Vacation Day 2

Journal Written Morning of May 15, 2006

Well, I was too tired to write last night but we had a great day. We spent the day traveling by bus up the English countryside.

(pic of Kanola that is used to make Kanola Oil)

We stopped by Stratford Upon Avon and spent a couple of hours. This is the birthplace of Shakespeare. The buildings are very old looking and unique. It was wonderful. We then sat and ate a BLT, which turned out to have ham on it instead of Bacon....they apparently call Ham Bacon.





We then got back on the coach and took a nap.



Afterwards we stopped by Chester. We went into this great Cathedral and then walked along the Roman wall that had been built to protect the city. The city also has what is called rows, which are basically 2 story buildings that are old and have been turned into shops. All of the buildings are old and have been maintained unlike the US where we tear down and build new. It was great.





Then we drove and slept in Bolton. Dinner was....ok. To be honest I didn't care for the Chicken Currey. We did however have dinner with a lady named Annette. She reminds me of Jenner. She is an artist and runs a murder mystery in Australia. I'll tell you about today later.

End Journal

Day 2 was indeed incredible. The birthplace of Shakespeare was so neat and we got to stop and see Ann Hathaway's cottage as well. It was such a quaint little town. Chester was very shopping oriented but it was still neat. I love the look of the buildings. The Cathedral was incredible. Such a massive structure with such architectural beauty; the stained class windows, the sculpture of the building itself. It was great.

On more current notes today has been a lazy one for me. Jack cut some of the grass, bless him, and I've well done very little. I need to work on my class but motivation has flown the coup. Maybe it will come back later... Lord knows it needs too.

Snapfish Day 1

Posting a link to the pictures here will not work because you have to be invited to view them. I have sent out email invitations, if you did not receive one and want to see the pictures please let me know your email address and I'll get one to you. I tried to remember everyone, but since it's been a while since I updated my address book I may have left someone out.

Hope you enjoy :)

Vacation Day 1

Ok, so I've decided to break this up a bit and do a vacation day post per day or maybe 2 a day depending on how I feel. Over the course of the vacation I took over 2,500 pictures (Jack took about 1800) and I want to share some of them with you. This is the only way I thought to do it that wasn't completely overwhelming. So tune in daily!

The journals were actually written in Scotland. Forgive the tone - most were written right before bed. Hope you enjoy, I'm trying to put pics with the journal as it talks about it so go past the pics to finish the journal for the day. I'm also uploading all the pics (minus blurry ones and duplicate shots, which account for quite a few of them) to Snapfish..will take all night to upload day 1; invitations and link to follow tomorrow.

Day 1 Journal - May 13, 2006

Well, today was the first of our journey. It was an exhausting day that actually began yesterday at 11:30 am EST and ended at 10:40 London time. We saw the Tower of London with the crown jewels (gaudy lookin things) and it's torture chamber. This is where three or maybe it was two (not sure) of Henry VIII's wives were killed. It was a prison and execution central.



We also had a nice four course dinner. I had Tomato Basil Soup, salad, chicken in a mushroom sauce and a really, really rich desert. Mama said she needed some fried chicken :) Then we did a cruse on the river and saw the Parilament buildings, Big Ben and many other great buildings. Took pics but it was getting dark and it was misty outside.




Tour guide was Rob - very informative and entertaining.
Now it's time to stop. Our bags have to be ready by 6:30 am. Till tomorrow good night and sweat dreams.

End Journal Day 1

Well, There is Day 1. We really did have a great time. I wish the pics from the cruise had turned out better but it was getting dark not to mention the fact that it was so drizzly. The tower was huge and old. One of the things that I found humbling about this trip was standing in buildings that existed in the 1500's ... Imagine the lives, history, and events those walls have witnessed. Plus, the fact that it was built in the 1500's and is still in use today, not only as a tourist attraction but the crown jewels that the Queen still wears at least once a year (opening of Parliament) are stored here; granted the vault is a little more modern, but still. Guards still live on the premises and people work here everyday. Can you imagine working in a 500 year old building??

On another note we got some stuff accomplished today, which felt good. I still have one over due assignment and several things that are outstanding on my list, but we did go grocery shopping, got some laundry done and grilled steaks and shrimp out on the grill. It was nice and felt good. Well, I'm off to sleep - sleep well blog land.

Secret Pal Goodies

Oooh, I love secret pals - especially mine. I came home today and received the best surprise :) I got some hemp seed lotion that feels like satin on my skin. I love it. I also got a post card and this lovely fellow. My kitties can't decide if he is friend or foe, but I've decided he's cute :) He now is hanging on my lamp post above my desk telling me I need to get off my ass and get started.

This little gift came on a day when I have more things to do then I can name, but I will try just for your sake :)

1) Statistics assignment that was due Monday.
2) 2nd Statistics Assignment due Tomorrow.
3) Vacuum House
4) Wash cloths
5) Wash Dishes
6) Go grocery shopping
7) Go thru pictures and update blog on trip...can't wait to do this. Just have to wade thru everything. I took over 500 pics a day! I'm sure you don't' want to see all of them, but I will be putting a good number on snapfish when I've gone thru them. I can't wait to tell you all about the trip and all the great things we did.
8) Scrapbook
9) Clean up house really well including basement pool room for guild get together in June.
10) Finish bag (almost done) and start something new and exciting in the knitting realm.
11) Shoot myself in the head for typing this out and truly realizing I don't have time to type this out. Grrr.

