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It is the end of my first week in Kenya. This year I got a sim card for my ipad so can keep in touch right from the village. I have been teaching a class of 60 grade 7 students with Jackie, my last year’s teaching partner who is filling in on her break from university. Those of you who are supporting her will be happy to know she is doing very well.

The first photo shows that the new school is well in its way to completion. But for now students are in the older building, under tents and outside under the trees. Here are the grade sevens getting ready to answer their letters from Park Dale.

In the afternoons I am working with a group of young women and we are hooking with t-shirts. They are very interested and making great progress.

They have drawn their own patterns and are making small trivets. We have no frames or cutters, but their progress is amazing.

The days are full, but I will write again soon.

I was in Toronto yesterday to get some new leather. And although it was so mild I did not need mittens, it was winter in the windows of the Bay. The Christmas windows on Queen and Yonge Streets in Toronto are a tradition and it is a delight to stand among the families, the children peering over the velvet rope to catch every detail.

Our family has had a love affair with Hudson Bay Blankets as long as I can remember. My parents bought me a red one over thirty years ago and, as the family story goes, braved icy roads to make sure it was there for Christmas. I had to include the picture of the mice sleeping under these iconic blankets–sorry I could not capture their chests rising and falling as they were in the window!

Yesterday was lovely in Paris when we boarded the train for Chartres one hour late (the early train was cancelled because of the strike.) But in Chartres it was overcast and the spires of the cathedral were bathed in fog. But nothing could diminish the stunning beauty of the cathedral and the ancient town around it.

I love the small details of craftsmanship which are everywhere.

Our train back to Paris was running on time and after a full day we were back in just under an hour–strikes or not, there is much to admire about the french transit system.

When we arrived last week, we drove to Weimar, a city full of history. The Bauhaus Museum was a highlight for me, especially the textiles. And we found a little yarn bombing just outside, although this looks manufactured rather than hand-made. The tag says “Stitch graffiti makes the world colourful and cozy.”

Of much more cultural significance…

That last photo is of the Geothe and Schiller statue in the square outside the Bauhaus Museum. After two days, not nearly long enough, we went to Leipzig to the Thomaskirche where Bach was the organist and Kappelmeister from 1723 until 1750. What a thrill to go inside and hear a choir practising!

We cycled through wonderful nature reserves and along the Adriatic to arrive in the Citta di Chioggia, a city of canals, known as the little Venice.

A breakfast of oysters and wine after a night of fishing…

There has been no sunshine in Montreal all week, but the streets are filled with inspiration. I love the architecture, the colours–the old city very much present. I’m writing from my ipad, getting used to this blogging app again, so things might look a bit differrent. I can’t adjust or crop photos, so the posts are ad hoc. But this is good practice for later in the month when I will be biking in Italy snd taking you along, I hope.