A sweet Christmas finish and a visit to France

Hello, all! How is November treating you? What is everyone up to this month? We'll be hosting Thanksgiving dinner here on the 28th for a much smaller group than normal ("only" 14), so that is occupying much of my time. I've been busy cleaning, decorating, pulling the menu together, grocery shopping, and doing some baking ahead of time. I'm really trying to scale the dinner back this year for one simple reason--I'm getting old! I'll be 70 (gasp) in January and although my spirit is willing, I just don't have the stamina or energy that I used to have. I really hope everyone understands that things will be simpler. I've already asked our guests to bring a dish or two and everyone is very willing. (To be honest, I think they're just relieved not to be hosting it in their homes :) But, even with my busy month, I've still found time to stitch every day--it really does help with stress, doesn't it?

Last year I made plans to stitch and finish some larger Christmas pieces in 2024 and I've done pretty well. Are any of them fully finished/framed yet? Well...no. But, at least they're stitched! I'll do a little recap of the ones I've done over the past eleven months soon, but for now, I wanted to share my latest finish, this charming Drawn Thread design called "Good Tidings." I just loved everything about this piece as soon as I saw it... the pine needles, scattered snowflakes, the colors, and especially those sweet stocking-capped birds.

"Good Tidings" by The Drawn Thread

Isn't it darling? I stitched "Good Tidings" on 32 ct.  Wichelt Tumbleweed using most of the suggested Dinky Dyes and NPI silks. For the birds beaks and legs, I substituted DMC 3828.

This piece is stitched with silk threads--a real pleasure to work with!

All of those individual pine needles took a while to stitch as did the Smyrna stitched snowflakes scattered everywhere, but I love the final result. Here is a close-up of one of the sweet birds and some of the pine needles.

The little pearl star button on the bird's cap is so sweet, don't you think?

I'd like to find a pretty white driftwood-like frame for this one, but it will have to wait for next year. I'm just too busy right now preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This piece, on 32 ct. fabric, is not huge--it measures 10 1/2 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches high, but it's so much larger than one of my typical ornaments, that it's going into my "big Christmas finish" category!

I'm working on finishing up one last big Christmas piece for this year along with my final two ornaments for 2024--hope to have those ready to share with you very soon!

Giveaway winner... There were several stitchers who put their names in the hat for the cute Cats & Quilts autumn chart that I offered in my last post. And, drum roll please...  the winner's name is:

Lee (in Michigan)

Congratulations, Lee! I hope you enjoy stitching this one... Please send me your mailing address and I'll get this right out to you. (My email is in the right sidebar under "A Bit About Me.") If you didn't win, please keep an eye on this space as I'll be offering another giveaway soon!

So, let's continue our Rhine River cruise, shall we? This week we are going to France--my first ever visit! I wish we had had more time to spend in the first stop, but another tour was scheduled for the afternoon. So, the morning tour felt very rushed. Still, it was a visit we'll always remember in the beautiful city of...

Strasbourg, France 

Strasbourg is located right on the border between France and Germany. In fact, our ship docked in Germany and then we took a bus ride the short distance to Strasbourg. The city itself is large (over 300,000 people), but, of course, we only saw a bit of it. Below are some of my favorite sights--hope you enjoy them, too! (All pictures are clickable for a closer look).

Loved the beautiful city hall with the French flags flying and the words "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" emblazoned on the front

The steeply pitched roofs containing tiny dormer windows are typical of this region of France.

One can't visit Strasbourg without touring the gothic Strasbourg Cathedral. The prettiest pink sandstone was used in the construction of this beauty. The oldest portion of the cathedral that remains (the crypt) was built in the year 1015. Since then it has grown in size to become one of the most visited cathedrals in the world. French author, Victor Hugo, described it as "a skillful combination of monumental size and delicateness"--a perfect description, indeed!

One of the cathedral's entranceways features a red door and intricately carved figures.

A close-up of the beautifully carved entrance

 

A view from the side showcases the many spires and arches

The soaring nave with the organ in the upper left

The Rose Window and the impressive organ (on the right). The cathedral's many stained glass windows were seized  by Hitler's men during WWII. Thankfully, they were discovered in a German salt mine in 1945 by American soldiers and returned to their rightful home in Strasbourg. The 2014 movie "The Monuments Men" describes the rescue of the Strasbourg stained glass along with countless other art treasures (from all over Europe) that had been stolen by the Nazis.

