Homesick for the Camino

Hello,  everyone.  This is the time of year that makes me think fondly of life on the Camino. We miss so much about it, even though the thing that makes it so special is that we have to leave our daily life behind. And when we return, we're happy to take up our activities,  like crafting, quilting,  beading, and sewing. We're also happy to cook, which is not a  thing that we can do while walking the pilgrimage. 

One way we try to get a little reminder of Camino life is by having tapas for dinner.

The figs and dragonfruit are from our garden. The pretzel nuggets looked interesting to try in the store.  The anchovy stuffed olives are available at Phoenicia, an import grocery store in Houston, Texas, which a relative visited recently. (Thanks, gang!)

Working out a new skill

Hello, everyone. As y'all might remember,  DH was really interested in a modern art painting at the Museo Thyssen-Bournemisza (spelling guessed from memory here) that was essentially a "color play" painted and modified version of a log cabin style quilt block. I think it was by Mondrian, and the general effect was a square spiral in a collection of similar-mood colors. He asked me to make a quilt like that.

the first try at getting the idea together.

There are about 22 squares that have the accent strip going diagonally down the middle, with each half a different color.

Today the trial divided square: 

and the size, without trimming

Pretty much right on!

Whoopee!

Crazy garden tricks in Córdoba

Hello, everyone.  I was going through pictures from our 2025 Camino trip and rediscovered a photo from the Alcázar of Córdoba. It certainly took somone--maybe several someones--a lot of work to train and prune this.

Never in my life have I seen such a large and probably difficult topiary project as this tower. With a window and a crenellated top, yet!

Pistou con huevo (edited to add link)

Hello, everyone.  It's going to be hot today, and no rain in the forecast to cool it down. Pretty much the same weather we enjoyed during our time in Córdoba, after we finished our Camino Francés this year. 

As y'all will have noticed, whenever we go on a trip we notice new recipes (new to us, not new in the world) and when we come home we want to make that yummy food for ourselves. This time I discovered pistou, a dish that is both Spanish and French, which I had read about but never tried. I had pistou with eggs for dinner in Córdoba and enjoyed it very much. When we got home, I went onto the internet and found a pistou recipe at Spain on a Fork. 

Pistou involves onion, zucchini or equivalent summer squash, bell pepper, and tomato. Eggplant is optional. It's basically gently cooked veggies in the skillet. It goes great with a lot of protein foods, and if you feel like the plate is a little too low on fat, you can add some sour cream on top.

Yum.

A new zipper wallet (edited to add link)

Hello, everyone.  After walking the Camino Francés with a me-made bill fold that didn't have a closure and didn't have any kind of an idiot loop attachment, I decided that the bill fold situation could do with improvement.  After scrolling past many Youtube videos, running down long pages of search results, and thinking about it, I went back to one of those videos: Ripstop By The Roll's simple zipper pouch kit. It was almost exactly what I wanted. 

The kit came, along with another kit that inspired me in their shop, and it had a piece of ripstop that wouldn't ravel, because they use something like a hot knife to cut it, a zipper, a piece of grosgrain for grab loops, and their video. I had also ordered some pocket mesh and the sample stuff sack kit--this came with some hardware tucked into a piece of light ripstop. I made an interior pocket with the mesh, edged with some scrap ribbon in the stash, and a label tag from that scrap of light ripstop, and otherwise followed the directions as given. 

It should work out okay. 

Memories from Córdoba

Hello, everyone.  It's been an adjustment getting used to being at home. While moving photos from phone to computer, I came across some photos that y'all might find interesting. 

The ancient mill just downstream of the Roman bridge

View from the guard tower of the Alcázar. 

(Paused to crop photos in hope they won't be sideways)

Procession of Our Lady of Rocio, the wagon with the image, in Córdoba. 

When we left Sevilla in 2023, about the same time of year, we encountered a procession from a nearby village near Italica, for the same feast.

Part of the Cathedral structure from the years before the Moorish conquest of the area in the 8th century 

 Birds in the Cathedral courtyard. They were noisy but I couldn't tell if they were nesting or talking to another bird inside

One of the windows of the Cathedral, from the Moorish period, from the outside

See how much light the translucent pieces allow in. (Glass? Thinly sliced agate? I don't know.)

In the hot and dry climate of Córdoba, this is how they irrigate the many citrus trees in the Cathedral courtyard. From the Moorish period, I  think.

More of the irrigation setup.

This watering setup was very interesting.