See ya later...

I've got the use of a car for the next 2 days.

Tomorrow I go to Sacramento to a conference - standing in for my friend who is starting his own business.

The next day, I will be loading the car up with a few heavy boxes and some chairs to take for donation. I asked, he said sure no prob, so I'm going to be getting rid of some major stuff. As much big and heavy stuff as I can! Might as well. No way I'm gonna take any heavy boxes the usual way via bus!

Spencer will be getting rides to and from BART as well. I think on Thursday I'll actually be driving in to SF to pick him and his bike up after school so he can have it here for the weekend.

Time for bed, I've got to be at the Sac Convention Center at 8am, so it's a VERY early start for me and Ms Cow. She insists on coming. Anyway, she's my navigator, so if we get lost, it's HER fault. hahahahaha!

Time for a Stash Flash

Starting at the left:
From my last trip to see the Honey - Sirdar "Country Style" acrylic blend in rust, green and greyish browny sort of color to make Spencer another stripey ear flap hat. He, along with some opinions from Honey, picked out the colors. They had to make sure they were all "manly".

Hank in the middle is Claudia Hand Painted in the "John B." colorway, purchased at Imagiknit at the last Sock Club gathering - for socks - short ones...I only bought one. I can get a pair of ankle socks out of one hank of this yarn - just a plain ordinary ankle sock - toe up of course. Ooh, I did come home with something else, but I can't show it here in case the person it's intended for actually reads my blog. And I can't tell you what I'm going to make with it, cos that'll be a dead give-away as to who it's for...

Top Right: Regia Kaffe Fassett Design Line, color 4251 bought on the trip and KnitPicks Essential "Shoreline Twist" just recently delivered to my front door. The Kaffee Fassett Regia will become a pair of socks for Spencer, and the Essential Twist will be a pair of socks for Honey. Both will be the Earl Grey Pattern by Yarn Harlot, which is the pattern selected for the Sock Club's latest knit-a-long. There are 2 balls of each, just didn't put them in the photo.

And finally, my favorite, the ginormous ball at the bottom right: also bought on the trip - James C. Brett Marble Chunky acrylic, color MC7 (3 big balls - only one shown in photo). It's soft and squishy and I want to make myself this.

Honey took me here (North Wales branch) to drool and purchase yarn. I was in heaven - lots of awesomely soft acrylic as well as regular wooly yarn. Had to stay away from the wooly stuff, but I was all over the rest. hee hee... Talk about a kid in a candy store. I thought I wouldn't be getting anything at all because the exchange rate was so awful. But, the prices at Abakhan are so awesome, I was able to get quite a bit...would have gotten more, but I had a limit as to what I wanted to spend and I can only knit so much anyway.

It's all just so soft and squishy....hee hee. I've had it sitting out on the table since we got back in August. Stopping to pet it and squish it and call it lovey names every so often. Ok, not that ridiculously corny, but I do love it.

Don't know if this is a good thing or not, but I seem to be able to handle Merino sock yarn quite well. Sigh. That, combined with the sock software I have now...well...look out wallet and better make room in the stash. Sigh.

On to 'normal' news... Got a call yesterday afternoon from the bike shop. One nice walk later and Spencer has his bike. He rode it to the train station this morning. I'll have to take the bus there later to pick it up since he'll be over at the Ex's for the next few days and there's no way I'm going to leave that nice bike at the train station for 2 days. Anyway, good excuse to get out and get some fresh air and exercise. It's a beautiful day...and I need the practice for when I get MY pretty bicycle next week!!!

...I'm a joiner... and a follower...what can i say?

First off...

I now belong to a Ravelry group that I'm actually going to participate in...go figure. After basically ignoring Ravelry for how long... I do use it for research and patterns though, so not totally ignoring it. Besides, I can't risk being sucked into it during the day while I'm supposed to be working.

That's my excuse and I'm running with it.

Anyway, how did I come to join the SF Sock a Month KAL? AmpuT belongs and asked me to tag along with her at the meet up this past Sunday. That would be yesterday. How could I resist? Knitting socks, socializing, road tripping into the City with AmpuT, and finally shopping with the whole crew at Imagiknit. Not only does this fun bunch of sock knitters sit in an SF cafe and knit, they also go knit shopping together. What could you not like about that?!?