This is the third astronomical clock housed by the Strasbourg Cathedral. It was installed in 1843 and features a planetary dial, sculptures of Christ and his apostles, along with sweet cherubs. When the rooster crows, the apostles move around the clock.

A few close-ups--the sweet cherubs were my favorites!

The stunning altar and the "Pillar of Angels" which dates from the 13th century. Such beautifully carved figurines and angels!

After we toured the cathedral, we wandered outside and passed a statue of Johannes Gutenberg next to a lovely old carousel. What is a statue of Gutenberg, a native of Germany, doing in Strasbourg? Well, it was in Strasbourg that he perfected the secret of printing (in 1440) that led to the invention of the moveable-type printing press that would change the world and the way information was shared.

The Johannes Gutenberg statue in Strasbourg.

The formerly blue skies became increasingly cloudy as we walked down to La Petite France, a lovely area of cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, and beautiful canals. I so wish we could have spent more time there wandering the old streets. 

I felt like I was in a storybook!

Notice the grey clouds looming and the raindrops starting to fall on the canal

Umbrellas started popping up as the rain worsened.

As the cloud cover became more dense and the rain increased, we began making our way back to the bus to return to the ship, when... OH, MY! An epic hail storm began pelting us with pea-sized hail that stung any part of our body that wasn't covered. We hadn't brought umbrellas (reminder to self: always bring an umbrella when out on tour!) and our shoes and pants got completely soaked as we rushed to the meeting point for the bus. Once we got to the town square we then had to wait until the bus came to pick us up while it continued hailing the entire time. It was probably only ten or 15 minutes, but it seemed more like an hour! It was certainly an experience we'll never forget--have any of you been outside in a hail storm? It was shocking just how much those little ice pellets hurt--I'm so very thankful that the hail wasn't larger. My sister took the photo below of the hail collecting on top of one of the awnings of a restaurant and falling on the ground to the right--amazing how quickly it piled up!

Hail, hail everywhere!

Thankfully, we had packed extra pairs of shoes! We certainly needed them for our afternoon tour when we ventured behind the scenes at the...

MAGINOT LINE:

Four-à-Chaux Fortress, Limbach France

When you think of visiting France, I doubt that visiting a portion of the Maginot Line is what comes to mind, is it?  But this was actually a part of the trip that I was especially looking forward to. Am I weird? As an avid reader of WWII historical novels, I had often seen references to the Maginot Line and I was anxious to see part of it in person to get a better idea of what those brave soldiers experienced as they defended France against the Nazis. The 280 mile long Maginot Line was built in the 1930s to deter invaders and force them to go around the line. It included a series of mine fields, bunkers, gun batteries, and underground fortresses like the one we toured.

The soldiers' entrance at Four-à-Chaux Fortress

We entered through the artillery entrance... down, down, down steep ramps into the complex that was nearly 82 feet underground.

The temperature dropped noticeably as we descended into the darkness and the whole complex had a damp, eerie feel to it. Nearly 600 men manned the fortress at any given time, but were usually on a two week rotation. I can see why! Just spending an hour in that dimly lit, chilly, and humid space left me itching to see daylight again.

The fortress (shown in the map above that still hangs on the walls in the old logistics room) consisted of six combat blocks that covered nearly 75 acres of land and almost 3 miles of underground passageways. The small portion we toured was in Block 2 which had been refurbished after being badly damaged by Nazi troops after they seized the forts of the Maginot Line.

Each block was like a small community and contained a hospital, kitchen, bunk rooms, toilet/shower rooms as well as all of the communications and operations centers.

Throughout the tour, mannequins in uniform occupied the main areas.

I'm not sure I'd want this doctor performing surgery on me!

The communication room with two soldiers at the ready

This old Mickey Mouse themed piece was sketched above one of the sinks and is now covered with a piece of clear acrylic to help preserve it. I wonder if the soldier who drew it survived the war?

Just one of the huge and impressive pieces of artillery used to defend France.

