A Little More Of Tobermory & The Prince Exhibit

A little yoga is good for the body, especially if you will be hunched over a sewing machine for much of the day.  Anni didn't seem to understand that Savasana (the Corpse pose) is just a nice rest.  I'm not dead.

See?  Proof that I'm not dead.  This was Friday before we departed.

I managed to complete my wee project.  Next I need to learn how to do binding on those weird angles.  (Well, actually the next step is getting it quilted.  Then the binding.)

One of the reasons I love the Beach Girls (there are many reasons 💓) is the field trips we end up on.  I see things I would not otherwise see.  This time it was in Seaforth, On.  We went to the exhibit of Prince quilts.  This is a competition dreamt up by Cherrywood Fabrics, to feature their fabrics. I've seen both the Van Gogh and Prince exhibits now.  They are incredible.  Here's a sampling...

This will give you an idea of the size of the pieces.  I think they're 20" x 20".  There were 150 quilts on display.

If you can zoom in on these pics you'll get a much better idea of the work - both hand and machine, the beading, and the abundance of crystals.

Here's one...

And a closeup...

Here's another...

And a closeup...

Another closeup...

I liked this one.  You can see that it was a ribbon winner.  It made me think of my brother, who also has a 'vette.

And a closeup.

If you're ever within driving distance of one of these exhibits, GO!  Seriously.  Just GO! 

In other, more boring news, I've finally started painting that gawd-awful brick around my fireplace.  That's been bugging me for more than 20 years.  DH is not happy with me, but since he's managed to walk past this vignette for two days without even noticing the ladder & plastic, should I really care?

Annual Tobermory Retreat

Well, we're celebrating our 10th retreat-aversary up here.  In the spirit of festivity, I encouraged a little bit of day drinking with our lunch...very French, you know.

I was on food duty yesterday so there were beef crostinis with a little MORE day drinking.

Then dessert after supper included the Boozie Floozies I made (sun dried cherries soaked for a couple weeks in Bourbon and Grand Marnier).

Since my kitchen duties are finished for the week I was stitching up a storm this morning and managed to be the first one "on the railing".

This afternoon I'm starting project #2...

Yesterday the weather was pelting rain and WINDY.  Today is still windy but the rain seems to be holding off, which means I have no excuse to get me out of going for a walk.

France - where we stayed and one restaurant sampling

If you are interested in where we stayed, use this link to Chateau D'Agel.  The place was too big for me to get a pic.  It's a castle built in the 1200's, and it is VERY large.
There were 9 of us on the tour, plus 1 chef, plus 1 tour organizer/guide, plus her 2 helpers.

This was our room, view to the right of the window.

This is the view to the left of the window.  Behind me is a dresser and a desk.

This is our bathroom.  Note the fireplace on the left. :-)  All of the bedrooms had a private bathroom.

On our first evening we went to the castle's wine cellar for a wine tasting.  This was the first of several wine tastings.  Since we mostly didn't know each other this was a great way to break the ice.  Nothing like a little um, lubrication to get everyone talking and laughing.

Every morning we'd get on our little bus and head off for the day's adventure.  On the first day we went to a market (they sell just about everything at the markets - we loaded up on our missing cosmetics and clothes).

In the village of Minerve, this was our lunch spot.

My appetizer:  melon & proscuitto.

My entree:  salmon.  And just to make me feel at home it came with zucchini!

My dessert:  tiramisu.  And everything was washed down with what seemed like gallons of wine.  I was not accustomed to "day drinking" but that's changed.  😋

Just for fun... the sugar.

The big excitement was the Michelin 3-star restaurant where we had lunch on Wednesday.  L'Auberge du Vieux Puits.  That link will take you to the chef's Wikipedia page. HERE is a link to the restaurant. We were not allowed to take photos of our food, but trust me when I tell you it was like being in a Tim Burton movie.  Go to the restaurant link and you'll see what I mean.

One week is pretty much my idea of a perfect vacation, so outside of the jet lag (6 hours) that worked out really well.  I may bore you with some more photos in future posts, so stay tuned.