Long story short, I had a great time! Thanks AmpuT for asking me along. I can't wait to start with the next pattern in October (currently, it is second sock month). While everyone else is finishing their second socks, I will be working on finishing my Mom's birthday socks that I started way back in June (oh shut it). This will give me good incentive to get them done as soon as possible so I can vote and start on the next sock pattern for the KAL club. Not to mention, I'd really like to get them off to Mom before her next birthday rolls around. Ahem.

And of course, I've already bought the yarn for the next KAL. And a little something special for a special person for Christmas. Hee hee. How could I not buy something at Imagiknit?

And I've decided to stop neglecting my Ravelry account. First up, I think I'll be adding my stash. I've got some stuff from England to show off and my latest acquisitions from yesterday.

Nothing like stepping outside of your comfort zone for this club. I've been knitting very plain toe up socks. No pattern, we're talking mondo plain here people - stockingette foot and ribbed above the ankle. Like I said, plain. And this is only my 5th sock (beginning of the 3rd pair).

The club seems to like top-down patterned socks.

Good thing I get a month to finish off one sock.

Next, I've followed AntiM into The 100 Pushups Training thing.

I took the test...I did less than one pushup - pathetic, I know.

Figured out because of my wrist issues, I need to do a modified up-against-the-wall pushup until I can gain some more strength. (those 12 yr olds reading can now commence snickering)

I've done my set training for today - and my arms are noodles.

Oooh....this will be good for keeping me from snacking. I can barely type, let alone pick food up into my mouth. And this is from MODIFIED pushups my friends.

Oh well, never did claim to have great upper body strength.

Swimming is going to be interesting tonight. OH yeah, I'm still gonna keep up with the swimming - and Honey said not to forget to find a lower body workout to balance things out on the days I'm not doing the pushup stuff. I think it's finally time to push PLAY on that Pilates Lower Body workout dvd I've been avoiding for about 2 years now.

And on this note, I leave you with a photo of a new acquisition from our trip to England.




Marvin: Exterminate!!!
Me: NO!!! Wait, it's a bank, not a real Tardis!
Marvin: Don't care...EXTERMINATE!!!
Me: At least let me take the money out of it first...

We're back!

Hello everyone! We arrived back home late Sunday night after 3 flights and a SuperShuttle van ride. Sigh. Rough trip back. Can you say flights from HELL?

I can. No more shall be said of those. I'm in denial they ever happened.

Much walking and eating and window shopping and touristy things went on while in England and North Wales.

Drive-By Summary: There was visiting of friends (both mine and Honey's), a shoot 'em up Xbox gaming night, bogus charge to my account, visiting of Honey's Cousin, teen angst of visiting with Cousin (she has 3 teen girls), visiting with Honey's folks, purchasing of yarn, and finally visiting with Honey's Grandmother this past Saturday (she left this world the next morning - may you rest in peace Nain).

Lots of work happening - I jumped right back in bright and early yesterday.

Spencer had his yearly physical this morning. Out of control weed that one is...

Spencer has high school orientation this Friday, and he starts his first day of high school this coming Monday.

We now take a short commercial break while the Chaos fills with sobs and tears.

Ok...and we're back.

Kitty is punishing me for being away - even tho she was well cared for in our absence.

Here's how last night (or should I say this morning) went:

2am: Potty break for me
Kitty sees me up: MEOW MEOW MEOW
Me: Shut up cat, go back to bed
Kitty: MEOW MEOW MEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

just as I'm drifting off to sleep...POUNCE ON BED AND MEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Gah. This went on for 4 hours.

Finally just gave up at about 6:15am and signed in to work.

She has been sitting on my lap almost all day. I know she loves me and missed me - I love her and missed her too...but C'MON!!!!!!

Nothing a night of shopping with Antonella won't fix.

Happy Belated Blogiversary to me...

Damn...just lost my post...

Anyway, second try...

The Chaos has been around for 2 years and 3 days. YAY!!!

Still having fun here in England. Spent the last two days just shopping...well, should really say looking...not much spending going on.

Lots of rain, off and on sort of stuff throughout the day...and the temp is mild. Actually pretty nice weather. When the sun comes out, it's warm and awesome. So much green everywhere too. Hee hee.

Anyway, hello from all of us here to all of you! One more week left.

I did not switch to the bigger bag!

I'm so proud of myself. Wooo Hoo!!!

