Our European Vacation

Not quite the Griswolds thankfully, but not far off it at times!

So we started off with a week with our dear friends in Hamburg, they were moving into their new house, which is gorgeous - huge rooms, floor to ceiling windows, beautiful modern kitchen, and balcony on the top floor, everything you come to expect in a German home. So the week included the necessary trip to IKEA, and hemming curtains, with lots of love, fine food and drink thrown in.

Hamburg is a beautiful city, even though it has one of the busiest docks in the world. On one day we went to one of their city beaches, having driven past numerous huge merchant houses on the way, you get the idea that Hamburg is quite wealthy city. The manmade beach was a favourite with the locals, as was the bar on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The views across the water sum up what Hamburg is all about.

 

 

Recently we have been thinking of purchasing a campervan or caravan, having hired campers in New Zealand and Australia and enjoyed them, but they were in warmer climes than here, where you can sit outside and relax, not be cooped up inside out of the torrential rain! So before taking the plunge we thought we would try out the tent we bought years ago and where better than our favourite country of the Netherlands. We drove from Hamburg west to Groningen in the north of the Netherlands where we pitched tent for the first time, and managed not to look like complete amateurs.

 

 

How cosy does this look, complete with quilt?

 

 

On our second day, I managed to get talked into hiring a bike and cycling into Groningen. I was totally up for it until I sat on the rock hard saddle and tried to set off. Dutch bikes do not have handbrakes, but instead have pedal back brakes, which means the pedals don't move round freely for you to get ready to move off. With bad balance to start with, this caused me all manner of problems. I suppose the good thing to come out of it is that my bike at home should be easier than ever to get the hand of. I would just like to add, this was only my second time on a bike in 30 years!

 

 

 

Groningen is a student town, which made cycling all the more chaotic! The town itself is lovely, like a mini Amsterdam with its cobbles streets, tall terraced houses lining the canals, and the town square with a great food market selling local produce.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we packed up the tent in the rain, both looking forward to a proper bed in warm dry hotel room! I don't think camping is for us! We are now in Amsterdam, we love Amsterdam and feel like it's our second home. We are also hear to meet another dear friend, who amazingly has cycled from London to Amsterdam for charity, and we wanted to be there at the finish line...

 

 

We are so proud of him and the rest of the gang, we left them to have a much deserved drink, and rest and went for a Argentinian steak, a must in Amsterdam. Today we plan to enjoy the sights of this stunning town, and we have sunshine at last!!

 

 

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A trip to London

Well, we've been back in the UK for a few weeks now, and having returned with so many project ideas and great enthusiasm to create, not having our own place is proving to be a little frustrating! While family have been so kind and generous, you still can't help feeling guilty for invading their homes and disrupting routine.

Hopefully we will be moving on soon and getting on with life - having said this, of course, I am still sewing, the hand sewn hexies are coming on a treat, and I've completed another quilt top in a variation on Chanteille. However, both are going to be pressies so I can't share just yet.

To try and find my mojo, (and visit my mum) we took a surprisingly relaxing train journey down to London. It's so good to be back - we had both had enough of the big city a few years back, and sold up, and while I'm sure I would still be sick of the commute into work etc, it's so nice to visit and be a tourist.

We started with a wander down Walthamstow Market, we used to proudly claim it was the longest market in Europe, though I don't know if that's still true. The Stow is undergoing to hell of a makeover at the moment, with new flats going up on every corner, as well as a new leisure/cinema complex - it does promise to look amazing once it's finished.

The market itself seems so much cleaner, and I couldn't believe the amount of fabric shops that have opened nearer the St James end of the market, even if they are sari and dress fabrics rather than cotton, I will always find something to drool over...

Thankfully, some things never change... I will always remember one Christmas looking up at the roof of Manze's pie and mash shop to see Chas & Dave turning on the Christmas lights!

We also had a trip 'up west' where I can never miss an opportunity to visit one of my favourite shops, Liberty's. I love this building so much, given the chance I could spend hours just wandering from department to department looking at all the beautiful items for sale, desperately trying to commit them to memory to inspire future projects. The haberdashery department is so sweet, I love stroking all the lush Tana Lawns.

The next day I decided to take mum and go in search of one of my new favourite shops, The Village Haberdashery in West Hampstead.

Such a sweet shop jammed with gorgeous fabrics, wool, threads and over spilling with inspiration. I planned to add to my collection of Kona Solids, but also couldn't resist these yummy half metres for a new project I have in mind... Most of them are from Cloud 9's Grey Abbey range - Swaying Floral In Egg Blue, Gentile Vines In Dandelion, Folky Daisy In Egg Blue, Deco Floral In Grey, and English Garden In Pearl. The spots are Littlest Cottontails In Sand, the turquoise geometric is from the Squared Elements range from Art Gallery Fabrics, and the last fabric is from Moda's Simply Style Frames On Graphite Grey.

I now just have to get over the fear of cutting into new fabrics, and just get on with it!

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A good pummelling!

It's been a long wait, but I've finally had a proper Thai massage, and although it hurt like hell at the time, I do feel incredibly relaxed, how these petite ladies put so much strength into their thumbs is beyond me! A whole hour of being bent in the 'wrong' directions, cost me all of £5.00! Absolute bargain, I wonder where I can get similar at home...

Other than that, we haven't really been up to much, other than trying to get a bit of a tan without burning, not easy... Drinking the local beer, and eating, and eating, and eating! Here are some more picks to get the tastbuds tingling...

We think this tilapia, grilled on an open fire at one of the night markets, it was stunning.

And this is the night market round the corner from our hotel, it's so lovely to see people with their families come out, pick what they want from the numerous stalls, grab a Leo and sit and watch the evening go by. Obviously the warm temperature adds to the joy.

This was another market, where we had grilled pork, ribs and sticky rice...

The stallholders pack them in these sweet little bags, together with a bag of sauce, and you can just nibble away, such an easy way to eat!

When we do go to a restaurant, you have to get used to your dishes just coming out when they're ready, some small places only have the one wok I think, so they serve them when they're done, which does make it difficult when you want to take a photo of your meal!

Here we have Thai noodles, minced duck with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, garlic and chilli, chicken fried rice, grilled pork and sea bass with celery.

I've also been playing with my new app Quiltography, and now Doughty's have put some new linen look cottons from John Louden online, this is what I've come up with so far, a bit minimalist, with maybe a japanese look?

There are also some gorgeous elephant designs, aren't these sweet!

 

 

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