Bastille Day

This wasn't our first visit to Josselin's Medieval Fair, we were lucky enough to see it the

first summer we arrived in Brittany, and then it stopped! As in so many things, the organisation of the day fell on the same people year after year until it just got too much, and the fair was abandoned . I guess there are so many of us guilty of this kind of procrastination - we all like to enjoy ourselves but are not always ready to stand up and be counted when the work needs doing !!

I can't begin to describe the colours, the sounds and the smells that made the day very special, so I'll let the photos speak for themselves !!

There were costumes, both attractive

and grusome !! Check the net !!!!

Mummers

and horses

The Chateau and gardens

and I could just go on and on !! It was a great day, one that saw 1,000 costumed participants joining in the celebrations and I can't imagine how many other visitors came along to pay their tribute to this pretty little town and to say

Happy Birthday !

Tales of the Canal Bank !

A few posts ago I mentioned that we had dug our cycles out from under all the dust in an effort to boost the weight loss. Ever since then the weather has been far to dreadful to consider walking on most days, as when it hasn't been raining the high winds have still been rather frightening and certainly not my idea of cycling weather ! Today is the first day that the wind has dropped so out came the cycles and off we went to do a little trial run along the Nantes to Brest canal just outside of Josselin !

As well as cyclists, Sunday afternoon in Brittany is the traditional time for walkers. All shapes, sizes and ages and all out for a stroll after lunch, be it along the canal or river bank, through the village or even across a field, it seems as thought the whole population is taking a walk !! I didn't feel comfortable about snapping the walkers, but this is some of the activity we came across during our ride.

Boats of all sizes

going up and down locks

and in the land of Equality - a lady lock-keeper ( !!), who gets to stay here during the summer

and grow flowers like these

Something I else I saw was one of the houses I will buy when I win the National Lottery (Yeah!! In my dreams!!!)

Complete with doves and a bridge to its own private island !!

Ooops!! Almost forgot the fishermen !

We didn't manage a great distance, just a respectable 8 mile round trip ,which isn't too bad for the first time out, and the weather stayed dry for us even though there were some very black clouds around a lot of the time.

Tomorrow, which is a National Holiday, we will be back in Josselin , as the town is celebrating Bastille Day and its 1, 000 birthday (do towns have birthdays ?) with a Medieval Market & Fair where all the inhabitants and exhibitors really pull out all the stops with their costumes, so I am sure there will be more photos of life in Brittany in a few days !!

Pay It Forward

I've found something else to play at , thanks to Karol-Ann I discovered that Jo in Tas was looking for a third person to join her Pay It Forward Exchange - so I've jumped in !!





I understand that the swap is based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” (which I haven't seen !) where acts, or deeds, of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on with hope that the recipients will also pass it on. So here’s how it works, I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post requesting to join the PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet, or when it will be sent. Not this month now and probably not next month, but it WILL be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, is to pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog - So does any one want to join in ?

A Day in Rennes

Because the weather has been so grim the last week or so and there is only a certain amount of grey gloom a person can bear (!!) we decided to spend some time in Rennes today to cheer ourselves up, and what happened - the sun came out !! Not that I am complaining as it certainly made the visit more pleasant!

As well as being home to my nearest LQS (!!),Rennes is the capital of Brittany, and Brittany is quite unique in France as it boast its own parliament. I don't know what it is with the Celtic people, but we all seem to dislike being told what to do by people outside of our territory !! Just think about it - Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man and Brittany all have some form of 'home rule'. The only exception to this is Cornwall and even they have their own flag !!!

There are lots of details and some great photos of the city if you follow the link, but just in case you are short of time, here are a few of my own

Hotel de Ville

(City Hall)

Parliament Building

A selection of the timbered buildings, many of which make up the 'restaurant' quarter of the city

Anyone for lunch ??

