We had a very interesting weekend. A very Bayerische (bavarian) weekend. On Saturday we went to a little town very close to us, Bad Abbach. Originally it was only called Abbach, but since it was very popular as a spa resort since way back when, the town officially changed its name to Bad (Bath) Abbach in 1934. Its biggest claim to fame though is that Emporer Henry II was born there on the 6th of May 973. There was some sort of occasion in the little church and they had an Oompah band playing – complete in traditional costumes. Here are some pics from Bad Abbach, with an elusive (and not very fancy) maypole in the mix as well.

Today we went to our ‘local’ (we have 5 ‘local’ ones in our corner of the city but this is our favourite) biergarten for the Maibock Anstich. Okay, let me explain that a bit… Bock is a sweet, strong beer and the Maibock is a variation of that. The ‘Anstich‘ is the official opening of the beer barrel, normally by some or another famous-y* person. The barrel isn’t just opened – the anstich entails taking a spout and tapping it into the barrel. Of course, Bavarian pride says you have to drive the spout into the barrel with one serious swing of the mallet but face it, it takes two or more swings to drive the spout home! ;) Naturally, they had an Oompah band for entertainment – for your viewing pleasure, I took it upon myself to film a bit of it. (Excuse the huge tree smack in the middle of the screen, and not to mention the bad quality!) It’s a hard job sitting in a beergarden under tall chestnut trees, relaxing with the Good Husband, listening to the band while eating roasted pork knuckle, but I suffer all this in silence to bring a bit of Bavaria into your home.

Oompah Band

* Yes, I am fully aware that there is no such word as famous-y. You are either famous or you are not. Or are you? How about being a tad famous? Then surely, you are a famous-y person.

One thing I tend to do quite often is to print freebies and then have no idea where I got them from. I finished this freebie into a coaster for my stitchy corner in the livingroom, and all I can tell you about it is that it is called Quaker Time. I tried Google but can’t find it!

There’s still a lot I want to share, but seeing as this post is getting very long I’ll leave the rest for my next post. :)

I was browsing through my pics to see if I have a picture of a Maypole, and (seeing as nearly every town in Bavaria has one) can not believe that I don’t have a pic of one to share on May Day. Go figure! Guess what I’ll be on the lookout for when next I’m off snapping photos?

Well, that’s it for today – keep those needles going!

I finished the third Bride’s Tree Ornament - March (Good Wishes). Only one more and I am up to date with the SAL. It’s just as well because I have quite a few things lined up that need stitching. Feeling sorry for myself and getting very little stitching done did not stop me from doing some serious stash shopping, however. If I tell you how many orders I have placed over the past three weeks the nice gentlemen in white coats will come knock on the door looking for me! 

This morning I mailed out the first of my PIF’s. I didn’t want to send my PIF’s out when the whole PIF business took off because everyone was expecting theirs in the mail at any moment. So, I took the evil approach and decided to wait at least 3 months before mailing it out. Three months turned to six and six to nine. The recipients may have to brush a bit of dust off the packets!

Here are some pics from Rothenburg ob der Tauber that I visited in January with my mum. It’s a very pretty little town and is on the Romantische Straße. Enjoy!

To see more photos (including the world’s largest Swiss Army Knife ), click here.

Till next time!

I feel terrible (mentally and physically) so will keep this post very short.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for all your kind comments – I love reading them! Hope you are all well and getting lots of stitching done.

The doc I saw on Friday was an extremely nice guy (unlike most docs here) and the only complaint I have is that after he yanked, bent and twisted my leg I can hardly put weight on the knee. Hello again, Mr Painkillers! The whole business with my knee is really depressing me and I’m very irritable. (I have a nasty suspicion that it’s the painkillers making me so irritable – and they’re not exactly helping either.) The poor Good Husband has to tread very lightly around me and has been treading lightly since the accident. None of this is his fault, but he’s getting it anyway. Because of the knee I have very bad posture at the moment so as you can imagine my back, shoulders and left knee is now starting to give me hell as well.  Right, enough of feeling sorry for myself and boring you to tears with my real or/and imagined misery.

I finished  the Lizzie*Kate and it came out seriously cute on the Rose fabric. I’m thinking of turning it into a little zippered pouch for my friend to cart her scissors, measuring tape, etc around. (Says her, the great finisher of things… *rofl*) The brown/pink background fabric is what I want to use for the pouch – what do you think?

At long last I started on my Bride’s Tree ornaments. I started the January (Protection) ornament, but it’s not worth posting a pic of as I only have two sides of the little border done so far.  Soon I will shock and amaze the SAL group by actually posting a finish!

Dee asked whether the couple in the Venice pic is me and the Good Husband. Nope, it’s not. Besides the fact that they are both way too short, the Good Husband will never, ever, ever dress up and prance around where thousands of other people can gawk at him. (And, errm, me neither,of course!)