Such an interesting glimpse into history! I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting the Strasbourg area. 

On our bus ride back to the ship, this pretty scene caught my eye.

As we sailed to our next port that evening, we were treated to this beautiful sunset while we were enjoying dinner. As soon as she spotted it, my sister ran up to the top deck and captured this lovely photo.

So, that concludes this leg of our journey... Next time we'll travel to one last location in Germany before heading to Switzerland. Hope you can join me! Thanks so much for visiting "Stitching Dreams" today and for your kind comments and emails. A reminder to any of you who have questions for me, please use my email (found in the sidebar under "A Bit About Me"), to ask them. Most of you are anonymous commenters and I have no way of replying to you unless I have your email. I'm not sure if I'll be back again before Thanksgiving, but I'll try! Bye for now...

Boo! (and Whoo!)

Oh, my... I think this has been the most glorious October ever! Day after day of sunshine, warmth, and blue skies. They are predicting that Halloween will be in the high 70's here--so much nicer than our usual night of trick-or-treating where the children have to wear heavy coats that cover up their costumes due to the frosty temperatures. For my long-time readers, you know Halloween is a bittersweet day for me. In fact, tomorrow marks the ten-year anniversary of my dad's death. So hard to believe that it's been a decade... Losing someone dear to you is especially hard when it occurs on a holiday, isn't it? The way I celebrate Halloween is so different now compared to the years before his death. In fact, this year, I didn't put up a single decoration and my many stitched Halloween pieces remain in the dresser drawer that houses them all year. I do get them out some years, but this year, I just wasn't feeling it...

I still enjoy stitching "cute" Halloween pieces, though, but no gory or scary stuff for me. In my mind, no one does cuter Halloween designs than Misty from Luminous Fiber Arts. I just love her whimsical cats and owls and I knew my four-year-old grandson, Mister B, would, too. So I quickly stitched and finished these cuties and gave them to him when we visited last week. Meet "Boo" the black cat and "Whoo" the wise owl. I mean, even if you aren't a Halloween lover, you have to admit that this pair is pretty adorable, right? For the finish, I covered the larger piece of sticky board with black and tan gingham, glued on the stitched piece that had been attached to the smaller piece of sticky board, added handmade cording and a jute bow, and topped it off with a layer of black and orange buttons.

My finishes of "Boo" and "Whoo" by Luminous Fiber Arts

 

I stitched these on 40 ct. platinum using DMC 311 and 3826, leaving off the charted border. For Boo's bow tie, I included black Smyrna stitches and for Whoo's hat, I used orange Smyrna stitches. I also used two threads to stitch their names so they would stand out more. And I left one orange stitch out of Whoo's eye so it would be more pronounced. So which one is your favorite? You all know me and my love of black cats--I choose "Boo!"

I cover the backs of finishes like these with felt (I simply use spray glue on the felt and then press it onto the back). It is quick and easy and much simpler than making a flat-fold finish. This is the first time I added the small plastic easels (like the ones pictured below) to the backs of my stitched finishes. I got them from Amazon and simply glued them on using Aleene's Tacky Glue. These aren't meant for anything heavy, but, boy, do they work great for light cross-stitched pieces. I know I'll be using them again and again. The ones I purchased (the 4.64 inch size) can be found right here.

How I finished the back of these stand-up flat finishes.

 

Here they are standing up with the help of the attached plastic easels--no more propping things up with vegetable cans like I've done in the past :)

Giveaway time... As I was looking through my older charts, I came across this sweet Diane Graebner chart called "Cats & Quilts" that I thought would be perfect for a fall giveaway. If you are a quilt lover or a black cat lover (like me!), you may just want to enter the giveaway.  Just let me know, specifically, in your comment below that you'd like to win this chart and tell me your favorite thing about autumn. For me, it's the way the light filters in the windows casting such a soft, gentle glow on everything. Very different than in other season. I'll leave the giveaway open until my next post in November, so keep an eye on this space for the winner's name. Good luck to all...

 

If you would like to enter the giveaway for this chart, please follow the guidelines above.

