Hello and welcome to my blog. I hope you can stay a while, so make yourself a cuppa, put your feet up and browse through my blog pages. You can do this by either browsing up and down the pages as set out, or by subjects, listed under "my labels" in the left side bar.


Wednesday, 31 October 2018

getting back to it






I am finding little hard to get back to sewing, I got really addicted to my "Lost in Time" crochet shawl. 

Very appropriately named! I was working on it even on the plane to and from Croatia.


It is a decent size now, but I want to use up this last ball to finish it off.


Before I went away I machine quilted inside all the blocks of Scandinavian Rose quilt; 
I plant to do the rest by hand.



I am also slowly collecting "possibles", fabrics for the "Awakening" quilt.


I haven't got much idea at the moment what I am going to use, I want to get it right,
but I do like Odile Bailloeul designs; the bottom two arrived in the post while I was away.
I might use some of those.



It has been cold and windy in our part of the world, with heavy night frosts.
I picked some dahlias few days ago, 


and last night the frost got the rest -  yes, the winter is here.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018

Sunday, 28 October 2018

Croatia - holiday memories - a quick note

Thank you for your interest and lovely comments in my 2 post about Croatia.

I just would like to add some more info -

tourism is a major industry in Croatia (mainly along the Adriatic coast), it's history goes back about 150 years, and they are good at it.
However, the Balkan wars of 1990s, during the Croatian War of Independence (or Homeland War, as they call it) put a temporary stop to tourism, when for about 7 years no tourist would travel there. 
We were told that during that period people would live just on their savings, if they had any.
They are doing a great job of recovering from that, but of course, not everything is perfect yet, which is understandable.
We love Croatia, the country and its people; they are friendly and very helpful. 
This wasn't out first visit; we started going there when our children were small and when Croatia was still a part of Yugoslavia, and several times since, up and down the coast, from Istria Peninsular down to Dubrovnik. And we hope to visit again.
Being a Slav myself I can understand some of the language, but most younger generation speak English anyway.
The most recent study into where Croatians came from originally suggest that they arrived from the Czech lands somewhere in the 9 - 10th century. This is just a theory, but it would help to explain why I feel the connection when I am there. 😊

Why the picture of an iris? It is the national flower of Croatia.

We wish Croatia well.


©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018

Saturday, 27 October 2018

Croatia - holiday memories (2)


Visit to Šibenik - the oldest Croatian city on the Adriatic coast is just up the coast from Primošten.


We had a wonderful local guide, who took us slowly through the oldest part of the city.


























The "jewel in the crown" is UNESCO protected The Cathedral of St James
the construction of which started in 1431 and it took 100 years to be completed, entirely from stone.
















A group of local male singers on the way out.



And now -  back to crafting ....

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018

Croatia - holiday memories (1)

Cold and windy Saturday - today it feels like winter has arrived; the clocks will go back by an hour tonight and the days will feel shorter from tomorrow.
So  this is a good time to download my camera and look back at our break in sunny Croatia.

We stayed in a small, pretty town on the Dalmatian coast called Primošten.


Our hotel was hidden among pine trees, on the peninsular, surrounded by the beach.   



The old part of the town, once an island, is now connected to the mainland.


We did many walks around the town and I hope you will enjoy them also.























I liked the "smart bench" - the seat is a solar panel, it lights up at night, it has an internet connection and you can recharge your mobile here.








©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2018

© http://pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2023