Having a wonderful time with Spencer and the Honey (and the Cows) here in England.

We are currently at my friend's house just south of London. We were in the City all day yesterday visiting Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, taking a Thames river cruise, and touring the Tower of London. Navigating the Tube is fun.

Today we try for the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar square and some shopping. Spencer is itching to spend some of his hard-earned money. Better his than mine. hee hee

Cheers!!!

I will not switch to the big backpack...

...I WILL NOT SWITCH TO THE BIG BACKPACK!!!!


gahhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Our bags aren't packed, but we're ready to go...

...both Spencer and I are very excited to go...it's our first vacation with just the two of us. YAY!

OK, back to panicking - I mean packing. Yeah, packing. After I finish work. Oh, and then the last load of laundry.

I will not pack everything but the kitchen sink in my carry-on.
I will not pack everything but the kitchen sink in my carry-on.
I will not pack everything but the kitchen sink in my carry-on.
I will not pack everything but the kitchen sink in my carry-on.

Maybe my smaller carry-on will help that situation...one can hope. :)

I *sewwww* can't stop myself!!!

...from sewing. hee hee

I've been quite busy this weekend. Am making lots of little things to take with me as host/hostess gifts on our trip. Lots of very nice folks will be hosting and feeding us as we go all about with Honey, and I do hate showing up empty handed.

And I'm working on some special treats for my Mom and Sis...I'm trying to get them done and packed in the box with the Tardis.

Hope I can get photos of it all before we leave on Friday!

We interrupt this blog post for...a SQUUEEEEEEEE...3 days left until we leave.

Carry on.

The Summer of Sewing has begun...

...oh, have I been having a wonderful time reaquainting myself with my sewing machine. It's been a long time...way too long! I am so taking advantage of the fact that Spencer is off in Texas until the 27th. Usually I just mope and don't do anything, but I've broken out of that and I've been busy!!! YAY!!!

First off, some simple projects... Made over the course of a few nights, a few hours each night.

One seam up the back...and BOOYAH!!! Instant sun dress.



Perfect for wearing around the house when it's too hot to go outside...



And a cute widdle kitty pillow - not stuffed yet, but it's small, just 10" tall and 7" wide... I bought the panel at a thrift store. Kitty looked like he needed a good home.



Oooh, and some plain book covers for me and Honey...




...or are they....

hmmmmm....I've made a small and large one for Honey and a large one for myself. Let's see what's inside, shall we?





OMG!!! Will you look at that...This small one must be for Honey...after all, I have a small one my Mom made for me ages ago...and I still use it...and I'm not really into Biker Babes.

Let's see what's in the large one I made for Honey...some firemen perhaps?

No, another Biker Babe....



Look at THAT!!!! A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette. A regular smorgasbord of Babes for Honey.



Gah...getting tired of Babes, Babes, Babes...where's a Fireman when you need one...


OOOOOHHHH!!!! There he is....



OMG...A whole Fire Crew! S-C-O-R-E!!!!




And the other day, I had the idea of trying to make potholders...just popped into my head one day. So, one trip to the craft store with a coupon, and we get...

Two Biker Babe potholders for Honey...



And one Hunky, stripping, Fireman for Antonella.



The back of the potholders are the lightweight denim I used for the book covers, and I used 2 layers of the insulating lining - I didn't think one was enough. All four layers hand quilted and ready for finishing...

And...if you want to have your own adventures making Hunk or Babe stuff, you can get the fabrics (plus so many others, it's amazing) online at eQuilter.com. Reasonable prices for a great varitey of prints (unbelievable variety), and great service to boot. Just enter what you're looking for in the search box and you'll get a list of prints. For the ones I used, just enter Hunks or Babes. Just remember to ask how big the motifs are...I was surprised at how large the firemen and babes were...made it a bit of a challenge to place them all just so in the projects. Should have ordered a full yard, but only got half yards, and as a result, had very few full motifs to work with - but I was able to get quite a few small projects out of it.

All potholders still need the bias tape trim, but I still need to go back to the craft store for that. Could have sworn I had some here, so that's why I didn't get some before. Oh well, thought I'd show them here, because I'm not sure when I'll get back to the store for it.

And there you have it folks. The first batch of sewing projects for the Summer of Sewing. Just a few days left though. When Spencer comes back from Texas, we prepare for our trip to England!!!

