Moving into Teaching Seasion, but first My Big Fat Greek Bucket List Trip (Part 2): The Island of Crete

Tomorrow the Fall teaching season begins in earnest for me.  I will be teaching my first "Hosta Leaves 101" class in the Ottawa Valley at Textile Traditions of Almonte. The shop also carries my full line of Northcott Fabrics. So I do hope we'll get to try out some of the greens on this project. After Thanksgiving I will be heading off to teach in Saskatoon for a week. My calendar is really filling up for 2015.

Today I'm sharing with you the second post about the visual inspiration I experienced on my bucket list trip to Greece (ah, it seems so long ago now!).  I have been dreaming about dyeing a Mediterranean palette of blues, blue-greens, and soft earthy colours. The colour of the water was amazing. We rented a car during our 8 days on the Island of Crete. That enabled us to visit many little villages and beaches off the beaten track. I hope you enjoy the sights.

I love windows and doors in Europe, and yes I dream about making a series of quilts based on my photos.

There are a lot of cats on Crete, many of them homeless. They walk in and out of the restaurants hoping for food. Kind owners feed them as do tourists. 

There are a lot of restaurants and homes decorated in this clean, Mediterranean blue and white combination. I have been re-acquainted with my love of blue and white.

The village of Kritsa is well-known for its needlework. You can see women sitting around the village stitching or crocheting, and they are very proud of the fact that everything is done by hand. Many stores abound that sell their work.

Sofia owns a needlework shop, and posed for a photograph after I made a purchase in her store.

The streets of Kritsa

Bougainvillia hangs beautifully over the whitewashed walls. It was quite abundant.

Just look at the colour of the water!

This is a tiny fishing village named Mohlos. Quite scenic and quiet.

With a cat sleeping in a flower pot by the sea,.

This one asked for his share of our lunch and then fell asleep on a nearby wall.

The village of Krasi contains the oldest Sycamore tree in Europe. Writer Nikos Kazantzakis (Zorba the Greek, Last Temptation of Christ) was known to write under the shade of this tree (his wife grew up in this village. It is indeed an impressive tree.

Elounda is a bustling harbour town with small fishing and pleasure boats

and many restaurants with a view of the harbour. This was the view from ours.

The resident cat BonJo

The city of Rhythmno contains a beautiful Venetian harbour.

The village of Hamezi is small and quiet and very beautiful. Check out the size of this Bougainvillia compared to my size!

We came upon this dog sleeping in the town square at Sitia.

Shortly thereafter, he arrived at the restaurant we chose. He turned down food, and fell asleep on my husband's foot. He was so adorable that I would have loved to take him home. I hope he has a home.

Mountain goats spotted. The only wild animals we saw.

More cats sunning themselves.

Pomegranates grow widely.

The water is warm and the sky is almost always blue.

Here I am back in Canada, back on a busy schedule, and enjoying the colours of autumn. In my next blog post I will finish the Greek tour with photos of the Island of Santorini.