Family Friendly

You probably won't be surprised to see how much stitching a person can get done while sitting and waiting. Over the course of ten days and on two six hour flights I managed to add a few threads to two projects. Our trip to England was, as you can imagine, fraught. It was wonderful to spend time with family even though it was "under these circumstances." On our second day, the dude abandoned me to (begin to) sort out his father's flat with his brother and sister. (I then convinced my brother-in-law that I could indeed watch two kids while he went for groceries. Seriously, do people think I've reached this advanced age and am unable keep children from harm?) (When he asked if I had any questions, I just said, "It's 999 instead of 911, right?"*) In fact, I spent a lot of time sitting and waiting.

My FIL was without religion, so his children had to make up the funeral, and by all accounts they did a great job. They seemed to please everyone, including the GF who spent the weeks between the death and the funeral emailing the siblings (when she remembered the dude was one) with demands that she pretended weren't demands. Ah, family! Right?

We stayed with the dude's sister--she has two boys, seven and five. The seven year old has done a stitching project and he was very interested in my work. But he wasn't sure how I did it because the holes were so small. I showed him the things I brought, including the marquoir (sorry, I didn't work on it). When I opened it up, he said, "Wow." It does make me want to finish it before they visit (possibly next summer). And I did wish I had a project with me that I could share with him. As for the five year old...gorgeous. He will break a lot of hearts in his time, no doubt.

The boys have been encouraged to remember us by my BIL saying in a bad American accent, "See you in the morning for juice and coffee," which is a little saying we picked up from my cousin when we were living with her family. On one of our first nights there was a special request for me to say it. So I did. And I was told I was saying coffee wrong. It's "Cawwwfee," which I decidedly do not say. Later in the week, the younger boy asked me "how do you say that in your language?"


On the Sunday before we left, brother, sister, husbands, wives, and children went for a picnic on Box Hill. You may remember it from Emma where she disses Miss Bates. It was a gorgeous setting, and after lunch we set out on a nature play trail. At the end of the walk, when there were fewer "play" aspects, one of the boys asked, "where did all the nature go?" LOL. Still, by the end, I needed a stiff drink because well four boys will be four boys. Add Asperger's to the mix and you get a cocktail for...well, a large cocktail!

I'm over 400 posts behind in my reader. I will get back in touch. In the meantime Keep Calm and Stitch On!**

* As it turns out, so many tourists dial it wrong when they are in the UK, they've made 999 and 911 and 112 all work.

**My SIL works at the Imperial War Museum and one of her colleagues researched the original "Keep Calm" poster. Never used. So the whole thing is bullshit based on an imagined past. The current trend for it really pisses her off. So that's for Kath. ;)