Le Château Frontenac

Quebec City, PQ

Wordless Wednesday here.

Une Visit Surprise ( A Surprise Visit)

Recently I stopped in a beautiful place where I have long wanted to go but never had the chance.  It was more beautiful there than I thought it would be.

Can you guess where it might be?

We had lovely weather for the visit which is wonderful since it was raining heavily enroute.

I  have lots of lovely photos to sort and share with you over the coming weeks. Enjoy the rest of your week! and be sure to see what others are doing in Our World Tuesday.

June 13, 2013 Update - Thank you to those of you who stopped by and took the time to comment. I want to thank those who also took a guess at the location of these photos. Those of you who guessed "Quebec City" are absolutely correct!  It is a beautiful city and I would love to visit again sometime. A bientôt.

Beautiful Views From the Top

It has been so many years since I visited New York City (NYC). I didn't think I would ever be back just because there are so many places to visit and saving funds gets hard when you want to help on the mission field. But recently I had to (wanted to) visit an elderly relative in Quebec and decided to extend my trip much further afield. NYC was one of those stops.


In my only other visit to NYC, I wanted to visit the Empire State Building but couldn't due to very inclement weather. They had closed the Empire State Building as a result of high winds.

View of the NYC skyline and Empire State Building from my hotel window in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Would you believe that on this, my 2nd visit to NYC, the effects of Tropical Storm Andrea were being felt through pouring rain and high flood alert?  We had lunch, did a bit of shopping and waited for our room to be ready. Later, when I checked into my room and looked out from the top floor toward Manhattan, it was so cloudy and  foggy that I could make out only faintly some of the tallest buildings across the Hudson River.  I prayed for a peaceful time and for the rains to lift as well as the sun to shine this morning.  I wanted to get a photo of the Empire State Building from my room because I wasn't sure I could get a good photo from ground level in Manhattan.  I also wanted to visit the Empire State Building in order to see the spectacular views from the top and make up for the disappointment of my first visit many years ago.   However, I also readied myself with a story if my visit to the Observation Deck didn't happen due to the weather once again. I was going to tell friends that I had gone down to see the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy but instead I ended up being caught up in Tropical Storm Andrea.

This morning, I was so full of joy when I woke up to sunshine.  The sun didn't stay constant but kept coming in and out of clouds.  I found that cloudy was better for taking a photo through the glass in my top floor hotel room.

This is the beautiful panel you will see in the lobby of the Empire State Building. It is made of 23 Karat gold and silver.   I didn't dawdle in taking photos as I wanted to get upstairs as quickly as possible.

View of Manhattan from the Empire State Building.

Another view of Manhattan.

View of the Statue of Liberty.

I hope you enjoyed these views. I will have a lot more of my trip to share with you when I get home.

Sewing Plans

Years and years ago I purchased a Janome machine and it gave me so many problems that it took away the fun of sewing. For years I thought the problem was really me. When I finally got rid of it and bought an Elna basic sewing machine, I realized that basic sewing was far more fun when one wasn't always trying to "baby" a sewing machine.

Then last winter I saw a fancier Janome machine that seemed like it would fit my needs for something better than basic. I am planning to make more quilts so I wanted a machine that could help me achieve that but also allow me to expand and advance my level of sewing projects.

This machine is easy to use. It comes with a DVD but I didn't find it necessary to view it first.

Some of the features which led me to purchase the machine are:

• a thread cutter
• self-threading machine
• a drop in bobbin
• a see through bobbin area
• 1 step buttonhole attachment
• a well marked needle plate
• enough stitches to make sewing interesting but not so many as to be overwhelming
• a quilt table and attachments

So far I've made 4 skirts for my mother, repaired a shirt for my brother, hemmed some jeans for myself and made a quilt for my niece.

My next project will be making a quilt for my nephew. I am way overdue on the project but I'm hoping it will be done by late June/early July.

 My nephew wanted a quilt like the one I made for his grandmother and pictured here. I hope to use some of the fabrics in this photo. Not all of them of course. I have to find the right combination of the ones below and some others I have on hand.

Skywatch Over Lanorae, Quebec

I am nearing the end of my travels to Quebec, Canada and the Eastern Seaboard states. This is a photo of some lovely coloured ice fishing huts situated in a field in Lanorae, Quebec where I visited with distant relatives.

For more Skywatch Friday photos click here.

Eye Candy

 

Skywatch Friday, May 31, 2013

Thursday was another cloudy day but it did stop raining and the sky turned blue in parts. These shots were taken around 6:30 p.m. You can see the bit of blue sky through white clouds.  

Looking north the sky was somewhat heavier with dark cloud but just above the big evergreen tree the sun was trying to shine through the clouds.

I decided to snap some colour garden photos as my garden is no where near ready to share her blossoms. The following photos are all taken at the corners of various streets in the neighbourhood.  Each of these garden plots is planted and lovingly tended by volunteers in the neighbourhood. Each year I get so much enjoyment from these small gardens eked out of corners and tiny spaces.And every year, there are more corner gardens.

I'm linking up with Skywatch Friday today and enclosing the floral shots for added enjoyment.
Enjoy your weekend.