I showed you the sweater I started, I forgot to block and photograph the shawl I finished.
First of all, despite buying the correct amount of yarn, I ran out. So instead of wasting money buying another large skein of yarn, I did what any quilter would do, find something that will compliment the main yarn.
I only had about 8 rows left, I think the dark brown creates a nice border.
Then the shawl just languished. I was too lazy to pull out my blocking mats, wires, and pins. So I didn’t. Then I remembered, before everybody got into cold blocking, we used to block with steam, with our irons. So that’s what I did, took much less time and worked just fine.
It is 100 degrees here now, no way am I putting on a wool shawl for photography. These days my dress form gets more use as a model than for sizing my clothes. Oh well, at least it’s getting used.
I like the border, a nice finishing touch. What we call a design element -really I meant to have it there all along.
Front view.
Side view.
Folded view, this is going into the gift pile. Someone lucky will receive it at Christmas time.
I continued work on the guild block. Apparently, I’m the only one working on a block, a number of people are working on the borders. There will be 4 central blocks, so I’m way ahead of the game.
Now, to add more layers.
I’ve gotten as far as I can get. Waiting for instructions on a central yellow yo-yo. I have the fabric, just waiting for an email with the size of yo-yo.
So now I can go back to my Hawaiian applique.
Leah
A lot of that nervous energy has been going into making pineapple blocks. I didn’t do the math before hand, turns out I need 50…… I really don’t make queen size quilts, yup it’s a project!
I want to start a baby quilt! but at least need to finish this top first. Then I have to wait until Ruth’s long arm is free. Once the top is done, I can seriously think about a baby quilt for my grandson.
This is an amazing project. I shared this image on Deb Tuckers FB page and she responded in person. Once I’m done, she could use this as advertising for her rulers.
The honey bee is 6″, now to figure out how to build the pineapple around him.
It worked!
One bee is cute, but certainly not enough.
So I made another one. 
Much better, I only have three more blocks to go and the top will be done!
The color is pretty accurate here. Turns out I had the wrong size needle. So I frogged and started over.
Out in the bright sunlight, it looks much bluer and I’m too lazy to edit the photo.
I have been working away on this special quilt. Pineapple blocks take a lot of work, but look at the results. It took a while to get the knack of using the rulers, but now I could probably make them in my sleep.
A little while ago I agreed to make a block for the Valley Quiltmakers opportunity quilt. Right, as soon as things get very busy I’ve been given the block. So I started in on the project. Luckily along with the pattern and fabrics, I was given the bias tape already made. That is a big help. Notice the small flower?
turns out, it didn’t fit when I traced the whole pattern. Luckily when I pointed this out, I was told to just remove the small flowers.
So this is coming along.
This quilt was gifted at the baby shower. I must say, baby quilts are much easier than queen size ones. They take much less time!
Tree of life and look! a comfortable bench! Pity I only discovered this on the last night, I could have come to this empty hallway and sat down.
No plaque to tell me what this is. I identify it as a central Asian applique and embroidery. Might have been created for the walls of tents. Just guessing.
Since the steppes of Central Asia are very barren, it’s not surprising that their textiles would be very bright. I do know that Wynn has an incredible art collection. I’m glad he felt confident to display these, although in an area that gets very little foot traffic.
Las Vegas florists have their hands full – which is a very good thing.
When we arrived these orchids were by the elevators.
A few days later and they were replaced by these roses. As I said, the florists are doing well.
I love all the opulence and textures here, sure it’s over the top, but it is done so well. I don’t want this in my house, but how wonderful that it is available to the public, just walk in off the street.
A little blurry, the centerpiece in one of the restaurants. I think these are real flowers.
These are not, and yet, they are lovely. The carousel moves around, no one can sit on the horses, but everyone is taking selfies in front of it.
On a slightly smaller scale, I’d be happy to have one of these lamps in my home.
Aside from an amazing engineering feat, this is also a wonderful example of Art Deco, seeing that it was constructed between 1931 – 1936. The wonderful copper structure in the foreground is the visitors center much newer than the Dam, I do love how it mimics the same design elements.
Some purists would call this Faux Deco, because it is much newer and wasn’t built during the Art Deco period. I say phooey to them, I hate those ‘purists’ design is design and good design should be kept alive and reused.
Boy is the surrounding desert stark, and very hot.
Which makes Lake Mead all the more impressive in its deep blue color.
