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The church bells in Stans wake us each morning. Today is Thursday and looks like another day of sunshine. We have been very lucky for the whole holiday with sunny cycling weather.

Yesterday was a day off cycling and we took the hop-on bus for a tour around the area. While we were waiting for the bus, I sat on the curb and sketched the church in Stans with pencil and a waterbrush–pretty fast. Then the open air bus took us through Schwaz and Vomp and back around through Stans before we got off in search of the Geiger factory. I have loved Geiger woollens since I was in highschool and I was delighted to find the outlet store. We asked if they sold remnant pieces of their fabric and the wonderful staff there told us to come back at 2pm. They recommended a bakery for lunch–and even in this industrial area, the bakery was a delight both for the building and the food..  Canada could learn alot from the Austrians–this is a chain of bakeries, but well done. You can  see  our  lattes  on the outdoor  table. Of course it helps to have the scenery you see below on all sides! This was taken as we drank our lattes.

Back at the Geiger factory, there was a big a pile of remnant pieces of wool in two weights waiting for us. We each loaded up with several pieces which they sold by the kilogram. Here is our combinded pile including the wool binding. And below that the sketch I did of our balcony after we got back.  I haven’t had much time to sketch on the trip and this too was a quick one. But it is great how sketching opens up conversations. The server, Tamas, even went to get his phone to show me his own art work. I love that about sketching.

The weather has been perfect for cycling. Our base is Stans at the Schwarzbrunn Hotel and each day we head out in a different direction. Monday we took the train to Mayerhofen and cycled 48k back to Stans along the Ziller River. Yesterday we cycled 50k along the Inn River to Rattenburg and Kufstein and took the train back. The scenery is breathtaking and the architecture and colours in the ancient towns are wonderful.

A well deserved break in Kufstein after 50k.

Day one. Sunshine! We started out after lunch and  cycled from Stans to Jenbach. From there we took a 100 year old steam train up a steep mountain to the Achensee and the resort town of Pertisau.  No wonder the Austrians love their mountains. The Achensee was turquoise and surrounded by more mountains. We cycled around a bit and then  back down a steep, twisting gravel roadway. A total of 42 km.

Below is the view from our room in Stans and scenes from the bike pathway to Jenbach including the Schloss Tratzberg nestled in the mountain.

 Here is our cycling guide, Nora, and part of the group posing before the steam engine, Georg, which pushed us up the mountain to Pertisau.

We had three days of sun in Chur Switzerland, great for walking and sketching. Here is a  quick sketch of the Rhaetian Railway Offices just outside the old town  where I sat on a bench with a view of this glorious old building.

Last night we went to a wonderful Busker’s Festival, had a meal at the Arcas cafe and then listened along with a large crowd to Jon Kenzie, a talented guitarist from Manchester. We followed the meal with a huge gelato. Lucky we are starting to bike tomorrow!

I have been screen printing some baby gifts. Here are a few. I think the Bird with Attitude looks pretty cute on these 12 month old pieces.

The first birdbrain post was on March 28 2011. I had begun making hooked bags and screen-printed canvas pouches and wanted a way to share what I was doing. In the three plus years since then, I have written 486 posts. This link takes you to those early days and my hooked bags and the very first leather bags–bags which evolved naturally when I was searching for a lighter option to the hooked bag. These two leather bags, the Grape and Espresso photographed in this post, are still in use and still look great. (So are the three hooked bags!) It makes me happy to see people using the things I have made and even happier to see the products standing up to the wear and tear of living. Over the three years I have had a few pieces back for repair–and I encourage this. I want the things I make to have a long life.

But today, I’ve been thinking about the blog and where we have been together. Travel to France, Italy, Germany, and of course Kenya–rug hooking, leather bags, screen printing and sketching. My early description of the blog which is still on the top right said it was a place where I muse about my creative life. And I guess I am still musing. And still creating.

On that note I’ve been designing some new bags. A little while ago I found some super black waxed canvas which still had the Eddie Bauer tag on the bolt. And I still have some great moss green waxed canvas in my store room. I want to combine both of these durable, waterproof fabrics  with leather to make some shoulder bags and a totes. I like bags with exterior pockets and lots of options for storage inside. These bags will also have an ipad sleeve inside. I like to line them with canoe canvas because it is so durable. Here is the start of the designs. I’ll post them again as they take shape. And by the way, if you have any ideas about a bag or case you would like, please send me your ideas and request.One final note about what’s coming up. I got this wonderful pattern in the post last week from Donna Hrkman. I saw it when I was in Donna’s class in Seattle in March. I do not usually hook patterns from other designers, but I fell in love with this one. Donna added a baby bird to the design, making it a perfect gift for some of my favourite Birds. I’ve already started laying out colours. It will be good to get back to hooking. I’m a bit stymied by my large rug at the moment, and I think this Partridges and Pears runner is just the thing to get me back at the hooking frame.

I have been away all this week in a warm place. This was a family venture  and wonderful for that, but there have  been some great side benefits. I’ve had a chance to think some things through, sketch every day and read in the afternoons! I finished an Ian Rankin and am well into Americanah–I will write about it in a subsequent post. Enough to say now that I am captivated by the main character’s dilemma. A transplanted Nigerian, she is struggling with the ideas of home, loyality and the cost of success.

Here is breakfast, signed by my server. It is hard to have a ‘real’ interaction with any of the staff here, so schooled are they in silent servitude, but sketching has broken down that wall over and over this week. And that has been wonderful.  Below this are a couple more pages from my sketchbook.

These days I am sewing madly for my annual sale.  Of course this is when inspiration hits and I don’t have time to make all the things that I’m dreaming up. But there will be some new bags and a new design for finger-free gloves and mittens in the coming days–and, I am hoping, cashmere leg warmers if they work out!! But all this means that I won’t be putting anything in the on-line store until after November 25. If you see something that you want, please just email me and we can talk. There will still be time for Christmas even if the present is for yourself!

Not many words needed for these three markers. Just a deep acknowledgement to Mary Pratt for the second image and more.

The hooking group is making great progress. Some are working on their second and third projects. We are runnimg out of t-shirts so they are bringing material from home. And we have found big rolls of jersey in dark colours in the supply cupboard. This will be great for backgrounds–and every rug hooker knows it is a comfort to have enough background.

Last week two groups of elementary students came to see what we are doing. The young women were so helpful teaching the children and the two teachers got a chance to try their hand at hooking. All the donated hooks were in use! It was a delight to watch.