Pont Audemer

Pont Audemer is the nearest town of any real size to us. We went there after Deauville on Saturday. The top picture is of the stitch shop I found just off the square with the church of St. Ouen. It not only has cross stitch supplies, but needlepoint and quilting. It's really unusual to find quilting supplies in France. The owners spoke English, too! Anyway, I bought a few things and will take pictures of them on Friday. I'll definitely be going back there next week, too. The second picture is of the church. I loved the idea of begonias growing out of the walls. There are supposedly some really pretty stained glass windows inside, but we didn't go in this trip.

The last three pictures are of the area around one of the main squares. It was a busy day and we ate lunch in one of the creperies opposite the church.

October is Done

I'm kind of sad to see the end of this round robin. It was great seeing what everyone else did and such. But it's gone now, and I might have to think of signing up for it again. I had a really hard time finding a calendula pattern and finally found one in a leaflet of birthday mugs from Leisure Arts. The piece is in the mail and Yveline should get it in the next couple of days.

Deauville

On Saturday, we went to one of my favorite places - Deauville. The market there is large and always has great stuff. These are pictures of the market and of the square that the market is off of. If you get a chance to go to Normandy, Deauville is worth a stop. It's a great town - has a lot of shops and cafes, a casino, a beach, and a horse track.

Toiling on Tiramisu

I titled this more for the alliteration than the feeling of having to work hard on this piece. I think it's coming along nicely. Worked on it yesterday while my husband and son were at LeMans for the day. I'm getting more used to thinking of things in the reversible way, though the variegated thread makes it much harder when I use it. Everything has to be short! For that reason, it's much better for areas where you can work in branching motifs and then move on a bit.

The Rest of the Chateau Pictures

These were all taken pretty much at the back of the chateau. Did I mention that besides the garden, there's a separate bocce court? It's surrounded by a stone wall and pergolas with tables, benches and chairs. The place is gorgeous and I'm getting used to being in it. Today was beautiful weather and I spent some time stitching on the terrace.

Seahorse Start

The last time I visited my friend in Virginia, I picked up this cute little seahorse kit from Accomplishments in Charlottesville. It's from New Zealand and I don't have the name of the designer/kitmaker in front of me. I'll provide it later. Anyway, I started it to have something to do by the bed while my husband finishes brushing his teeth and so on before bed. It's not in my regular rotation for that reason.

More Backyard

Two more pictures of the back garden from the garden itself. One is the fountain from the side. The other is of a cute statuary bunny. The area is fairly large. The fountain area surrounded by the roses together is about ten yards square. The bunny's about two and a half feet tall.

Octobre

This is the only thing I've been working on all week. I finished it today and will be mailing it out on Monday. It's the last of the French round robin, Yveline's. She had each of us do a month and a flower. Calendula was really hard to find. I finally got the pattern from a birthday mug leaflet. There was a lot of backstitching in the design, but I left it all out because none of the other months have backstitching on them on the piece. My husband will be taking a picture of the finished piece before I ship it off.

My Front Yard

These are more of the pictures my husband took Thursday night. They're of the front yard. The top is the front door to the chateau. The second is down the line of trees to one side of the front yard. There's a matching line of trees on the other side. The last picture is from the top of the steps at the front door. It's gorgeous and everything is coming into bloom.

My French Backyard

My husband's company rented a chateau for us for the duration of the time we're in France. It's less expensive than getting a dozen different hotel rooms. The pictures here are taken after the hail storm we had yesterday and after dinner, which places it about 8:30 in the evening. Sunset isn't until after ten.

These are three views from just outside the back door on the terrace. We have a formal garden and the fountain gets turned on on Sundays. The garden is also open to the public on weekends. The house in the background of the top picture is rented out for wedding parties and such. We're having dinner in there Tuesday night. A business dinner.

Behind the hedges in the second picture is a bocce court surrounded by pergolas with stone tables and chairs in them. Nice place to be outside if the weather cooperates...

Another Leaf

I got the leaf done before I left for France. The goldwork survived the trip in my suitcase, but all my Blogger instructions are in French. It's weird. Anyway, I haven't been stitching much at all because of all the people coming in and having to be shown around and having to make dinner for loads of people in an unfamiliar kitchen and going to unfamiliar grocery stores and so on. Finally NOT cooking tomorrow, so I plan on doing some needlework. My husband took pictures of progress since the last set today, so ... you get blogged!

Progress?

I think there's some progress in this picture. I know I've worked on it ... pictures will be taken in France, probably not until Monday or Tuesday. I'm taking every project I've been working on that's not finished and a few more. If you think I won't have time for it, well... I'll be alone LeMans weekend and I'll have to be around the chateau to help my son with his schoolwork. There will be time!

