Enjoy 2016!

Painting made by the Art teacher of my school to decorate the hall! Touched by me on picmonkey.
Hope you enjoy the new year!

One Lovely Blog Award

One Lovely Blog award was given to me back in April by dear June of Butterfly Wings blog. Thank you June!
The rules for this award are similar to the previous ones.
1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post.
2.Share seven facts about yourself.
3. Nominate ten other bloggers for the award.
Again I will do half of this. I will answer the seven facts but I will not nominate anyone. Feel free to do this if you like and tell me so.
Seven facts about myself.
1. I spend too much time on the computer.
2. I love coffee.
3.I know how to drive but I don't drive.
4. I have been married twice.
3.I have travelled to Greece, Turkey, the Chech Republic,Spain,Bulgaria, Austria, Finland, France, England, Malta,Serbia, Romania and the United States.
4. I love blue colour in all its hues.
5. I wish I could speak more languages apart from Greek, English, German and a bit of Spanish and Turkish.
6. I love teaching to young children and especially using fairy tales so this year I am in a programme to teach English with Fairy Tales.
7. I had 100 pen friends around the world when I was a teenager.

Liebster Award

One more award came around February 2015 (how time flies again!!!!) from sweet Thalia of Zographotechnimata blog.Thank you dear!
It was a Liebster award.
Here are the rules as I found them in Thalia's blog.
1. Thank the blogger who awarded you.
2.Add the Liebster Award picture in your blog.
3.Answer ten questions.
4. Nominate ten other blogs.
 So here are my answers to Thalia's questions in brief.
I am sorry again but I won't nominate any bloggers. Feel free to do this if you like.
1. Why did you start your blog?
To communicate with people around the world and show them my country, and me and my hobbies.
2.What makes you happy?
To be at the beach collecting sea glass. Hugging my dog Barca. Making crafts. Spending time with my family and friends. A beautiful sunset.Reading books. Teaching. (Not in that order!)
3.Why do you believe comments help bloggers?
Because they feel that someone reads their blog and supports them in some way. They don't feel that their words just evaporate into thin air.
4.What do you write about in your blog?
About my life, my trips, my hobbies.
5.Have you become friends with other bloggers?Have you met them personally?
Yes I have become friends with many bloggers. I have met some personally too.
6.What would you like your blog to be like in two years' time?
I just hope it exists and I still have the time and patience to write in it.
7.What do you do best?
Teaching I guess and cross stitch! But it's better others say what I do best! (Don't ask my husband.He'll say I am very good at complaining all the time!)
8.How much time do you spend on your blog?
An hour every three days but I used to spend much more time in the previous years. I am trying to stay a bit away from the computer lately.
9.How do you write your posts?
I look into what I did in a week and write some things about my favourite things of that period of time.
10.Wishes for the reader.
Since it will be the New Year in just two days I wish my readers and followers all the best for 2016 with peace and happiness in everyone's heart and life.

The Versatile Blogger Award

Back in January 2015 (how time flies!) Mindy of Mindy's Needlework Mania  had nominated me for the Versatile Bloggers Award.
Thank you so much Mindy!
The thing is I never find enough time for anything anymore either because I procrastinate or because I have too much to do. So I didn't continue the fun of the award.
Here are the rules as I got them from Mindy's blog.

• Show the award on your blog.
• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Share seven facts about yourself.
• Nominate 15 blogs.
• Link your nominees’ blogs, and let them know.

Unfortunately I will only answer the seven facts about me and won't be nominating any one as I don't have that many friends interested in blog awards. If any of the followers-readers is interested in doing this please feel free to do so! Just let me now.
Here I am adding the seven facts about me.

1. Although I love cross stitch it's the last thing I ever deal with after all my hobbies in a day because my eyes don't help me that much any more!

2. I prefer the sun and sea to cold and rain.

3. I don't really care about house chores and would have loved a perfectly clean house but that's not really possible, is it? Especially with a fur shedding dog!

4. I really have too many things, and collect even more!

5. I don't have green fingers at all and only succulents can survive in my house!

6. I had my gall bladder removed this summer!

7. I collect sea glass and I would love to be able to do something important with all of it in my life!Turn it into a business like they do in the States for example but that's not possible in my country!

Well, that's all folks. I still have a couple more awards to take part in and answer.
Here I would love to thank everyone for nominating me but please do not do so in future as I don't have time for them.
Thank you!

Little houses ...in my closet!

I have shown you quite a few times the workshops I take part in with Anna of In My Closet.
This time it was a workshop to make little paper houses, fill them in with chocolate and give them away to the Dromoi Zois (Life roads) bazaar. Dromoi zois is a voluntary organization for the assistance of people marginalized by society.
Anna invited us in her confy kitchen.
Kikitsa of DIY my day showed us how to make the little houses. These are her houses and the pattern.

Here's what I made.

 Of course we had to eat again!So many delicious things. Clockwise Anna's cheese pie, Elsa's Christmas cookies, my orange pie and Kikitsa's Oreo cake.

And of course Vasso's red velvet cookies.

And we made so many beautiful houses.

And we welcomed new people in our company of friends.
Elsa made those lovely biscuits. One for my stomach and one for my Xmas decorations!

Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas Eve walking at the city centre, enjoying music and views of smiling people and meeting friends by chance! It's a small world!
Kroustophono music group singing traditional carols.

 Yuppi Camp singing carols for the Smile of the Child.

 People and especially children having fun at Aristotelous Square.

Have a great Christmas everyone!

Secret Santa

Zina of Efzin Creations blog organized one more Secret Santa exchange this year.
Zina has a lovely blog and you should follow it and get ideas how to make beautiful simple things.
This year the person I had to send my gift to was Zina herself and I was really happy about this.
So I made this for her.
I stitched a Prairie Schooler design I had won in a giveaway by Gillie, a stitching friend.

 I backed it with fabric I had won at another giveaway by Sarah of Sarah in stitches.And I used some vintage trimming I had found a long time ago but loved how the trimming matched the colours of the Santa. And finished it as a pinkeep for the first time and I really liked this finishing.

 I put it on an easel, too.

 I also made a little felt owl and added a bar of handmade soap, some jewelry I had made, and one of my wedding favour key rings. Also a book.

 And included a handmade card.

I am glad Zina enjoyed her parcel.
A couple of days ago I received my gift too.It came in a little beautiful box.

 It was a beautiful fabric flower made by Fairytale Flower.

 It is a key ring but I can also wear it as a brooch.Isn't it lovely?And so much detail!

Thank you Gia for the lovely gift!
Thank you Zina for the exchange!

Ouzeri Tsitsanis,the movie.

If you plan an evening out to the movies this Christmas don't miss "Ouzeri Tsitsanis".
It is the new movie by Manousos Manousakis.
Here he is being interviewd.

Tsitsanis is played by Andreas Konstandinou, hubby's Godson and we are really proud of him!
Here Andreas with his co-protagonists.

 Andreas with hubby and me.

Hubby and I acted as extras to the movie and you can see me at the first moments of the movie when the titles are shown and hubby a little later!
Here's where I am in the movie.

It's a really good movie about the love affair between a Christian young man and a Jew young woman at the time when the Nazis emptied Thessaloniki of all the Jews. A great story revolving around the little restaurant Tsitsanis, the musician and composer, had at the time in the city centre.Based on George Skabardonis book.
Here the author.

We recently went to the premier.

Two performances.

This is an announcement for my local friends.
Today The Teachers' Association Drama Club is presenting their adult play "Griothesia" at Thermi Cultural Centre. Admission is free, you may bring medicine and will all go to the Thermi Social Clinic.

And on Sunday morning hubby and I will be performaning a shadow puppetry performance for the Scouts at Nea Krini.

My niece is a member and all entrance fees go to the scouts' needs.
I will be happy to see you at these performances. Do not hesitate to come and talk to me.
Have a great weekend!

A Greek shadow puppetry convention in Athens.

We had to go. 

I knew hubby wanted to be there among his Greek Shadow Puppetry friends attending the first ever Convention on "The Greek Shadow Puppetry as intangible heritage",organized by the Greek and Byzantine Sector of the Granada University of Spain.

So we flew to Athens the previous weekend with those low cost airlines that have very reasonably priced tickets.

Friday afternoon after school directly to the airport, a very short flight to Athens airport and from there by underground to the city centre at the building of the Old Parliament that also houses the National Historic Museum.

The talks were very interesting and we learnt so many things.

We also visited the Greek Shadow Puppetry exhibition which you should not miss, those of you living in Athens.

We were lucky to be personally guided at the exhibition by Mihalis Hatzakis, a very famous Greek Shadow puppeteer.

I also took the chance to visit the museum.It had some incredibly beautiful artifacts.

Even cross stitched pieces.

We didn't have much free time to walk around unfortunately.

But we managed to meet some of our shadow puppeteer friends

and attend a performance by the Ilias Karellas theatre playing "The only journey of his life" by George Viziinos. It was a magical performance of shadows, light, music,songs and acting. We really enjoyed it.

With Kostas Arzoglou.

With Zacharoula Klimatsaki.

Just before going to the airport we also visited some of our relatives to celebrate two birthday boys!

It was  a very short trip during which we didn't manage to see as many people and places as we wanted. We really have to go back to Athens for a longer period. Still it was great being there!