England Day 3

This was the day we tried to do everything - it didn't quite work, but we saw a fair bit.   I'll  back up a bit though because I forgot to mention in the last post that when we got back into London that evening, we were able to go on the London Eye!  It looks like a huge ferris wheel, but each car holds 20 people or so without being crowded at all, and the cars offer a wonderful view of London!  We also saw Big Ben by night as we walked a bit to get to a bus stop as the tube strike was  still on.

Our third day started with a trip to Tower of London.  It was so interesting - lots of history!  Then we went over the Tower Bridge, which had displays too.  I love that bridge - it's  really a nice bridge to look at.  After that we had a bit of difficulty trying to find Shakespeare'S Globe Theatre.  We kept asking people and consulting our map.  Twice we ended up in the middle of Burroughs Market, and it was amazingly crowded but really neat to see.  Tried to eat lunch there as the scents were mouthwatering, but oh how the lines were long!  We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant, and thus fortified, finally found The Globe.   That was a fun tour, and we got to watch a tech rehearsal for Richard the.... 3rd? 2nd?  which was opening the next night.  They were having a bit of trouble with the dying scene and it was fun to watch.  Not so different really than GHS rehearsals.   After the Globe, we found St Pauls Cathedral where Megan climbed all those 528 steps to the top to get that view!  I did it in 1977 and remembered the view perfectly well, so saw no need to climb them again!

After that we saw part of the city from a different vantage point - by taking a Thames River boat cruise.  Very fun!

 Close up of one of many carvings done by prisoners in the tower.  The guy in the picture is there because of a reflexion off the plexiglass.

Megan with a Beefeater.

See through portion on the bridge with view of below.

Burroughs Market.

The Globe.

Sam Wanamaker was the driving force behind  the rebuilding of the Theatre.  His daughter, if I have this right, was in the Harry Potter movies.  Sam passed away before the Globe was finished.

The Shard.  Looks like a piece of broken glass at the top.

A delicious finish!

England Day 2

Our first full day in England was also the first full day od the tube (subway) strike.  So that was the perfect day to do castles and palaces a bit outside of town.  All the train connections worked very well, but I had left my oyster (transport card wit money on it) at the hotel.  I'd  forgotten that I would need to show it at the train station even tho we bought train tickets.  The nice conductor waved me through and we were off!  We went to Windsor first, weekend home of the queen and a beautiful old castle!

Next we went to Hampton Court Palace, Henry the 8th'S  home (among others).  It's  famous for its maze.  I found the kitchens fascinating.   Very large scale!  We actually made it through to the center and back out!  Got lucky!

 Megan hanging out with the court beggars in the palace courtyard.

 Chocolate kitchen!  Imagine that, a whole kitchen just for chocolate!

 Serving dishes were rare.  The solution?  Put everything in a piecrust, eat the contents and throw away the "bowl"!

 Snack at the Tilting Yard Cafe!

 Ta da!  Center of the maze!

CTMH Convention News!

So much good news and great looking new products!  A new Cricut collection, 6 new paper collections in the Annual Inspirations Book, plus this year there will be three Seasonal Expressions Catalogs, each with three  new paper collections!  Here's a few pics.  Sorry some of the photos are funny looking because they're  screenshots. Some really big news is that we have seven new colors!

 

England Day 1

Finally at a place where my blog will load!  So here's  travel news for my peeps who don't have fb.   I didn't sleep a wink on the overnight flight so I was tired but excited when we arrived.  We had a lovely surprise  when we landed.  Heather, one of our ministers who was in Yorkshire until May and had answered many questions over emails, was at the airport to greet us!  What a sweet  thing to do.  We had hugs and a quick chat and lunch, then we were  on our way.  We changed our plans quickly when we realized it was too late to get to Windsor that day and do it justice, so took the tube to the hotel and then had a nice walk through Kensington Gardens and dinner.  Heather also warned us about a tube strike starting at 6 p.m. - such great timing!

Heather and Megan

 Kensington Palace.  Didn't  see George or Baby Charlotte...

Peter Pan statue

August Scrapbooking: Wanderful

Here are our club layouts for August.  We are meeting August 21st.  Contact me if you would like to order a kit.  I love the Wanderful collection and can't wait to add pictures from our trip this summer!

Retiring List

It's  that time of year!  We have to say goodbye to some awesome products so Close to My Heart has room in their warehouse for new goodies!  Click this link to see all the retiring items.  If you see some stamp sets you like, stay tuned for July's special:  starting July 1, with $25 in stamp set purchases, you can get the July Stamp of the Month free, or get any hostess stamp set for $5!

June Scrapbooking: Jackson Pages

These 4 outdoorsy layouts are designed by consultant Holly Veselenak and we'll be using her instruction guide.     Contact me at kvarcoe@aol.com or 503 267-6080 if you would like to order a kit.    Our June scrapbook night is Friday 6/19.

Jackson Mini Album

Here is my Jackson Mini Album.   SO much fun to create with our new Kraft Mini Folio, Jackson papers, and the star of the show:   Jackson Picture My Life Cards.      Contact me for a complete supply list so you can make this album.

Back cover and front cover shown together: