Second Stage: Paris!

Back to my trip, we left Brugges, and took the train to Paris where I managed to fall asleep once again while in the Chunnel. At least I think I saw the beginning this time...lol When we arrived there, it was raining and proceeded to rain the rest of the day. But we were in Paris...so off we went to tour the city with Notre Dame, Sainte Chappelle, Arc de Triomphe, etc. It was really neat to see the special veteran memorial services they were having at the Arc as we went by....

Statue outside Notre Dame that caught my eye. Click on the picture and look at the king; who does he favor to you? My first thought was the King of the Dead in Lord of the Rings #3. Funny the things we notice.....


Notre Dame Cathedral...

Above the entrance...

Rose Window in Notre Dame... then on to the Sainte Chappelle.


Stained glass in Sainte Chappelle - this was absolutely stunning. The stained glass on the second floor was from top to bottom all the way around - just unbelievable. I'd seen it years ago and forgotten how beautiful it was.

No picture of Paris is complete without the Eiffel Tower. Kim and Chris went to visit it the next day with much better weather. I've been there before so I went off to find my Paris-Etoile Harley-Davidson shop - voila - victory! Though I have to say it had one of the rudest shopgirls in it I'd met in a long time. Not much inventory in the little shop downstairs, but luckily I found what I needed. If I'd been anywhere else, I'd have walked out without buying anything, but this was the only HD shop I was going to get to in France and it was for my DH, so I bought it and left, muttering to myself the entire time. Don't bother going there, though. Find one on the outskirts of Paris - you're bound to have better luck and service. :)

This is near the entrance of the Louvre, which was closed, so I had some time before meeting my friends. I set off to find Des Fils et Une Aguille, an LNS that several people had recommended to me. After some trial and error, I found it a few blocks away from the Louvre. I wish I had taken pictures of it; it was wonderful. It had French designers I'd never seen and things to drool over; their band fabrics were beautiful. I could have spent hours in there, and I did pick up a few items. I'm a great fan of Isabelle H-Vautier and Renato Parolin; they have a collaborative book, so after looking inside, it was a must have.


There were many that caught my eye, whether by chart or model, but I bought from designers I hadn't seen here in the US. (Pics are clickable.)


Paris has many beautiful sights to see, and I couldn't possibly put them all on here. But I've always loved Hotel des Invalides which contains Napoleon's Tomb...


and more Paris in the rain....
Their metro system is fantastic - they have unusual signs along the way to point to the subway.

As we left the Paris train station.....Next stop - London. Who knew there'd by a tube strike as we're coming in to Paddington train/tube station???

Face to Face

Internet groups, boards, and blogs can literally open up the world to us as stitchers and otherwise. But we don't often get to meet some of our online friends face to face. However, I was privileged to meet Kathy (and Rory) when she came down to NC for vacation at the beach. We met at the house where they were staying and enjoyed a wonderful visit talking about everything. She's every bit as interesting and nice as I'd thought she was online. Her Irish setter, Rory, was beautiful and so well-behaved (must be nice.....lol).

When I left, there was no one to take our picture together, so we did the best we could. It was so bright you couldn't even tell what picture you were taking, but we tried.


Kathy gave me this really wonderful stitching bag with a gorgeous fob and scissors inside. I will truly treasure these.



I have something in the making for her, but had no chance to finish it before I got there. I'll be sending it to you, Kathy. Note the name on the bag - she got it at her LNS, which happens to have the same name as my LNS. Nice coincidence from NY to NC. Thanks so much for the visit and gifts, Kathy. We need to make this a yearly event.....:)

Vacation Times Abroad

I'd like to post a few pics of my trip overseas in stages. First, we flew out to England and took a train through the Chunnel, which I slept through, darn it, even though it's dark; then we landed in Brussels. Did some sightseeing there....

Market Square...


The swan is a symbol in Belgium...


The "Peeing Boy" in Brussels.....then we took another train to Brugges to stay for a couple of nights there.


Bell Tower in Brugges......


Took a canal tour in Brugges....


Still more canal tour in Brugges....


Michelangelo's Madonna and Child in Our Lady's Church in Brugges......



Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Brugges (only took close-ups of two - don't ask me why).....

Woman making lace in Brugges with bobbins. This was fascinating to watch and hear - very rhythmic.
I'd made a list of any needlework shops I could find or heard about near each place, but we didn't make it to any in Belgium. There was one we passed everyday, but it wasn't open the days we were there. However, the chocolate shops were extremely tasty; Belgian chocolate is definitely worth acquiring....hehe...just destroy the evidence. :)
Harley-Davidson places were also on my list, since my DH is such a fan. I also owed him big time not only for the trip/dogsitting, but I'd "ruined" two of his HD shirts a few days before I left home. Who knew that this one dishtowel with a teeny smidgen of red that has been washed numerous times and never bled, would turn both shirts a lovely, barely there shade of pastel pink? Did I mention how tiny and washed the red square was??? When I suggested that he could wear the shirts anyway, he just looked at me and laughed and told me to picture him walking in the HD shop that way. Real HD men don't wear pink, I gather.... That was rather amusing, but needless to say, he's not wearing the shirts - one local, one from San Francisco - ouch. So I started my quest. Score 0 for Belgium - none that I can get to. Better luck next time.
Next, onto Paris...