Yes, you read right, Spencer and I take off for England on August 1st. We're going to see Honey and do some mad sightseeing - Spencer has never been. It's our Happy Graduation Spencer, Happy B-day Spencer, Happy B-day Donna, last chance at a decent vacation together, trip. And we can't wait!!!!!! SQUEEEEE!!!

It's All about the Cows today...

Today is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-a... It's a Special Day around here since the Cow in Ms Cow and Cow is from Chick-Fil-a.

Cow came to be with the Honey when the Honey was in the US on business one year (way back when Chick-fil-a first started the whole Cow campaign). Seems a ballpark was tossing cows (don't they know you're supposed to tip them?!?) into the stands and Honey caught Cow.

Honey met me, we found out we both have Cows (only my cow is a delicate crafting flower from JoAnn's Fabrics) and when Honey came to visit, so did Cow and well, the rest is history.

Here is the Happy Couple during their June visit:




When they are not visiting each other, they are plotting ways to get together. Ms Cow has decided to learn how to drive. Here she is checking the systems on the Hybrid Prius we had use of one day:





And getting ready to go...all buckled up:




Visiting the DMV with me last week...I had to renew my license...she wants to get one:




Studying the Rules of the Road book they gave her.






Seems she can qualify for a very special, super secret, driver's assistant license, so she's preparing.

Meanwhile across the Big Pond, Cow is learning how to navigate and tie knots. Seems his big plan is to sail the Atlantic. He'll pull into an Eastern port somewhere and Ms Cow will have driven cross-country to meet him.

Here, Cow practices with Honey's GPS in the car.




And here, he's being fitted for some water proofs for his long trip over the water. They still need some work, but Ms Cow thinks he'll be just so handsome when they are done. Oh, and he needs a spiffy Captain's cap as well.





And now for some photos of them during their visit...lots of sightseeing was done...

In Chinatown




And on the USS Hornet Carrier Museum...


In the pilot's briefing room




In the Captain's Chair!




And sneaking behind the barrier in the Apollo 11 Astronaut's Quarantine Trailer...




...and after it was all done...relaxing at a restaurant





And now for some crafting, this is after all a knit blog...heh heh heh...




She's making a bag for herself...

A knit bag!!!




And now, may I present "Proof Of Tatting"




It's coming along quite nicely, thank you very much.

Castles, Kilts, Cranes, and Ball Sax

HA! Four promises with one post!


A Castle in Wales for Antonella:



A Kilted Street Piper in Leeds for Stephieface:



A Crane in York for AntiM:



Ball Sax for No-Blog-Rachel (2!):

Balls unruly and getting out of hand?



Sack 'em!



Ball Sax courtesy of the produce department at Trader Joe's.

Seriously though...these little plastic netting thingies are awesome. Helps keep those balls in line...and look - the white one is a double ball sack...just like it should be, right?

OK...I really think it's time I get to bed....

Someday, I'll actually explain all this in the context of more photos from my February trip to see Honey. Except the ball sax of course - that one is it's own story.

How to Tell Spring has Sprung in the Chaos...

Shave....



...and a Polish (toes of course)....





...Short Skirt!




Well, not really short...I am short, so the skirt is just about knee length...which is actually perfect for me. Notice the cute new sandals....have another pair in black.

Hope to post more soon...April is a month of anniversaries. Some sad (miss you Dad and Kitty Banshee). Some very happy (Honey and I are together one year!!! Love you Honey...). Some birthdays - Happy Birthday Kitty Sammie (today)...and Happy Birthday Antonella, next week.

I don't quite know what I'm going to post about it all...I've got a few ideas...just need to get my head round them all and decide how I'm going to approach it...Plus I owe you guys some more posts about the trip. GAH...at this rate I don't know if I'll ever catch up!

There has been knitting...I've cast on my first real size sock! Yay me!!! I've restarted the Holey Moley poncho...don't ask. Work still continues on my sister's B-day present...yes, I know, it was in January. Zip it. And I still have to show the sweater Honey's Mom knit for me, and some finished objects that have been finished for a while now.

I'm a slacker....I know. But I did my taxes WAAAY before the deadline...did you?

Oh...and there will be a SQUEEEEEEEE delay as I try to come down from the latest Honey news. He bought his tickets today to come visit in June! Woot! Honey will be in town for Spencer's graduation...as will my Mom and Sis. Honey's turn to meet my family! YAY!

