January Cross Stitch

Just a little cross stitch for each month.  Some I finished a very long time ago, some are still in progress.  It's my style.  2013 is the year to clear my plate of unfinished projects.  

I love these little cross stitches.   So cute, simple and fast.  Well, fast if I actually finished them in a timely manner.

So here is the start of finishing a 12 part project.

1/12

Day 14 Adventures through Wales

Our next days adventure and the second to last on the tour took us from Llangollen to Cardiff, both in Wales.  Wales is truly one of the most beautiful areas I have ever visited.  It reminds me of if Oregon and Colorado were combined with sheep.  

Green hillsides, steep climbs, rivers and streams and quaint little towns everywhere.  On our way to Cardiff we stopped at the tallest and longest Aqueduct in the UK.  The water way was only about 5 feet across with a 3 foot walkway on one side.  These days you can hire a little boat for a day though the transportation waterway is Wales. 

Our morning and early afternoon was a lot of driving.  We again drove thought beautiful scenery. We drove along side or through a Welsh national park.  If I were driving I would probably stop every 10 minutes or so to take a better look at what was around me.  A very nice thing about the bus tour is that you don't have to worry about how you get there, where you stay and your daily timelines.  If I ever get the chance to come back in he future I will know better where to stop again, what to skip and where to base a trip around the area that I would like to see.

We arrived at Cardiff at 2 pm after another long day of driving.  Our hotel happened to be in the center of town next to all attraction.  Around town was a beautiful university, bell tower, large shopping area and a castle.  Another country and state capital down.

I met in the lobby 3 other people who wanted to go to the castle.  Yes another castle.  We walked along a park wall with stone animal sentries.  They were really cool but they had crazy eyes!

We started by grabbing the included audio guide and watched the most horrible introduction video of all time It was pretty much laugh put loud bad.  Past the video we were free to explore.  This castle had a fantastic keep in the center of a large green surrounded by a barrier wall.  Within the barrier wall there were tunnels that where used more recently as shelters during the air raids of WWII.  Those tunnels went along he emitted barrier wall.  Lots of distance to walk all of them but not a lot of space as they were very narrow.  

Most of the castle is a reconstruction from the late 1800s.  Along the wall there were red bricks that divided the original remains of the Roman castle and wall from the reconstruction done.  The Grand Marquis Butte and the following Marquis took it upon themselves to build it again but not without making themselves a very posh living space.  The living spaces were redone in an over the top Victorian living spaces.  They must have spend hundreds of thousand pound in the 1880 to create these spaces.  Ornate details from bible passages, specifically themed rooms, a library with busts of authors and an out of this world staircase. 

The keep at in the center of the green on an earthen mound.  To get to the top of the keep it took about 90 steps of very narrow staircases.  Castles in the UK and Ireland seemed to have been very keen on very narrow circular staircases with tiny steps.  I suppose when you think about it the people who built them 700+ years ago may have been a bit smaller than we are today.  Well needless to say I climes to the top to he rewarded with a pretty good view of the city.  My calves are in really awesome shape after all the climbing around that I have done.

After exploring the castle ground for almost 2 hours I headed out into Cardiff.  There is a huge shopping area right across from the castle so I went in for a bit to explore.  I found an Americana candy shop that had Tab soda, which I haven't seen in forever and tons of candy I'd never seen before.  I guess I don't know what candy is in America I guess. I also found a teacup that I really liked with the classic Alice in Wonderland style of art but the handle looked a little flimsy for traveling so I didn't purchase it.  That's what Amazon is for.

Shopping was not really what I wanted to do at that moment so I wondered to the Cardiff University area.  They have a large clock tower on a main building so it was easy to get to.  I ended up finding the national museum there but only had about 15 minutes to explore as they were going to close soon.  I found some weaponry from Welsh past, took an illegal picture and off I went to the shop.  I was hoping to find a reusable bag from Wales with the flag or a dragon on it but no such luck.

From the museum I walked around the campus to find a small rose and statue garden.  Again lots of tributes to those who were lost during WWI along with the other more recent conflicts.  I still cant get over the amount of statues and memorials in the cities and even the small towns.  I guess I need to enjoy KCs statues a bit more.

I then found a park that went along the outside of the castle, enjoyed a quick walk, took pictures from the outside of the castle and found my way back to our hotel.  But I wad determined to fin some little trinket to take back with me so I abet back to a little tourist shop.  I met the girls that I explored the castle with and one pointed out my name on a magnet.  That was he first time I have ever seen my name on anything that we did not have to get specially made.  Score! and purchased.

We had our final group dinner not to far from our hotel at a gastro pub.  I had fried calamari, which was ok, and a Mediterranean pizza which wasn't as good as other ones I've had in the States.

