Oh Danny Boy!

Walked about 2 hours to find the abandoned churches and graveyard the neighbor mentioned.  It was about 10 minutes away, actually but the wander was breath taking! We met some volunteer caretakers there who were chatty. Saw the grave of the man who wrote Danny Boy. What a place! The crypts wandered up the hill and disappeared into the growth. It was like a painting that was fading around the edges.  The men mentioned that they were surprised we found it. Most of Bath doesn't realize it's there. It's well hidden.

We saw the actual Roman Baths this morning.  DH has now topped off his bucket list. We spent hours, and it was worth the trip right there. They have done an excellent job preserving and yet making everything accessible.  People seem to have respect over here. The ruins are accessed from street level but go underground and under streets and buildings as well. They plan to excavate more. We'll need to come back for that. We did take the waters.  Tasted like that water you drain off after cooking hot dogs. About the same temperature.

Did not take tea at the Pump Room yet.  Need to dress up for that, I think. It just seems right.

We also ate at Sally Lunn's today. Her buns are famous! They're also huge. You only get half unless you specify. It's the oldest whatever in Bath. In the basement they have excavated down to the Roman street, and then the different layers of occupation upwards. The current street level is up a floor now. The original kitchen is about 2 feet above Roman level and 6 feet below current level.

I've read that last passage over again and fear that the Great P may be beside herself again.

and there you are.

Another Day in Paradise

Jane Austen! I know. I should be shot. Jane this, Jane that... I get confused.

I went to a short lecture on Jane Austen as a pulp fiction author. She rarely mentioned Jane and talked more about some male author who may have read Jane and laughed at her style of prose, feeling a woman's time was better spent on embroidery. With embroidery you get an actual result.

Next week we hear from someone else on Georgian fashions. Sounds good!

Walked the 10 minutes to the store to get supper stuff. On the way got a lesson on how to get a narrow boat through the locks. So simple and quick - which is good, as there were 3 locks between me and the store. Lovely people! Lovely time of day. Other boaters out on deck, reading or sipping wine. There's a great deal of sipping. The maximum speed is 4 miles/ hr, the canal sides are like a bumper pool. Wine is really encouraged.

Then the way back was enhanced by the view down into the city. And the sound of ancient church bells ringing out. That happens several times a day. It's beautiful.

We were walking (so much walking!) and noticed a little churchyard, right in the middle of a park. It was right out of a movie.  The building was just a shell, overgrown inside and out. The crypts were settling into the ground and were overgrown as well.  What a step back in time!

Another Good Day

Today was chilly. We came home for sweaters.

Children wear lovely school uniforms. The new season shows as newly purchased outfits. They look so perfect! Skirt hem length seems quite variable. And short. But with tights.

I could walk canal paths for days, and probably will.

Ducks quack louder here.

Women outings are called hendoes.

Cleo had a tiff with the neighborhood bully cat. At high noon.  In the upper hallway. Not sure who won. We are now her 'muscle' when she ventures out.  Ron goes with her for the first bit and growls at the surrounding bushes. Quite effective.

Went to a lovely museum today. Lovely needlework and a huge willow sculpture.  My cup of tea! Then walked the park surrounding it, as Jane Eyre did when she lived next door. Took a picture of her house (of course).

Bought some vintage sewing patterns today. Companies I had never heard of. Gorgeously!

The neighbors have a lovely daughter. She drew me a map of the 8 year old's version of a tourist map. It's very informative. I need to find this tea spot, it seems.

TV is a bit different. Watch this!

Tomorrow a short talk on why Jane Eyre was the pulp fiction queen of her time. And we'll try for the largest antique shop in the world. Even though I thought we had already been to the largest - several times!

THe Right Cat Steps Forward

Good news! The correct cat has identified herself. At approximately midnight a slight, furry, purring delight arrived on my sleeping head, treading and vigorously spooning me. She was hungry and had a huge midnight snack. She spent the rest of the evening sleeping on our feet.

The wrong cat still checks out the kitchen feeding station, using the cat doors as if they were her own.   This may call for the squirt gun by the kitchen window.

Of course, right cat/ wrong cat - whose word do we take on this?

The allegedly 'right' cat is happily purring in my husbands lap now. Both happy. He wants to apply for a passport for her. What does AC charge for a cat? He could just tuck her in his sweater.

Today we wandered the town. It was filled with others doing the same thing. A perfect day! We listened to the Saxaphonics in a park. Scouted out lots of things to do. Saw lots of places to shop. The English seem to love parks. They were everywhere!

I found a Pfaff/ Husqvarna dealership! Just like home, but the fabric is more expensive.

