Gallivanting Is Officially Over

Well, that's it. I don't think I will be going anywhere else for a while. I spent yesterday in London with Terri - one of the lovely Brit Bee bunch, though not much of a blogger so not known to all. What a fabulous day! My two girls get on brilliantly well with Terri's younger daughter so all five of us met up.

First off Helen presented Terri with this hoop she had made. Last time I saw Terri she gave me some embroidery transfers she had found for me to give the girls and this was the first one that Helen made. Helen might be on her second hoop already, and I just might have to do a bulk order of hoops.

Next we wandered into the M&M shop on Leicester Square. Fascinating place. Colourful. Huge. But word of warning, if you happen to allow your children to get some M&Ms from the pick and mix make sure your credit limit is up to it. Never again!!!

Inevitably our next stop was Chinatown. By this time the rain was falling heavily and casually wandering about was not on the cards. But this is how nice my favourite dim sum restaurant is. They saw us try the door a half hour before they opened and came and let us in. Got us a big pot of Chinese tea and allowed us to sit and chat, inside warm and dry, until the kitchen opened. How nice is that?!

Our next stop was inevitable too. We trotted up Regent Street, managing to keep the girls out of all shops - especially Hamley's - and made it to Liberty. Believe it or not, I had never made it up to the fabric level before. First we strolled amongst the antiques and collectibles, taking random guesses to what the price tags would read.

That hand quilted, whole cloth yellow throw (above, bottom right) was £450! I fell in love with the Quaker style rocker and to quote Terri, 'Take a photo and get it made somewhere else for a quarter of the price.'

But it is all good fun and you certainly see some interesting things. We let Helen and Maddie off to explore on their own with firm instructions to touch nothing unless they were prepared to sell a kidney to pay for it. Emily joined Terri and I to peruse fabrics and haberdashery.

Terri and I did walk away with a wee purple Liberty bag each, though you might be disappointed to see what we bought. I am not sure that bakers twine is what one expects to depart Liberty with.

For me a visit to Liberty fills me with awe because I love the actual building so much. I could walk around gazing at the architectural details all day and ignore just about everything that is available for purchase.

The day was so wonderful because I got to spend time with Terri. If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting her then you will fully understand what I mean by that. She is one of the best.

Susan