Christmas Everywhere

I am posting more photos of the Strasbourg Christmas Market. Isn't this tree beautiful? It was better in person, believe me. There were crowds and crowds of people, so I cropped the bottom to get most of the heads out of the picture. The air was filled with scents of spices, incense, and food booths selling crepes, pizza, and cookies and of course, Gluewein or mulled wine (spices like cloves, cinnamon stick, and orange peel is added to red wine, warmed, then served in a cup). So good, I look forward to this every year.

Walking through the streets was sometimes a task as there were thousands of people to weave through. We would stop briefly to admire the shop keepers wares. Here is some of the windows we passed. These cows are awesome. They really put a smile on my face. Unfortunately, when we passed by, this formage shop was closed. Otherwise, I never pass up a good hunk of cheese! The cow on the right shows a city scape all over her body. It was more impressive in person. I love it!

Another food group I rarely pass up is Chocolate! These Santas were so good looking, however,

I found them to be pretty pricey. They are marked in euros and the US dollar is not fairing well right now.

My son informs me that these treats are awesome. Wierd looking, but awesome. Of course, he loves marzipan and chocolate. I still can't figure out what they are suppose to look like? Maybe alien treats?

This picture doesn't do justice either. Close up these candies looked like gems or little rocks.

Here's the last one. I thought these stockings looked so cute. I think they were only 4 or 5 inches in length, but certainly big enough for an important gift like earrings or a bracelet? Maybe that ever important gift.......Chocolate!

Today I am sorting through my button box. The pile of brown buttons is the largest, and each color will go in its own baggie. This will help me better find what I need in the future.

Wrapped a few gifts this morning and thought too late about making some sort of button ornaments. Martha Stewart's website has lots of great crafty ideas and I saw some button ornaments there. Maybe next year! Gotta write that in my journal so the ideas don't escape me by February. HaHa Enjoy your day!

Visions of Sugar Plums

On Sunday, my son and I took a bus trip to Strasbourg France. It is in the Alsace region and on the border of Germany and France. We had so so weather. It rained for a bit, then cleared up and we saw the sun and blue patches for a bit, then it rained, and so on. We did a lot of walking. Most of our walking was on the cobbled streets near Little France and the Cathedral.

The Christmas market was scattered between streets near the Cathedral. It was so beautiful and when the sun went down and all the lights went on......WOW! Lots and lots of gorgeous lights. More than I've ever seen in one city.

This picture was taken between two streets on Gutenberg Square. Blue panel lights to the right and Angel Star lights to the left.

This one was on the corner near the Cathedral.

Yes, I cropped a bit off the bottom to get every one's heads out of the pictures. It was incredibly crowded on Sunday....... all day no let up. We got there quite early around 10am and it was already crowded.

Here are some more pictures. This one of the Cathedral was a hard shot to capture. It was darker than this picture shows and lights within the Cathedral were on. Since it was darker I had a hard time keeping my hands steady enough for the shutter speed. That's why it looks a little blurry.

Does anyone know what this one is about? Any ideas? There was a shop along a street leading up to the Cathedral and above were these 2 windows. The streamers were blowing around, it looked spooky, and on these chairs are crowns and on the backs are what looks like angel wings. With the lighting and the bluish lighting to the right side it looked more spooky and Halloweenish than festive and Christmasy.

Blogger won't let me add anymore photos now, so I will save some for my next post. It was a great day out and I would recommend going to the market if you've never been. We are going to the Mainz Germany market this week. So I need to rest my tired feet.

One more UFO

Ahh ha, I have finished the top and am so pleased. Glad I only took, in a matter of speaking, 5 minutes break from this then plowed right through to the end. If I hadn't listened to you all, I would have tossed it aside and moved on to something else. Thanks for not letting me rest. Now it is officially added to my UFO pile to be completed later. Could be only a day later or possibly up to years later. However, that won't happen as I am sure my New Year's resolution will be, once again, to finish all that I have started in the year. That doesn't mean I can't start something new. Otherwise how could I carry on my little tradition for New Years 2009??? AAHHH Hemm...





Anyway, here it is in all its glory:

I don't think I will add another border. Am thinking about just adding red binding after machine quilting it and calling it a day. This is undoubtedly the quickest top I've ever put together. Thank you, Tonya. You're a sweetheart. I have some more ideas kicking around in my head for the not too distant future. Like using your X's and O's in a kisses quilt for Valentine's day. Maybe in Chocolate and red colors like kisses candy. Possibly something with a 3-D effect to it as well. Quite a few years ago, I made some sketches in my book for a Nutcracker Suite quilt. Didn't get far with the idea, but your technique has sparked a few new elements I might develop further for that idea. This would be a good one to start around October 08!

We haven't seen sun here in days and days. I wish it would at least snow. Then we would have the illusion of some brightness in the day. It's a good day to work on some UFO's that are gathering dust bunnies and watching football. Come on, Lions, I know you got it in ya! My favorite player is of course, Jason Hansen, he's the only scorer at times (in case you're not up with football, he's the kicker). UUGGGHH, every year it's the same. Maybe your team will win today, good luck!