Out of the strong came forth sweetness

Hi Everybody!

Hope your week is going well. It's a bank holiday here today, and we had bank holiday weather - cloud, rainy and dull. But I still got out for my walks - at least it wasn't cold!

For Joan's 'Gardening' theme at Tag Tuesday I have one more tag. This is a hybrid tag, made from hand-painted elements,  my photos, illustrations from an old book I have and some elements from Serif, all combined to make a garden in my head again. I am also linking to Paint Party Friday hosted by Eva and Kristin:

This is a very distressed collaged postcard:

We had blue skies on some days, and I enjoyed being out and about in our little town by the Rhine. I am linking to Soma's 'Wandering camera':

I climbed up the stairs in the castle ruins, and admired not only the views, but all of the beautiful wild flowers growing among the stones - 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness':

That's all for today!

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend,

and thanks, as always, for coming by!

Medienhafen and Gehry Buildings

Hi Everybody!

We had a stormy day here, with thunder, lightning, torrential rain and hailstones, so it was nice to see the sun coming out this evening in time for my evening walk. I had to take shelter in the ice parlour this morning,  so drank coffee to while away the time till the rain had stopped enough to make a dash for home. But we need the rain, so I'm trying not to grumble too much!

I painted this 8 x 8" mixed media canvas for Harry's birthday, which was last Sunday, but forgot to take photos, so here it is in its new home:

I am linking to Paint Party Friday

Last week I visited the Altstadt and Medienhafen in Düsseldorf. It used to be a regular goods harbour, but is now used as a yacht harbour and a place where many media firms, TV and radio companies and other offices have been established. It is also 'home' to our county parliament and a lot of people who can afford to live in the wonderful buildings from Frank Gehry, the Canadian Architect. You can read more about him here if you are interested.

Here are some impressions from my visit.

Walking along the Rhine from the Altstadt to the Medienhafen. The pavement suggests the waves of the Rhine:

The County Parliament with the post-office tower in the background:

Only the best is good enough for our politicians, and the house has lots of windows for them to look out at the Rhine when they get bored:

One of the old cranes:

Moving towards the marina and the Gehry Buildings:

There are lots of (rather expensive) cafes and restaurants:

This mirrored building is my fave:

Several of the old cranes are still visible:

Looking over to the other Rhine side:

Okay, this was a lot of pics, even for me, but hope you liked these unusual and very splendid buildings!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

T stands for Taking lots of phoTos:

Hi Everybody!

Hope you all have a great start in the new week. It's grey and overcast here, but I'm sure we will have some sunny patches in between, so that's something to look forward to.

Today I am sharing another tag meant for Joan's gardening challenge at Tag Tuesday. I used a copy of a hand-painted, written and collaged piece for my tag, adding some metal elements (Serif) and a hand-painted background. There's still plenty of time to join in:

Today is also Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday, so here a warm welcome to all of the lovely ladies of the T Gang. I have some photos taken last week on one of my trips. On one day I went to the 'Medienhafen' in the Altstadt of Düsseldorf and took lots of pics of Frank Gehry's wonderful houses, which I will show in my next post. I discovered this delightful coffee-roaster / cafe in one of the little lanes of the Altstadt:

Special blends of coffee:

Equipment for making coffee on the go:

And my beautiful cappuccino which I drank sitting outside:

Saw this beautiful door, too:

And this was taken at the back of the Uerige Brewery ( the one with the drunken reveller weather-vane) where they are busy all day loading barrels and bottles onto trucks to be delivered to the thirsty from near and far:

This rather murky pond was next to the town history museum:

These pics were taken in Schloss Kalkum, just playing around:

Incognito, or how not to take a photo:

Two ghosts:

Back to Hofgarten:

The black swan was alone again:

Goslings at Schloss Kalkum:

And the ghost having fun:

A beautiful garden in Kalkum village:

I was out and about all week, so didn't get round to housework again....

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!