Sewing at Sandy's

It was Sandy's turn to kick her husband out of the house this morning, as we descended upon her for our weekly sewing get-together.

Do you remember this stunning view from their house? This is how it looked this morning, gorgeous!

You too could wake up to this view, if your interested... look here
We have a new addition to our little sewing group, she is also called Chris, she's the Chris on the right, above.That's Chris on the left too...and Sandy's husband is called Chris .....
Above, is Judith on the left and of course, the infamous Sandy!!
'New Chris' has introduced us to a new technique. She does 'Drawn Thread Work', it's so intricate but very effective. She must have so much patience as you have to count the threads of the fabric..
She is hoping to complete 4 and make them into cushion covers.
This is 'Original Chris's' quilt, it's for her 2nd grandchild due at the end of March. She's hand embroidered a sweet little fairy in the centre.
This is my latest quilt, made from recycled and vintage fabric. I like it... It's going to be backed with a deep red cotton.
Above and below are Sandy's latest quilts, she's our most prolific quilt maker...

The quilt below was taken from the Shabby Roses BOM on Elefantz blog last year.
And, last but by no means least is Judith's....she's been working on this for 35 years...maybe she should take a leaf from Sandy's book....oops!! Sorry Judith!! Aww, that hurt!!!

20 Minuters

I recently joined a lovely little group of bloggers who have promised to craft for at least 20 minutes a day for a year. If you'd like to see more pop over to MarmaladeRose and click on the '20 Minuters' button. There's also a Flickr page dedicated to us.

For some strange reason I can't attach the button to my page at the moment but I'll keep trying.

I've got so many ideas and projects on the go at the moment my little note book is very handy...

This is a 'baktus', a traditional Norwegian scarf. It's very easy and quick to make. I first saw them on here. I then looked them up on Ravelry, found there are loads of different versions. This one is made from sock yarn so it's light but soft and warm.
I'm now knitting a mohair 'spiral scarf', I'm using a simple pattern from a stash busting book my friend Judith lent to me (thanks Judith..) This is also easy to knit and as there are only 10 stitches to deal with, I can sit in the evenings, by the 'somba' (wood burner) and enjoy clicking away to my hearts content.
I've just had a new consignment of this wonderful yarn delivered...you know who this is for don't you?? I've got a couple of projects ticked off in the Debbie Bliss baby books and will be starting something very soon....That reminds me!! I haven't photographed the last thing I knitted for the 'Bean'.
Quilt News....

For those of you who have been following for a while, I'm sure you will recognise these squares.

I believe this will be my first and last hand-sewn quilt!! I'm now starting to sew all the squares together so I'll let you know how it goes.

I've also cut out and sewn together a quilt using some vintage fabric, it's made up of 10 inch hexagons. I've got the backing fabric but I'm still sourcing the wadding, it's not easy to get over here and we've discovered it would cost in the region of 50 UK pounds to be sent by post....hahaha!!! `

A Dilapidated Post

On Friday I went on a very long and strenuous walk/ramble with some friends. It took us 5 and 1/2 hours. Yesterday I was rather....tired!!

But it was well worth it and I thoroughly enjoyed it, the weather was fantastic and the company was excellant... Our husbands complained that we were too slow and if we stopped talking for a while we could walk a little faster, but of course that didn't stop us!!

I digress...

We ended up at a hamlet Geoff and I visited last year, Adrianos. It's virtually desolate, I think there's only a handful of old folk living there but some people return during the summer and the olive-picking season.

We stopped here for our picnic lunch and spent a little while peering into the windows and doors of desolate houses so this post is mainly photographs. I think they speak for themselves.....
Above is a bread oven in a delapidated house.

Just right for renovation...
Above is the outside kitchen of an old lady who has died and the whole place has just been left as if she's popped to the shops.

Below, is Joan telling me about when she used to walk past and the old lady would be sitting there, so pleased to have someone to talk to for a few minutes...





Above, another room, left just as it was when the occupant was alive.






I hope you enjoy the photographs as much as I do...It's such an insight into a Crete that very few people see.

I shall post the photographs of the walk/climb/ramble during the next week.

A Trip To Knossos.....

You may or may not remember, last November we had a visit from both my daughter Bethan and my son, Gareth.

After Bethan had returned to Saudi, Geoff, Gareth and I had a trip to Knossos on the outskirts of Iraklion.

Knossos is one of the archeoligical wonders of the world as, until the start of the last century, it was thought to have existed only in mythology but the Homeric tales of King Minos, his wife Pasiphae, the Labyrinth and the Minotaur all came to life as Arthur Evans, in the early 1900's slowly uncovered this massive site.