My favourite building in Rennes is the St Georges Municipal Swimming Pool which I found quite by chance down a side street, and fell in love with. Commissioned in 1925 it is a gem of Art Deco architecture with the most wonderful ceramics ! Every time we take 'visitors' to Rennes I parade them to St Georges and ,until today , have been given the most warm welcome and treated to the 'Freedom of the Baths' ! Today it was no go, the very day I remembered the camera , for some reason the attendant would not allow me out of the foyer !! Now, I have to ask myself was it because today it was a lady attendant and every other time it has been a man ? Are the French males more courteous than the females ??

Whatever it was I didn't get in ,which is a great pity as the pool itself is just so incredibly old fashioned, with rows of little changing cubicles down each side where you go in one door fully clothed and pop out the other in your bathers and straight into the pool - fabulous !!! So I can only show you some close ups of the ceramics, but there is a good photo of the outside on this link as well as a write up.

Aren't the colours just amazing !! There is also a very fine Opera House, but today the sun was just in the wrong place and the photos were hopeless, so maybe next time !

Well, that's a little part of our day out in Rennes ! We had a lovely lunch sitting outside in the sunshine, and it will come as no surprise to hear that more fabric found its way into the shopping bag !!!

An Award !

I've actually been given an award !! Not quite sure that I deserve it, but 'Thank You' to Elizabethd for thinking about me ! Tarah - tarah !!!! Here it is !!

I must pass this along to 5 other Bloggers, and what a decision to have to make when there are so many Blogs that I love reading, but here we go

Annette - for being my friend and my guide & helper for all things 'mixed media' related

Gina - who always makes me smile when I read her Blog, and who introduced me to Idris :-)

John - for holding out in the (female) quilting world

Karol-Ann - who reminds me of the wonderful years I spent in Africa

Linda - for being my friend for some time now and who I know will need a pick-me-up in the near future

I have one very staunch supporter and friend I would like to give this Award to, but she doesn't Blog ( !!! ), she does however have a Flicker album, so please go visit Jeannie and look at her great work !!!

These are just a few of the lovely people I like to visit and take a peep into their lives,and who all deserve an Award in my book !!

Going.....Going...

..on its way in tomorrow's post to its new home, my 'Summer' quilt for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap. With the previous two swaps, I've waited until they've arrived at their destinations before posting a photo, but it seems that the secrecy thing isn't too important in this swap, so this is my little offering

Again colours out of my comfort zone, but I am please with the way its turned out , in fact , I think I could live with it myself !!

Another two borders have gone on to the medallion quilt, no problems so far this time thankfully !!

Sorry the photo is not very good, but this was the only way I could do it. Its getting too big to photograph on a work top so the other alternative is to take it outside but.... not today I am afraid as the weather is atrocious!!! We seem to have gone backwards into winter with heavy rain and gale force winds, just unbelievable!! I think I will leave it for a day or two now as I need to get some FPCs made for my July swaps before the end of the week.

Tomorrow, our ancient Land Rover will also be going - for some very necessary repairs to her rusty bits. She is the 'other woman' in DH's life, and at 28 years old, a lot younger than I am (LOL !!) but as I keep telling him at least I don't have a rusty bottom !!!!

Problem Solved !

Well, the wedding certainly went off very well yesterday if the noise was anything to go by !!! We are only a very small village, more of a hamlet really as there are only 11 occupied houses, so everyone got to join in the later celebrations !!! Our contribution of a bottle of champagne didn't go very far between some 50 people !!! The weather was not too unkind, rather fresh but at least the rain kept off, and when we went to bed around midnight the party was still swinging , so no bets being taken on the number of sore heads this morning !!!

