for it forever! I am using an AMH pattern that's free! I was going to cut out the templates she has until I realized I had a ruler that works. It is one Kimberly Einmo made for flying geese. So instead of tracing all the templates, I was just able to cut 5.25 inch strips WOF and stack the strips to cut them. So much easier. I would like to say I got it done but since I only started it yesterday, getting this far is not too bad. I shouldn't be showing it, but I love it. I lost some of my points but I still LOVE it.

And the winners are..................

Thanks for playing with me! I have fun making these things and it is fun that all y'all like them too. You never know when I might do it again. So, the winners are~

Lizy, you have won Angelica

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Kara, you have won Dexter

(I did NOT plan that but when her number came up....)

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Sasha, you have won the bags

Thanks again for making this year so much fun!

The other surprises

Meet Dexter and Angelica. I made them with patterns from here. Friday they will find out their new owners. So, if you haven't put a comment on my anniversary post and you would like the chance to have one of these silly things, do it now! I will randomly select three people tomorrow morning. I'm excited, are you excited?