Easter Basket From Liuba

Thank you to Liuba, who hosted us for Easter breakfast-lunch-dinner (yes, all three meals - we didn't leave the table for seven hours!).  Pictures of that later.  These are the contents of the Easter gift she gave us on the way out.  It was yummy.

Still Outside Tighina Fortress

 More photos outside the fortress.  There are two very typical Russian things in this set: a series of busts and a golden domed church in the background.  The busts are of Russian generals who fought at Tighina, and the church is still on base, brand new, and out in the middle of a pasture.

Close On One

One corner is almost done!  The colors on this just get better and better.

No Black Here

Blackwork's done, and I think it came out pretty well!

Halfway

I'm halfway across the bottom now.

Outside The Fortress

 After visiting the cemetery, we went to Tighina fortress itself.  Getting to it was - interesting - as it's on a Russian military base.  You also have to drive through an old munitions factory to get there.  The pictures here are in the directions away from the factory.  They show why this place was fought over for a century - it dominates the surrounding landscape and hugs the river.

Challenge Coins

If you're military, you know about challenge coins.  This is the new one for our Marine Security Detachment here in Chisinau.  It's heavy, and I'd been carrying it in the bottom of my purse (wrapped) for a couple of months....