I changed my keychain over to this London bear last night because it is official now. We are going to London!
And we are not going alone. Dan and I are bringing with us a group of 7 from our family and friends.
It all started with an innocent enough conversation Dan and I had my sister-in-law Michelle. (My MIL will not be surprised it’s her daughter’s fault that we are traveling to another country. Michelle has been traveling since she was in high school going to places like China, South America, India, Turkey, etc. She just adores it!) Well, she complemented me on a pin I was wearing. I thanked her and then promptly informed her that I got it in Mexico. When she looked shocked, Dan informed her that I meant Mexico in Epcot, Walt Disney World. (grin) By the end of the conversation, my SIL had volunteered to be our tour guide in either London or Mexico, since I was quite nervous about traveling alone. At first, I refused. I have silly fears about getting lost or offending somebody because I don’t understand something or becoming overwhelmed by everything. It’s silly, I know. But, Dan really loved the idea. I had no desire to keep Dan in a pumpkin shell … and Michelle did promise that she would come with us and make sure we didn’t get lost. So, it was agreed upon.
Then, we told our friends and Dan’s father who were giddy about coming with us, since none of them have been. Even my godson, who is turning 4 next month, is coming!
Perhaps because of the small crowd we are bringing with us, my worries are mostly gone. I’m so excited about going now. Of course, we aren’t leaving for another two months.
In the meantime, let me show you the yarn I got recently.
First, there is the loot I brought home from the Pottstown Knit Out.
The two skeins in front are 100% alpaca spun in a bulky weight. They are from a local alpaca farm called Walnut Grove.
The skein in the back is hand-dyed mohair from Mountain Colors. I purchased it from a LYS, Olde Peddler Wools.
Then yesterday, Mandy of Sew Spun surprised me with a box filled with her stash that she had cleaned out in the hopes of organizing her new craft room.
What a lovely surprise! Thank you!
The Life, Designs & Crafts of Marie Haigh 
London!!!! You lucky thing you! How terribly exciting – that is one trip I would love to do myself someday :)))
Love your alpaca goodies and all your new stash enhancements!
London! How wonderful!
Wow, how exciting. Having lived in Ireland for 13 years I have to recommend you hop on the boat and visit there too.
In London, the changing of the guard is great and the tower of London is amazing. Madame Tousaud’s and the planetarium are fantastic. We will expect lots of pictures! Have fun planning and looking forward to it.
Oh it’s quite hard to offend a Londoner since we exist in a permanent grump anyway :) Just remember to pronounce Leicester Square as ‘Lesster’ square, not ‘Lie-sess-ter’ square and you’ll be fine.
My tip is to take the tube to Angel, and send everyone else round the lovely shops in Islington while you get lost in Loop http://www.loop.gb.com/shop.html. Then you can all have lunch in Ottolenghi http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/ and top it off with a meringue the size of your head.
Safe travels!
Great job on getting that trip to London on the calendar! I think planning a trip and looking forward to it are almost as good as actually being there.
Oh so exciting! Very clever of you to get a whole bunch of you going. We just got our very first passports since we haven’t left the country since before 9/11 and then we only went to Canada, the islands and such. Now that we have them we think we should use them . We’re off to Antigua but then maybe somewhere else. London does sound tempting. Have a lot of fun and take loads of pictures for us to see.
I am in total envy!!! That sounds fab.
Great booty haul there.
Vicki
Hope you have a great trip