On our way

Our road trip proper won’t begin until the whole gang is here on Wednesday, when Mary arrives.  Till then, my Hero and I are just limbering up, getting into the (time) zone and looking forward to the main event!

We got off to a flying start last night, when we met Edward for dinner at Launceston Place, where the Gin and Tonics were spectacular.  Sadly, Amy was feeling poorly and decided an early night was the sensible option, bearing in mind that it wasn’t long till Monday morning.  Such a shame she couldn’t enjoy the fun and contribute to the conversation in these politically turbulent times!

As usual, we were spending the night at the Sofitel at Terminal 5, dropping off our car in what always seems to be the windiest spot in the land.  Perched on top of a hill with wide open space all around, I guess it’s ideal for an airport, but for those who work here, it’s always exceptionally breezy.

The travelling companions found the whole experience exhausting!

Fortunately, it wasn’t too early a start and though our flight was a little late as a result of a strong head wind, it was trouble free and comfortable.  We also had the added advantage of our new Global Entry status, so breezed through immigration in no time at all, collected our bags and were on the shuttle to the rental car lot within an hour of landing.

Whilst I sat with the bags, my hero negotiated the challenge of the Avis office, where a new software system was causing a few problems.

“Our” vehicle was waiting for us in space L33, which was fine – except someone else was sitting in it when we got there!  Since we both had the registration document showing the same vehicle, I stood with the luggage a little longer, whilst the Avis staff managed a new challenge - one vehicle, two contracts.

The answer was across the way.  Our Dodge Grand Caravan was in J22 it seemed, so we left the red car with the other driver and familiarised ourselves with the identical grey vehicle in the next row.  Whilst my hero made the necessary adjustments and fitted our own great satnav, I walked around taking photographs of a few small dings and, most important of all, the numberplate

Soon we were in downtown Chicago and already spotting things we’d like to see/do.

Our hotel of choice in Chicago is the Sofitel as well.  This will be our fifth time here and for these couple of days “warm up”, we’d booked a standard room; good enough for the two of us.

A little surprise then, on opening the door fully to find ourselves upgraded to a rather large suite – how nice to find our loyalty recognised!

Someone was very excited indeed.

Chicago and the mid-west generally is enjoying a bit of a heatwave right now, so we lost no time in getting ourselves together and out there in the fresh air.

It’s so good to be back!

Dinner was  bit of a no brainer – it had to be a Giordano’s pizza.

Since we were last here a couple of years ago though, they’ve expanded/remodeled and the place is bigger and better.  We sat straight down – no waiting – with a pitcher of beer and ordered our pizza.

We needed no reminder of how filling these pizzas are and knew we’d struggle to finish even the smallest on offer.  Forty minutes later, the freshly made “small” pizza arrived and the challenge began.

Delicious!

More of a pie than a pizza, there must be at least a pound of mozzarella in there, not to mention all the rest.  We reminisced as we worked our way through it too, for our first encounter with such a pizza was in Florida, with two small boys (Edward and his friend Seb) and my parents on one of our fun birthday jollies.  There was (still is?  I don’t know) a Giordano’s near the house we rented and it was a favourite supper location, involving pizza eating challenges and boys with seemingly hollow legs

No such appetites here sadly and we admitted defeat leaving a pile of crusts behind!  It was definitely rather more of a stagger back to the hotel then, at the end of what’s been quite a long day.

I think we will sleep well tonight, for sure.

A creature of habit

I think that applies to us all to some degree, but this morning I am acutely aware that I don’t need to look too far to find a prime example.

I’ve got my hand up.

When we returned from our last adventure, I cleared out my art kit box, recognising that I am all too good at putting something extra in whilst never taking anything out.  Not only was it becoming too stuffed to close, it has pretty heavy too.  So I emptied it, thinking I’d just begin again before the next trip.

Hah!

I just went to gather the things for our road trip and had forgotten I’d done that!  It wasn’t so difficult to assemble the basics though and of course, I knew exactly where to find a record of a previous kit too.  My pink box was soon packed and ready.

But in looking for the right colour ink pad, I opened the drawer with a few leftovers from previous projects.  Maybe there’s something in there I might use?

Feeling virtuous at “using what I have”, I soon filled a small zip bag with stickers and the like. (Hang on, why am I including a “Caribbean” sticker?)

And then there was the question of colour.  Shall I take a small box of watercolours or my bag of Neocolour crayons?  Or the new set of wax aquarelle crayons bought in Prague?

Or shall I do as I did last time and take a handful of Inktense coloured pencils?  Lighter, cleaner and more compact, they’re the obvious choice.  In fact, I don’t know why I even considered the others.  I always take my Inktense pencils with me!

So there we are then.

What do you mean, what clothes am I taking?

Liverpool

with a few thousand friends!

thankfully, not all on the same coach as me!

I came well prepared and my hero’s socks grew a few inches along the way.

The fun of being in Liverpool is that there is such a strong sense of place that I never forget where I am, even if some of it – Penny Lane, above – doesn’t look quite how I think it should!

But reminders are never far away anyway.

I was staying down by the waterfront, meeting friends for dinner at London Carriage Works, which was a great choice!

My travelling companion Ellen and I were ready to go the next morning, with all papers in order.

My goodness, though, it was windy!  Somehow, though, we stayed dry and didn’t blow away on the short walk over to the arena.

We had great seats and Jerusalem was as moving as it always is, when thousands of women sing.  You’ve just got to be there to share the experience – there is nothing quite like it.

The day was filled with interesting speakers, including Josephine Fairley, of Green and Blacks chocolate, above.

Susie Dent, the lexicographer and etymologist spoke in the afternoon, raising a few smiles with her amusing malaphors (it’s not rocket surgery) and eggcorns, producing a spectacular example of jargon that I’m sure is pretty commonplace in the kinds of places I work from time to time:

(she told us it described a go-karting activity)

But as always, the real stars were the members.  I was going to include the adjective “ordinary”, but really, there is no such thing as an ordinary WI member.  Every one of us brings her own set of unique skills and experience with her and rising to the challenge is all part of the fun.  I know from experience how much confidence it takes to speak to an audience of several thousand people and I always admire those who do.

As usual, there were two resolutions to discuss and both prompted some interesting contributions from the floor.  The first focused on working to alleviate loneliness and I enjoyed hearing both the proposer and seconder’s address, for they spoke with the familiar East Riding accent, pronouncing “lernliness” exactly as I’d say it myself!  They put forward their points well, the audience responded with supportive discussion and the resolution was carried. 

The afternoon resolution on Microfibres in our oceans proposed by a member from Buckinghamshire provoked a particularly enthusiastic responses though, mainly as a result of Natalie Welden’s passionate address about this subject of huge concern.  Not only was this something which was dear to many hearts, it was something on which every one of us could take action and for once, the WI was ahead of the game.  Here was a campaign everyone felt they could get behind 100% and when another “ordinary” WI member stepped up to make a comment, describing herself as an oceanographer, later revealing her international standing and wide experience, it was clear, we had the benefit of first class opinion.  No surprise then, that the resolution was carried with more than 90% support.  Watch out then, for mentions of “plastic soup” and microfibres in the coming weeks.

Extraordinary women making a difference!

As the meeting was drawing to a close and we began looking out that helpful phonetic translation of the Welsh National Anthem, ready to attempt to join in the traditional finale to our meetings, the Retros came on stage and the party began.  The Hippy Hippy Shake and All you need is Love hit the spot – what a great way to end a fantastic day in Liverpool and to warm the vocal chords up for the grand finale of Jerusalem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and last of all, the National Anthem.

The conversation on the coach home was rather different from yesterday.  After a day of such thought-provoking discussion we had plenty to think – and talk – about.  It’s such a privilege to spend a day in the company of so many inspiring women and I’m already looking forward to seeing them all again in Cardiff next year!

Around here

The rose petals are drying nicely and have kept their colour.  Of course, now I’m worrying about the possibility of fine clothes being stained by any dampness in the air and deep hued rose petals!  The airing cupboard has never been so sweetly scented.