Added Color

So you can see I added some green to the third band. It's soy silk, same as the other solid color. I think it's looking good. Of course, I'm getting all stressed about traveling tonight, and haven't done much stitching at all this past week.

It Looks Like a Purse

My husband decided to take a different kind of picture for this this week. It really looks like it's coming together. The edging on the purse itself is over halfway done on the first pass. The strap's 37 inches long. If I weren't going to France today, this would be done because it's so close. Instead, I'll be finishing it (soon) in France and mailing it home to my daughter.

Medieval Town Mandala

This piece, like the rest, has succumbed to the packing doldrums. I managed to complete one more shade of blue on the top part of the corner and add more gold in. It's getting there, glacially, but getting there.

Midi Flowers

I got some more Algerian eye flowers done on this. At least it won't take as long as the green of the arches! It's coming with me to France, and I'm starting to pack my stuff today.

Huswif

Like everything else, I've had a slow down on this, too. I'm still on the big band with the carnations, but I'm almost done. Maybe I can squeeze some time before Saturday to work on it.

Two Real Ornaments Before Leaving

So, I've been busy this past couple of days finishing ornaments to send out before I get on the plane on Saturday. The bargello that I finished on Sunday is now a real ornament, as is the January Heart I finished way back in February. It's amazing what a deadline can do! I kind of like the way the bargello came out better than the heart, though.

Goldwork Slowdown

I really don't see any way that I'm going to complete this before I leave on Saturday, though I'll try. I'll be keeping this home because I don't know that I'll have anywhere to do something this fussy in the chateau. It's also kind of bulky. Hopefully, I can finish this before the deadline after I get back.

Mercury Done

I sat down and finished this on Sunday. Now it's ready to mail off to somewhere else to get the second planet stitched. I've gotten so used to even numbers of strands while stitching that it was hard for me to stitch with three strands. They're harder to lay flat. There are some bumps in this, but it's going to be seen from a distance anyway.

Bargello Finished

I managed to get this done while I was away this weekend. It looks pretty good, and I need to make it into an ornament before I go. I like the colors in it and it was an easy finish, considering. I need some easy sometimes!

Tiramisu Back and Front

My husband accidentally took a picture of the back this time before being corrected. I guess that means I'm doing all right on the reversible aspect. In the next posting, you'll see I added a third color in this band, and still haven't finished with it. I've decided now to just concentrate on getting a few things done before the trip. Hopefully I can do it! And yes, I'm sorry about not posting yesterday. I am visiting a friend's house and ended up just not posting yesterday. You got two posts today, though!

Ribbons and Roses Edging Along

Well, I've been working on the edge of the purse and haven't been able to do much this week, but at least some. The way things are going, this will be mailed home from France. I really want to get it done. The strap is now about 38 inches long, too.

Planetary Progress

I really want to finish this and put it in the mail before I leave a week from tomorrow. Unfortunately for my stitching, I've been doing everything from making up kissing pillows to writing a newsletter to picking up beanie babies (don't ask). It's been really hard to find time to stitch these past couple of weeks. I'll find time to do this. I have to!

Not Much Done

I didn't get much done on this last week. This week, either. Had a lot to do before going to France next week and well... stitching has had to take a break. I did manage to get some of the darker color blue done and correct some mistakes. Eventually it'll get there.

Tiny Algerian Eyes

I started the specialty stitches on this part this week. Did a lot of teeny tiny Algerian eye stitches in the top left arch. They're supposed to be roses, I think. Because of their size, they're a bit of a pain to do. On the other hand, it's not cross stitch there and it should get along some soon...

Still on Part Two

The band I'm working on now is rather big, but I'm finally almost done with. Part four came in the mail the other day. It adds beads and the fastener to the piece. I assume part five will be the backing and such. It at least gets prettier to me the more I work on it.

Dying to Stitch

I spent Sunday afternoon dying fabric outdoors in the bright sunshine. These are the results. The regular fabric will be made into tote bags and backpacks by a friend, and I'll be stitching on the linen pieces soon. I had fun doing this.

Parts H & I - Goldwork

I've made quite a bit of progress on this. The burden stitch turned out better with the silk than with the metallic thread. I like it enough that I'll try to use it in another piece. I'm not sure I can finish the rest in the next twelve days before France, but I'm going to try.

Quarter Done

I had thought I'd be done or nearly done with this, but I discounted that I was working so much on goldwork and getting the kids places and preparing for France. It's coming along, though, and when I work on it, it goes fast. I like the colors, but might do it again with other ones.