Vintage toys exhibition.

Another exhibition to celebrate 100 years of free Thessaloniki is of some vintage toys. I loved looking at all those toys, some of which I also had as a kid.
A general view of the exhibition hall.

 I loved this one.

 I had a monkey like this one with the drums.

 As if I am looking at my childhood. I had both the washing machine and the dishwasher!

A little black doll dressed in an amazing dress.

100 years....

....have passed since the freedom of Thessaloniki and Macedonia from the Turks in 1912 and its unity to the rest of Greece after the Balkan wars.
Lots of festivities and exhibitions take place in the city this year.I have attended some.
In October I visited this exhibition of paintings and other memoires of the Balkan Wars.
Posters and engravings of the adventures of those years.....

 Embroideries....

 Paintings....

 And paintings by Kenan Messare who became a Greek citizen. He was the son of Hasan Tahsin Pasha who surrendered  Thessaloniki to the Greeks where it belonged to.

More of other exhibitions soon....

I am happy because....

... I ate some pomegranate...

...hubby made this shadow puppet of this ...."person"....

....I used this lovely gift from a dear islander...

....bought some handmade natural olive oil soap....

....I have this collection of Nicholas Sparks books for my summer reading, gifts of dear Dawn when she visited here.....

.....I read these books from the school library some time ago.....

(I might have shown some of these already)
....I used these lovely muffins accessories from Tigerstores...

...I prepared my shop for its first Black Friday to Cyber Monday sales....Go here to see....Free Shipping to all orders. Add coupon code BLACKFRIDAY2012...

...I managed to take a close up photo of an insect...

 ...every morning when I enter my school I see this lovely painting on the wall...and because I still have a job of course unlike too many others around here at present....

....I finally framed these lovely paintings I was given last year by a great painter teacher we had at school...

...because I bought a new glue gun and some other little things to use at my etsy shop....

....the bench at a nearby bus stop was painted in this lovely colour by volunteers....

...and finally I am happy because I managed to write this blogpost in half the time I usually do after being persuaded to use Google Chrome!LOL!

Demonstrating

Today Greece is celebrating the 17th November 1973, the day of the Polytechnic University, the day when students and the inhabitants in Athens revolted against the junta regime. Some were killed and many injured. Their sacrifice is celebrated by demonstrations that take place today all over Greece.
On this very day three people, among them a teacher who is our elected representative, were in court for demonstrating against the German delegates who were visiting our city a couple of days ago.
We gathered outside the court of justice and demonstrtated against this unfair arrest.

 Freedom for those who fight.

Muffins and more

I am not a very good cook. Inspite the fact that both my parents were excellent cooks and pastry makers and I come from a tradition of great cuisine, the cuisine of Constantinople, I am unfortunately not a very good cook. I am bored with cooking! I am not excited to cook!Or to make sweets unless there is a special reason.
But the last couple of years I have become the muffin maker!
I make all kinds of muffins. After my friend Marabeth gave me the recipe for muffins I make them all the time.
The good thing is that I can put anything I want inside.
chocolate chips....

 caramel syrup...

 cooked vegies

 I also made these tiny ones with Marabeth's new gift the mini muffins pan. I also used the trick or treat paper cups she sent me and presented them to my second graders for Halloween!They were excited!
The good thing is that with the same amount of batter I made 48 tiny chocolate chip muffins and did not even have to clean the muffin tray!

 I then made some carrot muffins following Frieda's carrot cake recipe

 They have some Philadelphia cheese and confectioner's sugar frosting on top!Yummie!

But I also cook sometimes with success.I have learnt this traditional Scottish recipe for shepherd's pie from a book Juliana and John, my sea glass friends had sent me and I make it often.
Boil potatoes and turn them into puree adding some fresh parsley.

Cook minced meat with onion and carrot(I put red pepper instead).

Put the cooked meat underneath with the pureed potatoes on top and cook for half an hour.

My mum made recently this jello from the quince my dear friend Gia gave us. It took her too long to make but it was amazing!

I just returned from a etwinning seminar and am down with a bad flu and blogger is so slow today. So I will see you tomorrow hoping to be feeling better!