Rethymno

After an early breakfast one morning we caught the local bus into the nearby city of Rethymno so that we could look around before the heat of the day. 

While the others sat for a drink in a café at the Venetian harbour I had a wander around.

Another beautiful day promised and nothing much was stirring.

We walked the rather precarious path to the mouth of the harbour and gazed out to sea.

Then we strolled round the headland and made our way up to the Fortezza fortress,

situated in defensive position on a hill overlooking the city and the coast. It was built in the 16th century by the Venetians to protect its citizens from Ottoman invasions. This is the main entrance, the eastern gate, facing the town and not visible from the sea. Above the entrance there is a niche which was there to hold the lion of St Mark, the Venetian symbol.

The coast road can just be seen far below.

Looking up towards the gunpowder warehouse and Sultan Ibrahim Khan Mosque.

The western auxiliary gate

The warehouse complex.

The  'mihrab', the prayer niche inside the mosque, pointing to Mecca.

It was lovely to walk around the perimeter of the fortress to enjoy a light breeze and the far-reaching views out to sea.

A hot day. Time to wander through the town to catch a bus back to the hotel.

A rather strange decoration - do the legs light up at night?

White Palace

Last week we were in Crete with friends for a blast of sunshine before winter sets in. We were a little further along the coast from the hotel where we stayed in the spring, this time with a far better beach  and a shallow sea that made swimming safe and pleasurable. We had booked a sea view room and arrived late in the evening. "How lovely," I said when we opened our French windows and heard the waves on the shore. "I don't think that we've ever had a room so close to the sea before."
At 3am I was saying, "shut the door, those waves are driving me mad!" Inconsistent? Moi!

The weather was glorious and part way through the holiday things got even better when we were upgraded to a suite. (We were on holiday to celebrate my birthday.)

The suite gave us plenty of private space,

with plenty of outdoor space for our friends to join us.

A great place to watch the sun go down.

Aah, it was good!

Visible Monday

This week Patti, who hosts Visible Monday, asks if we are in a city or country mood. She is currently in Manhattan and loving it. I'm more of a country person. I like to visit cities but not to stay. After an exciting time I'm more than ready to  return to the quiet of the countryside. Last night we went to the city of Wells where Himself was participating in an event at the Literary Festival. 

The cathedral city of Wells is small, of a scale that I'm comfortable with, I could quite happily imagine myself living there.

It's autumn in England, with drizzling rain. It's damp and cold, so it's rap-up-well weather; woollen jumper, coat and trousers, and leather ankle boots - with socks!

Linking up with Patti to see who's wearing what.

Exhibition at Andelli Art

This evening we went to a preview of work by artists who had studied at Leeds College of Art fifty years ago. Well of course were interested - it is where we had also studied, but rather further back than fifty years! I was particularly taken with the work of Kathy Dalwood who was exhibiting examples from her plaster bust collection. (We recalled her father from our student days. He had been a Gregory Fellow at the university and had given occasional lectures at the art school.)

Kathy beside her work.

I liked this Napoleon bust with it's pristine and delicate frills of plaster. There is a rather mad hatter quality that runs through the whole collection.

Another shirtwaister

It's definitely autumn now, with that going back to school feel in the air. I'm in a dress that is similar to ones that I wore as a school girl in the '50's. My autumn/winter school uniform was navy and white, a navy gymslip and white blouse and I've felt comfortable in those colours ever since. This navy cotton shirtwaister by Samantha Sung is a delight to wear. It is beautifully made, with attention to the smallest detail. Buttoned through and finely pleated at the waist, it opens out into a very full skirt. It can be dressed up or, as here with tatty old shoes, dressed down.

Sharing with Patti at not dead yet style.

Visible Monday - shirtwaisters.

The heavens opened this morning and the wind blew, no skinny top and shorts for me today. It feels rather autumnal, cool enough to do a bit of layering, with a white tee under my indigo chambray shirtwaister from Toast. I bought it in their sale a few years ago for £35 reduced from £135, the sort of price reduction that makes me very happy! It is extremely comfortable to wear, a roomy size 12, button-through with side pockets. I could also wear it as a duster coat should I choose. In the afternoon the rain stopped so I climbed up the garden ladder to cut back some branches that were whipping about in the wind. The dress has an easy work-wear vibe that seems quite at home up a ladder in a gale!

Sharing with Patti at Not Dead Yet Style.

This month I'm reading.......

The mobile library stops outside our gate every other week and it's pot luck as to what books will be on offer. We can order books, which I now do for our reading group choices as they are rarely books that I want to keep and re-read.

Sally Rooney's 'Normal People' has received a great deal of praise. Well, I liked it well enough, but actually it made me feel very much of a different generation, critical of the behaviour of the central characters. Here is the blurb on the back cover and the opening page.

A book that I've just finished reading and absolutely loved is 'Olive Kitteridge'. The structure is interesting, each chapter being a stand alone story. Sometimes the central characters have all the action, other times they have just a fleeting walk-on role so that you see them from different points of view. This book I could really identify with (although I was surprised to read the age of thirty-nine described as middle aged and the seventies as OLD!) What a piece of work Olive is! I'm delighted to learn that a continuation of this book is just about to be published.

What makes you choose a particular book? I am very susceptible to an attractive cover. My friend has recently completed a book cover commission and has written about the process on her blog janethaighherwork.com Live a little. Do take a look. It was quite a business. I illustrated book covers when I was working, but never as complicated as this!

Here she is in my daughter's kitchen working on a heart.