No Surprise There Then

I ordered a new camera. A very smart new camera and was getting all excited about its arrival yesterday or today. The web site is one of those "follow your order" ones. I checked about 10 minutes ago. It left the warehouse at 11.21 am today. Arrival date? Your guess is as good as mine. On to the quilting. My Family (Aunt's quilt) is going well. I started on the top row last night and have still got "Diana" and "Martin" do to, plus a bit of infilling. Then onto the fans. I need some words for Tamzin's wedding quilt. Anyone any ideas? I thought of Marriages are Made in Heaven. Love at First Sight. That sort of thing, but it seems a bit tame. Whoops - since writing that bit I've found, lurking in the depths of my Inbox, an old mail from Tonya which contained some ideas. How about

May Tom and Tamzin always be happy
7 July 2007

All Bank Holiday'ed Out

Oh my goodness. What a long month May has been this year. It seems to have dragged on forever. We started on 1st May with Labour Day. That was fine. As it was a Tuesday it broke the week up. The following Tuesday was Victoire 8 Mai 1945 day which again was fine. We then had a week of no bank holiday's at all. Then came the Pont d'Ascension on the 17th and 18th. Most of France took advantage of this and went away for the weekend to open up the maison secondaire, or visit friends and family. The traffic was awful and Brantome was heaving - a seething mass. Right, got over that weekend with Alex at home 4 days running and whinging about being bored. Then along came Pentecote. Funnily enough this has always been a bank holiday, just as it is in England too. A few years ago the Government took it upon themselves to say that we had enough time off in May as it is and they were going to "cancel" the Pentecote break. France went on strike! This year we assumed it was a bank holiday as Alex was off school. Driving back yesterday morning from staying with friends on Sunday night (A was at a sleepover), we noticed that some of the factories were open, but most of the shops were firmly shut. It seems that the French have decided, like me, that you can have too much of a good thing. The camera is in its last throes so I took these the other day before it died completely. And I may, just may, have a surprise for you tomorrow or Thursday. Nothing quilty, but a surprise nonetheless. Woo hoo - it's Geranium time! Can you see where the dratted slugs and snails have been munching the Hosta's?

David

David in Germany, the recipient of the first quilt, passed away in the early hours of this morning. His courage and bravery, his determination to live and to fight the disease has been an inspiration to those who have been reading his blog and have been sharing his last few weeks with him. Please do not shed tears for David, he would not have wanted that. Instead play your favourite record and turn the sound up loud so that he can hear it.

Not a Lot of Quilting Going On

The Poppies having been opening up for about a month now and the fields are slowly but surely turning red with them. We have a few in the courtyard and this is a photo I took last year. The farmers are beginning to cut the hay and I hope that our fields will be cut sometime this week. The grass is so tall that Magic won't go through it. Hurts her eyes she says. The temperature today is going to hit 31°C so finally it is pool time. DH has put up the parasol, we are eating more salads than stodge and last night I was sitting under the walnut tree with my glass of wine at 10.30 pm listening to the cicadas and the nightingales and wishing my camera worked! I think I can safely say that summer has, at long last, arrived. This photo was taken some years ago with the original traditional camera. Standing in our courtyard looking through the door to the terrasse. The pool is through the door and on the right. Forgot to say. Its my favourite time of year - Chelsea Flower Show. For those of you without access to the BBC, you can take a virtual tour here. There are some stunning gardens this year. Take a look at the Urban Oasis Garden. Wow! Fancy that in your back yard?

Oh calaminty calaminty! Woe is me.

I've dropped my precious camera! We took it into the SAV at Auchan yesterday who said (with a lovely smile) that it is cheaper to get a new one than get this one repaired (I promptly burst into tears). So I am sitting here trying to get some sense out of HP Support, in both English and French. This is one of the last photos I took with it before the dreadful event. I have quilted the middle three rows (click here for a photo of the quilt in its entirety) and have a few more names to add before doing the top and the bottom lines. I am stitching the ditch of every single seam which is taking an age, but at least my stitching is getting better. Then some big Fantabulous Fans I think for the border, some black binding (do you think black will work or should I do something a bit more jazzy?) et voila! I wasn't too happy with the material I bought for Tamzin's wedding quilt. It just doesn't feel right. So I ventured into a QS on Friday and, oh my goodness, fell in love with the most gorgeous Tamzin type material and matching thread. Et maintenant le appareil photo numérique est en panne! So you will have to wait to see what transpires. More as and when, but from now on the posts will be photoless (sob).