There was habitation there for over 8 thousand years. The first palace, built 4 thousand years ago, was destroyed and then rebuilt on an even grander scale.At the height of this second period,the palace consisted of more than a thousand rooms on 5 floors. A whole town existed around it and it controlled an empire covering the whole Mediterranean linking the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Minoans were the first great civilisation of the Mediterranean Basin, they were extremely artistic and peaceable prefering to cooperate and trade rather than use military might. They traded near and far using the produce of Crete- olive oil, wine, timber, grain and imported gold, silver and gems which were used to create the wonderful artefacts that have been unearthed.

To put it in perspective, Tutankhamun, ruled Egypt, as this great palace was in decline.

Below, are some small examples of the frescoes found during excavation. The originals are to be seen in Iraklion Archeological Museum.
Contention has always dogged this site regarding Arthur Evans's reconstruction of parts of this palace. (see below)

The detractors claim that nobody knows what the palace originally looked like and of course, this sort of reconstruction would not be permitted nowadays.

In Arthur Evans's defence,many of the walls were timber-framed and as excavation proceeded these walls collapsed due to the rotten wood, therefore if nothing had been done, there would be even less to look at today. He claimed he was 'preserving' rather than rebuilding.


The above photo is a reconstructed area, if it had not been rebuilt we would never have any idea of what may have been there. Personally, I don't mind it!!
We were very lucky to be able to go out of season and the site was nearly empty of tourists but I can imagine at the height of summer it might be rather different with thousands of people there every day.

It has a lovely open air cafe and a good museum shop.

I also noticed some shady picnic areas which would be much-needed in the summer.

Hmmm!! What do you think??

Can you hear the knitting needles clicking away??
I started with a Debbie Bliss pattern from her book,Simply Baby, with some gorgeous Debbie Bliss cotton yarn.
Even though Bethan says Matt has large feet, I'm not sure the baby will ever have feet big enough for these.. It could well have started school and be wearing them as socks..

So, I tried another pattern, these cute Mary Jane's look more like 0-3 months, don't you think??

I'm rather pleased with them, I know it will be June/July and it's rather hot in Saudi...
but, but, but!! Ok, shall I start knitting items that are for an older baby? For when they go to live in the UK??
But, but I like knitting tiny things...any suggestions??

What do you think of this then?
I knitted this from the home spun, hand dyed alpaca I was sent from A Bag of Olives
It's really lovely and soft and fits around my neck, brilliant idea! I can wear it with jumpers and cardies, just what I need here when I don't need a huge scarf..neat!!

Welcome the Dixie Chicks!!!

Just a quick post to introduce you to the newest members of our little family.

They are the Dixie Chicks....I'm not naming them individually for obvious reasons!
We've had them a couple of months now, they were scrawny little things when we bought them, hardly a feather between them!!
Now look at them, fat, shiny feathers and a sparkle in their eyes.
Geoff sits and talks to them and, of course, he says they understand every cluck and coo.

So, I ask you, why are they not laying?????

Drassi Valley Walk.

We set off to try to walk off some of the over eating and drinking we've had to do over the last few days and enjoy some of the wonderful weather we are having at the moment...it's been in the mid 20's!! Very unusual for us. Yes, I know and I'm sorry to everyone who has been suffering hardships due to the awful weather many of you are having at the moment.
Firstly, look at these!! composting toilets!! In a play/bbq area. We were amazed when we first saw them.
This area is open to all and is very popular in the summer time, there's an oven, bbqs and 2 sinks with running water. Take a closer look at the sinks.. they've been hewn out of a huge piece of stone.
The valley is full of orange and lemon trees groaning with fruit at the moment, (guess what I'll be making in the coming weeks..loads of lemon curd and marmalade, yum!
There are also olive groves here and as we walked along we could hear the hum of the generators being used to enable the electric pickers to work.

This is an ancient tree, probably been producing olives for hundreds of years. The texture of the bark is fantastic.
No, I don't think we'll climb up there today, just an amble around, it gets cold very quickly at the moment.
Back to the bbq area and the plane trees with the strange fruit. There's a source of water here which all the locals come to collect assuring us it's the best water for miles...
I'd like to wish everyone who reads my blog... peace, love and happiness in the coming year.

I, for one will try to be more peaceful, more loving and happier, I said TRY..... people who know me will chuckle at that! I'll have alot to be happy about in June when the new arrival makes it's first appearance.....can't wait!!

Take care x