Remember the problem I had with the Medallion top (posted here ), well I never did get a reply from Quilting Treasures other than an acknowledgement, so I thought I'd best sort it out myself ! After hours of trying out the piecing on scraps and with the needle on the Bernina swinging from side to side like the pendulum on a Grandfather clock (!!) trying to get it right, I eventually managed this

Not perfect, but done !! To say that the seam allowance is a 'scant' 1/4 is stretching the imagination somewhat (LOL!), but it did work out at last and at least I can now get on with the next round ! The problem must have had something to do with the bulk of all the seams on this border, which didn't show up when I tried the pattern out on paper, so lesson learnt - again !!! What I really need to stop me getting into this kind of situation again, is to find the 'pantomime' audience participation voice. You know the one I mean, the one that warns the character when something devious is going on behind their back? If I could only tap into this, then next time I get carried away when I see something and think 'I can do that!', it could shout back at me very loudly ' Oh no you can't !!!'

This week Civil War Diaries blocks

Sugar Cane (CWD)

Gloomy Prospects (LL)

By the look of today's skies, heavy & grey , we are in for some bad weather. The wind has picked up in the last half hour too, always a bad sign (!) so looks like I will just have to spend some time sewing again - Oh Dear!! What a chore !!!!

Finally, the Diet !! This week I've managed to weigh in 5 lbs lighter than last !! Now if I could achieve this every week, then this could be the shortest diet of my life! We all know this won't happen though , the first week being the time when our bodies loose any retained water - and believe me this is exactly what has happened (VBG) I will be very happy to settle for 1 - 2 lbs a week in future - but time will tell !!!

French Village Life

Great excitement in the village today - we have a wedding !!!

Weddings in Brittany are something of an event, and can last for days ! Day one is the wedding itself , which normally consists of two ceremonies - a legal ceremony carried out at the local 'Mairie' (Town Hall) followed by the church ceremony, which is not obligatory ! The Mairie and church are usually within walking distance , so all the wedding guests will parade through the streets behind the bride & groom, in all their finery, from one venue to the other regardless of traffic and sometimes the weather (!) - in fact, we have been stopped and made to wait on the verge to allow weddings to pass - not that this is ever a hardship as it is lovely to see all the 'fashions' passing you !

After the wedding its off for a slap-up meal which will comprise of at least 8 courses , followed by a dance - not any old dance/disco though ,but one which is mostly traditional folk dancing ! There is a very strong following of Breton dancing in the province and you will always see people of all ages taking part, from 8 - 80 and even 'foreigners' like me getting roped in !! This goes on until very late (or should I say early) or until the last one drops !!

The next day all the guests will be invited to the groom's parents home and the fun starts all over again ! If the happy couple are still around after this, there is a possiblity of a third day's jollies at their home - so as you can see, a serious business !!

One of the main traditions though is to decorate the wedding car - and this can be anything from some ribbon to a full blown make over job that involves dummies representing the bride & groom . These replicas are all in good fun , sometimes showing a gaggle of children as well , maybe as a warning of things to come !! Our wedding is a little quieter, as the happy couple are passed their first flush of youth, but the car is decorated

and every other car going to the wedding will have a piece of tulle tied around their aerial to show they are guests, and as they leave the village this afternoon , EVERY car will sound its horn all the way from here to Meneac ,some 10 kms, to let the world know what's going on !!

Now this noise has to be heard to be believed, so I am going to find some ear plugs before it all kicks off !!!

Late Arrival !!

At last my ALQS mini has arrived at its new home ! I have to tell you that I've been a little worried about it, as this package seems to have taken longer than usual to cross the Pond!! Sara seems reasonably pleased with it from the comment left on my last post (!) and I can't tell you how pleased and relieved I am that she likes it!!



Sarah had been quite specific about her likes and dislikes, and I got the impression that she is a 'modern' person - a bit of a challenge for an old fashioned girl like me !! Unfortunately, the photo I took of the quiltie before it was posted has somehow disappeared (!!) so I've snitched this one off Sarah's Blog - I hope she doesn't mind !!!




So, that's two minis down and one to go later this month - I just hope the 4SQS Summer quilt meets with the same approval as the other 2 - it should be ready to post by Tuesday at the latest and then the waiting will start all over again !!!




A Happy, Safe & Peaceful July 4 to all who celebrate it !!!