Here are some pics from our trip to Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic) in January of this year. To see more you can click here.

Sorry for the long post – got a bit carried away with moping and moaning. Thanks for stopping by!

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I didn’t get much stitching done this year. I have two finished pieces to share though. I finished two more but, seeing as both are supposed to be surprises, I can’t share them now.

LHN – Colonial Dry Goods

Carousel Charts – Love Ewe

This is what I’m working on at the mo – a small Lizzie*Kate called ‘Good Things’ and it’s going to be a gift for a stitchy buddy. I’m doing it on 25 count Rose over two so it has a nice chunky look.

When I’m done with this I have to start on my Bride’s Tree Ornaments. I should be able to finish Jan, Feb, Mar and April this month which will bring me up to date and I won’t have to keep hanging my head in shame.

Congratulations to the winners of the Margaret Sherry charts, whom I’ll be emailing shortly:

1. Judith

2. Sue

3. Chiloe

Here are some photos from our trip to Venice for the Carnival in February. To see some more, you can click here. 

That’s it for today. Hope everybody had a nice weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

My knee is still giving me trouble to no end but at least I can get around without the brace if I pay attention to the knee and not walk too fast. (Still feeling terribly sorry for myself… – look at me, Crucial Ligament is no more, how sad, boo-hoo, whaahaa and sniff-sniff!) Next week I have to see the doc to hear what’s next. The ligament has to be re-attached (no other option there) and the sooner the operation is behind me and the rehab gets started the better.

I won’t be sharing any stitching pics in this post, just some pics from the Stitch & Craft 2008. (There are  many pics from the past 3 months that I still want to share and will put them up in the next few posts.) There were quite a few designers at the show and I even had the pleasure of meeting Margaret Sherry who by the way, is a very nice lady.

Jane Greenoff

Sue Hawkins

Joan Elliott

Michael Powell

You can see the rest of the pics here. I have 3 of the complimentary Margaret Sherry designs from the show to give away, and all you have to do to get your hands on one is to leave your name in the comments section. I will have the Good Husband draw 3 names on Sunday – that is to say, if there are more than 3 people interested! (It’s open to all – will mail everywhere.)

I had a very nice stash haul (evenweaves, kits, quilting fabby, etc) at the show and when I got back home two of my online orders were waiting for me so I am in stash heaven! I haven’t had the opportunity to buy any stash since January so I needed a good stash injection!

Thanks for all the kind comments – it’s good to be back in Blogworld and it’s nice to know that I haven’t been forgotten! I’ll start catching up on your blogs this weekend. Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend.

Just wanted to let you know that I’m still around and will get around to regular blogging (or what constitutes regular blogging around here) again soon. A week ago during our annual two week skiing trip I managed to bust my knee and  subsequently hurt my back, so as you can imagine I am miserable and feeling sorry for myself to no end. Will tell you all about that pleasant experience in my next post.

Things were crazy since December and it’s been touch and go here for the past three months. On the stitching front I didn’t manage much but have at least gotten a bit done. I will show pics of my little projects soon and also have some travel pics to share.

I’ve joined the Bride’s Tree SAL last year but so far have not uploaded any of the pieces (disgrace) or contributed to the blog, which I’m hoping to rectify soon as well.

 On Wednesday I’m flying to the UK for the Stitch & Craft show at Olympia and you can not believe how happy I am that I booked the flight before we left because that is a silver lining of unimaginable proportions at this stage. (Just not looking forward to the Assisted Boarding – that will really make me feel decrepit! ) I will be staying with my sis for the week and I’m looking forward to some TLC like only my sis can give. So if you happen to be at Olympia and see a woman hobbling along like Long John Silver accompanied by a bewildered/wild eyed woman (my sis is going with to help me get around and she is highly allergic to any sort of crafts), that would be me! It will also give the Good Husband a break. He is looking after me fabulously but I think if I wake him up one more morning with ‘I need to go to the bathroom’ and have him fly out of bed to help me up he’s going to scream.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas & New Year, and Happy Easter to all.

Remember that I fell in love with a SaBF design called Uncle Willy a while ago? Well, here he is! He was such a fun stitch that I think I must get the others in the Snowkin series as well. Uncle Willy is stitched on blue hand-dyed opalescent fabby which thanks to the bad light, you most probably won’t be able to see.

At the moment I am in two minds stitching wise: should I start another stitchy project or  should I rather take the time left of the year to get some of the finished pieces made up, framed, etc. (After all, next Friday we are leaving for the UK to celebrate Christmas with the family so there’s only a week left.) What started the dilemma is the fact that I couldn’t decide whether I should start on BC Snow, BaBF Buddies or SaBF Pals… See, it’s a small step from indecisiveness to a major dilemma!

As I type this my mum is on the plane heading for the UK. Only another week and I can see my mum!

Thanks for stopping by, and your comments are much appreciated!