Fair Flowers

You knew sooner or later I would get around

to flowers too. There have been some neat ones

here. The bright yellow one is a squash blossom

I believe; the purple one was a wildflower; the

others have all been in gardens or pots in yards

or patios.

Daisies are my favorite flower, and I

bought the most unusual ring today. The artist

who makes this jewelry dips natural things in

pure silver and gold, and makes wearable art of

them. The ring I bought is a small daisy made

into a ring. The petals are silver, the center is

gold, and the band is made from a daisy leaf. It

is very unique and I will treasure it. Her website

is: www.thallo.com It is called everlasting floral

jewelry. Check it out, and I am sure they will

ship something to you!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Window to the Soul

I am always intrigued by windows. They

usually make charming subjects to paint.

These are just a sampling of the many I

have seen so far.

Several are in the town of Corfu, and I

commented to the guide that it looked a

great deal like the French Quarter in New

Orleans, or very much like Venice. The

Venetians controlled Corfu for awhile, and

I guess that is where the influence is from.

The stone wall and the little lace curtain one

are from villages along the way, and look like

they could be Middle Eastern and Alpine...

lots of influences here I think!

If you will let me know your favorite one,

I will paint one when I return, and give it

away to a follower of the blog. So, sign up to be

a follower, vote for your favorite window to be

painted, and you could be the lucky winner!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Food Alpha to Omega

Back to food...I decided to do a few "theme"

posts. If you didn't like the boats, maybe you

will like the food. It goes from them delivering

fresh bread to a bakery, to a little woman shopping

in a sidewalk market, to selections of fresh honey

and preserves in the markets, to two very nice

places to eat (one that specializes in chocolate...

can you say, paradise...), and finally to my lunch

yesterday, small spinach pies served in a sidewalk

cafe in downtown Corfu. I also had peach iced

tea and fresh bread. doesn't get much better

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Whatever Floats your Boat

Wouldn't you like to be on that big sailboat

right about now? me too. I love boats, and

I am very happy, because they are everywhere

over here. Everywhere I turn is another

charming set of boats. The small fishing boats

were by a lake we passed on the way; the huge

ferry was our transportation to the island of

Corfu; and the other boats were in various

places on the island itself.

I did a couple of small watercolors in my

sketchbook of some of the boats. When I was

painting on the seaside in Corfu, I met the

most delightful people, all from England.

One couple was from London, and she was an

artist as well, and we enjoyed looking at each

other's sketchbooks. They gave me a great tip

about where to go to see some more great sites.

And the other couple was traveling from Great

Britain as well, and they enjoyed watching me

finish up the painting. That is something that I

enjoy very much about painting on location. I

do not mind at all if someone wants to watch, and

I so enjoy talking with them. You can usually learn

something new each time.

For those of you new ones tuning in, I will have

lots of paintings for sale after I get back, and if

you see something you like, let me know. I am

very inexpensive, and we can work something out!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Great Day in Corfu

That is the sunrise over the island of

Corfu where we spent the day yesterday.

(aren't all of you proud of me that I was

up before sunrise!)

Our morning tour started at the palace of

some of the royal family. It was beautifully

decorated, and had really nice gardens. That

is a bronze statue of Achilles that was in the

garden, and the marble one is of him as well,

only as he was dying from the wound to his

Achilles heel. (if you have any questions,

just rent the movie, "Troy" and enjoy Brad

Pitt's body). Moving on, we did a walking tour

of the downtown, including the plaza, small

city streets and shops, and a church. The cute

boy wanted me to take his picture, and I have

forwarded it to a friend already! The vegetable

markets were everywhere, and I always enjoy

seeing all those things they take home to cook.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

On the Way to Corfu

Don't you love a fruit stand? I do, and

we saw some great ones on our drive to

Corfu yesterday. I just had to post these:

(don't you just love all the different sizes?)

Anyway, there is the stand itself, the

beautiful cherries, which our tour director

bought for us and we all tasted, the bags of

beans (look close Pea Patch people and you

will see some black eyed peas..), and the

wonderful garlic, that will probably become

a pencil drawing after I get home. whew...

that was a long sentence. more later after

I catch my breath.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Meteora day 4

I am up at 6:30 am blogging...most of you know

I am not a morning person. Something about the

time difference, or maybe my excitement about

the day's sites to see.

These pics are from our day in Meteora. The kitten

was napping on my stroll through the town of

Kalambaka, which is where we stayed. It was

a charming town, and I enjoyed walking all through

it.

Then there are the photos of the holy Meteora region.

It is so hard to describe. There are these huge rocks,

results of erosion, that loom over the landscape, and

look other worldly. And miraculously, perched on top

of these bizarre rock formations, are these ancient

buildings: monasteries built by the monks in the

17th century or so. There are six altogether, and we

toured 2, currently run as convents by Greek Orthodox

nuns. fascinating. You must climb a number of

steps to get there, and all of the supplies, building

materials, etc were brought up by ropes, pullies,

baskets. unbelievable

The chapels are decorated with frescoes or paintings

of the life of Christ. The nuns rise at 4:30 to the

sound of someone tapping on the long wooden board

that is supposed to imitate the sounds aboard the

Ark. The Ark is a symbol of refuge and salvation,

and they feel that is their life as well. They pray for

four hours, then do the work of the convent for the

rest of the day until the afternoon prayers, again for

four hours. amazing devotion, so humbling to me

I am resizing the photos so they can load faster. I

know they look small...hopefully you can click on

them to enlarge some. We are off to do a walking

tour of Corfu this morning, and I will post some

pics tonight of this beautiful city.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Delphi Day photos

After we left Athens, we traveled to Delphi. We

passed the fruit stand on the way; I thought all

you Louisiana people would like those watermelons!

Then, those are pics from the Delphi site. The first one

is the temple treasury. It wasn't necessarily where

they kept money, it was where they kept items the

worshippers brought to the temple. The next one is

the actual temple itself, and it is perched high on the

cliff as well. The walk up was difficult; the marble

steps are worn so smooth by the millions of people

that have made their way up there for the last 3

thousand years! And it was only 103 degrees.... The

next one is our guide, Penny, who was passionate about

sharing her knowledge about the site. And the final

one is just a pretty view of the more familiar temple

colums at Delphi (they are tiny there in the distance).

sheltongail@hotmail.com