Ooohh...or should I say OUCH!!! Kitty Sammie has just given me a present on her birthday. A 4 inch long double scratch on the top of my thigh...she likes to sit on my lap when I'm at the computer...and she was startled...and I'm wearing shorts...oh...gah...OUCH! Time to go wipe off the blood, clean the scratches and get some antibiotic gel on it. Sigh.

Good thing that skirt goes to the knee.......

Gah...

Well, I sure as hell ain't doing very well with this here posting more often thing, am I...sigh...

Actually, I have been quite busy...more like running all around and being so tired, I just don't feel like doing anything but going to bed once the sun goes down...

Anyway...The Honey has reminded me that I forgot to tell about Immigration once I got off the plane in England.

Not really much to tell, but sure as hell wish I had a photo of the guys face when I answered the infamous "Are you here on business or pleasure Miss?" with "I'm here on vacation!"

In England.

In February.

And...it's snowing.

Yes, I got quite "A Look".

An "Are you completely and utterly MAD, as in INSANE?" kind of look.

He was actually speechless there for a few seconds. I think I was only one of about a dozen or so US citizens from the plane. Everyone else were Brits returning home. The other US folks were there on business, or visiting family - there was even one family going to a funeral (really hated hearing that...).

But I was on VACATION!!!

After the usual grilling about where I was staying and all that, he finally let me pass. "Welcome to the UK Miss, urmmm...Enjoy your stay?"

Oh, and Stephieface....in answer to your comment about why I couldn't knit on the way home. Yes, they do knit in England. BUT, obviously, English Knitters are subversive folk hell bent on taking over the world - in an even worse way than I am. No sharp objects whatsoever, in any shape or form, are allowed on any flights leaving the UK. Knitting needles are first on the list.

How not to travel light....

In the interest of posting more...and the fact that I've been at this work thing since 6am...and the lawn dudes are making an enormous racket outside my window...and it's time for lunch...

Here I am.

Thought I'd fill you in on what part of the Chaos I took with me to England. Thankfully, there are no photos.

One look inside my suitcase and you'd think...wow, this chick is organized. I had just the right amount of clothes...taking into account the fact that The Honey has laundry facilities, I packed light. And it was all packed - just so. Can't keep my apartment clear of clutter, but I sure as hell can pack!!!

If I was just taking over my clothes, I could have gotten away with one of those rolling carry-on thingies. Instead, I had a pretty big suitcase - which ended up weighing in at just 3lbs. under the allowable weight. What else did I bring?

Glad you asked...

Packed inside the suitcase were some goodies to spoil my Honey:

1. Five shirts I'd found at all the sales that Spencer and I had been hitting over the Holidays. (blue and gray of course, to set off his blue eyes - sappy, I know...)
2. One pound of Honey's fav coffee beans.
3. One 3lb container of just-add-water pancake mix.
4. Four small bottles of Vitamin Water in Honey's fav flavors. Originally had more, but those suckers really added to the weight factor, so had to leave half of them here.

Also packed inside were some things to give to my friend:

1. Chili Spices Kit (she's from Texas...loves her Chili)
2. Spanish rice mix
3. Taco seasoning packet
4. Sloppy Joe's seasoning packet
5. And a few more seasoning packets I can't really remember

The Honey just cracked up when I started unpacking - pulling out item after item after item... "Did you actually bring any clothes?"

And the last bit of stuff in the suitcase was my extra duffle bag (in case extra packing room was needed on the way home, for umm - YARN?), toiletry overflow (anything larger than 3oz), my small messenger bag (great for doing the touristy thing), and stuff for the return flights.

In the backpack (yes, it's pretty big):

1. Small baggie of toiletries (nothing over 3oz of course)
2. Change of undies, shirt, and socks.
3. Camera
4. Various and sundry chargers and converters
5. Cell Phone
6. Wallet, passport, tix, and all that sort of stuff
7. 3 word search puzzle magazines
8. Notebook and pens
9. Yarn, needles and pattern for fingerless mitts
10. Yarn, needles and book about socks
11. 1 very thick novel
12. 1 small stained glass cable car hanging thing for the Honey's parents
13. 2 small boxes of See's Assorted Candies (bought at the SF Airport - just couldn't pass them by and knew my friend and my Honey would enjoy them - OK OK...I WANTED them! Happy now?!?)
14. 1 bottle of water that would need to be consumed before going thru security (no problem, drank it on the way to the airport)
15. 1 adventurous Sock Monkey
16. 1 shy and frightened Ms. Cow
17. 1 light purple Pashmina shawl (wrap yourself in one of these suckers on the plane...mmmm...much better than those crap blankets they give you)

