a dreary day with a fun parcel!!

Today it's rainy, blustery and only +9C.... plus, I'm damn cranky because I wrecked myself on Saturday night and am suffering.  Reached into a woodbox for a few sticks of wood to toss onto the fire we were sitting around at the neighbour's and ouch!! wrecked my ribs somehow.  A searing jolt of pain on the right side.  Not to be put off..I repositioned my body and leaned in again on the other side ...ouch! ...what an idiot!  Now..both  sides are in pain.  The doctor doesn't think I'm fractured or broken and didn't think we needed to bother with x-rays and unnecessary radiation ... but, with osteoporosis... one does wonder.... and, so, we just wait... all you can do with ribs.  But...the waiting is not fun, nor is it painfree.  She did give me some anti-inflammatories..with some pain killer in them ...but... it hardly touches the pain..especially if I have to cough, sneeze or hiccup.  Oh, man...last night I choked a bit on a pepper flake...and yiked and youched all around the kitchen while coughing really hard. So, today it's worse than it was ... *&^%$#!

So.... I'm just hanging out with my ice packs...my cuppa tea and I did manage to get some bars granola  together..but, finally just gave up on anything else..when all of a sudden the doorbell was dinging and it was the postman.
Couldn't figure it out...because I wasn't expecting anything.....but, don'tcha love snail mail?? ...or even better...snail parcels?  They still haven't figured out a way to send those via the cyberwaves. And thank goodness.  Because I love parcels.  And, I especially loved getting THIS parcel!

A needle felted bear from a new needle felting friend in Poland.  Isn't he great?  What a sweet little worried expression he has on his face.

Frikkles was the first to get over to the chair and welcome him.....Frikkles is the largest guy I have felted and still looks a bit small compared to the new guy ...who is only 4 inches (3 seated) ...  .....

Posie may be small, but she is very brave and pretty cheeky too....she went straight over to say hi.... she thinks he's pretty cute, I can tell, because that's her "coy" look she is giving him.........

"He-who-has-no-name-yet" was also on the welcome committee .... and they all tried to reassure the new guy.  But...he still looks a tad worried.
I'm sure he'll be fine once he settles into the curio cabinet and gets used to all of the regulars who hang out in there.

Thank you agaFil.... my new needle felting buddy... I wish you lived closer so we could visit and do some wool stabbing together......

Check out her Flickr site to see her other little creations.....

oh, look..... I checked back an hour later to see how my new little man was settling and lo and behold...there he was telling them all the story of how he flew here from so many miles away.... awww..... perfect...and from this angle he doesn't look too worried anymore...

Batalha, Portugal

Stepped inside and ...WOW...more amazement!
The colour....and the light..... so much light in such a huge area from such small windows....well.... small in the scope of the size of the whole structure.  And...tall...well....they were sooooo tall......  I just gawked around in every single direction and kept snapping shots of all of it..... don't get dizzy.....
In the first shot you can see a few people...for perspective....but, any of the rest of the photos... if anybody was around...they were way down below the bottom of the photos.  This place is gargantuan...

Wiki says some of the oldest of the windows date back as far as the 1400... and done by German artisans... much of the other is from 1500's..and done by Portuguese craftsmen.  They talk about Batalha being the first work shop for stained glass windows...

Entry to the Founder's Chapel.... built between 1426 and 1434
on orders of King Joao... he and his wife are buried there... and this is the first sighting of his tomb.  The statues of Joao and his wife Philippa of Lancaster are on the top of the tomb holding hands.  Very elaborate and intricately carved headresses above their heads.... which are on pillows.

The dome directly over their heads...

The play of light through the stained glass....so beautiful....

The reflections from the sunlight through the glass was so lovely....

I'm really glad it was a brilliantly sunny day so that we got to see such beauty inside.  The walls were perfect for picking up the colours...

Batalha, Portugal

Can't believe it..  I was working away on my post... with many photos downloaded...and poof..... lost the whole shebang.  Sigh.....

I was saying that I knew that some people were waiting patiently for big cathedrals and the like...and today.... here they are.  Batalha, Mosteiro Santa Maria da Vitória...or ...just the Monastery at Batalha.  HUGE!!
There is so much to learn about it ...so please  click on the link to Wiki at least.... you will enjoy reading about this amazing place.

It's difficult to believe the masons of the 1300's, with rudimentary tools and who knows what experience or knowledge.. could manage to erect such a structure.  What a feat.  One of those things difficult to explain in mere words.  Truly worthy of the overused 'awesome' ...one I rarely use... but, like Fatima....just so huge in scope and so amazing in construction and significance...that it is mind boggling.

What an ecclectic mixture of architectural styles.. even to the untrained eye.

I love the intricacies of the filigree looking work....

You know of my penchant for windows....

.... and......doors...... ... aaahhhhhh......but, this shot gives a more realistic view as to size!  This was a really big door...

.... with such detailed carvings all around it ...

C'mon....let's continue on around the corner....

What?  waaay over there?  okay then......oh, just a minute...take my picture from there to show the size! Move where?  Can't hear you......

Maria...taking my photo... and Mr. BV taking hers.  Biggify and look again... see that tiny turquoise spec at the base of the building?  That's me. See what I mean by BIG...

A statue of a great and much revered Portuguese general....  Nuno Álvares Pereira  




















His epitaph on his tomb...which was lost in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, read....  "Here lies that famous Nuno, the Constable, founder of the House of Bragança, excellent general, blessed monk, who during his life on earth so ardently desired the Kingdom of Heaven that after his death, he merited the eternal company of the Saints. His worldly honors were countless, but he turned his back on them. He was a great Prince, but he made himself a humble monk. He founded, built and endowed this church in which his body rests."

Onward from there... still rounding the corner of the structure...

more lovely intricately designed windows...

just a minute...is that another door hidden behind those columns? .. yes...yes it is.  Bigger yet....

Wow.

I stole this photo from Wiki.... I would have had to sprint backwards at least a full city block to get the whole thing into a frame... look at the sheer size of it!!! Three exclamations ...honestly...it is just so big.  Sorry for going on about it..but, as you can tell, it seriously wowed me.

Some body.....for perspective...

carvings of little statues all around the door...even up to the top of the archways.... rows upon rows of them.  Angels, prophets and saints....

The amount of love and care and attention to the tiniest detail put into each and every little figure ...

Next day....we go inside........