I mentioned yesterday I’d never seen so much “stuff” in one small shop as I had yesterday in Vicki’s shop.
Karen and I were back there today because Karen needed a small gift for her next door neighbour’s seven year old daughter’s first communion on Sunday. I just had to take pictures:
We’re not talking cheap costume accessories. These pieces are real jewellery – a lot of it from estate sales, but even the contemporary and costume pieces are upscale. This is the kind of place you’d go to find something to wear with a particular outfit or a necklace to go with a pair of earrings you already have.
I didn’t buy anything today, just took the opportunity to schmooze more widely than I had yesterday. Lots of interesting pieces, even if much of it isn’t my taste.
Travel
New Necklace
I was shopping with my friend Karen this morning – she needed a gift for another friend of hers having a 70th birthday. I had tagged along as company – with no intention of buying anything!
I regret I didn’t get a photo of the shop itself – I don’t think I have ever seen so much “stuff” in such a small space – much of it didn’t interest me. But there was a small “manikin” with a display of necklaces by Israeli artists and they fascinated me.
The one I bought was created by Ayala Bar. I just loved the colours and symmetry of the piece. I didn’t even bother to have it wrapped. Paid for it and wore it for the rest of the day.
A souvenir of the San Francisco/Toronto trip.
Two Photos
I’m not usually one for taking photos from plane windows (because I prefer an aisle seat to a window seat) but today because I had a window seat I got two images worth sharing.
Leaving San Francisco – I couldn’t resist trying to capture the deep blue of the clear sky with the fog over the bay.
Arriving in Toronto I was amazed by the extent of the ice along the shore of Lake Ontario (and the frost on the window itself)!
San Francisco 4
It was a late start this morning due to car trouble but once underway we crossed the Bay Bridge to Berkley to visit a couple of well stocked fabric shops.
At the first stop I bought two yards of this black and white fabric – to make something like this top which will look great with black pants as a summer outfit. 
This dress also offered some interesting possibilities – I picked up a yard of dark blue and white Indian ikat fabric for the front and back panels with a matching white linen for the yoke and sides. I am thinking of a tunic length (with sleeves) which will be another useful summer outfit with white pants, rather than a dress.
At our second stop I found a gorgeous Donna Karan subtle wool plaid in red, purple and black, which I did finally walk away from – it was not a bad price, but I’d have needed at least 3 yards for matching the plaid plus another yard of a complementary purple wool for contrast, not to mention a lining fabric and buttons – the cost of which would have pushed me well over my duty-free limit! So, regretfully, I left it behind.
We’re setting up this evening, then start in earnest tomorrow morning.
San Francisco 3
Sheila and I started our sight-seeing day with a bus tour of SF – through the well known areas of the city. We picked up the bus at Union Square 
Down Post Street past the needlepoint shop
Through Chinatown 
Past the financial district 
Up Telegraph Hill
A brief stop at Fisherman’s Wharf
Through the city back to Union Square 
We stopped for lunch at Lina’s Diner
Then walked slowly back to the hotel
Past a woman singing Puccini beautifully 
Our last stop a walk through Tiffany’s (both floors)
We also made a stop at Britex Fabrics where I bought more fabric 
Our day ended at Sandra Betzina’s home in the SF hills for a lovely dinner and conversation
Today Sandra takes us fabric shopping!
San Francisco 2
After a leisurely breakfast I moseyed down Mason Street to Geary, made a left turn, walked past Union Square. My destination – Britex Fabrics. You walk in the front door and the entire right-hand wall, all the way to the back of the shop, is filled with wool flannel, worsted, gaberdine, crepe from Italy, England, in an amazing array of weights and colours – and then you check out the price! Not cheap, but the fabrics are lovely, and I’m looking for fabric to make wool pants.
On the left-hand wall there are plaids and other assorted woolens.
When I arrive, there are few customers and Raymond, one of the sales people welcomes me and we start to kibbitz. He recommends I head to the 4th floor to look at the remnants – lots of good buys he says.
I spend quite a bit of time sorting through pieces of fabric with a very interesting woman who helps me select three cuts of flannel: a navy with a subtle stripe, a dark charcoal, and a black. Then I head down a floor to explore buttons and trims. Hard to choose when you don’t know what garments they’re for; I settle on just 4 buttons suitable for fastening pants.
I next look around the 2nd floor – cottons and silks. One cotton catches my eye – a navy ikat-looking fabric which will go with the quilt I’m working on – I take half a yard. That’s it.
After Britex I cross the street and wander through Neiman Markus, in one door, out another – lovely but expensive clothing.
Next Macy’s – more in my league. But I’m not really interested in buying clothes. What does catch my attention is the wall of running shoes:
Wow, have they become colorful!
After a lunch on my own and a rest back at the hotel I meet up with one of the other women here to learn about fitting patterns. We wander back to Union Square. From street level we see a sign: Needlepoint Inc. We find the entrance, and take the elevator to the shop. I’ve never seen such an array of threads and printed canvasses. A woman is working on a sizable picture of a nutcracker. Her stitching is meticulous.
Sheila and I carry on down Post Street past all sorts of interesting shops – we stop to look at the diamonds on display in a window – they’re beautiful but I’ve nothing to wear them with, and nowhere to wear them so we move along.
An interesting coat – the contrasting fabrics a great idea. I take the photo to add to my idea collection.
And then we look around:
And up:
Lots of old (but well kept) buildings in this part of San Francisco.
