On Our Own

We ventured out on our own again. Caught a train to Tangier. We contemplated staying here for the night but decided merely to have lunch at a downtown café recommended by two fellow passengers on the train. So we caught a taxi, found the café and tried out some of the local servings.

We also walked through a town square overlooking the port. This was a very hectic area. Lots of traffic of all kinds. We got directions and decided we could walk to the ferry port. Whew!! A very windy roadway through an area crowded with little shops. Mind you, we were dragging a small rolling back and backpack each. But we made it just in time to catch the ferry (which was very nice) and make our way to Spain!  
 **** Side note here**** if we appear in all of these photos in the same clothes, it is true. We did our best to pack lightly. We washed out things in motel bathrooms and I'm happy to say the only items neither of us used was the bathing suits. Turned out, the weather everywhere was just a little nippy for swimming. In fact, in later pictures, you may notice we look a little "thicker" because we were wearing two layers of shirts plus sweaters and jackets.

Anyway, here is our ferry and us riding comfortably inside.

We landed in Algeciras, Spain. This was the fort located at the port. We chose not to tour but boarded a bus to take us in to town.



 

This was the first of many, many fields of wind turbines we were to see while in Spain.

We were delivered to our hotel which faced the port where the shipping containers were being

off-loaded and loaded. While it was very industrial, it was also well lit at night and sort of pretty.

 

This was the view from our hotel room and now began our adjustment to life in Spain. We went to our first restaurant to enjoy Tapas, but made the mistake of going at 7:30pm. They did serve us and it was very good, but truly I am not even sure they were open for business. We did go later to another café and eat a Tapas and have a glass of wine - now about 10pm and the place was quite busy.

 

Our other new experience was to go to the department store, locate an ATM and get some Euros. Don't laugh, but using an ATM is not something we are used to doing (just not something we have ever chosen to use at home), so we thought the event was worth memorializing in a photo.

 

We then crashed. It had been a long day and the next day was to be our trip over to Gibraltar.

The Rest of the Story...

So, my intention was to keep posting a few pictures as the vacation went along. But, poor service or lack or internet availability coupled with the fact that we were pretty darn busy, prevented that from happening. So, I will try to recap.
After visiting Marrakesch, we returned to Rabat. We took a day trip to an ancient Roman site, Volubilis. This was a settlement constructed on what was probably originally a Carthaginian city, dating from 3rd century B.C. Our daughter and her family as well as another family they are friends with in Rabat went along. You can see in the picture below there was nothing but a gaggle of little boys on this trip (only three are our grandsons).

The country side around this area was beautiful. Lots of farming going on.

Lots of mosaic flooring.

I believe this was the Hammam area (baths).

 

I will post again soon with more of Philip and Judy's Great Adventure.

WindSongs on Vacation

We are in Morocco once again. First, we saw Jenny and family in Rabat. We visited for a couple of days, played with the three ever growing grandsons. But they did need to keep going to school, so we took off on our own for a couple of days and traveled by train to Casablanca and then Marrakech. We visited the third largest mosque in the world and the largest open to non Muslims in Cassablanca. It was quite inspiring.
Then we made our way to Marrakech and stayed in a lovely Riad.

Philip at the door to the Road that was in an alley you would have been a afraid to go into if you didn't know you were supposed to. 

In the courtyard.

The door to our room.

The owner of the Road was wonderful. This is his home actually. 

WHEN NOT MAKING BELLS.......

Sadly, instead of watching the Olympics, part of Philip's days lately have been spent repairing an unexpected plumbing leak that required digging up the walkway and planter outside the back door, digging up pipe, replacing with new pipe, running a new pipe inside a closet and on and on. The repair took four days and was not in the warmest of weather at times.

 

Help from our cat, Marble.

 

The new pipe outside the house...

 

 

... and it now runs inside the house through the back of our closet. 

While I've Been Gone,

While I haven't been writing, we have been busy, not just goofing off. The bell shop stayed open and we did two shows. Midland was good to Philip as always and the Huffines Art Walk was great. The weather even cooperated in Arlington this year. You never know with that show. Last year we froze most of the weekend.

Fall came and we did experience some color change, even here in the Texas Hill Country.

 

This sumac is out in the lower pasture.

 

Couldn't resist this weed picture taken at the county park near us.

Also from the county park.

                                 
I could not take a picture that actually did justice to this beautiful tree, possibly a Bradford Pear? It belongs to my neighbor who lives right at the turn onto Welfare Road. It is stunning every year.

From my front porch.

 

 

Update

The Midland Art Show was a great success. Philip went alone, but caught up on the gossip and Midland news from all the regular customers. Apparently some sort of confusion occurred and he was not assigned his usual booth space. We think most people who looked for him, did indeed find him. However, if you are reading this and you are a Midland customer who didn't see him, certainly let us know if you needed a bell.

The next show will be in Richardson, TX at the Huffhines Art Trails on Oct 26-27th. It is always a great show even if the weather can sometimes be a little chilly!

And finally, another picture of one of the bells in its new home. This one hangs from a tree in a lovely backyard in Austin, TX.

        And yes, there is a pipe chime hanging in the same tree, but that's ok with us. Really.... it is.

Catching UP

So, it has been a while since I posted. I will give a quick re-cap.

Here is a picture from one of our great customers. These are their bells hanging in the beautiful area of The Woodlands.

 

We visited with this couple and many, many more wonderful customers and friends at the Rockport Show. And while  it was hot that weekend, it certainly wasn't the hottest weekend we

ever spent there.

 

Since Rockport, we have been busy with lots of personal things. The most important of all was the visit from both of our daughters and their families. I will remind those of you who have known us for a long time, that those show notices that announced the birth of a grandchild totaled FIVE and all five of those cuties spent two weeks with us. There is one seven year old, two five year olds and two two year olds. Four boys and one girl. Now, there were six adults present, so we should have had no problems.  Philip and I forgot what it took to feed, bathe and entertain so many little kids. In fairness, remember, we only raised two sweet, docile (ha) little girls . Well, I have a new weight loss program for anyone interested. I will loan you these five kiddos... I lost five pounds trying to keep up!

 

But, we had a great time. They are gone now and we miss them (and their noise) and their parents very much.

 

So... now it is back to work. The next show coming up will be in Midland in September.

 

                                                           Septemberfest!!

                                              http://museumsw.org/septfest

                                                 

 

 

 

I