2012 In Review

As I look back at photos I also look back at a year that brought great joy and sadness. Probably the greatest sadness was saying farewell to the dear sweet Marmelade Gypsy. We miss him more than we can say.

The joys were many. Rick and I loved our Paris trip...

...and time in the Netherlands...

...and London!

Kevin graduated from college and got a full-time job with Georgia Pacific (the bad thing being that he now lives far away)...

 

...and Greg became a slightly less starving artist with several good bounces but notably a demonstration and interactive installation at the Detroit Institute of Arts, a gallery piece in Chicago and a second commission for the DIA in conjunction with their Faberge exhibit.

 

There was time at the lake...

 

...a wedding that turned into a family reunion with Rick's dad's side...

...and a gathering of his mom's side at Torch Lake.

I enjoyed a visit to St. Louis for a conference, followed by time with blog friend Diana (below). I also met bloggers Peter and renewed a friendship with Tara, both during our Europe visit.

And in December we enjoyed time in Las Vegas after Rick's trade show...

 

...and in Utah on an unexpected vacation after the show.

The year brought Kevin and Molly's engagement...

...and the arrival of Lizzie Cosette, who makes me laugh every day.

We enjoyed our friends in Cork Poppers...

And I had fun with my book club and the GGs (Great Gang).

I enjoyed an art workshop with Kari McKnight Holbrook and another later in the year making Japanese stab-binding books.
 

I got my 15 seconds of fame with a cover spot in a local magazine and was pleased to have The Marmelade Gypsy (which celebrated its fifth anniversary in December) featured in "Romantic Country" magazine in their BlogSpot column.

And I did plenty of my own work, finding enough success with it to at least pay for the pleasure of doing it! I also enjoyed fun swaps\, including the Faerie Swap, organized by Karla!

It wasn't all perfect -- Rick had a bike crash and a hospital stay with MRSA and I repeatedly kept dealing with my infections. But somehow we manage to soldier on and have an awful lot of fun!

My word for 2012 was Savor. That I did, every moment, good and bad.The word for 2013? 

Anticipation!

I look forward to enjoying your celebrations, supporting your challenges and admiring your creativity in 2013!
Happy New Year!

London -- Goodbye, Europe!

There just wasn't enough time in London. Not enough time for shopping.

 

 

Not enough time for walking about.

 

 

Not enough time to enjoy many of the things we would have liked. Like another really good pint of beer at a "genuine" pub! (Not a touristy place.)

 

 

But you make the most of what you have. So, we walked about in the rain enjoying the sites on the various paths commemorating Princess Diana...

 

 

...and the Queen.

 

 

We laughed at signs that amused us.

 

 

We were captivated by brightly painted doors.

 

 

I found the Tardis everywhere (any other Doctor Who fans out there? You'll get it!)

 

 

More than once our paths took us back to St. Martin's in the Field. We wished we could have heard a concert there.

 

 

But we did have a special treat. The best show in town and free at that! Evensong at Westminster Abbey.

 

 

Evensong takes place at 5 p.m. People line up in front of the abbey and are quietly led into the sanctuary, walking over gravestones of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, among many others. You are seated, the choir enters and the service begins. The location -- the site of royal funerals and weddings. (Oh! How the imagination soars!).

 

 

It was powerful, beautiful. Perfect.

 

 

We headed toward our hotel, taking the popular double-decker bus.

 

 

And it was then we decided we should have a special dinner. Our friends Linda and Larry had given us a generous gift with the purpose of having a lovely dinner. We chose the Russell Hotel, located on one edge of Russell Square, which was coming into full bloom.

 

 

. The name may sound familiar to you if you are a fan of "Cats." Remember at the end, when the cat is dying and going to her next life, they sing, "Up, up, up past the Russell Hotel. Up, up, up to the Heavyside Layer?

 

 

Well, that song kept going through our heads. It came as little surprise but with sad irony that as we were going up to the Russell Hotel, our dear Gypsy was beginning his journey to the Heavyside Layer. 

 

 

As you would expect, the dinner was lovely, and it was a perfect way to end our holiday and toast to friends at home and those we'd enjoyed on vacation.

 

 

 

We arrived at our hotel, tired and sick (at least I was,  101 fever) with packing to do for our early departure.

 

 

And the next morning, we were the only ones at the tube.

 

 

 

Goodbye, London. Goodbye, Europe. I hope I'll return to see you again!

Thank you all for "traveling" with us on our European vacation and for indulging me with your lovely comments on the posts. Because of Gypsy's illness and the graduation of Rick's son the day after we returned, we had little time to process our trip. Doing so with you has been a joy for me. Thanks for going along!

London, Part One

The last stop on our vacation last spring was London.

It's a spot I've been before --  back in 1973 when I visited with my mom. (It was a memorable visit then, made all the more so by the fact that her cancer appeared not long after and it was the last of our long trips together.) Rick and I had about 36 hours in this large, vibrant city -- not enough!

So, we landed and hopped on the tube, which took us to Russell Square. Our hotel was a few blocks away and as soon as we checked in and left our bags, we were back out, headed to the half-price tickets booth.

Our choice for theatre as "The King's Speech." I loved the movie and wanted to see how it was performed on stage. I wasn't disappointed.It was every bit as terrific on stage as on screen (albeit without Colin Firth!)

From the minute I entered the famed Wyndham Theatre, I had a smile on my face!

The theatre, small but grand, was where the original "The Boyfriend" had played. Julie Andrews came to prominence in that musical.

The next morning it was -- you guessed it -- rainy! But neither the rain nor my fever stopped us from enjoying a delicious breakfast at our hotel and hopping the tube. This time we ended up at Buckingham Palace, just in time for the Changing of the Guard.

I had never seen this magnificent ceremony which lasts a rather long while.

Somehow or other we had great seats -- or rather, great sidewalk, with a good view of the troops entering the palace gates...

...and those exiting.

And yes, we could even see a bit inside.

I shouldn't have been surprised at the size of the palace gates, or their massive crests. I'd seen seen them before in more royal weddings than I can remember.

But I was.

There was a huge crowd despite the weather and the bobbies, or policemen, were kind and helpful and oh, so polite!

After a bit we crossed the streets to stand on the steps of the Victoria Memorial.

 

This was about as close as I got to the balcony of Buck House!

We meandered through St. James Park, which was just lovely.

It was early spring and despite the rain and drizzle, the birds were present and rather comfortable with people.

 

Our destination was two-fold. First, the hunt for a pub where we could enjoy lunch!

Then, it was off to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

 

For whatever reason, I got a big kick out of walking across the river and back. It was a view seen from the air in one of my favorite British television dramas, the House of Cards trilogy.

 I would have loved to enter the gates. They seemed rather secure, though.

 Even with the cloudy skies, it seemed rather bright and beautiful. I will never forget it.

 

And finally, we ended up doing the one thing where we couldn't take photos but perhaps was the most memorable experience of the vacation -- Evensong in Westminster Abbey. But more on that next time!