In the meantime, I’m building up to our next road trip adventure with the usual journal prep.  I’ve been mooching about various websites, in search of paper for the pages but felt thwarted by an abundance of “cute” designs.  It’s not that I an anti-cute, but I was hoping for something with a little less personality than most and hopefully in a more sophisticated palette than primary colours.

I found the answer in my stash.

This morning, I’d decided to go with the “use what you have” concept and began to cut pages from a pile of paper leftover from other projects.  Deep into the pile, I was beginning to get picky.  Did I really want one pink page, a green patterned one, a black and white checked page followed by a turquoise blue stripe?  Not really.  But lo and behold, there, lurking at the bottom of the heap was a full set of 6 x 12 sheets left from a previous travel journal (this one)

Considering the itinerary of that road trip in the Pacific North West (a couple of cities, a bit of coast and some woodsy countryside) I could see why I’d chosen that design and colour palette.  This trip will be pretty similar – we are not headed for canyons or desert this time round, but to the state with the second longest coastline in the USA – 3288 miles.  We’re looking forward to exploring a couple of cities we’ve had on our list for a while and revisiting an all-time favourite, spending time with friends and, a first for us, experiencing lakeside life.

This year, we’re going to explore Michigan, driving a round trip from Chicago!

Having cut a good number of pages (which, together with some plain white sheets will be plenty), I needed to make the covers.  In my trawl through the paper pile, I came across a sheet of paper I’d created on some workshop or other which I thought would do nicely.

Ready to go.

But a girl’s got to do something whilst the paint dries, don’t you think?  A couple of my textiley friends have been pinning links to their pinterest pages that sent me looking for my Weavette.  I hadn’t opened that box in ages (or the other two, different sized looms!)

In less than fifteen minutes I was remembering just why I loved it from the minute I started.

Half an hour later, I just had to go and get on with things!  It’s so easy to get carried away with something like this.  It’s therapeutic in that mindless way, satisfying because it works so well and it’s so easy to achieve a great result from the off.

Surely, there must be a couple more projects I can get going in the meantime!?

The scent of Summer

How lovely to enjoy a relaxed Bank Holiday weekend at home and not in a 16-mile traffic jam: yes, southbound on the M5 yesterday….thankfully we were heading northbound.  Last evening, whilst sitting exploring the hidden tricks of my new camera, I spotted this chap taking a break on the garden room window and couldn’t resist a photo.  I’d have liked to have caught the other side too, but I disturbed him and he flew off.

This morning, I’ve been out in the garden, pottering about.  The philadelphus smells so sweet, I’m hoping the rain forecast for later today doesn’t wash it all away.  Time to make the most of it now.

We’ve a few roses in bloom, so with a bowl in hand, I went collecting rose petals for a sweet friend whose daughter is getting married in a couple of weeks.  Around here, we do what we can for our friends and during our book group discussion last week all agreed, we’d collect and dry as many petals as we could for her confetti.

If only the colours would stay so bright!

If only the scent would stay too.  Instead, you’ll have to imagine how sweet our airing cupboard smells with trays of rose petals drying in there right now.

We’re still having probs with our pond and rill, so I took the opportunity to top it up, noticing the beautiful iris as I did.

I’m still waiting for our peonies to open though.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the elderflowers too, noticing them coming into bloom a good week or more earlier than usual.  Time to (not) find the packet of citric acid powder then and get the stocks of lemons and sugar in, ready to get the cordial factory going.  Who knows where we had put that citric acid though?  Thankfully, Intralabs offer a super quick delivery, so this morning I had no excuses.  Could I find the recipe though?  Yes, of course I could!

The blooms this year are enormous and extraordinarily plentiful and I think this could be the earliest Elderflower Cordial post ever.

With an airing cupboard smelling of roses, a kitchen filled with lemon and elderflower, can there be any better scent of summer?

The bowl of fruit I just prepared for lunch, maybe?  (No pavlova today!)