evolution of a cozy...

first came the new iPod nano which i really really love!

then came the need for new iPod to have a cozy to protect its shiny self, and i turned to yarn and new "Darn Pretty" dp size very small (which besides being darn pretty are exquisite). My reaction, and that of some twisted sisters, to this first effort was hysterical laughter because of the resemblance to a different kind of "cozy".

and then the next development was OK... but lacked class.

the next step - i did some stash diving in my fabric and came up with some dupioni silk and some cotton. this is what i came up with... and personally, i think this one is a keeper.

NW Folklife Fest - Seattle May 2010

it just happened that i got to go to the NW Folklife Fest in Seattle on Sat. It sent my mind straight back to some of the folk-type festivals of my past, esp. since we were greeted at the entrance (at Seattle Center) by several young guys looking for people to sign the petition to legalize marijuana, which sadly i could not sign because i'm an alien when i'm up here.

there were street bands....

there were booths selling all manner of stuff, lots of which was imported from South America. Zylie was intrigued by several different offerings including stuffed critters, jewelry - the non-precious rocks kind, baskets. she shows signs of being an intense shopper! her dad and brother show extreme patience as they await her purchase decisions.

photo ops......

there were also many food booths where we got some nourishment.

the whole reason i amtrak-ed north this weekend was that for mother's day Chris got tickets to Stars on Ice for me, him and the kids. it's been years since i've been to one of these shows and i really love going! so it was a real treat! a very sweet son he is!

the space needle at night..

looking pitiful...

but improving!! on monday, Jim had his eyelid lift surgery to improve his vision. he could hardly see out thru the swollen eyelids. tuesday he got the dressings removed and he's seeing (and looking) better. a woman in the elevator at kaiser clinic said "if you've been fightin', you gotta get better at it, or quit it!" good for a chuckle.

more Istanbul

here's Linda and Greg happy about the beer! it was our first night in Istanbul and we'd been wandering and looking for a place to eat dinner. from the street, this sounded like a lively and maybe fun place and the menu looked ok... from the inside the music was too loud and crazy and the place just didn't look like an inviting place to eat dinner! as you walk down the streets, it isn't only the carpet stores that have hustlers out on the street trying to lure you in... it's also the cafes, tavernas and restaurants. with the carpet guys, their predictable patter got to be rather amusing... and.. well, predictable! they start off with the assumption that you speak English and ask "how are you?" "where are you from?" "oh, America!!? where in America?" "Oregon?.... Portland?" "yes, beautiful place... my cousin/brother/sister/uncle lives there/I've visited there/lived there/traveled thru on my way to California". then comes the invitation to have a cup of apple tea as a way of showing their friendship. I'd already bought 2 small rugs before we got to Istanbul, told them that early on and said i didn't want any more rugs or to look at any more rugs or to hear the wonderful deal they had. mostly, we didn't even get caught up in conversation with them... just "no, thank you", smile and keep walking! it was a VERY interesting experience!

"art" to go along with the beer.

there was the whole side of a house and the wall along the sidewalk which was decorated with imbedded pieces of broken ceramics. it looks really cool, tho this photo doesn't really show it.

and i'm happy to say that finally, 10 days after returning home, i've just about banished the evil alien flu/cold bug that's been trying to take over my body. when we came back in Nov. it got out of control and became pneumonia.... this time the combination of zinc lozenges, Emergen-C, lots of green tea and many naps seem to have stopped it. right now i'm feeling like the ordeal of 28 hours of travel, exhaustion, airline frustrations and viruses cut right into the joy of these Greece (and Turkey) adventures. but... ask me about it in 6 months and i will probably have had an attitude adjustment by then and forgotten the pain of it all... sort of like child-birth.

will I ever get caught up?

there are a lot more stories and photos which i want to include in this travel journal, and there is no chance at this point of it being in any kind of coherent order, so i'll just be happy to get the bits and pieces and their photos posted here. I do wish we'd been able to be in Istanbul earlier in the trip, then go to Kusadasi to recover! there is just SO much to see and do.... and it's all an uphill walk to do it. for someone (me) who doesn't ordinarily do a lot of walking and gets kind of breathless going up steep hills, and who has such short stumpy legs that it's hard to keep up with those who have long legs and walk fast.... this was a challenge. but, my companions were very sweet to slow down and even wait sometimes.

this is the owner of the Peninsula Hotel, holding his kitten. He prepares and serves the breakfast at the rooftop restaurant... and does a fine job. when up there and looking around, you see a dining area on the roof of almost every building. good use of space, plus the view is spectacular!

it's a nice hotel, small, clean and recommended by Lonely Planet. the location is excellent. no elevator... which is inconvenient if you have to carry a lot of luggage up 3 flights!

building across the street covered with wisteria

another rooftop dining area

this sign struck me as funny. the cafe it was attached to was a hang-out for hippy-type young people and featured lots of hookka(s). the crowds could be heard til late into the night!

we spent part of a day just walkin' and gawkin' around the neighborhood (which was really convenient to our hotel... as were the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, and trams for going to the big spice bazaar). one of the places we wandered into was a huge store filled with handpainted ceramics which i would not have believed were handpainted until we actually saw the artist doing the painting!

"The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia (Άγια Σοφία) in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish, is a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque in Istanbul. Now a museum, Hagia Sophia is universally acknowledged as one of the great buildings of the world." http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/istanbul-hagia-sophia

my puny little digital camera cannot do justice to the magnificence of this mosque. and it's so immense that i felt like a tiny speck when i stood there and looked around!
one thing i wanted to do in Istanbul was listen to live Turkish music... so when we found a place which had the music plus performance of a whirling dervish ...that was the place to go! it was very interesting to watch the whirling dervish do his dancing, but i kept having the sense that it just wasn't "right". this whirling is a part of a religious ceremony. in this setting, he was doing just a part of the ceremony (and likely being paid to do it) while the audience was sitting there eating and chatting. but it was interesting to watch.....

this is the front of our bungalow in Kusadasi. Linda and Greg were next door.and there was Sponge Bob at the entrance to a toy convention being held at the hotel!

Istanbul first day

we left Kusadasi this a.m., taxi to Ishmir airport and flew to Istanbul, finally connected with the hotel shuttle and after a most crazy and frightening ride we arrived at Penninsula Hotel. the shuttle driver chatted with us and on his cell phone as he sped his way thru the mass of cars and taxis on the road. seems this guy was the sports editor/newscaster for CNN-Turk until he retired 2 years ago and started driving the shuttle, so he started talking NBA with Greg and Jim. i'd be happy with no more taxi adventures like that, but there's one to go before we get on a plane tuesday 6a.m. This is a wonderful location... walking distance to Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia and the reportedly HUGE market/bazaar. we walked around for awhile, fending off carpet salesmen trying to hussle us into their shops. it doesn't really deter them much when we say we've already bought carpets, but we did avoid going into any shops! so we walked and gawked til we found the ideal place for dinner.... that took a lot of walking, menu-reading and debating! good dinner... i had minced lamb kebab with aubergine chunks, baked potato!!, rice, veggies... delicious!

this was one of the sights along the way... loved the colors and Linda and I thought of Anne Parker!a mosque

lovely dinner.