Piece Yourself Together and Agua Amarga

It's time to share our EPP work again - pop over to Anthea's blog to see what everyone has been doing and to add your own link. Thank you Anthea.

We are still in Spain so I have been basting my way through a box of half inch hexies papers and fabric squares that I cut out before we came away.

I have also sewn together some of the 1" hexies that I basted earlier in the month with the intention of using them as the front panel on a project folder when I get home - a long anticipated project! I suspect that I will use this as a prototype and then make myself another when I have perfected my design LOL!

Yesterday we had a day out down the coast stopping first for coffee and tostadas (half a toasted baguette with olive oil and freshly grated tomato to top it with) which were too good to stop and photograph! We then carried on to Agua Amarga, a small white town which was once a fishing port but now fishes tourists! It was very quiet there yesterday with only a few bars open and all the shops closed but I should imagine it is a very busy tourist spot in season. However, to my mind, now is the time to visit. It was a lovely warm, sunny day and we enjoyed walking along the beach and through the town. Here are a few photographs just to give you an idea what it is like.

We stopped for lunch at a bar on the beach. Our beers came with this plate of tapas. Thinly sliced dried tuna and cheese on bread drizzled with olive oil.

Lunch was boquerones and clamare.

On our way back up the coast we drove to a lighthouse where there is a lovely view of Agua Amarga - usually! Yesterday it partially hidden by a misty haze so hence no photograph.

Only three more days here now - the weather looks to be good though for the rest of the week.

Hope you are enjoying some sunshine too.

Indalo

Everywhere we go here in Almeria we see the Indalo symbol.

The Indalo is a prehistoric magical symbol that was found in caves in the north of Almeria 100 years ago.

It is dated to 4500 BC. It represents a man (some say a ghost) carrying a rainbow over his head.
The Indalo has been adopted by the Province of Almeria as it's official symbol in the same way that the black bull is the symbol of Andalucia.

An Indalo painted or hung on the outside of your house is said to protect from evil.

And it can be carried as a lucky charm. But the charm will only be beneficial if it has been given as a gift.

Many businesses incorporate Indalo into their names for instance

 Indalo Pizza, Indalo Night Club, Indalo rentals etc etc and this Fotoindalo.

 There is of course the

and one of their club notice boards

This curved version is very popular for fridge magnets and for decorating tourist pottery.

Here is my Journal page about Indalo

Last year while we were in Spain I worked on one of my CQJP blocks and included a small Indalo.

 Just a reminder that Wendy has invited us all for FNSI again this Friday - to sign up click here.

Hope to see you there.

Christmas Through The Year is back!

Yes my friends - it's never too early to start making Christmas presents and Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches is just the person to get you motivated!

Anthea has revamped CTTY so why not pop over to her blog here and read all about it.

Happy Stitching

Piecing Myself Together in Sunny Spain

Yes, it's PYT Tuesday again!

And many thanks to Anthea for hosting this linky again despite suffering from a Western Australia heatwave!

If anyone has an EPP project on the go then please do link up with Anthea - the more the merrier!

I brought my box of hexies with me and have been basting a few here and there! But I also brought my swap hexies for February to work on and these are now complete and ready to post.

These are off to Australia

And these to the UK

It took us two days to drive down to our apartment here on Vera Playa, Almeria Province. On the way we stopped at an old mill about an hour south of Zaragoza. A family run hotel - simple but clean and excellent food. Part of the old mill machinery still works - just for show, not to mill - and the owner is happy to switch it on for visitors to see.

The road from Zaragoza to Valencia is called the Autovia Mudejar, the bridges decorated with Mudejar stars and related sculptures. This George and Dragon is a favourite of mine standing guard over the motorway.

Our apartment is a five minute walk from the sea and this laguna which is always full of birds.

Behind me as I took the photograph is an excellent restaurant and several bars and the promenade going south takes us to Garrucha in just 20 minutes. We like to walk there along the beach and back along the promenade.

From the balcony outside our sitting room we look down onto a lovely green walkway between apartment blocks. This is looking north

And this is south

In the distance you can see the Cabrera mountains behind Mojacar.

As you can see virtually all the apartments are empty at this time of year - except of course the one whose balcony is directly opposite ours!

I love the way the orange trees are pruned into wheels here

and the beautiful bougainvillea which are in flower. This red one near our apartment is particularly striking.

And yes! I have been working in my journal - here is a page of prints I made based on the Mudejar star

plus a few beach finds.

Wishing you all a great week and I'm looking forward to catching up with all the other PYT posts here