A wander around and some weekend shopping

Sonata :
A quick trip to Groningen this afternoon ...... it's an excellent place to mooch around and only a little over half an hour away by train . Lots of lovely little shops like this one with a mix of wooden toys and vintage china . Dutch shops cheerfully giftwrap the tiniest purchase and do it so beautifully that present buying is a pleasure Plenty of desirable kitchen things in here , ranging from little wooden whisks to French cast iron pans and designer coffee machines .Then a stroll through the Hortusbuurt to a charity shop , where sometimes I find a treasure , sometimes not Back to the center , admiring front doors , wondering what it would be like to live there Then the Friday market for beautiful fresh fish , spices and a chunk of pumpkin to roast with olive oil , rosemary and coarse sea salt ( thankyou Rudo and Anja for the recipe , it's delicious ! ) . Laden like a pack mule , I then hike back to the train , where I've got enough time to read a few more chapters of my book and eat a handful of freshly roasted salted almonds . And home .

The right hat .

Sonata:

Choosing the right hat can be difficult. A woman I saw this weekend had gone for a huge white angora beret .....not perhaps the best choice when you're over seventy and rather pale . On the other hand black can look a little severe .
Flowers round the crown can be flattering . Flowers under the brim are girlish and sweet .
But if you're gloriously plump , young and cute unadorned squashed straw is the best look of all .

Spinning around

Smitonius:
I was tempted on Saturday to purchase another spindle, the one with dark and pale wood pattern:



My mother made the pretty cushion they are 'posing' on! I abhor needlework because we had to do so much of it at school, and prefer knitting and playing with fibre. Here are a couple of tiny skeins:



I received a pleasant surprise in the post too. Eva sent me some chocolate all the way from Lubjana - the one with raspberries is divine! Thanks!

Projects ....mine and others .

Sonata :
Last weekend I found an old and very tatty folder in a jumble sale for 25 cents and thought it would be fun to rummage through . Someone had collected a few embroidery charts from magazines. Mostly cross stitch and tapestry flowers , drawn-thread tray cloths and satin stitch pansies but this sat between all the cuttings . It has obviously been used .Finally it dawned on me . Mv. Dijkstra had used it to transfer the design onto an oval tray and then painted it . I'd love to have seen it . It must have been lovely!
This , sadly , had no chart included . Mind you , my embroidery skills aren't really up to it , but I'd love to try , at least . It seems that you must first embroider the country scene onto blue linen , then applique this onto a larger piece of natural linen and , lastly embroider the Art Nouveau "frame "over it . Talk about brave !!

And talking about brave , I'm making a big piece of patchwork which I then plan to chop up to make something non-quilt-like!! Should work ....I'll let you know .

And finally , isn't this pretty? A very tiny button ....I have no idea how old he is or where I found it . It's a keeper .Shame on me ... I'm too mean to hand it on !

London Pussycats

Smitonius:

Walking around London, capital city of Dick Whittington (and his famous side-kick Puss in Boots), there are plenty of cats to be seen. Some real, like the Stoke Newington cat called Marmite who lives in the local newsagent's shop (far too shy to have it's photo taken!), and some who are not - like this grafitti cat sprayed on a wall near Clissold Park:



Then there is this stunning cat on a poster for a play at the Unicorn Theatre:



And this Cyclops cat on a poster advertising the children's literary festival at the South Bank: Imagine 09:



Congratulations to Eva, who won the buttons in the competition! They are in the post to you now.