English Please!

We are in jolly old England! We took the train from Paris...through the chunnel...to London's St. Pancras station. Upon disembarking there is a lovely statue that greets you as you leave the train platforms for the main station...not a great photo but hope you can see the statue of the couple...it's huge and the photo just doesn't give you an accurate perspective.

Bryan has a one day conference here so we are staying until Sunday. Today I was on my own and hit the National Gallery.

Lots of great European art to be seen here from the 1300s through the early 1900s. No photos allowed! Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Reubens, Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh...just to name a few. I'm definitely getting my art fix this year.

Here's a view of Trafalgar Square looking out from the entrance of the National Gallery.

A sea of people! It's still feels too much like winter here. We were greeted with rain mixed with snow upon our arrival yesterday.

I'm still battling a sinus infection. Might require a doctor's visit at some point. I was so thrilled to be able to walk into a pharmacy today and get Sudafed. I did get some great cold medications from a Paris pharmacy but somehow in Madrid things went bad again! I'll be in the USA in a week. I am ready to get to my Alaska home but only after a few more days of fun in London.

Holy Toledo

Poor WiFi connections at our hotel have impacted my blogging...I'm still around!

We have been in Madrid the past week. Yesterday we did a  day trip by train to Toledo.  The drive would have been two hours but the high speed train got us there in 20 minutes. Toledo was the capital of Spain before Madrid. We went directly to the old part of the city which sits on the highest terrain in the area. The fortress wall is still visible around the base of the city.

We wandered through the narrow cobblestone streets...

There were lots of knife shops...my husband was thrilled to do some window shopping.

Colorful pottery.

More wandering...

One of many lovely churches.

The church had a courtyard with an unusual combination of plants...a blue spruce and several orange trees.

Toledo had large populations of  Muslim, Christian and Jewish populations.  The Jewish populations was known as Sephardic Jews and thrived in Toledo for hundreds of years. The phrase, "Holy Toledo," is credited to the Sephardic Jews who immigrated to America and considered Toledo the holiest of Jewish cities. We came upon an historic synagog, a much simpler structure than the catholic churches.

More wandering through narrow streets.

All that walking required a few stops to boost our energy. We got a nice little treat with our beer at one sidewalk cafe. Our little sandwiches had a thin slice of a potato and egg baked mixture.

Every now and then we saw some interesting tile work.

Then it was time to start making our way down to the train station.

I had a wonderful cappuccino at the solitary snack bar of the train station.

I have been visiting art museums in Madrid so not much to show you from those visits as photos are not allowed.

Working on Getting Well

Everything was going along so smoothly...and then I got a terrible cold! I have been doing a whole lot of nothing for the past week but I am finally feeling better. We have a trip to Madrid in the coming week so getting well is very important.

My husband has been out of town for most of my illness which is probably just as well...I really don't want him to get this nasty thing! But he was home yesterday for 24 hours and brought me some lovely flowers.

Can't Get Enough of Spring

First...Thank You to everyone who took the time to let me know about the manufacturing problems with Lite Steam a Seam 2. Karen of Quilts...etc. has a link to an article about all the details. I am amazed this has been going on for so long and sure hope it all works out soon. 

The weather has been spectacular the past few days. Last week many bulbs were getting ready to bloom...

This week they opened.

I wish I could naturalize bulbs like this in Alaska...I've never had any luck with that!

Here are some crocus...they are about done with their run this season.

These are all photos from the Luxembourg Palace gardens...

lots of people to share the green space on a pretty day.

Many of the green lawns are off limits. When a space is free for foot traffic...it gets full when the sun is out.

Stitching away on the Christmas felt banner.

It looks like I will be going to Bali in late May. I'm going with a non-quilting friend but I know she will be happy to do some batik fabric shopping. We are trying to research everything that we are going to try and do. I think we will be there for at least a week...maybe a little longer! On the way we will spend a few days in Hong Kong. I am very excited...a trip to Bali has been on my bucket list since I was tricked into that "not-a-vacation" rafting trip through the Grand Canyon three years ago.

