.....breaking news

well that holiday certainly came to an abrupt end........

 When we left Calpe we drove up in to the Sierra Nevada mountains, with the intention of stopping for 1 night and then travelling on to Castro Verde in Portugal. The scenery en route really was stunning (a much over-used word now) but it was beautiful - the almond trees were in flower and the distant mountains still had a dusting of snow on the peaks.

We arrived on Friday, with the intention of getting a local bus in to Granada, but it was such a beautiful sunny day that we decided to relax and soak in the view.

Next morning we got up early and caught the bus to the centre of Granada, a city almost unrivalled for it's beauty and architecture.

  The entire city has been declared a national monument, and it is easy to see why.

We have visited twice before so  had already done a tour of the beautiful Alhambra (Arabic for "the red one").  With that in mind we walked up the hilly cobbles to the Mirador de san Nicolas to see the amazing view.

 By now there was a steady drizzle of rain which made the ancient cobbles wet and slippery. We made it safely to the bottom and decided to have morning coffee in a hotel whilst waiting for the bus back. It was then that I slipped on the cobbles with a bang! Bruised coccyx, sprained left wrist and broken right wrist. The rest of the day was spent in the local hospital  where I was x-rayed and had my right (dominant) arm put in a cast and advised to go home for further treatment.

The last night before catching the ferry we stayed at the aire at Gace in northern France.

 I love this little town which was  the birthplace of famous courtesan Marie Duplessis, a poor uneducated girl who became the most elegant and most courted woman in Paris. The novel "La Dame aux Camelias" by Alexander Dumas was based on her story and was later adapted for the stage.

 Unfortunately the museum in the chateau has always been closed when we have been there - I would love to see the actual dresses she wore to the opera

we had a 1,600 mile journey home which was most uncomfortable and very sore.

5 weeks later.....

I am  sitting here, unable to do any crafting, which is so frustrating. I am using my time planning more tatted jewellery, painting and building a supply of ribbons for my new obsession - French ribbon embroidery. I bought a beautiful book by Di Van Niekerk and can't wait to get started so watch this space.

I don't know what happened to my guardian angel on that trip (wrong choice of word), but I did paint a feather - a request from my friend Agnes

in 10 days I will have the cast removed and hope to be told the bone (radius) is healing well