Just a Quick Update

Whew…it’s been a crazy few weeks….but good! My granddaughter is here from Dallas, Texas, and we’ve been moving at the speed of sound! She’s amazingly brave as she flew from Texas to England on all by herself. I had forgotten how much energy it takes to keep up with a ten year old, however, and to keep her entertained. Luckily she’s a sweet little soul and quite happy to stick her nose in a book (she’s read three since she’s been here!) when I need a little “down-time”.

Since she’s been here, we’ve been to see a Harry Potter movie, done London for a day (including the London Eye and Buckingham Palace), seen Dover Castle and toured the underground war tunnels, visited family members, toured Canterbury Cathedral, gone to several markets (one of her favorite activities), and lots more -- just generally had fun. We even went to Calais, France on the ferry for the day!

We went to Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, where they filmed one of the Harry Potter movies. One of the rooms was dedicated to all things Harry Potter, including a wizard’s cape for children to try on (in the picture shown here). She thought she might like to LIVE in Hardwick Hall! We also went on cable cars (‘Heights of Abraham’ in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire) and stayed in a self-catering cottage on a working farm in Bakewell. She’s very much a city girl, however, and did not appreciate the smells and sounds of a farm, although my hubby and I loved it there!

We’ve started making a travel journal, so I’ve had her collecting ticket stubs, travel brochures, etc., and of course both of us have been taking lots of photos. She loves crafting and started off with loads of enthusiasm for doing the journal, but I think she soon felt a bit overwhelmed with it. I imagine that this dear Grandma will end up finishing it for her. We did make some ATCs and she loved doing those. We visited my local, Pickleberry Papercrafts, and got some London stamps, etc. and my generous friend Jane Dean gave us lots of English-tourist bits to use, also.

At any rate, I’ve not had much time to even READ blogs, much less write an entry for mine, so updating will have to come in about a week. She’s going home (boo-hoo!) at the end of this week and my life will be much quieter and back to routine, although that quiet will seem very empty, too. I’ll soon be very busy, however, as I’m having crafting withdrawal symptoms. I also signed up for an online photography course, ‘Painting with Light’ by Cheryl Johnson. The recent flurry of activities has shown me that I really need help getting to grips with my new Canon 550D.