 

So, how has your October been? As I mentioned, we spent last week visiting my oldest son, daughter-in-law, and Mister B in Maryland. It was a beautiful drive down with all of the autumn colors on full display. Coming home, though, many had already passed their prime color. We had such a fun visit--if a bit exhausting. It's tough to keep up with a four-year-old and we pretty much fell into bed very early each evening. I've discovered that white noise is a huge help for me when I sleep and have been regularly using it at home since we got back from Europe. I used it over there to block out street and hotel noise and it worked so well that I began using it here, too. I know you can buy various machines and gadgets, but I simply use the "White Noise Lite" app on my iPhone which comes with many different sounds: the ocean, jungle, thunder, wind, and a variety of rain noises. Personally, I like "Rain on Lake." I just thought I'd pass this along because I know many of you struggle with sleep like I do... Something about a constant background noise like this just seems to help me "turn off" my mind at night so I can sleep! Every night is not perfect, but I'm sleeping so much better than before.

I know I promised that we'd go to France on the next stop of my travelogue, but it will have to wait until a future post. Being away for almost a week set me behind on everything so I'll share my France photos with you in November. I do have one last sweet photo for you... What is better than the joy on a child's face as he jumps into a big pile of crunchy fall leaves? Mister B decided to make a huge pile of leaves when we were at the park just up the street from his house. Soon we were all joining in and gathering leaves of golds and reds and yellows to help him make it "bigger and bigger!"

Ahhh... the joy of jumping in a big pile of crispy autumn leaves!

So, enjoy this last bit of October, my friends! I sure hope our November weather is as delightful as this month's has been. Thank you so very much for stopping in and a special thank you to those of you who take the time to leave such kind comments. I really look forward to hearing from you! Take care now--and happy stitching! Bye for now...

A pair of Prairie Schoolers and a parade of castles

How can it be mid-October already? Did you know there are only 71 days left until Christmas? If anyone has a secret as to how to slow time down, I'd love to know it, wouldn't you? How is everyone's month going so far? We've had so many beautiful sunny days--surprisingly warm for October, too. I know that will soon be changing, but for now, I'm enjoying every minute of this lovely autumn weather while it lasts. Our garden has been put to bed for the winter and I'm thinking ahead to Thanksgiving which I'll be hosting this year. It will be a smaller gathering, but there is still so much to do! I've already begun decorating for Thanksgiving in between my usual free time spent reading and stitching. I actually have two new ornaments to share with you today. 

Below are my Christmas ornaments for September and October. I got a bit behind due to our Rhine River cruise so this month I played catch-up. Both just happen to be Prairie Schooler designs--my all-time favorite comfort stitching!

My September and October Prairie Schooler ornaments

I showed you my unfinished September ornament in my last post, but here is the 1995 annual Prairie Schooler all ready to hang on my tree. As I mentioned, he is stitched on 40 ct. vintage country mocha Newcastle with most of the suggested colors. To see any changes I made, you can refer to this post from September.  As with most of my annual PS Santas, I kept the finishing simple with DMC 221 cording and a gingham bow. The ornament is backed with a burgundy and white gingham. This ornament will forever remind me of our trip to Europe last month!

My finish of the 1995 Prairie Schooler annual Santa

 

For October, I chose one of the patterns from Prairie Schooler Book No. 81: "Songs of the Season." "Deck the Halls" is stitched on 40 ct. water green Newcastle. I did make a few color changes, using DMC 221 for the red and 610 for the sack on Santa's back. I also changed the lettering to DMC 3371 from the suggested red and used smyrna stitches for all of the berries as well as the pom-pom on Santa's hat. 

Such a fun finish for October--there was a lot more stitching in this one than I first thought!

And here it is all finished and ready for December decorating. Again, I simply added handmade cording, a gingham bow, and a small silver jingle bell. Love how it turned out!

My finish of "Deck the Halls" from PS Book No. 81 "Songs of the Season"

Giveaway winner... And I can't forget that I offered two PS mini-cards as a giveaway last time. There were ten entries for the cards and the name picked from the hat is...

             Donna King                            

Donna King, you are the winner!

Congratulations, Donna! Please send me your mailing address (my email is in the right sidebar under the "A Bit About Me" section) and I'll get these sent right our to you. As always, keep an eye on this space for future giveaways!