Response to Weekly Photo Challenge: Converge
One of the blogs I follow posted a photo like the ones below – a scene from an old German town – Luebeck – a view down the street at the convergence point where the road takes a turn.
Looking at the photo I realized I take a lot of photos like that one – I commented “Nice shot – I’ve taken photos in several places like this one.” Mitza replied “I hope you show us your photos sooner or later.”
Well, here are eight from a trip to Southern France in 2010!
Bugarach
Alet Les Bains
Collioure
Collioure 2
Mirepois
Rennes Les Bains
Renne Les Bains
St. Polycarpe
I guess I’m also attracted to a converging perspective!
Bali: From Ubud to Sanur
Last evening we had the opportunity to visit the home of a couple of artisans who make jewelry from “found” objects. The neck pieces, earrings, bracelets were all very interesting – primitive and at the same time contemporary. I really enjoyed seeing the collection; I even bought a pendant which incorporated a piece of beach glass with sterling elements.
I enjoyed, even more, William and Robin’s house – a very modern, cathedral ceilinged, bungalow adjacent a rice paddy practically in the middle of nowhere:
The photos don’t do justice to the house – I’d have loved living in it.
Today we shifted venue from Ubud to the seaside community of Sanur. Our baggage got shipped by truck while we bussed to two silver jewelry wholesalers. The style of the pieces was quite different in each establishment – I preferred the shape and size and elements incorporated into the jewelry in our first stop; however, I bought another pendant in the second shop (after purchasing some earrings and two small pendants in the first shop!).
Next a lunch at an Italian restaurant in Sanur before heading to a fabric shop selling the ikat textiles by the meter (beautiful fabrics although expensive) as well as custom-made clothing. Having already bought two pieces of ikat fabric I wasn’t interested in more – while I admire the weaving techniques involved, I find the fabrics rather dull so I waited until the others made their selections.
Shopping finished, we finally got to the hotel/resort (right on the shore) by mid-afternoon.
Tomorrow is another busy day – but more about that tomorrow.
Bali: The Sidewalks in Ubud
We’ve been in Ubud almost a week and I still can’t get over the condition of the sidewalks – they’re an accident waiting to happen!
Nothing is flat, there are missing tiles, misaligned grates over running drainage water, up ramps and down ramps, often quite steep, hard to navigate in sandals.
First rule for walking around is “eyes down” otherwise you’re quite likely to trip and kill yourself. Second, the sidewalks are so narrow, you’re forced to walk single file. But you aren’t likely to get far before you’re forced onto the road into traffic by a vehicle partially blocking the sidewalk, then you’re in a free-for-all with motor bikes whizzing by and vehicles trying to navigate a street not designed for two way traffic.
Really, this is what you have to contend with more often than not.
Then there’s actually crossing the street. You’ve gotta be patient! You have to wait for a lull in traffic coming in both directions (and that doesn’t happen very often), then you dash like hell for the other side thankful when you make it safely across.
Yup, getting around in Ubud requires courage and mountaineering skill.
Bali: Weavers’ Market
We began the day with a trip to the northeast part of Bali first to visit the Weavers’ market, then to stop at a weaving cooperative where the young women were weaving ikat fabrics (more about the ikat fabrics later).
The weavers’ market is an assemblage of indoor fabric stalls each displaying piles of handwoven fabrics, many from the local region.
What makes these weft ikat fabrics unusual is the process the weavers use – they set up their looms with solid colour warp threads then weave a design with weft threads that have been dyed using a tie-dye technique.
The photo shows the weft threads set up (tied in groupings which represent the design) just before they are placed in the dye. Once dyed, ties are systematically removed and the “blank” areas of the thread are hand dyed in the desired colours.
The weavers pass the shuttle loaded with the dyed thread back and forth making sure the colour alignment is accurate – this requires close attention to the colour placement at the selvedge edge. The fibers can be dyed with either natural or synthetic dyes. Needless to say, the fabrics using natural dyes are worth more.
I bought one sarong length of weft ikat fabric at the market; I bought a second length at the weavers cooperative. We were able to watch some of the women work at the looms – they can each weave about 2 m of fabric a day which earns them 40,000 Indonesian rupiah (approximately $4 CAD)! That same 2 m of fabric sells for between 150,000 – 200,000 rupiah depending on the delicacy of the threads and the complexity of the design.
After lunch we visited with an Indonesian woman who is an expert on natural dyes and who has been instrumental in helping revive the hand weaving industry in Bali. She showed us a number of textiles – all of which had ceremonial importance (textiles play a very large role on Balinese religious life). Each textile was connected to a particular ceremony. All of the fabrics she shared with us were stunning examples of hand weaving.
Our final visit of the day was to a sea salt maker – talk about labour intensive – the salt maker carries large buckets of sea water from the beach (2 at a time) to pour on the sand flats. Once dry, he skims off the crusted sand and washes it in a vat using more sea water. The sand is washed 4 times, then the salt concentrate is taken to evaporation trays so the sun can dry off the water leaving behind salt crystals. The process can take a day in the sun, several days if it’s cloudy and the whole operation is shut down during the rainy season. On a good day he harvests 10 kg of salt – not a lot for all his labour! Some of the gals bought a kilogram of salt for 40,000 rupiah which gives you an idea of what he makes for his 10 kg of salt.
Tomorrow we visit a temple – that should be very interesting.
jmn 