Thursday, February 12, 2009

Surprise from Lyon, France & a Road Trip to Austin, Texas


We took a road trip, drove to Austin, Texas and almost three weeks later we returned home to find a wonderful surprise in the mail. My friend who lives in Lyon, France sent me these wonderful treasures.

She made the ATC in memory of her cat who recently went to cat heaven and is missed very much, they lost two cats in a very short time. That is so sad, but the good news is they now have a new cat to love. She and her husband made the calendar, we have it sitting by the TV in the kitchen, we didn't have a calendar near the table so this is really appreciated. And the kit will be fun to make, now I just need to get busy.



As for other projects, I did a little knitting while we were traveling, knitting is a great project to work on in the car. Now I just need my husband to try on his sock so I can finish making them.



I visited Needle Works in Austin, what a wonderful needlepoint store. (http://www.theneedleworks.com/) They have fibers that I have never seen before and very helpful too. I had seen the Evertite Strencher Bars, but had never touched them or seen how they work. Well, now I wish I had all the sizes, they are great for needlepoint because you can tighten them up to keep the canvas tight while stitching. Needle Works don't have a picture on their website, but there is a picture on Tristan Brooks Designs (http://www.needleartworks.com/dsgnr/tbd/tbd10.htm) I have to say they are not cheap, well worth the money. Needle Works is a great place to spend a day and there is a good restaurant in the same mall Santa Rita Cantina (http://www.santaritacantina.com/) the Chilli Relleno with
Spinach, mushrooms & ranchero sauce is the BEST. In fact Santa Rita was so good we ate there three times. Actually all the food was good in Austin!

We had a great trip, just very long, 5,000 miles round trip. It is nice to be home again!