Giving thanks with a “bisou”

This was no Thanksgiving Day but these people were having some kind of celebration, for sure ! It was a few years ago in Lyon (France). I was walking along the river flowing across the city and stopped beside this barge where a long table had been set and beautifully decorated. Obviously they were waiting for more guests. A young man was giving a sweet kiss – un bisou –  to his partner. Another man smiled to me and said “pas de photo, svp”,  “no photo please”. Jokingly.

Thanksgiving was not celebrated on this river boat but all the guests around this happy table were definitely thankful to be together on that day. An engagement or a wedding lunch ?  And two of them even more grateful to the paths of life that brought them together.

Today as I remember this moment in Lyon, I thought of sharing this picture with you. To all of you who celebrate this happy day I wish a wonderful Thanksgiving !

Galactic

This small transformer was lying somewhere behind a garage where the Summer tires on my car were changed to more appropriate ones. Time to get ready for Winter equipment to be on the safe side. Somehow this little object  attracted my attention and I imagined it to be a sort of tiny spaceship that could have landed there for unknown reasons to me. Or maybe just to let my imagination travel to outer space 😉

A few days ago, I visited a blog I enjoy reading because of the variety of its posts,  the helpful information, the many tips of all sorts. This is it :

http://smartpeopleiknow.wordpress.com/

There is a recent post called “Cool Science : What Earth Would Look Like With Rings Like Saturn”

Please go to this site and click on the vidéo (YouTube). You will not regret it.  Listen to the music, look at the amazing images and start dreaming. I simply loved it and felt like sharing this wonder with you. This image of a “transformer-spaceship” is the only picture I could think of to guide you to the Rings of Saturn.

Seminole quilt

Last January I started sewing two different quilts. One is a calendar quilt: every month I would sew 30 or 31 (or 28 !) pieces of different materials, according to the Season. The twelve months are ready, I just need to figure out how to put them all together.

The second quilt is made with Seminole patterns.  The art of patchwork created by this Indian Tribe of Florida always fascinated me. The extreme precision needed in sewing together those various patterns prevented me to make more than a few small pieces in a sampler, for instance.

The instructions for this quilt were well explained  in the Austrian Patchwork and Quiltjournal.  One different stripe and pattern each month of the year. I used fabrics left from previous quilts.  2009 is a “scraps-year” for me, both quilts are made of scraps and I barely managed to finish the twelfth stripe of the Seminole. I had to cheat a little bit… you will see this later 😉

There is still a lot to do ! Black coton  will separate each coloured strip, top and bottom. To avoid having too much “dark”,  I will sew a narrow stripe of a colour of my choice – and still in stock ! – between the two black parts.  A border will be added, of course.  Only then will I  start the hand quilting, mainly in the black parts.

The colours I used are not those proposed in the Quiltjournal but they were the ones I had in stock: turquoise green, dark blue, dark red (burgundy), pale yellow, pink and a mixed pattern with some of the other shades. I am quite happy, I think they blend in nicely together. What do you think ?

Precision was very important all along the sewing, not exactly a talent of mine 😦 A few millimeters too much or less did make a visible difference, unfortunately !

Needless to say there are “visible differences” in my quilt !

Some patterns were much more tricky than others… in this picture the last stripe gave me a headache…

All of them were a pleasure to discover once the different colours were assembled in a stripe. I learned a lot all year long. But please, don’t ask me to sew another Seminole quilt next year !

A garden in November

This is how my garden looked at the beginning of this month… Since then we have had rain, wind, frost and snow is not far ! Now this garden is no longer so colourful but our Autumn has been exceptionally mild and bright.

This image is also my contribution to the “November” challenge Scott Infinitum proposed for the coming month. See the link below please and join us if your wish so !

http://stphoto.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/assignment-4-november/

First Autumn for my beagle Ninio, 6 months old, full of energy and curious about just anything, including maple leaves !

wetland

An oasis of peace and harmony. Three small ponds surrounded by reeds and trees where ducks,  swans, fish,  frogs and birds live together. Occasional songs and cries, swift dives in the water or wings flapping behing the bushes. Those are almost the only sounds beside your steps on dried leaves.

The bright spark of an old blue boat resting on the grass.

A chair left at the edge of one of the ponds. A fisherman’s ?

I sat on it for a while looking at the reflections of the bare trees in the water and listening to the sounds of nature around me. Simply beautiful.

Fascinating reading

This past Summer and Fall several books have followed me wherever I went. One that I never forgot to take with me was “The Shadow of the Wind” by Spanish (Catalan) writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

The novel, set in post-Spanish Civil War Barcelone,  is about a young boy, Daniel. After the war, Daniel’s father takes him to the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles lovingly preserved by a select few initiates. As tradition goes, everyone entering this secret place is allowed to take one book from it, and asked to protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. On the night he takes the book home Daniel starts reading it, and becomes completely obsessed with it and his writer. He then attempts to look for other books by this unknown author, but can find none. From then on Daniel’s life takes a completely different turn !

I will not tell you more… in case you would decide to read this fascinating book (mystery, romance, thriller, period epic). One of the best books I read this year, one that is so difficult to put down !

Walking to the woods

Soon they will be all gone, the golden leaves of our beautiful Autumn, the weather forecast for tomorrow is snow, falling up to 1000m. A cooler breeze is blowing already. The moon is almost full and as people say over here: “The new moon means a change of weather”. We’ll see… but in the meantime let’s go for a walk through the woods.A bench and table that went through better days and were used to see many picnics…The late afternoon sun playing hide and seek between branches, my favourite time and light to take pictures.

A pause at the edge of a pasture where cows were peacefully grazing before  cooler days that will bring snow. Not too soon hopefully !

Some delicious boskoop apples were just waiting to be picked in a field near the forest. Walking back home I was looking forward to a tasty apple pie !