Here’s the last of London

The day before Sean and I left was a Saturday, so we ventured out to Portobello Road to see if we could find anything fun. Sean got a hat and I got a fun cloth purse for spring. There were a couple buskers out, but these guys were the most fun to watch.

We also walked by this clothing store that used hundreds of vintage sewing machines to decorate it’s walls and window. Each machine was different and seemed to be in very good condition. I wish I could have had just one of them.

We also ventured over to Flat White in the afternoon. Sean’s friend Tyler had recommend it to us for some of the best coffee in town and it was very good. I think Sean would have gone there everyday if I’d let him.

Well, that’s all there is of this trip. I have some other Texas ventures I hope to post about soon.

Happy New Years Again

We were lucky enough to have one of the windows of our hotel room facing the London Eye so we had a great view of the New Year’s Eve celebrations without having to stand out in the cold. Here’s our view just before midnight.

And then the fireworks began. Here are some of my favorites.

They coordinated the color of the lights on the London Eye with the color of the fireworks throughout the show, and they also used the Eye as the launch pad for a lot of the fireworks so they would come shooting off of from the edges. Below was my favorite part with all of the different colors of fireworks.

After a great show the smoke changed colors as it floated away and we could hear the mass of people down by the river singing Auld Lang Syne.

It was a pretty wonderful way to start 2010.

More London

One afternoon Sean and I went over to Somerset House to see the Courtauld Collection. In the courtyard of the palace the seasonal ice rink was in full swing. It was a little too cold for me to consider skating though.

I really loved all of the real Christmas trees around town. I feel like most of the big trees in Houston are artificial ones. There’s something about a huge real Christmas tree that’s very magical.

When we left the museum it was dusk already, 3:30 PM.

Another afternoon we went to Marylebone High St to look at some shops and see one of the oldest pubs in London.

The little streets around this part of town were decorated with lights, and not just Christmas lights. Part of the decorations were long colorful florescent bulbs hanging in different patterns on different streets. Pretty cool.

The British Museum

Even though I’ve been to London a few times now, I had never been to the British Museum. So, I went this trip and was not disappointed. Many other museums I have been to have parts of statues, temples and artifacts, but I was surprised by the amount of compete and intact artifacts I saw.

This is Sean and Dad standing in front one part of a set of Assyrian statues.

I really liked this ferocious lion.

And here are a few more ancient sculptures.

I loved the micro-mosaics they had. Every time I see these I’m in awe at the patients and preciseness of the art.

Happy New Year!

For part of the holidays my family and I have gone to London, and tonight I’ll get to watch the fireworks of the river from my hotel room which I’m pretty excited about. We’ve done quite a lot so far. This is Sean’s first time to go, so I’m trying to make sure he gets to see the good stuff. We had a nice flight coming over, but were jet lagged a bit.

Sun setting

Our first full day here we knew it wasn’t supposed to rain so we made the best of the day by going to Covent Garden and walking around St. James park and Buckingham.

Admiralty Arch

Clear but cold

Cute cubby squirrel in St. James

Trafalgar decorated for Christmas!

I was afraid that I would have missed the Christmas decorations in London, but they have kept them all up so far! Covent Garden was decked out.

The market

We also went to the english cheese shop close to by. Yumm.

More to come…

Christmas Break!

After a half day of school I’m off for two weeks. Yay!

Esther Hope Harper

This last Friday my Granny passed away at 85. She had lived independently up until about a month ago and then after a series of illnesses she couldn’t quite shake she passed in her sleep. She didn’t want to be hooked up to machines or dependent on others to take care of her, and this past week she had said a few time that she was ready to go home to the Lord. So, as usual she got her way. She had moved to Houston in 2004 from Biloxi, Mississippi and over the last few years I was lucky enough to get to know her a little better. She had such an interesting life growing up in Louisiana and traveling Europe after the War with my Grandpa. I will miss hearing her stories, seeing her latest paintings and her southern charm. She was quite a Granny and she will be missed.

This picture was taken in 1941 when Granny was 17 and graduating from high school.

Stockings!

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. There was some much needed relaxing and I was still able to check many things of my to do list. After looking for Christmas stockings for Sean and I, I decided to make them instead. I had a great time making them and am feeling inspired to do more sewing projects. I would like to make more stockings too, but Sean and I really only need one each.

We went to Hobby Lobby together to pick out our fabrics and both found linings that we really liked. Plus most of the fabric was on sale.

Can you tell whose is whose?

I hope everyone’s having a great holiday season so far!

Fall Fun

I’m off from school this week, which finally gives me some time to update and do all of those things I’ve been meaning to do but haven’t quite got there yet.

Corwin and his parents came over on Halloween. Our neighborhood had a trunk or treat festival which was a lot of fun and a little more manageable for Corwin. Although, he didn’t seem very interested in getting candy. The playground and other peoples pet dogs seemed to be more of a priority.

A couple of weeks ago my parents and I also went to the George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond, Texas, for their yearly Texian Market Days. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The park is a living history park with four different houses on it from the 1820’s, 1860’s, 1900’s and the 1920’s, and in each house there were people dressed in the time period’s clothing to tell you about the house and what would have been happening on the ranch during that era.

The family in the pioneer log cabin were grinding corn and weaving cotton.

There were also ranching demonstrations and civil war/texas war for independence reenactments. The occasional canon firing was a little unnerving.

The only house I could take pictures in was the 1860’s home.

This in the the George’s parent’s in law house which was built in Richmond around 1900 and then later moved to the ranch when it became a park.

The George’s house (the first picture at the top) might have been my favorite. It still has all of the original 20’s, 30’s, 40’s furniture and decorations in it. This is the water tower/meat storage for the house.

There is also an awesome treehouse that they built for their niece.

I think my dad had a chance to channel his inner cowboy.

Galveston

Last Friday night Sean and I headed down the Galveston for his parents’ church couples retreat. We got to stay at the Hotel Galvez , which made me very excited because I love cool old buildings. (The hotel opened in 1911)

We couldn’t have asked for a better room. It was on the front corner of the fifth floor looking over the beach. However we did learn from Sean’s parents the next morning that our room was supposedly the most haunted room in the hotel as well. Luckily we didn’t notice anything.

That night we also went down to Galveston’s historic downtown called the Strand. I never realized how much Victorian architecture is on the island. There are so many interesting houses that look to be close to one hundred years old, but a lot of them look like they could use some work as well.

I love the details on this building.

Sean was sad that Colonel Bubbies wasn’t open.

We ate dinner at a greek/seafood place on the pier. We split a sampler and were very pleased.

On Saturday, after the conference was over we also went to the aquarium at Moody Gardens. The aquarium had a great selection of animals including penguins and sea turtles, so I was very happy. Unfortunately the rain forrest pyramid doesn’t open again until April because of Ike. I remember liking it when I was in middle school and would like to see it again. I guess I’ll have to make another trip down in the spring sometime.

Back alley Sean.