Siena, Italy. January 2018 #2

View from our wonderful Airbnb.  

Beautiful shuttered windows on our 1st floor apartment.  

Fabulous grocery shop below about the size of a small Aust bathroom.  The owner was Albert I believe and he very well may have lived behind his little shop.

 Siena held all the things my Italian dreams were made of.

Siena Cathederal.

Famous for its  black and white striped marble exterior.

Piazza de Campo.

A huge piazza completely encircled with restaurants and cafes.

Another museum inside, beautiful opulent galleries, and you can just make out the Christmas tree still by the entrance.  The following day it was gone. 

This is a stock image of the same piazza during a festival.  It is huge, you can just make out the awnings over the cafes and restaurants.  One of the biggest piazzas we saw. 

View over the Siena city wall.

The bird song and of course cypress and olive trees.

The city surrounded by beautiful country side.  You could hear roosters and bird song, but a beautiful silence on this clear, sunny winters day.

Our apartment was in the Selva District (Forest), depicted by a Rhino with a huge tree behind it, was  west of Piazza de Campo, seen above.  You could walk around the whole city in a few hours.

We arrived by train, which is down in the valley below the walled city, took a taxi to our apartment.  

Oh how my heart sang.  What a sight.

ROME Trip January 2018

As you can see the most shop window fronts were decorated so beautifully.

This is a wide street, room enough for people, prams, scooters, and cars - if you are careful.

Just fell in love with these magnificent doors.

The Vatican City - late afternoon, St Peters just glowing in the sunset.

We walked down the Via del Quirinale towards the River Tiber and Castel Sant'Angelo, which was close to closing.  But we found yet another small market, and an ice skating rink, but we found La Befana flying/skating on her broomstick giving children candy.  The legend has it that La Befana flies around on her broomstick each year on the 11th night after Christmas, bringing gifts to children in hopes that she might find the Baby Jesus.  Children hang their stockings on the evening of Jan 5 awaiting the visit of La Befana.

The markets were full of this character....these are a little dull, the one we picked up was very colourful.

Hotel Quirinale.   http://www.hotelquirinale.it/

Our base for our first 5 days in Rome, Italy.

The Pantheon.

Beautiful.  What can I say but go and see it for yourselves.  Just amazing.  Grab a coffee or gelato and lean against a pillar and people watch.

ROME Trip January 2018 #1

Little old me at the foot of the Spanish Steps, our first day in Rome.

It's quite early in the morning, but as you can see it is a popular tourist spot.  And as it turns out a major shopping area, and the Christmas sales were on.

Italy celebrates Christmas right up until January 6th, the Epiphany. So we were treated to the beautiful decorated doorways of Rome.

Ah those wonderful rooftops.

Trevi Fountain.

So many people...but oh la la the gelato was delishhhhh.

Yes we did throw a coin in the fountain, against the rules, but we gently dropped an Aussie coin in.

Great day to see the Forum.

What a wonderful winters day in Rome.  Lots of walking after seeing Monet's waterlilies at the art gallery. (left) Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II.

Sunny, warm'ish day again.  Walking will keep you warm though.

My goodness so many steps, but we made it.  What an experience.

Our guide was interesting and thankfully did not 'over' speak.  What an amazing structure, centuries old and then you turn around and there scraped into an arch is MELBOURNE, thats a bit telling.

From Our Nest to Your Nest - 2017

I've been crafting so much, all good fun, don't get me wrong, I love playing with paper.

But when you look around and see it will be Easter in two days and the only thing I have to show for that is an Egg Wreath on the front door.  Hmm....

So out came a few old favourites.  Eggs and chick from wonderful 'Ben Franklin Crafts' Redmond, Washington.  Pottery Barn tiered trays. Country Village, Bothell, Washington 'Nest' sign. 

 The wooden star is from a set of 3 I made while living in Woodinville, Washington.

What a crafty area we lived in in the US.

HAPPY  EASTER

Peek-a-Boo Happy Easter

Thank you to a very clever crafty lady, Paula Duke for our Easter Treats.

How wonderful to share my love of fun packaging with you, Paula.

I appreciate our friendship.

Treats from Tasmania

What a lovely treat arrived in the mail.  Thank you Lucy, Sam and Henry, we love out sweet treats. 

Lucy you know how much I love a cute tea-towel.  Don't underestimate the value of a tea-towel as a decorator piece, works every time.   Happy Easter to you and yours, with love X X X

Looking Back: California

Yes this was a few years back - Family trip to Disneyland.

One of two photos of me in the house.   Why is it that mums take the photos, 

but don't usually have photos taken of them.