On to the travelogue... That wraps up the stitching portion of this post, but for those of you who are interested, I have Part 2 of my Rhine River cruise today. My favorite part of our cruises (both this one and the Danube River cruise we did five years ago) was simply sitting and watching the world go by as the ship floated through the water. There is a particularly lovely section of the Rhine River that showcases many of the ancient castles known as the Rhine River Gorge and that's where we'll travel today. Sit back, relax, and imagine life in this beautiful part of the world. (All photos are clickable for a better view).

Around every bend of the river, there was another scene right out of a fairy tale!

Maus Castle / Berg Maus, built in the 14th century, has been meticulously restored and is now an aviary for eagles, owls, and falcons

Rheinfels Castle / Burg Rheinfels (with the flag of Germany in the foreground) was the largest fortress along the Middle Rhine Valley. Today it is one of that areas most visited attractions even though much of it is in ruins. There is a hotel and restaurant there--you can even get married on site!

Katz Castle / Burg Katz , perched high up on the hill, was built in the 13th century. It is now privately owned and not open to the public--can you imagine the view they must have?! And the amount of money they must spend on upkeep...

Some of the pretty pastel houses along the Rhine River with Katz Castle looming above.

The Lorelei / Loreley, the 433 foot high slate rock that has become infamous for maritime disasters and legends involving a singing siren combing her golden hair who lured unsuspecting sailors to their deaths.

A charming little village stands next to a castle remnant

Schönburg Castle / Burg Schönburg is one of the oldest castles on the Rhine--first mentioned in the 10th century. It was burned down in 1689 by French soldiers, but restored in the 19th century, and is now run as a hotel and restaurant.

A view of the beautiful vineyards on the hillside near Schönburg Castle.

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle / Burg Pfalzgrafenstein is located on the small island of Falkenau and was built in the 14th century. It served as a toll station and a prison and has never been destroyed through all of those centuries.

Stahleck Castle / Burg Stahleck was built in the 12th century and, despite much destruction through the years from wars, it was always faithfully restored. Today it serves as a youth hostel for the Rhineland-Palatinate Youth Hostel Association. Can you imagine staying in a hostel with that gorgeous view?!

Yet another pretty little town with lush vineyards covering the hillsides.

Ehrenfels Castle / Burg Ehrenfels is a ruined castle from the 12th century. You can hike up to it and enjoy the breathtaking views of the river below.

Did you enjoy that little tour? I have to tell you that the morning we sailed was chilly and windy--many of us were bundled up in our warmest clothes, coats, and blankets as we sat on the ship's deck watching the castles go by! Thankfully, the weather turned warmer that afternoon for our next stop--the town of...

 Rüdesheim, Germany

Rüdesheim is a town of about 10,000 people best known for it's winemaking. Vineyards abound and the Riesling wine made from their grapes is world famous. 

Our first view of the Rüdesheim area. Far off on the hilltop is the imposing Niederwald Monument which we would hike to after we enjoyed lunch on the ship. 

What a pretty hike we had that afternoon--through lush green vineyards overlooking the river. It was quite a workout as our guide (a young man in his 20s!) marched all of us 60 and 70-year-olds up the hill as if someone was chasing us. Whew! Here are some of the highlights of our Rüdesheim hike.

Just a few of the delicate wildflowers we spotted on our hike.

Although the vast majority of the grapes grown in this region are green, I found a few purple ones hanging from the vines.

We hiked up to the monument, but there are also cable cars available.

We made it--we reached the Niederwald Monument! Left to right are my husband, me, my youngest sister, and my brother-in-law--great traveling companions!

Such a lovely view of the vineyards!

The massive Niederwald Monument was built from to 1871 to commemorate the unification of Germany after the Franco-Prussian War. Notice how tiny the people are in comparison to the monument!

We took the cable car down and the views were amazing.

It looks like a postcard, doesn't it?

When we reached the bottom of the hill, we spent a bit of time in the town of Rüdesheim itself, strolling the charming streets, stopping for a cool drink as we rested under a canopy of grape leaves, and simply enjoying the warmth of the sunshine.

Little did we know that that would be the last of the sunshine we'd have for awhile! Our next stop was a rainy, windy, miserable day, but we still enjoyed our visit to...