For the trip back and packed in my suitcase:

1. The first 3 Terry Pratchett Discworld Novels
2. 3 more word search puzzle magazines
3. Various and sundry British gossip magazines and tabloids (these were bought while I was there, obviously, so ignore them for now)
4. Plus most of everything else from before, minus the knitting of course (not allowed on flights leaving the UK)

What did I actually do on the way there? I did, after all, have two long flights and a layover...

1. Did one word search puzzle in the SF airport.
2. Roamed around the SF airport (yes, I was nervous and restless).
3. Took a few photos on the flight to Chicago. Couldn't really move, so couldn't really do anything. (Good thing I'm not claustrophobic.)
4. Roamed around the Chicago airport playing with the toilets and watching it snow and watching people (at this point I was VERY nervous and restless).
5. Cast on for the fingerless mitts before getting on the flight to England.
6. Knit, slept, screwed up knitting, slept some more...didn't watch the movies.
7. Carried around a big ass backpack that weighed a freakin' ton!!!!
8. Thought how ridiculous I felt carrying around a big ass backpack full of stuff I wasn't using.
9. Thought that with all the stuff I wasn't doing, I could have packed what I needed in my Trader Joe's reusable grocery bag...sigh...

I'll fill you in later about the trip home...

Getting There...

Yes No-Blog-Rachel...here it is...first of several...after all, I was there two weeks...

As all you regulars know, I left Friday, February 1st on my first ever, on my own, trip across The Pond. I'd traveled internationally before, lots of times. Never alone though...and it had been about 15 or so years since my last trip. And almost 14 years since I've had a vacation that wasn't with family (hmmm....strangely the same number of years Spencer has been around...)

Anyway, Feb 1st started out early. My airport ride showed up in the wee hours of the morning. They needed to drop me off and then make it to work early that day. I, of course, was all ready having calmly finished my packing the night before. Hah. Don't you just love fiction? The ready part was true...the calm? Not so much.

Upon arriving at the airport, the lovely, helpful lady at the check-in counter informs me that since I'm so early, they can put me on the earlier flight out to Chicago - which had been delayed, but was now scheduled to take off in about 45 min. Yay! I was excited about that. It would give me an extra 45min in Chicago to get to my flight to England.

We shall hurriedly mention the "BAG SEARCH!!!" "BAG SEARCH!!!" incident in security. Not very exciting and no needles were confiscated. They apparently didn't like the fact that I had a digital camera. Go figure.

On board I go...squeezed into the window seat next to a very large man with a cold. No, fellow knitters...there was no knitting on this flight...

Halfway thru the flight, I looked out and saw this...




Somewhere over the Midwest....all flat and covered in feet of snow...

Sock Monkey decided to come out from the backpack and take a look...my seat mate's snoring woke him up...



Yes, my friends, Sock Monkey is back and couldn't resist going on a new adventure...especially since he's never been in a plane before...

And we had another friend join along...Ms. Cow - she had some visiting to do as well.*



She was a little intimidated by the whole noisy plane thing, so stayed in the seat pocket. Sock Monkey tried to get her to look out the window, but she refused.

A few hours later...Welcome to Chicago Ladies and Gentlemen!



A cold and snowy day greeted us. The plows were working hard to clear off the runways. I was really hoping my connecting flight was still going to leave on time....

Check out the snow melting truck/machine thing! Coolest. Thing. Ever!!!!




With 45 minutes added to the 45 minutes I had to waste in the Chicago Airport, and being way too nervous to do anything but walk about, I, of course took pictures of the toilet.



Coolest. Toilet. Ever! Press a button on the wall, and a new toilet seat cover comes out and around the seat...whirrrrrr...now I'm really wishing I'd taken video...