PS - totally unrelated, but I found a giveaway on Barb's blog for primoriginals. I'd never heard of this site, but I love the artwork! I very rarely post of giveaways to get better chances of winning, but this site is worth checking out, regardless of winning anything or not. I wonder if she'd make her artwork into charts or would let us do so??? Hmmmm.......

A Little Stitching & Fourth of July

This was a BD exchange gift that has now been received; one side is needlepoint and the other XS. I've also been trying to catch up on the Friendship RR. Here's the latest heart for Kathy...

Every Fourth of July holiday, we load up whoever's here and take off for the fireworks. And each year my DH says he's not going anymore. LOL Normally, my brother's family from OK are here. This year, we had an added bonus. My son and DIL, daughter living at college this summer, and friends were also there. We've been going for as long as our town has been having its own fireworks event, about 20 years, and this was the best weather we've ever had. Normally it's scorching and humidity is high; this year it was cooler with lower humidity and not a cloud in the sky. It's been a low key week, even though my family's been here. Appointments here and there, hanging out, and just enjoying time together. Below is a culmination of normal and abnormal people......and dogs.

Doesn't Montana look as if this homage is due him? Let me introduce Henry Waddlesworth Longfellow, AKA my DD's friend's new little long-haired dachshund. Don't you just love that name?! He is absolutely adorable, but feisty. He weighs a whopping 5#, next to Montana's ~60#.

To watch them play is hysterical, but we do have to keep a grip on Montana. He's not exactly known for his coordination, and his flailing legs could send Henry flying. Henry is a brave little soul... from the safety of his mommy's lap mostly, but ventured out a few times. Too funny.

And lastly, I'll leave you with a few pics of family fun at the park.

DS, DDIL, DD in back, my nephews and nieces in front - this is the family I went to see in OK earlier this year.

Me, DB, DSIL - note the silver hair, but he says at least he has hair - good point. LOL And he wonders why one of his kids always makes faces at the camera....

DH and me....
And lastly, just a few fireworks...everyone have a wonderful Fourth of July. There were many that paid a price for our freedom, statesmen and soldiers alike. If you ever see a picture of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, note the somber faces. These men had a price tag put on their heads by doing this; they were marked men acorrding to King George III. They had no idea if any of them would survive or what would possibly happen to their families. Yet they were willing to take the chance. Let us never forget.




God bless the USA.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Whew! What a fantastic trip we all had. Belgium, France, England, and lastly, Scotland all went by in a thunderous good time! So much to see, so little time, but we certainly gave it our all. The actual tour started on June 10th with Stitching with Susan and Sally. I've never seen such beautiful needlework in all my days. We had such good times at the Royal School of Needlework (I think they had my most favorite piece of all), Jane Greenoff's Pinks Barn, The V & A Museum, and Joyce Petschek's Bargello Studio, etc. Those are just for starters.
Our friend, Kim, planned before and after trips while we were over in Europe. So as soon as we hit London, we took a train to Brussels and then Bruges, Belgium. Some mighty fine chocolate and lace, I might add. Very pretty and picturesque. Then off to Paris to see the sights. I lucked out and found a wonderful needlework shop there, too - good thing hubby wasn't around to see what I spent there!
Then to London for the actual tour. I've been to London four times in the past 30 years and have never seen the English countryside. It was such a treat - so beautiful. We went to Bath and actually saw places where Jane Austen lived and frequented. Can't get better than that, eh? Went to visit Jane Greenoff at her home. Now that was something to talk about. She was so friendly; very nice to see her in her home habitat. We had a visit with Joyce Petschek of Beautiful Bargello fame. She opened her home to us also; it was lovely and eclectic. Susan and Sally spent much effort on this trip; even with the expected excursions, there were lots of happy surprises along the way. Many thanks to them for wonderful planning for us all!
Then, again thanks to Kim, after England we went on to Edinburgh to see Scotland. Definitely one of my favorite places. My first time there and it was so inviting - such lush greens everywhere. Of course, the weather changed every 30 minutes or so; kept you guessing. Took a trip out to see the countryside with Glencoe, Inverness, Loch Lomond, and Loch Ness. Nope - didn't find Nessie, but we found lots else. Scottish people were so helpful and nice. Lovely place. Well, once I unpack and upload all my pics, I'll choose a few good ones to share. It was a great trip, but it's always good to come home.
On a rather interesting note, I'd gotten a phone card on the trip. I couldn't understand why it always cut me off after the home phone rang four times and it didn't go to voice mail. I found out why when I got home. Our little sweetie (Montana) had chewed through the cord that plugs in our main unit for all the portable phones. So who knows how long our phone has been out. DH said he was wondering why the phone never rang! Speaking of said Montana, I must tell you the saga of the days before leaving. I was frantically trying to be ready for the trip on the 5th, when my DH insisted something wasn't right with Montana's neutering. Lo and behold, he was right; Montana still had a testicle left after the surgery. The vet said he was danged if he knew what happened - Montana either had three to begin with or they missed one. The vet's assistant swore they counted two removed, but be that as it may, he still had one left afterwards. So off to surgery that day again he went. Poor thing, but the difference in him has been amazing. He actually appears to sleep now, when he's not chewing, I might add..... But all's well that ends well!