After the who group went to a bar nearby.  It was a Vodka bar so I only got one drink which was very weak and not that good.  Well I didn't feel like sticking around for too long so back to the hotel I went to get a good nights sleep for a very busy last day of the tour.

Jayhawk revisited

I made an embroidery of a Jayhawk a couple monts back.  I decided after a while that I did want to paint it to add some extra interest.

I started with some scrap fabric in another embroidery hoop.  I made a little sample and decided that I liked it watered it better.  Just a little water with acrylic paint is all it took.

 The finished project.  I like it much better with the color.  It's always fascinating to me that color bleeds even across mediums.  The top of the Jayhawk's legs are now a little green.  Adds character!

After using the acrylic paint I went off to the craft store to buy some watercolors for future projects.  Hopefully I will be able control the saturation of the color better in the future, but I'm pretty happy with the end result.

Day 13 A Ferry to find my name

We left Dublin early to catch the ferry back across the sea to Whales.  The ferry ride was not the smoothest due to the winds.  Whenever I got up to walk around it probably looked like I was drunk.

I assure you that my Irish Coffees had worn off by this morning.  The ferry was not as fancy as the last one when we went over to Belfast.  It also seemed like there were far fewer passengers on board as well.  Put the pretty boats on the more traveled routes.  Makes sense.  Three hours later we arrived in my 5th country of the trip.  And still only one stamp in my passport!

Our drive to Llangollen was truly gesticulate.  I never knew that it was so stunning.  I had heard it was pretty but it was even more than that.  Since we were in Wales, the land of my name I kept trying to get a picture of one of the signs.  I saw 5 different places with Bryn in their title.  Super awesome.

We took a little break in the town with the longest name ever.  I would attempt to spell it right but its crazy long, 56 characters long. It totally an old people on tour tourist trap with one big store and nothing much else.  We had a quick lunch at a pub and back on the bus we went.

 We arrived at Llangollen around 4pm.  We were supposed to get in earlier but because of the ferry being a bit slower due to the winds.  Most of the local attractions were already shut down for the day.  There are horse drawn boats, boats for hire and again more horse drawn carriages.  

 I decided to go for another hike. It seems like when i war my dress slacks it means hiking.  I climbed up towards another castle ruin at the top of Dee Valley.  That's right, Dee Valley.  I walked from the bottom of town all the way up.  I used surface streets on the way up until that base of the hill area.  

I talked to a very nice woman from the Canada.  She had lived in the England for 11 years and never been to Wales.  That's like never visiting St Louis from KC. 

  I caught my breath while I talked to her for the super steep hike.  It took me about 25 minutes to reach the summit.  The castle at the top was in ruins.  Only a few walls and archways are still remaining.  Otherwise it was an open green space.  

 I ended up talking to another very nice person from Ireland and playing ball with his dog while I caught my breath again after the hike.  I had a very nice time talking with him and enjoy the views.  I ended up staying at the summit for about an hour.  The views were spectacular.  I could see the city below, the aquaduct from afar, and valleys full of sheep.  I hope some of my pictures turn out from the top.  Much nicer than shopping around town and taking a nap.

 Our whole group of 21 plus our guide and driver went to the Corn Mill restaurant.  The restaurant used to actually be mill.   The water wheel was still there with the water flowing. We ended up coming in two big groups.  I got a hard cider which is very popular in the UK. Our food took over an hour to get.  Mine came 15 minutes after everyone else's in the group.  I order an starter of 3 scallops.  1 hour 15 minutes for 3 scallops.  They should have at least given me a free drink for that wait. At least it was a cool looking restaurant right along the riverside.

The pictures I took in Llangollen were some of my favorites from the entire trip.  

Rock Chalk Jayhawk Basketball

I got a call from the brother this past Monday and off I went to Lawrence.  To Allen Fieldhouse for my 5th visit of the year!  4 Games and Late Night.  That is certainly something I cannot complain about.

One of the most fantastic things about watching a game inside the Fieldhouse is the video before the introduction of the team.  It's loud, it's emotional, it recalls memories, and makes you completely ready for the game.  Best Pump Up Video ever!

My brother invited me to the game when he found himself with a second ticket.  If that every happens again, let me know!

It was a great game.  We won over Baylor 61-44.  The Jayhawks looked great in the first half, slowed down a bit and got a bit sloppy in the middle but it was still a trouncing.  The Allen Fieldhouse winning streak continues with 32 consecutive wins.

And now we have a new picture to put on our parents fridge.

Hopefully I make it there one more time this season.  If not to a live game at least to watch the Jayhawks on the scoreboard in the Final Four? You never know when a basketball ticket gives you a call!

