Yes, I'm Still Here

Well, it's been forever since I've updated my blog.  A busy summer at work and then a fabulous vacation to Europe derailed my stitching train somewhat, but now I'm back and trying to get in more stitching time.  I"m still stitching on The Richmond Sampler, my class piece from A Gathering of Embroiderers last year.  I actually think I'm going to finish the sampler, which is notable because in 14 years of attending Jeannine's seminars I have never finished a piece that I took there, in fact I've never even gotten close to finishing one.  I have a lot of UFOs and I've even pulled out a couple of them and worked on them over the years, but I don't have a single piece that is anywhere near completion - most have just a few stitches in them. 

Here is my progress on Richmond - I'm trying to finish up the border so that I can get those queen stitches out of the way and concentrate on the fun stuff like the house and the animals.  On this sampler, the border is probably half of the work and I'll be glad to finish it up.

Playing with my new camera - it takes great macro close-ups!

Here's the whole thing - there's still a lot to go!

And now, a few teasers from our Mediterranean cruise.  We had perfect weather and saw quite a bit in the 14 days we were there.  A cruise was perfect for our first visit to Europe because we didn't have to figure out how to get anywhere and could just relax and enjoy everything.

This is Parc Guell in Barcelona - the coolest park I have ever seen.  The tile mosaics are unbelievable.

The huge yachts in the harbor in St. Tropez - some of them were larger than our house!

The Grand Casino in Monte Carlo.

The Duomo in Florence - the marble detail on this church is unbelievable!

Andy in the Colosseum in Rome...

The beautiful town of Positano on the Amalfi coast.

Walking the city walls in Dubrovnik.

The view from the fortress high on the mountain above Kotor, Montenegro - that was a hike!

Sailing out of Kotor through the fjord.

The ruins of Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia.

Last, but certainly not least, beautiful St. Mark's Square as we sailed into Venice.  We woke up to pouring rain and high winds, but it all cleared up and we had beautiful weather to enjoy such a fabulous city.