There are two clocks on either side of the dam since the dam straddles Nevada and Arizona. Sorry, I didn’t walk over to take a picture of the Arizona clock – it was just too hot! Nevada is on the Pacific clock, while Arizona is on mountain time. But Arizona doesn’t switch over to day light savings, so during the summer, the clocks share the same time.
I know these two angels signify something, to me they are just beautiful Art Deco Sculptures. Can you see how the toes are shiny? Yup, people passing by rub those toes and the green patina has rubbed off.
Old terrazzo design by the angels.
And a more modern design inside the turbine room.
There are 17 of these turbines, half on the Nevada side and the half on the Arizona side. The massive amounts of electricity are sold, 56% to CA, 33% to Arizona and 19% to Nevada.
It’s time for some of those exterior shots. Yes, you can find better ones, but I’m using what I could get on my camera. All of this concrete is still curing, the devised a cooling method with water, so they could continue to build up the dam, and yet, concrete takes a very long time to cure, especially when using over 3 million tons of concrete.
The water coming out from the turbines.
This image is amazing for a number of reasons, most notably the bridge. This was completed in 2010 as a by-pass, all the traffic on the dam was doing harm and was dangerous from a security point of view. The road on both sides is very treacherous, so a by pass on the freeway was called for.
And now I will quote Wikipedia: “The bridge was the first concrete-steel composite arch bridge built in the United States,
This Tudor style in Montreux next to the very blah modern buildings. I’d guess this is late 19th century, it’s not true Tudor. It has so much more character than the modern buildings next door.
Why not go for Indian elements? It is a mish-mash, yet it works, maybe because the designer just went with what they wanted.
Our Chalet was very modern, which worked great for a large group. Every room had a bathroom, you can see the chairs in the big window because most of the top floor was open space, 26 of us fit around a few tables for dinner.
I think this is a more modern building with a nod to the past.
I want to call this Art Deco, and yet, because of the mosaic, this is the side of good old Banque De Chamonix, so it probably predates Art Deco. Which just comes to show, what we think of as signature elements of a style, was around before hand. 
Love the colors!T
This hotel was built in the 1880’s. During WWII the daughter hid Jews who were trying to escape to Switzerland just a few miles away. She was awarded a Righteous Person recognition from Yad Vashem. Her granddaughter now runs the hotel.
A farm house turned restaurant. Many of these buildings are decorated with old farm tools.
Others have stuffed animals. This wasn’t the only building I saw with an animal outside. All that wood!!! Didn’t stop amazing me.
More old decorative elements.
And more wood and flowers.
Painting on a small scale.
And on a large scale.
Graffiti encroaches.
Even in Switzerland.
The smoke stack of an old industrial building, with running water nearby.
Sheep in the front yard in Chamonix. As much as this has become a ski resort, the locals still do their own thing.
The hills are steep but they aren’t very green. I searched out the one green shady area in the mountains, Amir’s Garden.
What started as a one man project has become a wonderful shady hideaway. Since Amir’s death, the park takes some responsibility while volunteers do the rest.
Amir came to Los Angeles from Iran, and like many other Iranians immigrants – brought wonderful changes to the city, or in his case, the park.
The garden is less than half a mile from Griffith Park Rd, but it’s a steep climb. 
Today many different paths meander through this lush garden.
Some of our hikes in the Alps looked like this, here we only had a short time in the shade, before it was back to the hot sun and the dry surroundings.
Not everything is planted in the ground, some are sculptures. There are also benches and even a horse trough, since Griffith Park is a favorite place to ride horses. 
He planted a fig tree! Since this is a mediterranean climate, the tree thrives here. Right now the fruit is too small, but I do hope that people enjoy it when it’s ripe.
This is a boy-scout camp, it reminds me of the picture I took in France, a lone house in a field of green. Well, I had to really crop out all the gold and brown, to get this much green in the picture.
Up we went, to a point where we could almost see the Hollywood sign. This is one of the radio towers on Mt. Lee above the sign. I was tired, I wasn’t do a good job of framing my photos, right next to this branch is the foreground you can barely see the D of the sign. It’s there, I swear it is!
This isn’t a pathway, it’s a channel to direct water downhill. There are so many water towers as well as a few resevoirs in this park. Good water management.
We took a shortcut, once again, not the best shot, the road below us was really steep! We met someone who was hiking up – ah Los Angeles! We do have some very interesting people here. He said, rightfully so, that going down would really hurt his knees, so he walks up and takes a longer path down.
Cafe La Terrasse in Chamonix is a wonderful example of Art Nouveau. Just like Beaux Arts, the buildings don’t look alike at all, they simply share similar philosophies. In reaction to modernization and mass production – Art Nouveau looks like something that was painstakingly made by hand. Anything but a sharp edge or a straight line.
