where I've been, what I've been doing

Where I've been? London and Paris. Wow. I'm home now - but am still processing the trip of a lifetime for this small town girl.

The pictures I have today are of some of the things I brought home with me. Trust me - these are not your average plastic souvenirs.

Beachcombing on the River Thames at low tide yielded these treasures.

There's an actual word for beachcombing the Thames: mudlarking. 

Cool.

Some of the things I found: beach pottery, big molten blobs of glass, and tiny clay pipe stems from as early as the 16th century. I have no idea how old my pipe stems are - or what melted the glass (the great London fire?) but mudlarking was definitely a highlight of my trip.

From Paris I have these unique playing cards. No K for King, Q for Queen, or J for Jack in this deck. Not even an A for the Ace. I'm guessing R is Rex, D is Dame, and V is Viscount. A simple number 1 is all that's needed for the Ace. Plus the face cards are individually named. These say "Madeleine, Bernard, and Etienne."

Cool.

And from the hotel room - the most beautifully designed matchbox and sewing kit EVER.

Cool.

I did have a moment or two for sketching in Paris - which it turns out is a VERY french thing to do - and created these keepsake drawings of the topiary gardens I paused in.

Taking time for art - a very good choice.

And my "road trip" penny mat is ready to stitch to its background. I'll probably be doing that as we tool around our more local environs of the Pacific Northwest - still the loveliest place I know.

Next blog post: photos.

Cool.