Laowai

I finished my second pair of socks today. Taking photos of socks feels weird. But I must document my little accomplishments. I'm not in the mood to start another sweater. We're quickly heading into summer and summer is not knitting season for me. So I think I'm going to start another pair of socks. Just something to keep me busy while I have some more knitting classes left and before window restoration season starts. I might make some swan theme socks – this is all very exciting.

And now some less weird photos. Some shots from my walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden. 

Claire and I went to Midland for Easter weekend. Brian had just returned from a week in Singapore that was hot on the tail of our trip to England so he was not in the mood to travel. Bea stayed home and helped him recover from his jet lag. Ha.

Anyway a fun weekend with Jennifer, Jenna and Mom – doing our usual things – playing games, coloring Easter eggs and going to Target. And then we got to have dinner with Gramma C. and Sophie and Cameron too.

It was good to see everyone.

I can't help looking at old windows these days. And I certainly saw lots of interesting examples in England.

These first two are from a building at the Tower of London. I feel better about the condition of my windows after seeing that even the Tower of London struggles to keep their windows maintained. Lots of layers of paint but really beautiful large double hung windows that seem to be working perfectly.

And there was, of course, wavey glass. Can you see below?

More from the Tower of London – I wonder how old these are. Many are made of metal.

The window below opens by pivoting at the middle.

Scallops – yes please.

Oh I love this green one. Ten over 15 panes. Wondering if it's old or not? 

Casement with hinges in the middle.

I love that they are not all painted black or white like modern windows.

It's almost time to clear the patio furniture out of the garage and set up my window workshop again. Seeing all these pretty windows gives me a charge of inspiration. 

When Claire and I went antiquing during our vacation I bought a toast rack. Not even sure that's what they call it but it feels very English and so it's a good reminder of our trip. 

And I can put my frequently used recipe cards on it – for easy access.

For our first few days of Spring Break we went all around London. There is so much to see! My feet were tired! Here are a bunch of photos of all our destinations.

Starting with Spitalfields Market which was near our hotel.

Lunch.

Tower of London.

Tower Bridge.

Fighting jet lag.

My favorite photo from the whole trip – I think Brian took this.

Museum of the Home – Claire learning about rotary phones.

And the girls playing old video games.

Museum of the home gardens through time exhibits

Hopping on the Underground. They really do say "mind the gap".

London Transport Museum.

The part of the museum that showed the underground stations being used as shelters during WW2 was most interesting.

Apparently Chapman was a form of transport in olden days.

Covent Garden.

Brian is too tall for London.

London Bridge Underground station.

Tagging along on Brian's Bermondsey Beer Mile pilgrimage.  

Natural History Museum.

Mr. Darwin.

I love it when our friends vacation in the same place as us!

Sherlock Holmes Museum.

Primrose Hill.

Squinty-est photo ever!

Grand Union Canal.

Gritty.

London Garden Museum.

This was my destination – not everyone was enthusiastic about all things British gardening.

Covid-19 Memorial.

Palace of Westminster and Big Ben.

Bye-bye London time to rent a car so Brian can practice driving on the wrong side of the road.

For Spring break this year we went to England. We wanted to see London but also some of the countryside so we chose to stay in a small town called Bridport. Bridport is located along the south coast (called the Jurassic Coast) in a region called Dorset.

We did not have great weather. Lots of rain and lots of fog. But it was still beautiful and we did see the quaint English scenes that you imagine complete with thatched roof houses, long rock walls, rolling green hills and sheep.

So here are a bunch of photos.

The coast and its famous cliffs is about a mile away from the town of Bridport. 

Here's our charming hotel with cozy pub on the first floor.

Next up – a hike. We went for a little hike up to the area's highest point on the coast.

It was one of those days where you know there is a magnificent view but the weather just doesn't allow you to see it. The best we got was the quick glimpse above.

Later on we went for a fossil hunt. This area of coast is well known for it's fossils and you can find them easily. We joined a guided tour to hear about the geological history and to learn what to look for.

We did have luck finding fossils and Bea lugged a bunch home in her bag. I just didn't get a good picture.

The next morning we woke up to a bit of sun. Bea and Brian went for a hike and Claire and I walked down to the beach and checked out some shops.

It was a muddy walk!

For the last bit of our vacation we went on a brewery tour. There's its historical water wheel below.

The brewery is called Palmer's – they are a mid-sized brewer that has been making beer on the same site since 1794. Their old building was very interesting and charming.

We had a really friendly guide that showed us the whole process and said "let's crack on". And then at the end while we were tasting their beers Mr. Palmer himself came by. 

So I'm really glad we got out of London to see some more of friendly England. One last photo that I had to include because it made me smile. A scene of the royal family all carefully knitted and displayed in a window. You can see the queen up on the rainbow and there is even a Volodymyr Zelensky standing with the royals in his green army outfit.

Brian has been traveling a lot lately – this time to New York.

Meanwhile I've been on a couple walks to the Chicago Botanic Garden and we all went to the Garfield Park Conservatory over the weekend. 

Lately, at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the birds are all chirping and whistling and honking and quacking. All along my path every kind of bird that lives or visits there is bursting out it's own brand of happy spring song.

All the green at the conservatory felt nice since I'm about to jump out of my skin anxiously waiting for signs of spring.

I sewed a button up shirt over the weekend. I've had this pattern for probably a year or two. I put off making it because I was intimidated by the two part collar and all those buttons. But as usual with a Liesl and Co. pattern, it was much easier than I thought it would be. And I've had a little experience with my machine's button hole making function so it all went smoothly. 

This is the Liesl and Co. Classic Shirt pattern and I made it out of an IKEA curtain. It's sort of a muslin and now that I know I can do this pattern and I'm happy with the fit I can buy some fun fabric. Maybe a trip to Liberty of London over Spring Break – oooh there's something to look forward to!

Oh and yes, I forgot to button one of the buttons. Didn't notice til after I was done taking photos and I'm not going to re-shoot myself because it's my least favorite thing to do.