Well, anyway I really do have to get this damn assignment done. Thanks SP for making my afternoon a little better. I really do love "Jerry" which is what I have decided to name my new butterfly friend. He's so dang cute.

I Promise

I promise details and pics of the trip coming soon...I just haven't had the time or rather the energy to wade thru. I promise it won't be long...

Home Safely

Well, I am home safely and we had a wonderful time. I promise a very detailed post tomorrow but in the meantime the time differnce has gotten me and I'm crawling into bed. Expect a super long blog soon with my journal and pics from trip...

Sleep well blog land.

I'm Off

Well, We are mostly packed and are scheduled to fly out tomorrow! I'll try to post abroad but not sure it will happen, but look for lots of pics when I get back.

See you in 10 days!

Done, Done & Donner (is that a word ?) ...

Well, fellow bloggers my last assignment for this class is done and assuming I did well my 4.0 will continue. WOOT - CELEBRATE - HAPPY - HAPPY

Ok, so enough of that... so what else new is going on in my life? Not really that much actually.

We are gearing up for our trip - getting currency, packing and etc... I regret to inform you that I did not fulfill my resolution to keep the laundry done. I swear I have 10 loads or more; which shows that Jack and I have way too damn many cloths, or shall I say mainly I have too many cloths. Mama is going to come down tomorrow and spend the day at my house washing cloths (yes I'm paying her though she will probably argue about it). I just don't see where I have the time before I leave and I need my cloths to take with me. After Scotland I'm keeping them better caught up...yall hold me to that :)

Secret Pal 8 is about to begin. I received my spoilee the other day -> very exciting. I really enjoyed the last one. I need to remember to pick her something up in my travels, maybe some yarn from Scotland??? Not sure if the tour I'm on will detour to find a knitting store but I'll figure something cool out :)

My knitting is kinda at a stand still. I want to get the Booga Bag I'm working on fixed so that I can easily knit it in the plane. Fixed you ask? Oh, yes I had to take roughly 20 rows out of it and redo them. I'm still getting used to circular needles and apparently I flipped the bag or started knitting in the wrong direction because I had 10 or so rows with the knots on one side and 20 or so with them on the other...why didn't I catch it earlier you ask? Because I'm a dumb ass :) So anyway I need to go recount the rows that I didn't have to take out; which I'm not good at doing; readjust my stich counter and go at it again. I plan to take it on the plane with me; since they are circular needles and I'm really hoping the security peps don't want to take them away. I'm only carrying the one pair on the plane; the others I may need during my trip are being tucked away in my luggage to be checked.

I'm thinking about trying to sale some of my photography; I'm going thru the archives marking pics that I may be able to sale. I may try to sale them online; or at a craft fair; or heck I don't know what the best way to try is. I don't want to spend $100 on a table at a fair and not be able to sale anything...I just don't know if peps will buy them and it cost money to buy the mats, bags to hold them in and to have them printed. Ugh...I want to do it but don't really know how without taking a financial risk. Might try online first - maybe set up a site like I've seen some peps do for their knitting stuff. Any ideas / suggestions / votes of confidence accepted and appreciated.

Hmmm...what else to tell you tonight? Something inspirational and awe inspiring for sure...hmm let me think -------------- Nope nothing comes to mind :) So I will just bid you a wonderful nights sleep filled with puffy clouds and silver linings :)

Quote

I'm writing my last assignment for this class and found the following quote that I really liked...

"People are disturbed not by things, but by their perception of things…" - Epictetus –

Will post more later - I just had to share that :) 2 More workin days and I'm off to Scotland.

SP8 Questionnaire

Another SP about to start - can't wait. Here is my questionnaire.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love fibers that are soft to the touch such as Alpaca and etc… I also like the Noro yarns because of the colors.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

A hand sewn case that ties.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

Almost a year; still at beginner level.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

No

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

I’m not a big candle person – the stong smells they generate tend to give me headaches. I do love flowery smells for bath products and Cool Water is my fav perfume.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Brownies are always good. Chocolate and hard candies are as well… I love anything that is sweet really.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

Digitial Photography, Scrapbooking, Make homemade frames

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Country and some soft rock. My comp can play MP3's

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

I like pinks and reds. Also love the autumn colors.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Married with 2 cats

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

All of the above; but not too heavy; doesn’t get that cold down here.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I’m really enjoying bags right now and scarves. I’m still very much a beginner so this is about all I’ve done.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Booga Bag, Scarf

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Absolutely

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Bamboo - Straight

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

No

17. How did you learn to knit?

Sister-in-law, books and internet help.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?

2 months

19. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas

20. Is there anything that you collect?

Stuff with dolphins and / or butterflies…. Can never get enough picture frames either.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

Hmm… not that I can think of

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Just need to get better at reading patterns so I can branch out.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

No, unsure of sock size – shoe is 7 1/2

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

July 10th

Personality

I took this personality test for my class - man it nailed me :( check out the link for details on Me :)

I'm a O7-C86-E31-A2-N80 Big Five!!