It takes some sophisticated machinery to acheive this ‘natural’ look. It also takes a lot of design, man power and engineering to get the curved columns and the oval windows. I do agree that there is something very pleasing to the eye to have these rounded shapes and wonderful naturlistic vines.
Not sure about a whole block of buildings that look like this, I’m happy that they stand out in a crowd. I do love all the details, even that dusty rose pink color. 
Look how simple the adjoining building looks by comparrison. Although as I look at the windows, I see detail and planning that would be non-existant today. I didn’t go inside, I did look online, the exterior is the star, not the interior.
We went to Montreux in Switzerland, where I was happy to see many examples of Art Nouveau. See the contrast between the elaborate building in the background and the sparse apartment building in front of it. Art Nouveau is New Art in French. The ‘newest’ style is always, new, or modern or some other catch phrase. Sometimes, the New actually sticks, long after we see it as old and vintage.
The best way to describe Art Nouveau would be: overly ornamented. It also means that it was beig built at a time of prosperity. A time when people expected each building to be it’s own masterpiece that would survive forever. Another concept that died in two world wars. No matter how tall and imposing our buildings are today – they don’t have the artistic details. As if we know that very few of them will be worth preserving for centuries.
Extensive iron and glass awnings are wonderful areas for extensive designs.
How about this tower? Why can’t we have more towers! 
As we exited the train station, this is what I saw to my right, wedding cake kitsch in all its’ glory! I’ve looked online for information but found none. What is clear is that at some point two more stories were added. When I don’t know but talk about disrupting a building! If this addition saved it from being demolished, it was worth while, but still…..
I guess it’s an office building, there is a sign that something is available for rent.
There is another funky building between this and the train tracks, but still if these are apartments, the funkiness of the building may make it worthwhile.
Clearly, someone thought it was worth it to add to stories of blah above this magnificence. 
I really didn’t get enough details! But no one wanted to stand there with me while I tried to photograph from every angle.
Gold mosaic is a big part of Art Nouveau, there will be a seperate post on mosaics. I’m also loving this dragon or serpaint crawling along the marble.
Here’s the view from our chalet, snow, glacier, and. Right blue skies.
time to take the Mont Blanc tramway up to one of the peaks.
one of the longest cog railways in the world. World War l puts an end to these. Years later the gondola will become the favored technology. 
The view all the way up is amazing.
Watching the tram go back down the mountain. 
Looking back down into the valleys below. 
A glacier closes up, as it slowly moves down the mountain, it scrapes the rock and it becomes incorporated into the mass, changing the color to grey. 
The cloud formations are equally fascinating.
A wobbly bridge over a gushing river? No Way!
but to be able to look down on a view like this? Priceless.
We took to cable cars to get to the Aiguille du Midi, this is part of Mont Blanc, what they call needles in French we call minarets. 
I need to clean my camera lens, otherwise, what a cute couple!
This tower reinforces the idea of the needle. Very visible from the valley below.
Cable car going to Italy.
Glacier hikers.
And rock climbers. I love watching other people do these kind of physical challenges.
Tried to go out early, but it wasn’t early enough. Our goal was the Nike Station that I shared from afar a few months ago. So up to the top of Reseda Blvd we went, here stopping and looking back down into the valley.
I don’t know when this became a state park, or if it always was, when they put up this fancy sign. 
Our walk took us east on dirt Mulholland. Mulholland Drive starts in the Hollywood Hills and goes all the way to the ocean. Well part of it does, the part called Mulholland Highway. For 8.5 miles from Encino to Woodland Hills the road isn’t paved – hence dirt MulhollandT. Which makes it perfect for hikers and mountain bikers alike.
The morning June haze was still visible over the valley, it quickly burned off as the day got hot. By the time we finished our hike it was 88 degrees and we felt every single one of them. We weren’t the only crazy people out there, a lot of hardy folk were on foot and bike.
Here, looking southwest towards the city and the ocean. It’s a good 12-mile hike, my son has done it, not sure if it’s on my bucket list. Certainly not when the weather is this hot.
We didn’t make it all the way to the Nike site, did I mention it was hot? Our whole hike was five miles, in two hours. Not bad, when the weather is cooler adding another two miles to get to the Nike site and back will be very doable. As it was, we stopped at any shady place we could, and there weren’t many.
I took this picture because it was on a hillside opposite us and Joel wanted to know what that shiny thing was. I was right, I said it’s probably some escaped milar balloons.