A Flimsy Finish and UFOs to Tackle

The borders are done! Now I have four quilt tops to take back to Alaska for quilting.

What to work on now? I guess I will work on another UFO. I have all the fusible appliqué in place...just need to outline with a black blanket stitch by machine.

I will also work on getting the fusible appliqué done of this UFO too.

I am down to my last two yards of fusible web from a box of 25 yards. I spent all last summer searching on the internet for a new box but it was impossible to find. If anyone knows where to order this...let me know!

Spring has Sprung

Sunday was the last day I had Zack and Lindsey here. It was a pretty day and we took a long walk to  Luxembourg Palace and Gardens. There were daffodils blooming...

and many getting close to blooming.

So many pretty flowers...

primroses, pansies and forget-me-nots.

Poppies!

I started a new Bucilla Christmas kit. This time it is a wall hanging. Got this much done last night...pretty good progress. I really only have a month to work on this as it looks like I will be heading back to Alaska in April and I don't want to take this with me...too much quilting to do!

I have renewed vigor to get those borders done on my my storm-at-sea quilt.  I made templates from card stock and punched holes with a big needle to mark intersecting seam points using my chalk pencil and pilot frixon marker. It worked great!

I have one border ready to add.

But first...grocery shopping, laundry and a little cleaning.

Versailles on a Rainy Winter Day

Well...there are worse ways to spend a rainy day!

It was about a 30-minute train ride from the heart of Paris to the Versailles Rive Gauche station that puts you within a few blocks walk to Chateau de Versailles. Late February is the off-season and I was hoping the gray clouds would help keep the crowds down and since there was no waiting...the crowds were small...but many of the walking areas are tight so even a few people make the spaces crowded. I absolutely cannot imagine navigating the interior areas during the high tourist season.

Upon entering the chateau you are forced to follow a one-way route through the rooms open for viewing. As I have already mentioned, these areas were tight and I was reading a description of the rooms off my Kindle from a Rick Steves guide book so I didn't even attempt many interior photos. Most of the rooms were rather dark. But it was magnificent.

We had lunch at a lovely, but expensive restaurant in the chateau, Salon de Thé Angelina's. It was a great spot to sit and relax, half way through the interior tour, and somehow we managed to time our lunch break right before everyone else decided to join us!

After lunch the crowd had thinned out. Our first stop was the Gallery of Battles.

Versailles is now a museum of French history. This space is very like the feeling of the Louvre. The Battles Gallery has 33 almost life-sized paintings of the main battles of France from 496 to 1809. There was a tribute to the French involvement in the American Revolution with this portrait of the Battle of York...can you spot George Washington?

Here are a couple of other interior shots that I took that give you a feel for the rooms the royal families inhabited. These are from the apartments of the Dauphin...or heir apparent and Mesdames' Apartments, the six daughters of Louis the XV.

 The Chamber of the Empress. 

 One of the oddest parts to bed chambers were the balustrades that separated the bed area from the rest of the room. I read that most of the spaces in the chateau were open to everyone so I guess that little fence was needed for some personal space.

When we came upon this room, the bright colors were a welcome site on such a dreary day.

Versailles should be a two-day visit. It was exhausting to fight the crowds in the chateau and the size of the garden is daunting. Here's the main view of the garden with the canals in the distance. There was once a little Venice out there with gondolas. 

I will have to go back to see the gardens when they are in bloom and the fountains are working. I read there are 300 fountains remaining from the 1,500 that were originally built. All of the statues were covered up to protect them from the winter elements. We had moments of warm sunshine but most of the day was gray with showers now and then to include a little hail storm.  We never made it to the little village Marie Antoinette had erected in a corner of the garden...we were too tired of dodging the rain and our legs were ready to give out...despite a break at a café in the heart of the garden.