Rare Disease Day

Today is February 29th and that happens every four years so we call the year a leap year.
Did you know though that February 29th is also the Rare Disease Day?
I know.
My dad died 18 years ago from a rare disease, mesothelioma, caused by asbestos he inhaled as a kid working at an asbestos factory.
Just recently I found out about Heather Von St. James, a lady in the States who has suffered the same type of cancer and had a lung surgery and has been a survivor for ten years now. You can read her story here!Isn't that great? You can see her story and her efforts to make rare diseases and her own known to the public.
I have a rare disease too, an immune system one. But it doesn't matter. Most of us have something. As long as we go on our lives and don't suffer or die of it all is well!!!!
Some people who suffer of something rare need our help and it is good to give a hand from time to time. It is good to help financially even with a couple of euros/dollars when especially a young boy suffers from something  and needs  surgery abroad which costs thousands. So here I join Katerina's plea to help Pavlos a young boy who suffers from leuchemia type T and needs to go to the States for surgery.

I have been reading Katerina's blog for a long time and I know she is honest and true in what she says.So I am sharing this for anyone who reads it to help.
The bank account is at the bottom of the article.
Thank you.
Edit: Unfortunately Paul died only a couple of days after this blogpost. He didn't make it to Boston where he was going for a treatment. He didn't make it. But his parents and all the people who loved him in his short life donated all the money that was collected to Lampsi The Association for Children with Cancer.

Colours

This week's promt on Our Beautiful World  is

colours

and it was my choice.
I had in mind that it would be around Carnival time so I thought what best than

colours 

as

colours 

is what Carnival is full of.
Our school has been full of masks made by our Art teacher, she is so talented.In all the

colours 

 of the rainbow.
Also our school is being repainted by the Municipality! Look at those

colours

The Fuchsia is my favourite!!But look at the sky too!Yeah!

Last week we attended a very strange parade.It was the Bell Roads parade.
It is the third time it takes place here in our city and it is the parade of people dressed for carrnival and bearing bells.
The tradition of bell bearing is all over Greece and the Balkans around Carnival.
Here is the story about it.
Here are some of the photos I took!
The first group we saw was from Serbia.

This Greek group were dressed like bears and were playing with a dog.

There were huge bells.

 And heavy thick hot costumes.

 The symbol of the Bell Roads.

 Sohos Group was very impressive.

You can see a short video here of one of the groups and the sound they made!

 The leaflets and symbol of the Bell Roads.

It was so warm and sunny everyone enjoyed the day.

And look at that

colour!

Why don't you join us with something colourful in Our Beautiful World?

Watercolours, decoupage and pyrography!

After so many weekends of entertaining guests at home and going out a lot, last weekend I decided to relax, read a book and do some crafts.
On Friday I went to Ikea. I needed some frames to put in my triptych of jelly fish my friend Ian sent me from England.

I loved them on his blog and wanted one but he sent me all three as he is such a kind and generous person!

Look how beautiful they look in the frames which will decorate the beach house of course.

Another reason I went to Ikea for was because I had booked the Decoupage Workshop organized by Ikea and the ladies from Ftiaxto Elina and Valia.
I have done very little decoupage so far and really wanted to try.
Here is what we made under the instructions and supervision of Valia and Elina.

Ikea offered the items we decoupaged and the napkins.

All in all it was an interesting workshop. I plan to go to more in future if they organize some.

You can see how to make the clock here.

 And then on Saturday I decided to put in use a lovely tool we had bought in a very reasonable price from Lidl months ago. The pyrography tool was great and I loved what I made.
I used some leftovers pieces of wood from the new shadow puppet stage hubby made.
I sanded them a bit to have an even surface and then using the pyrography tool with all the different edges I burnt out the patterns.
I really loved the results and plan to make more.
I have always been inspired by Geninne's and Alisa Burke's pyrography beauties. So here are mine.
Empire State Building

 The little wooden huts in Turku Finland at the Craft Village.

The Dandelion

Greece in summer.

Feathers

The owl

If you don't feel like making any pyrography pieces I have a friend Dimitra who makes really beautiful ones on her Decorasylum etsy shop. Have a look!

(photo taken from Decorasylum etsy shop)
( I have in no way been compensated by the shops, firms, blogs mentioned in this blogpost.This is not an advertising blogpost.)

Sweet

This week's word in Our Beautiful World  is

sweet

and was chosen by sweet  Wendy of WenSylvestre Mixed Media Art.
I have recently had a lot of people at home for dinners, lunches, brunches and coffee to celebrate our wedding and my birthday so I decided to give you the recipes of some sweets/pastries I made.
Key Lime Pie

I tried this first time in the States at Dede's,a friend's house and it was amazing!
I found Martha Stewart's recipe here.
But I am making it a little bit different!
So here is my recipe for a 40cm x 30cm pan.
2 packets of digestive biscuits
a big cup of melted butter
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
6 egg yolks
3 cans of sweetened condensed milk.
the zest of 6 limes
the juice of 6 limes
Turn the oven on at 200 degrees.
Put the digestives in the mixer and make them powder.
Melt the butter and add it to the biscuits along with the sugar, mix well and lay in the tray.
Mix the sweetend milk, the egg yolks, the juice of the limes and the zest of the 5 limes in a bowl and lay over the biscuits.
Put in the oven for 15 minutes. It shouldn't get burned or look wrinkled. It should stay even and soft looking.
Take out of the oven immediately,sprinkle with the zest from the 6th lime.
Let it cool and put in the fridge.
You can make it a day before the party.
I don't bake the biscuit as Martha says and I don't add cream on top.It is too much for me. You can also make it with lemons instead of limes but I love limes.

Puff Pastry with chocolate

This is so very easy.
You need two puff pastry pieces and some chocolate spread.
You put one pastry piece on the oven tray. Spread chocolate on top.Put the other pastry sheet on top. Cut any design you like and twist each piece twice. Spread some egg on top and bake for 10 minutes in 200 degrees. I made one as a Christmas tree for Christmas.

Red berry blue berry chocolate chip muffins

Copying my recipe based on my friend Marabeth's recipe from the States.

Materials
2 cups flour
Half a cup of sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
Half a teaspoon of salt
¾ cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or olive oil)
1 egg (or 2)

Extra materials
Chocolate drops, blueberries and redberries deep frozen.
Preheat the oven at the top and bottom up to two hundred degrees. Put a little vegetable oil in each muffin tray or a piece of paper.
Mix in a bowl all dry ingredients, in another all liquid materials. Add the dry materials in liquids. Mix well with a fork.
Add any other material that you want as chocolate drops or pieces of fruit.
Put a large table spoonful into each compartment of the muffin tray.
Bake for about 20 minutes.
It makes twelve cupcakes.

I have also made pavlova recently with meringues, cherries and whipped cream, so very easy also.

Now if you don't feel like baking you can still go to the pastry shop and buy some sweets. We tried Konstandinidis the other day and they were delicious although rather expensive.

Or you can even have some cupcakes from Terkenlis, like the ones Kikitsa brought me or petit four from Gatidis like the ones Evangelia brought me, or carioca from Papaparaskevas from Xanthi like those Elsa brought me, or chocolate biscuits in the shape of a heart like Lina's. They are perfect for a

sweet

Saint Valentine's morning.

 Or you can simply have some strawberries with whipped cream

and some sweet bubbly Araldica Moscato d'asti wine like this one that Christina brought us!It was so

sweet

and delicious!

We really enjoyed it!
Enough with all those

  sweet 

things . I think I need a diet!
Why don't you link something sweet in Our Beautiful World too?