First day's walking, May 17

Hello, everyone.

As promised, another installment on the Camino del Norte this year.

Y'all may remember, last year we started out in Irun and spent the first night in San Sebastian/Donostia. This year we started out in San Sebastian, repeating two days' walk from last year, instead of either starting where we left off--Deba--or where we had started--Irun.

We crawled out of our beds in the pension in San Sebastian and got moving about 6:30 or so. We didn't eat there, but we had gotten a couple of apples to eat on the way, because pretty much nothing is open at that time in most Spanish cities and towns.  Just call it part of the pilgrim's sacrifice to go without coffee until later in the day when cafes and bars are open and you are in the vicinity of them.

 Looking back at San Sebastian, around 0700. The weather you see here was pretty much the weather for the entire day.

 On the trail between San Sebastian and Zarautz there is this welcoming little spot. It's done by a local Camino supporter out of the goodness of his heart. There is a little sign in book, there is a stamp to put a sello on your credencial, and there is a bit of water and a chair if the pilgrim is in need. Thank you, Camino Angel!

About noon we walked through Zarautz. We didn't stop for lunch, because we were only about 5 km from Getaria and wanted to press on. And we were looking forward to the lovely promenade walk between the two towns, with its shell themed railing and water views (with chilly breezes but this time no rain) all the way from one to the next. As y'all can see, the tide was out. It rises quite a bit here if that green line is reliable.

I did get a blister that day, because I had tied my shoelaces wrong, but other than that all was fine. And there was tape and gauze in my kit already. Preparedness is good.

Recap of Camino del Norte, First of a series

Hello, everyone.

As we are recovered from our long walk, and long plane rides home, it is time to begin the recap of the journey.

We landed in San Sebastian on the 16th of May, caught the bus into the center of town, and found a place to stay. (The Oficina del Turismo is very helpful here.) Then we strolled around the city a bit and visited the Museo San Telmo, in an ancient former church, and the church of San Vicente, which is still an active church. 

The museum was a little bit of the city attic, but as often happens even with the tiniest museum, there were things to be learned. There was a neat display of medieval hats recreated on plastic heads, for one thing.

 One thing I noticed about all these medieval hats is that they cover the ears and many of them have a way to wrap the neck and face. Perhaps these were local area hats and adapted to the chilly weather of the northern coast of Spain? We were certainly chilly.

And for my SIL's enjoyment, we photographed the city's merry-go-round. It wasn't operating, but it was certainly pretty! It is right on the waterfront, so the riders will have a view of the sea as well as of their friends waving at them as they spin past.

In the Canicula, a cool memory of Bilbao

Hello, everyone.

We are indeed in the depths of the Canicula, the "dog days" of summer, with highs nearing 100F many days. Nights are often close to 80F. This too shall pass, as the old saying goes.

It's a comfort during these hot days to look back at pictures from our Camino earlier this summer. This scene in particular is cooling:

Though not as frequently photographed as Flower Puppy, it is just perfect to look at in the middle of August in Texas.

It is another of the outdoor art installations at the Guggenheim modern art museum in Bilbao.

New thread!

Hello, everyone.
I'm exploring embroidery threads for that project with the red crosses.

On the 28th I ordered some coton a broder (DMC) from lacis.com.

It came today. Very prompt service, by the way, and this is exactly the day it was expected to arrive.

After the hard lesson of last week, I think I should test my new thread. Two samples are sitting in warm water now.

There is a small reflection from the thread, but the water isn't coloring.

These threads look a whole lot like the threads that were included in the Winky Cherry learn to sew kit that DGD is learning to make stuffed animals from. It is a lovely book and kit, by the way, but I strongly recommend that the adult partner of the learning team put the thread onto some old spools to keep it from forming the world's biggest tangle.

A little kitchen trick

Hello, everyone.
DH and I like to make our coffee from freshly ground beans. We have a little grinder to do this. Over time, ground up bean dust drifts throughout the space under the cover.

The little grinder.

This morning there was a visible brown dust coat on the inside of the base. Problem: the base cannot be immersed in water. I have tried using an old toothbrush--we keep one by the sink for these kinds of jobs--and it didn't work. The bristles point the wrong way to reach into the recess the grinding cup sits in.

Enter the general purpose duster of small nooks and spaces. (A little brush for cleaning sewing machines would also work, if one had a spare that could get coffee grounds in the bristles. It probably won't be usable on the sewing equipment any more, though.)

I turned the base upside down over the kitchen sink and dusted the recess with the paintbrush.

Success!

Bleeping bleeding thread!

Hello, everyone.

I've started a project that involves white ground fabric and red embroidery. I did some testing for stitches.

As y'all can see, I looked at which stitch to use. Whether to use the embroidery hoop. And whether my favorite stabilizer, Sulky Solvy, would be a good idea. The stitched samples were all ironed with a bit of water. What I completely forgot to do was to test the threads. Oh, how I wish I had done that!

I was humming right along, hemming and embroidering. Then I rinsed the first pieces to get the remnants of the Sulky Solvy out.

 Even this one, though not as bad as the others, has pink smears around the cross.

Ouch. A lot of work down the drain, which wouldn't have happened if I'd just checked the threads first. (There is a sizeable embroidery thread stash around here. Some came as anonymous hunks from Ebay. I think the sellers were unloading some cheap stuff they didn't want!) Moral of the story: don't be in a huge rush to start!

I tossed all the anonymous red thread hanks and bits that I could see. Dug around in the cupboard and found some still-in-the-sleeves DMC red thread. (By thread here I mean 6 stranded embroidery floss.) And then *water tested* the DMC thread. The lukewarm water in the dish stayed clear. I put the thread on a paper napkin to dry. When I returned, the napkin was still in the original color.

Tomorrow the project can get back on the rails again.

And the DMC thread hank is now being stored in a little plastic bag with its label sleeves, so it doesn't become an anonymous pile of red thread.

Night bloomers, a reason to get outside early in the morning

Hello, everyone.

It's the heat of summer here, but the rains a few weeks back have given us a real bounty of night blooming cereus blossoms. This is the plant with the pink flowers:

And this is one of the flowers, close-up:

They close up around 8:30 or 9 in the morning. But while they are open I think they may be the most beautiful flowers in the entire garden.