Tom Bishop's Miniatures Show

What a great day!

My mother and I went to the Miniature Show hosted by Tom Bishop yesterday, and it was a fabulous experience.  Our first show!

We bought a lot of beautiful pieces, and got to meet the artists behind the creations, among them Anabela Menocal from Anabela Miniatures and Candi and Ana Victoria from Candi Martín Minifood.  It was such pleasure to meet them and talk to them, they were all lovely.

Here are some pics of my acquisitions:

A beautiful carpet bag from Anabela, a rat from Targioni, and a magnificient bottle of wine - made of real glass and with real wine inside (it even has an air bubble!) and a sterling silver wine server from Candi.  Here are some pics of them on their final place in my dollhouse:

But the things that I was most happy to find were these:

A beautiful and realistic collection of lab equipment!, from Beatricce Miniaturas.  Being a lab tech, I was delighted, and here they are in the window of my dollhouse shop:

And the jar and the bottle are in the inside shelf, with a rack of test tubes that I already had:

So, everything was wonderful, and I am looking forward to the next miniature show, which will be in November, same time, same place.  

What about yourself?  Any new wonderful purchases recently?

Miniature show in Madrid!

I just found out!  We have a miniature showcase in Madrid, scheduled for May 24 & 25.  You have all the details available here.

My mother and I are going to attend.  I hope to see (and acquire!) many beautiful things.

Can't wait!!

Sonisphere - Madrid 2013

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Sonisphere festival; we left the house at 5.15 pm and returned today at 4.40 am. Out of New Year's Eve, I had never gone to bed so late.  But it was well worth it!

The main names we wanted to see were Iron Maiden:

And Avantasia:


And wow.  Just wow.

What can I say about the Irons?  They came and they delivered, and they always leave you wanting more.  It's thrilling to hear Bruce Dickinson say "Scream for me, Madrid!".
This was the first time we saw Avantasia live; Tobias Sammet promised to return again to Madrid in the future.  I hope we will be able to see them again.   And I took home a wonderful t-shirt with a Steampunk feeling from their last album The Mystery of Time. 

A very memorable night.

We will be going to see Depeche Mode live!!!!

My husband just bought 2 tickets as a gift to me for finishing my lab tech course.

We will have to wait until next January.  It is going to be a long wait, but I am looking forward to seeing them!

Glass pieces for absinthe lovers

For any of you absintheurs that live in Spain, or are visiting these days, go take a stroll at the famous department store El Corte Inglés, if you have the time.

I do not know if this will last, but they are stocking in some absinthe accessories for a very low price - the same absinthe glasses available at online absinthe stores.  Here are a few samples:

Lyonnais glass, available here

Versailles carafe, available here

Not very long ago my mother gifted me for my birthday a Versailles carafe with two matching Versailles glasses for merely 20 euros.  I have not been able to find the Versailles glass on the website, but maybe it is still available at the stores.  

Well worth to take a look!

The quest for absinthe in Madrid, part I

My husband told me about a wine shop near his place of work that had absinthe on its shelves.  Today I got there to take a look.  After looking around, I did not see it so I went to talk to the sales man and this is how the conversation went:

Me: Excuse me, do you have any absinthe?

Sales man: Yes, it is over here – goes to a shelf, looks around and says – Oh, I think I sold my last bottle.

Me: Oh.  What brand is it?

S.m. (Surprised): Brand?  It’s the only one that exists.

Me: (Puzzled look) There are about 50 brands of absinthe.

S.m: Oh, really?  This one comes in a slim bottle and it’s green.

Me, thinking to myself: "That is not much help."

S.m. # 2, joining the conversation: We have the one that sells the most.

Me, thinking to myself:  "It’s no wonder it sells well, it’s the only one you have."

S.m. # 1: It’s from Catalonia, that’s all I know.

Me: Well, thank you very much for your help.  Bye.

Note to self, living the shop: Do not come back here for absinthe.