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY

Oh, how disappointing the weather was when we woke up that morning! Cold and rainy--not exactly what you want as you prepare to walk through the ruins of one of the most historic structures in Germany: Heidelberg Castle. The castle is a huge complex of buildings in various states of ruin. The misty, rainy weather actually made a perfect backdrop for the crumbling buildings on the day we visited. I so wish we could have stayed longer, but when you are on a tour, you are strictly limited by bus and tour guide schedules. There was so much we didn't see, but here are photos of the highlights. (I've included many clickable links if any of you would like to read more about the buildings featured).

The oldest part of the castle complex was built in the 1200's and various buildings were added on for centuries. That is why you see so many different styles of architecture from Gothic to Renaissance as shown above. The beautiful hues in the building material come from the red sandstone which is quarried from the surrounding Neckar Valley.

The Friedrich's Wing immediately catches your eye as you walk into the courtyard. Built in the early 1600's, it holds a romantic chapel on the ground floor which can be used for weddings.

The Ottheinrich Wing features elaborate carvings and statues of political, scientific, mythological, and religious figures. As you can see, the top floors are nothing but a shell--open to the air as a result of fires and a lightning strike. The bottom floor was covered and serves as a museum today. The pinkish color of the facade was so lovely!

There is beauty even in the ruins

In the background, you can see a few of the construction vehicles that are ever present. There is constant repair going on at different places in the castle ruins just to keep them from crumbling all the way to the ground.

A view into the lush green gardens of what was once the moat of the castle.

The Gate/Clock Tower and Ruprecht's Wing (on the right) which is the oldest residential palace still standing in the castle complex. It was built in the early 1400s.

By the time we reached this point in the walking tour, it was really raining as you can see in the photo above. Pictured is the famous Powder Tower (or Exploded Tower) built in the early 16th century that was partially destroyed by the French in a war in the late 17th century. Can you see how thick those walls were? The blown off portion has been resting against the remains of the tower for over 300 years now!

A very misty view from the castle to the Neckar River and the town below

Heidelberg Castle is also known for housing the world's largest wine barrel or as it's known in Germany--the Heidelberg Tun. The first barrel was built in 1591 and held 130,000 liters of wine. It was replaced by one that held 200,000 liters  of wine in 1664, and then the present barrel was constructed in 1751 from 130 oak trees. It can hold 220,000 liters (58,124 gallons) of wine and is so massive that there is even a dance floor on top of it!

The largest wine barrel in the world dwarfs visiting tourists. The photo in the upper right shows the steps leading up to the dance floor on top of the barrel. The statue is of Perkeo, the court jester, who now stands guard over the giant barrel. He was famous for his ability to consume massive amounts of wine.

Unfortunately, the rain was so heavy by the end of our tour, that the hike planned for the afternoon had to be cancelled so we had some free time. We actually enjoyed our down time and had the streets almost to ourselves. We had a relaxing lunch in a German pub, did a bit of shopping (where we purchased two warm fleece shirts to help with the colder than normal temperatures), and enjoyed the views of the castle from the old town.

Looking up from the Altstadt (Old Town) you can get an even better idea of the massive size of the castle complex

The Marktplatz, in the oldest section of Heidelberg, is often used for Christmas markets. On the left is the Town Hall with its beautiful window boxes overflowing with red blooms.

Because of the rain, the streets were nearly empty. I can imagine that, in good weather, they are bustling with shoppers and folks enjoying outdoor meals.

The Old Bridge /Alte Brücke and gate over the Neckar River

The view from the bridge offers a great vista of Heidelberg Castle looming over the town

Goodby rainy Heidelberg! I'm so glad that I packed that bright raincoat at the last minute as it sure came in handy on many occasions.

I'll pause my travelogue here and on my next post we'll journey to France! My first trip there--again, not the greatest weather, but it was certainly an experience that I look forward to sharing with all of you. Thank you so much for all of your kind comments on my previous post--I really appreciate each one so much. I had my cardiologist appointment this morning and, although she thinks I'm okay, she wants to run more tests. So, the saga continues... Hope each of you has a wonderful day with lots of stitching time. I'm heading to my stitching chair as soon as I hit "post."  Bye for now...