Day 12 A Day in Dublin

Our full day in Dublin started later than any of our other mornings at 10am.  Most people had stayed out late the evening before so most of them were worse for ware.  Our hotel was very close to the main downtown street of O Connell where tons of people were always around.  Our first stop was at the National post office next to the millennium spire.  

The spire is 120ish meters tall, even taller than the statue of liberty.  Supposedly it used to be polished surface but it is no longer that way because of the blinding tendencies.  

From the post office we crossed the river to the more collegiate part of he city. We walked into Trinity University.  We walked around the square in through the bell tower.  Trinity has a similar super stitiom to KU's bell tower where if you walk though it during finals time you will fail. 

An interesting fact about the school is that until 1970 if you were a Catholic you had to ask permission to attend the school.  It was built outside the original center of the city by a Protestant queen so no Catholics allowed.  Maybe they needed permission from the Pope.

There were quite a few more stops along our walking tour to go so we didn't stay long.  Our next stop was at the House of Lords.  Like many of the other government buildings around the city there are 3 different figures on the tops.  They varied depending on the buildings but mostly had a figure for commerce and justice plus one additional figure. 

True to any city with a large university here has to be night life area near by.  In Dublin it is the Temple bar area.  For a city that is known for it's puns there really aren't that many.  We were told that Dublin has the fewest pubs per capita compared to the other cities in Ireland.  Temple Bar area has the most in one area and is lengendary for it's nightlife.  Everyone from our group went there the previous night.  They even saw an authentic bar flight where a guy got knocked out.  

We continued on to the west side of the city stopping across he street from Christ Church Cathedral.   The building was massive.  We did not get a chance to enter and I didn't have the opportunity to head back but it was really nice to see.  

Our last stop before our extra for the day was at the Dublin Castle.  As far as castles go it didn't really look like much of one.  We walked into the courtyard to looked around a bit.  

Most of the buildings were built 300 years ago and didn't quite have the details that some of the other buildings we had seen.  In retrospect Dublin Castle and Trinity college have very similar looks.

After walking for about 2 hours we made it to our last stop at the Guinness storehouse.  The building is very impressive.  The visitors center was built about 25 years ago in the shape of a pint glass.  At the bottom of the glass is the lease that Arthur Guinness signed for 9000 years. Not kidding, 9000 years.

The displays were impressive but there is not too much more you can learn about how they make beer after visiting 3 breweries before.  My favorite part of the displays was all the advertising material from the past 100 years or so.  Also they had the different bottles dating back to 1890 that were made from stoneware rated than glass.

At the top of the giant pint glass there is the gravity bar.  This was the highlight of the entire building.  You could get your free pint, aka included in your ticket price, and look at a 360 degree view of the city.  Looking at a city and seeing practically everything it has to offer is really amazing.  As for the pint I liked the taste of the beer alright but the after taste is killer.  I only drank about 1/4 of it before my upset stomach started to rare up like if likes to when I drink any type of beer.

I enjoyed the view of the city a bit longer before heading back to Temple Bar to find lunch.  After drinking Guinness and hearing about the steak and Guinness pie there I had to find some pelf my own.  I was successful and it was delicious. Even the mushrooms taste good and most of you know how I feel about mushrooms. And again some potatoes on the side.  Some people's entrees in Ireland had 3 or 4 potatoes side dishes.  No kidding.  

Some of the girls were keen on shopping but I was not in the mood so one other girl and I headed back to the hotel to do some laundry.  I also tried to take a nap but the hotel was loud and our room was hot.  And the sheets are strange.  So far I've only had one place with a top sheet, blanket and comforter.  Everywhere else you only got a comforter with a washable sheet covering it.  Its been warm in some places which led to being too hot while sleeping.  But so far I've survived.

At 6:30 a group of 11 from our 21 went back into town to grab some dinner.  Again the portion sizes where huge so I decided on a soup that was small but I couldn't even finish.  I also had an Irish Bailey's coffee could have taken up some room in the stomach.  

Baby quilt déjà vu

It seems a bit a déjà vu.  This quilt looks offley similar to another one I made.  And for good reason.  It's version 2.0 of the baby girl lattice quilt.  I finished the top a year or more ago.  Now it is finally complete and off my to do list!

Some baby girl will love this quilt.  The pink back makes a great frame for a girly quilt.  But as I am not one myself, it doesn't make it too girly, but enough.

 This quilt features the warm colors from the color wheel and green.  Green seems bend either way for baby quilts, clothes, decor, etc...  I love green, especially when it leans towards teal, and it completes the rainbow pattern within the size of the baby quilt.

It feels so good to mark a project off my list, even if it wasn't written, it's a weight off my mind!