Art in South Africa

As you can see we had a great time shopping. The stores are full of wonderful colored hand crafts as well as unique beaded and recycled items. We found these wonderful hooked purses at a women's coop and I had to buy these beaded owls for my sister Wendy.

I also bought some African fabrics to share with my friends back home. Bridget had a store near her that had a good supply of these geometric designs.

The bead work here is phenomenal. We visited Streetwire which is a coop where everything is made from beads and wire. This was a life size lions head.

In Cape Town we also came across this street art totally made using hand prints.

Monkey Biz was one of our favorite stores. Also a coop where they make unique beaded animals and wares. Everything from their little car was colorful.

We had to restrain ourselves as we were already over weight. We each bought a couple of mementos to take home and a few gifts for loved ones.

Our trip was fabulous and I will have many fond memories for a long time. It was special to spend this time with Aimee before she moved into college as well as my mom and dad and Cathy. It has been hectic since I returned but I hope to catch up after market. Creative Stitching Sue

Cape Town

Aimee, Cathy and I went on to Cape Town and had a wonderful time with old friends of mine Bridget and Colin. They live just north of Cape Town in a little town called Noordhoek. We were in the Cape for 5 days and Bridget and Colin took us a wide variety of was places in the area. What I love about South Africa is all the color!

These are little beach houses on Muizenberg beach. I still remember these from my childhood. The houses below are in an area of the city. Don't you just love those colors together! I can see another quilt in my future.

We also went to the wine area of Constantia. Did a little wine tasting and had a wonderful lunch as well as a little shopping. You may recall my little quilt with animals on well this is the Cape architecture that inspired the house in the middle of the quilt.

We were also fortunate to travel a little north and see all the daisies. As it was early spring everything was in full bloom. What an inspiring sight. They spread for quiet a long way up the coast and the colors of the ocean and surrounding rocks is awe inspiring.

Cape Town has a very special place in my heart as I lived there for a few years in my childhood. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with an incredible amount of fauna and flora. Very inspiring for a quilter!

I am going to do another post right now about the art we found in South Africa and then I will catch up with all my other posts once I return from Quilt Market. Take care Sue

Bush House Olifants South Africa

It was wonderful to be back at our bushhouse in Olifants. It is the most relaxing and inspiring place on this planet. We flew from London to Johannesburg and then onto Hoedspruit. We were picked up by a driver in our land drover. Filled it with all our luggage and then went into town to shop for food and wine for the next few weeks. The day we arrived was Aimee's 18th birthday so we took her to lunch at a wonderful restaurant in town called Sleepers. It was great to sit outside and enjoy the African sun.

The bush is home to so many species of wildlife. If you can imagine this is their home and we are visitors there. The bushhouse is in a private park that is surrounded by their territory. The bird life is plentyfull and very varied. We saw many species like the Plover above with chicks to Eagles, Vultures and my favorite the Guinea Fowl.

They flock together in large families and are very humorous as well as colorful with speckled bodies. We were fortunate to see many families around the water holes.

We spent many mornings getting up at 5.30am and driving to a waterhole to see the sun come up and experienced many unforgettable game viewings. We also loved to go out in the late afternoon to see the sunset and have snacks and wine in the bush and wait for the animals to come down and drink.

We have an open land drover so you can get very close to the animals at times it is quiet exhilarating. Cathy and I experienced a pride of lions walk a few feet from us and even stopped to look at us before heading onto the bush. Our hearts missed a beat for a minute, but what an experience.

Besides all the wildlife their is an amazing array of fauna and flora. Trees and flowers you will never see anywhere else. It was winter while we were there so not too much was in full bloom but there was still an amazing variety to see.

We had a few sightings of elephants. Even a herd of about 50 with babies. You always have to be cautious as they can be very destructive.

One of our top sightings was lion at a buffalo kill. There were 3 lionesses and 5 cubs who dinned on the carcass for about three days.

We were also fortunate to see quiet a few rhinoceroses. They are very large and amazing animals.

We experienced amazing sunsets and starring nights under the full moon. The milky way is an unbelievable sight.

One of my favorite antelope is the Nyala. The male is the most amazing specie. His horns are enormous and they have wonderful markings.

We also were very fortunate to see two cheetah who walked up the road for quiet a way and then spent quiet a long time in a tree before retreating into the bush.

The time together with my mom, dad, Aimee and Cathy was very special. I have many memories to cherish for a life time.

Cathy, Aimee and I then travelled onto Cape Town and Mom and Dad went back to Johannesburg then back to London before returning home.

I will continue blogging our Cape Town experience shortly.

Take care

Sue

July in London

I have had many emails wondering if I was okay after our wonderful vacation. Thanks so much for caring. Yes I am great just a little behind with my blog but hope to catch up this week as I am spending a couple of quiet days here in Spokane with my family. I would also like to thanks Wendy for keeping up with the blog while I was gone. Her pictures were stunning!

London was fabulous Mom, Dad, Cathy, Aimee and myself filled 5 days with much sight seeing, visiting with family and old friends. The weather was great! Just one day of rain. Cathy and Aimee had never been to London so we did many of the typical sights as well as some great shopping.

We spent a day around Covent Gardens and were entertained my the many street acts. We also took a ride on the Eye. It was amazing how much of London you could see. Visited Harrods a couple of times and were amazed by the food halls.

Buckingham Palace was a must as well as the changing of the guards. As we stayed in a hotel around Westminster Abbey we were able to walk to many places and through some of the great gardens.

It was fun to visit with my Auntie Jean and my cousins which I had not seen in a long time.

I also spent some time with old friends of mine Maureen and Dave who I had not seen in 20 years. It was great to reminisce!

One of the highlight of London was the Victoria and Albert museum. I took many photos which are on my home pc so I will blog the museum when I get home.

Take care

Sue

On the road again.

As I sit here and write this my dear sister Sue is in the air and on her way here to Spokane. We will be hitting the road tomorrow to take Jason to Ellensburg where he will start his first year at Central Washington University. We will then get to spend a few days together before she moves on to her next teaching assignment. Life has been very busy so hopefully we can do a little catching up.

Another big thing happens today, our barn is being framed in and the guys have just arrived. The dyeing area is finally being moved out of the house and into its own space. This is the beginning of another big project that hopefully will be finished by the end of the year.

Keep creating

Wendy

Iraqi Bundle of Love

I came across this website today thanks to the Mason-Dixon knitting blog and decided it needed to be posted here.

Go to Iraqi Bundles of Love

The deadline for getting your box in the mail is Sept 8th and they would prefer earlier, perhaps Friday would be a good goal.

I am sure ya'll have a little extra stuff hanging around that you would love to donate. Here is the link for all the info so go to http://ibol.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/iraqi-bundles-of-love-the-intro/

All you need to do is go to this website, leave comment and they will send you the shipping address. The only cost to you will be the cost of sending a flat rate priority mail box and the goods from your sewing and knitting stashes that you are willing to donate.

Here is the link for guidelines on what to put in your box http://ibol.wordpress.com/what-to-send/

here is the link on how to put it all together http://ibol.wordpress.com/building-a-bundle/

I am off to get raid the shelves and get my box together.

Keep creating

Wendy