We also walked along the canal behind our house. Lots of long house boats tied up on the  sides of the canal We just missed one using the locks. I'd love to live in a houseboat for a bit. It looks so peaceful. The grocery store is just a few minutes along the canal. They have fresh vegetables and croissants!

Crossing the Big Pond

Good travel. AC left and arrived on time. Mind you, first class looked amazing! Little individual islands of lie back luxury. For just another $998 (one way) I could have had champagne.

Flight was fine. Customs smooth. Found the bus (coach) easily and it was also a good ride. Hopped a taxi right away and got in the house without a hitch.

We have learned:

• That we have fed several cats who arrived in the kitchen through the cat door. None of them were our cat. 
• Walk facing traffic while on the sidewalk. It's prudent. There is no buffer zone between car and you. 
• Switches and plugs and just about everything is different here. 
• You can walk everywhere. 
• Women wear hats to weddings. 
• Everyone has an accent. 
• I'm very tired. We'll sleep well tonight. Just wondering who that will be on the bottom of the bed. Antique market tomorrow!

Pro Totes

I know. I haven't written in ages! It's not because I haven't had anything to say. I always have lots to say.

I'm writing on my iPad today. I am traveling soon and want to test run things before I go. I just finished a new bag for the occasion! I had made a Professional Tote and love it. It has all the right pockets and doohickeys in just the right places. But I found it a bit big for everyday use, and I want a daily packer.

The Professional Tote has a mini version, but I didn't have time to order the pattern and it isn't digital. I improvised. Taking the measurements of the mini  from the pattern description I cut down my full version. I'm no math goddess, but it worked! I also tried to reduce weight by carefully choosing what to interface with what, and using quilt cotton for all but the bag bottom.

It's (more or less) perfect! Where the bigger bag handles a laptop, this one takes my pad for a custom fit. Water bottle and umbrella pockets still work beautifully. The structure is firm without any extra weight. Well, maybe a little.

So here it is with it's big sister. It took me more than a week to figure out that I can't load pics from my iPad, so I went back to my Mac. If you know how, please share with me. Google does not want to recognize the Cloud.

Why can't these 2 just get along?

I understand Bloggers go through droughts. Hopefully mine is now over.

Just got back from the annual sister week of debauchery. We were in Montreal again this year, and the weather was perfect! This year we had coordinated nighties - blue and white - either striped or polka dotted. Many complaints about fit. They fit fine, but some bosoms may have been looking for a bust adjustment I've just never done before. Not my problem. They fit just fine everywhere else.

I had a day of fabric shopping to myself. I find that being on your own means other (single) people treat you differently. People at the commuter train speak to you and look out for you when they realize you're new. The Subway guy helped me to my seat and checked on my napkins - I was eating a meatball sub after all! It was a very nice day! I was shopping at many of the stores visited by the Montreal sewing bloggers the week before. I mentioned this and was told everywhere that stores were seeing spin off customers from that tour. Stores were pleased!

I went to buy exercise wicking fabric and shirting fabric. I stuck to that pretty well - with more money spent of notions than I had planned. Little things add up! I will probably stick to the more upper end stores for a bit now. If I have to lug, pack and pay for it I want it to be something special. Besides, I got excellent fabric for $15/m.

My stash does overfloweth.

For the last 2 days I worked on a shirt, using the Collette Aster pattern. I did a FBA, shortened the sleeves (long version) and ended up taking in the side seams from the waist down. I used a nice linen and that shirt went together perfectly! The instructions for the sleeve placket were perfect and easy to follow.

Now, I did deviate when inserting the sleeve. They wanted me to run 3 rows of gathering stitches and ease it in. Just say no. No, no, no. I used a strip of bias self fabric and sewed it to the sleeve cap just inside the seam allowance with a slightly longer stick. I pull hard on the bias as I sew and this eases the sleeve cap to the bias. The resulting cap has a nicely built in curve and pops into the sleeve armsyce easily. It stretches to fit or can be further eased by pulling on the stitching - rarely required.

As an added benefit I make the bias strip about 2" wide. This means I have a nice soft strip of fabric supporting the sleeve head and giving it some smooth support.

Now, to make this sewing experience even more perfect, I managed my thread with incredible skill (luck). I had 2 shades to work with and 1 was a better match, of course. However I didn't think I had enough of the good match to make it all the way through. There was topstitching, after all. I flipped both threads from bobbin to spindle - back and forth - finishing the last stitch (the last buttonhole!) with the actual last inch of matched thread on top. I even had the 'Check Needle Thread' on the machine screen.

I'm expecting a huge disaster in my future to make up for that.

Ah!There it is! Worst picture ever!