No pictures from the flight over unfortunately (which left right on time, by the way). I was in and out of consciousness on it and trying to get in a little knitting in-between. I had finally started the second of my fingerless mitts about 30 minutes before we'd boarded the flight in Chicago, and had gotten more than half way through it by the time we landed. Knitting on a plane! YES! Had many friendly conversations with other passengers about it during the flight, the technique I was using (two circulars instead of dp's), and the stitch pattern (Anne the pattern writer calls it Pave). I apparently messed up somewhere around where the thumb gusset increases started. Several days later while in the car traveling to somewhere with The Honey, I noticed my mistake. Gah!

We arrived Feb 2nd, at 6:15am - ish...on a cold and snowy morning in England. We were an hour early (!!!!!!) and with all of us from the flight making frantic phone calls to our rides saying we were early. I sent a text to The Honey while in line at Immigration saying we were early and I was heading thru to the luggage carousel already. He replied that he was still 30 minutes away. Had expected as much since I didn't find out we were going to be that early until we were about halfway thru the flight - so I couldn't tell him.... and he wouldn't have found out until he woke up and checked the airport website.

After making my way thru all the official hoo hah, 15 min later, The Honey arrived and we set out.

DAY-YUM IT WAS COLD!!!!! I knew it would be cold and tried to prepare myself for it, but there is just no way to do that if you're not used to it. Took a while for the shivers to go away. Yes, I was bundled up, but it was definitely a shock to the system.

Luckily, The Honey's car has a fully functioning heater.

After a snowy drive home and several incidents of The Honey talking to himself as I passed in and out of consciousness...we arrived at his house.

Here's a view from the window on the second floor at the top of the stairs...



First thing I thought was...Good Heavens, I'm in a PBS show!!!! Looked just like the houses you see in the British shows they have. LOVE IT!

Honey thought I was crazy...and then bundled me off to take a nap before I passed out cold.

In case you haven't gotten it, I don't travel well. Also didn't help that I hadn't been able to sleep for those last few days before I left...

Coming soon...Off to Wales!!!! Castles!!!! Foreign toilets!!!!!! Bridges!!!!! Visiting with The Honey's Family!!!!!!! And Stairs...Lots of Bloody Stairs!!!!!!!

Whuh....a little unstable never hurt anyone...

* Ms. Cow has a bit of a relationship with Cow, who just happens to hang out with The Honey in his Home Office. Ms. Cow hangs out in my home office. They met for the first time when Honey came to visit, and have been an 'item' ever since. Ahhh....Bovine Romance....how sweet.

Coming soon to a blog near you...

Finished objects! Two of them!

Needles on fire! I'm knitting again!

Future projects! Yarn P0rn!

First post about vacation!

Other stuff!

Not so many exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But first, I need to decompress from this week (with some knitting and some Viggo and some pizza), and I have a busy weekend ahead.

!!

Back....

Hey everyone,
Made it back to life here...of course, still wishing I was in the UK with the Honey. Although, he did say it was a lot colder now than when I was over visiting...

Anyway, still recovering from the trip back...which is rather hard with Spencer being off this week from school and jumping straight back into work (which is being a total bitch BTW), but I am getting to bed early every night and hope to be over this soon. Guess I shouldn't have waited 14 or so years to travel about the world again, eh?

Sigh...back to reality...which totally sucks this week. I'm sure once I'm not a total zombie, I'll feel better about it all. Probably not, but one can hope, right?!?

Someday soon, I hope to tell you about the trip...oooh...and Stephieface, I've got one Kilt porn pic for you...but just the one...that's all I could get...and it was purely by chance we came upon him...bagpipes even...

Chat soon...lots of bloglines to catch up on...see what you all have been up to while I was gone...

BRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Not really, but I am spending quite a bit of time bundled up...

Hi everyone from sunny England. The weather this week and at the end of last week actually has been sunny and warmer. YAY!!!

Lots of adventures to tell about and all that...Honey says HI!

OOOOOHHHH....Honey's Mum made me an aran cardigan for Xmas at his request. I put it on right away and have spent most of my time in it...hee hee...it's warm! And lovely. Honey and Antonella have apparently been conspiring for months now to get the right size, etc so she could make it. Sneaky, aren't they?!?!?!?!?

Oh, and the fingerless mitts and hat...remember those? Well, um...I finished one mitt and started the next...it's been the mitt from hell! Can't get it right for nothin'...have had to tink so many times, I just want to rip it out and never start it again...if it wasn't for the fact that I already have the one, I think I would....

Off we go now...Cheers!