Seven Things

Oh crumbs - I was hoping to get away with this one, but Joyce decided she wasn't going to let me. So here goes - ummmmmm - thinking hat time. 7 things about me.

1. Find it absolutely impossible to draw, cut or sew a straight line. Even a ruler doesn't help matters. I need lines, like on the cutting mat, to help me.
2. Like Dianne, I tend to overbuy on fabric. After all, it could be discontinued couldn't it and then where would I be.
3. Lived with DH for years before we got married and that was only because Alex came along. If she hadn't we'd probably still be living in sin.
4. Love my Mum more than anything else in the world.
5. Hate being cold. I mean I really hate being cold. No matter how warm it is if there is a breath of cold air you bet I'll feel it.
6. Love books to distraction. Just wish I still had the time to read these days. Used to get through 2 books a week. Now I can barely managed one a month.
7. Worry too much about nothing in particular.

Not very inspiring I know, but brain is half dead having spent most of the day on the internet for DH. Ok, so now I tag Vivi, Tazzie, Anne, Patti, Dawn, Jen and Fiona

Vide Grenier/Brocante Purchases (and a quilty photo)

The brocante/vide grenier (empty attic or car boot) season has started again and we have been busy little bees scurrying around the countryside picking up bargains. The big purchase was at the Villars brocante. I spotted it in the back of a lorry belonging to one of the traders. We have been after a tv cabinet for a long time, but trying to find one that fits in with the rest of the furniture has been difficult. This one fits! At the same brocante I spotted a piece of fabric which was definitely a must have. I know I am on Kim's Fabric Diet, but this was unbeatable at 1 Euro. A bit heavy, probably not 100% cotton, but brilliant for a border don't you think. The 4 curtain rings still attached to it can be used for a wall hanging. They alone are worth 1 Euro each! This last purchase was on Saturday. Remember Fi's hat in 4 Weddings and a Funeral? Does this look similar? I simply could not resist it. It can be pulled into any shape and squishes into a bag without loosing its shape. And to return to what this blog is supposed to be about. A cat in repose, but a bit cross that her beauty sleep has been disturbed (don't look too closely at the quilting please :-) ).

Mucking about with Flickr

HPIM0281 Originally uploaded by dordognequilter.

I have discovered that you can upload photos from Flickr. A bit like Picasa which was/is driving me crazy. Sooooo this is a test post. This is one of the street lamps on the Pont St Pierre in Bordeaux. Well, it's done it., It loaded beautifully. I think it is now Flickr instead of Picasa.

WiP Wednesday - 09-05-2007

A finish at long last! This is Rachel's quilt and has well and truly wrapped the world, with blocks from America, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey, and the UK. I busted the batting stash on this one. I used up the bits from the really thick stuff that I used on Alex's 9 patch so it is thick and heavy and tied really well. Never, ever again will I fuse bits together. Aunt's quilt is not going too well (sniff). Got a bit of a problem on the quilting front. I think I am going to have to be naughty and machine quilt the letters in the ditch.

Stashbuster Topic of the Week - My Dream Quilt

Please forgive me. I know I'm going on and on this week, but the weather is yuk. Despite what the Weather Girl says I am not in shorts and T shirt and am waiting for the grass to dry out before mowing (again). So my dream quilt is one of the first quilts I saw when I first started this blogging lark. It's right here on Tonya's blog. This is what converted me to free piecing cos it is sooooo gorgeous.

WiP Wednesday - 02-05-2007

Aunt's quilt has been basted and backed and I'm in the process of quilting it.

1st May

I looked back through my blog to discover what I was doing this time last year. The weather was gorgeous and we went to the brocante at Villars. We have had a beautiful few weeks. The orchids I showed then are over and everything looks as if it is high summer. However, today is wet, cold and miz, but we are still off to the brocante at Villars. Thought I should mention that Alex has decided she doesn't have enough time to do her blog so she has deleted it :-(