Saturday Walk

My sweetie and I went out walking on Saturday, obviously finding ourselves in a touristy part of town as witnessed by the McDonald's:

... and Starbucks. I just liked the juxtaposition of the new sign with the old building. It's very rare here to find coffee to go. You're supposed to sit down and enjoy your cup of coffee, not gulp as you run. I do see an awful lot of people tearing off hunks of their fresh-baked baguettes to nibble on as they walk though.

A great face. Speaking of which, check out the marvelous faces here.
I love the stone lions on the Credit Lyonnais building.

The Shrek 3 movie poster just doesn't blend well with this classy old building:

And a closeup to see the carved women (caryatids?):

The day before our walk, on Friday, Will came over for quilt show and tell. I was highly embarrassed when she pointed out that something had gotten on to one of the quilts, the texture just wasn't right. One sniff was all I needed to determine what had happened. Darn that boy Howler who has taken to marking his territory. Not just a musky scent but out and out weeing. Luckily it hasn't happened often and before he'd limited himself to the couch (which is layered in heavy towels) - or so I thought. I'm hoping he's going to knock that off once he gets less fearful.

At least it something of a utility quilt that I don't care about a great deal. But still. I now have all the quilts stacked way high on top of cupboards.

I doused the couch in some kind of chemical that's supposed to neutralize the odor and make it so the cat doesn't re-mark his territory. I don't know that it works for Howler, but the smell has been strong enough to keep me away. The one good thing is that I learned how our shutters work, so we were able to have our windows open to air the place out, without having to fear for the kitties. A big thunderstorm came through that evening and it was enjoyable to just sit and read, listening to all the rain.

Saturday, as I said, sweetie and I walked for about an hour to get to an Irish Pub for lunch. (Sometimes it's just nice to be able to read a menu and order from a fellow English speaker. Don't worry, I'm eating french food too, although I haven't strayed far from Steak and Frites, mmm.) For once, my Coca Light didn't cost almost twice as much as his drink since this time he had a pint of Guinness instead of red wine. The wine is always the least expensive beverage on a menu.

I annoyed Sweetie with all my picture taking on the walk, but it felt safer to do it while he was around to protect me from pickpocketers. At least that was my idea, he tended to wander away whether in boredom or embarrassment I'm not really sure.

I've discovered the most fabulous butter to eat with our bread - it has sea salt crystals in it. Very delicious. I bought all sorts of vegetables at the market to make soup, my first big cooking venture here.

As far as that crusty goes in my last post, you are all very kind. Okay I won't cut it up, just wait for an opportunity to donate it to a worthwhile charity auction. Then some sucker --um -- nice person will have to chance to take it home. Including the fish (which were made separately in the same manner as the big piece and then sewn on) it measures 13" x 14". [Siobhan, I don't remember ever being happy with this piece, I always disliked it, just kept hoping it would improve as I piled more on it.]

Sophie, that's an excellent suggestion that I get myself out of the house once a week for an artist date. Will and I have already made plans for this upcoming week to visit the museum of naive art and the fabric markets in Monmartre. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for better weather.

Kristin, thanks for the compliments. When quilting with regular quilting thread I use a Richard Hemmings large-eye size 10 needle. I really enjoy quilting on the Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 batting. That's 80% cotton. I also use the Quilter's Dream Request that is 100% cotton and enjoy that as well, although I think it's a bit harder to needle. It makes the quilt look fabulous tho, especially if heavily quilted.

I just hold a fold of the quilt in my left hand as I quilt with the needle in my right hand. It works for me anyway. If someone ever visits me with a digital video camera I'll try to do a visual for my tutorial about quilting without a hoop.