July 21 - July 27, 2013

This is the first of 2 postings today. 
The 21st was the last day of Le Tour de France - it was a wonderful 21 days of cycling with the final stage of racing ending on the Champs Elysees in Paris. I'd record it and then see it at night, with my favourite cycling commentators Paul and Phil who I've been watching/listening to for many years. I love it! The fans standing along the road on the mountain stages are getting odder each year. More and more people are wearing costumes - superheroes, nuns, devils, various funny animals and for some bizarre reason, there were a lot of men wearing tutus. Yikers!
Voila, les prochain sept broches !

For the last day of Le Tour de France I wore my yellow <<Tour>
 t-shirt. I thought this pin was appropriate not only because it was yellow but also you sometimes have to be sneaky and clever to win a stage of this race.

I made this brooch from my pencil ends from work (I'm a proofreader). For over 20 years a group of friends (we call ourselves 
Da Goils) get together and have a summer picnic. A contest is held each year with a theme. We've made banners, shoes, t-shirts, rings, fascinators, miniatures, big hair-dos, bras........and this year it was brooches. Next year it's sock monkeys.

This brooch creeps me out. It looks like a piece of material was podged on the eggshell - yes, I said eggshell and the sparkly glitter has not helped it one iota.

I have a collection of small Paris tourist brooches that have dangly bits (you will see them in a later posting). A friend couldn't find the little ones but brought me home this substantial one. I love tourist brooches.

An old pin, a bit bedraggled, but lovely nevertheless. The only problem is that I can't decide which way is up. The more I look at it the more I think it might be a sidelong brooch. Wish  I could find a little "diamond" to replace the lost one.

The bee is the symbol for a small rug hooking group that I'm part of. It's an inside joke. The group of us had a rug hooking weekend at a friend's home on the sandy shoreline of Long Point, hence this brooch for the day.

This is a miniature rug hook. Hooks vary in size and shape. We all have our favourites that fit perfectly into the palm of your hand, move easily through the backing, or are just beautiful. The best hook is all three.