Eltz Castle

My laptop is finally back and although it does not always do what I want it to, or what I wish it would, it is repaired and back in my loving care, as are all the photos that I have stored on it.  I never thought that I would so dearly miss a bit of electronic gadgetry!

 

Hubby and I took a very much needed day off from work last week and with the family took a day trip to Eltz Castle, about 90 minutes from where we live, and situated in the countryside not far from the Moselle River (spelled Mosel in German).  We lucked out and had the most marvelous warm sunny weather that day, and like Goldilocks would have said, "not too hot, and not too cold".  It was perfect for sight seeing.

 

 This is how it looks as you walk down the one kilometer long road to reach the castle grounds, and as you turn a curve in the road, there is this spectacular view of the castle itself nestled on a tiny hill in the wooded valley.

After stopping for a bit of lunch on the outdoor terrace on the castle grounds, the family went for a tour of the inside, while I waited outside with Cody.  Yes, he came along for the ride that day and loved every minute of it.  

Cody and I walked all around, and eventually tiring, we found a quiet corner to sit so we could wait for the others.  Cody had a great view of the trail where he knew Christina, his human "mommy" would have to walk down to meet us.  And this is the view of the castle that we had from the bench.  I could have sat there all day long, with not a care in the world, and that breath-taking view filling me with awe and wonder.

The castle is under renovations, hence the crane in some of the pictures and plastic covered scaffolding.

Built in the 12th century, amazingly the castle is still privately owned by the same family for the past 800 years and has not been turned into a federally operated historical site.  Entrance fees into the castle help to pay for upkeep. 

   

Castle Etlz is definitely a place worth seeing! 

COMPUTER TROUBLES

Not too long ago my laptop started to give me reason to worry, it just was not working right.  Then the screen lighting went out, so although I could use the laptop, I could not see what I was working on!  Not good.  So, we hooked up a regular screen to the laptop, making it a stationary one and I could only use it in the diningroom.  Now even that is not working, so I am without a laptop at the moment and have to share hubby's office computer.  Which means, we have to take turns at it!  Ugh, even worse!  With all of my photos saved on the laptop,  I am not able to use any of the recent ones to post on my blog.  And since this computer in the office is rather old and VERY slow, I don't want to add any new pictures to it and over burden it in any way.  So dear friends, I will still continue to come around visiting you and seeing what is new with you and yours in your corners of the world, but for now don't wonder why I am not posting.  

"Dear laptop, please come back to me soon so that we might spend some enjoyable hours together once again blogging, emailing friends and family, doing online shopping, and keeping up with listings in my Etsy shop.  I will miss you for now!!" :-)

I hope you are all having a grand day.  Inspite of no laptop, my Thursday has been lovely, with nice sunny mild weather and a family bbq adding much chatter and laughter to my hours. 

Mountain Ash, a patient dog, and a beautiful sunset

 With all of the rain that we have seen of late, our moutain ash (or rowan berries) have really exploded.  While out walking with Cody I was able to capture these pictures. 

 Their vibrancy fascinated me, and all the birds in the area too, who flock (excuse the pun!) to this huge bush and have a feast.  The bush is quite large, having grown on the edge of our property for more then 40 years.

 Not sure what Cody saw off in the distance, but he stood perfectly still and I was happy to have snapped this photo of him.  He is such a pretty boy!

 He then waited patiently for me while I continued to snap photos of not only him....

 .........but of this fantastic sunset that we were privileged to see that evening.  Without much sunshine this summer, sunsets like this one have been few and far between.

 I captured the beauty of it as viewed through the corn stalks.

After that lovely little walk with Cody, I settled in for the rest of the evening hours and did some creating, and finished this sweet little pink garter with vintage satin trim, and right in the center of the big pink bow is an adorable vintage Czech glass mouse button!  I couldn't resist using it for this sweet silk confection of a garter!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday.  The sun is shining this morning, so not a bad start so far!  I will take all that we can get this summer.  

~Debby

TUCKED INDOORS TO CREATE

With all the rainy weather we have had this summer, there has been opportunity and time for me to stayed tucked inside the house to work with my silk ribbons.

These have just been listed in my Etsy shop.

www.GarterMademoiselle.etsy.com 

 

I have been enjoying making this new style that I designed, the garters embellished with my own handmade French ribbonwork blossoms and folded roses.  This blue one is made with dusty blue ribbon and vintage 1950's blue lace.

This bridal white one has a folded rose and white 5-petaled blossom with a vintage rhinestone as its center.  And tucked lovingly below the flowers is the bride's special "Something Blue" bow.

Similar to the all white one, this garter is made of white silk satin ribbons but has a very pale yellow silk blossom next to an ivory folded and needle-sculpted flat rose, and again the little Something Blue bow with a pearl adorning the middle.  What bride could resist such elegance!!

 

RAINY SUMMER DAYS

I know that the rest of the world is having a really hot and humid summer, but here in my corner of the world in the north-west part of Germany we have nothing but rain, rain, and then more rain.  It is cold out there like the worst autumn day, and summer seems to have eluded us some how. I am not sure which is the lesser of the two evils, much too hot and humid, or our cold and damp.

But this picture just might say it all.  Even our chickens don't like being out in this awful "summer" weather and sat at the windows hoping we would let them in.  The rooster crowed loud and clear, hoping I would notice them a bit sooner.  I would like to know just what it was that he was trying to tell me!

What ever your weather is today, I hope you are enjoying a lovely Saturday.  Hard to believe that July is almost over! 

PORCELAIN MENAGERIE

I found this vintage porcelain keepsake box at a pretty little antique shop in Brugge, Belgium. I fell in love with the dog and its pretty pink rose design, (my all time favorite color) and the fact that it dates back to the 1940's.  The price was right and I felt as if it was sitting there in the window of that little shop just waiting for me to take it home that day, which it did in the blink of an eye!  It fits in so nicely with a little collection of bone china ornaments and figurines that I have been collecting for about a year now.  I wanted to share a few with you and tell you a bit about their creator, Pamela.

I found Pamela's shop of ornaments on Etsy by chance one day while surfing through newly listed items, one of those fateful little clicks on the computer keys!

This is one of the first things that I had bought, a sweet little Westie terrier with roses, sitting atop a tiny trinket box.  I was hooked!

Pamela hand sculpts each and every one of her beguiling and adorable creations, no molds are used, so each creation is a one-of-a-kind.  She loves animals and her creations reflect that.

She does every known breed of dog there is. And she does felines too!  I love both, so have added quite a few of both her dogs and cats to my ever growing collection.

 Pamela has a special affection for the Christmas season, so most of her creations are sculpted into ornaments to hang on the Christmas tree. Who could resist decorating for the holidays with these little cuties?

This little Cavalier King Charles spaniel is still available for adoption in Pamela's shop -

www.themagicsleigh.etsy.com 

She even makes custom orders, send her a photo of your pet and she will make an ornament or figurine from that. What a delightful way to capture your beloved pet forever in 3D.

And, that is not all!  She also makes dragons and unicorns.  I could not resist these two.  The unicorn sits on my dresser, while the pink dragon has found its way into my daughter's room since she is such a fan of dragons and fantasy creations. 

 Pamela also sells over Art Fire and here is her address for that shop too -

www.themagicsleigh.artfire.com

I think Pamela chose a wonderful name for her shop, she really does have a sleigh full of magic with her wonderful handmade creations.  I hope you will all stop by her shops to take a peek, and check out her blog, where you can see step by step photos of how she creates.
www.themagicsleigh.blogspot.com 

What a talented artist Pamela is, and her little works of art give me much joy.