Tuesday 11/1: What a perfect date today…..11-1-11

I dozed in bed until 8:30am today, the sounds of the girls getting ready for school drifting in and out of my dreams. I enjoyed a lovely bath and then had a quick breakfast before Grace and I sewed the curtains for Miranda’s room. I had a lot of fun working on them and we managed to get a lot done before Grace’s package (of the knife and pouches she’d made) was picked up by the FedEx guy. It’s different in the UK—you can’t drop off packages to FedEx, they come pick them up from your house. So, we had to hang out at home until he showed up.

Around noon, Grace and I headed downtown where we had a delicious lunch at an organic restaurant. I had a sweet potato and goat cheese quiche, bean salad, and a slice of raspberry cheesecake with raspberry tea! :) Grace treated me to lunch, which was very kind. I’m definitely being spoiled here!!

From lunch, we headed to a department store where we purchased the strip to go in the top of the curtains (where the hooks attach) and some other items that Grace needed. When we were looking through the yarn section, we found a certain kind of thin yarn that has been pre-knitted into a strip. Apparently it makes a really cool kind of scarf (which Grace knows how to make) if it’s re-knitted. Grace offered to show me and she even bought the yarn and a pair of needles for me!! She’s so generous!

Next we headed to a little town called Hathersage, which is about 20 minutes away from Sheffield. It’s in the Peak District, which is stunning countryside! The sun came out and the drive was amazing. I couldn’t stop staring out the window! We headed to a little shop and knife factory (started by the famous David Mellor) so Grace could pick up a gift for a wedding she’s going to this weekend.

Photo: Peak District

There was a small museum about David Mellor, who invented a bunch of things that are still used in the UK (the stop light, for one!). We also walked through the knife factory, which was pretty cool. It’s in a round stone building and is actually relatively small.

Photo: An example of Mellor's stop lights... so very helpful in the middle of the woods!

We headed back to Sheffield to pay a visit to Grace’s workshop. It’s a renovated men’s public toilet from when the tram used to stop just outside. Now it’s a cute little workshop with lots of character!

Photo: Grace's workshop

In the upstairs of the workshop, there’s a plywood wall that bears signatures from some of the many visitors. I was honored to add my name to the wall (next to Ed Schempp's, of course!).

Photo: "Graffiti" on the wall of Grace's workshop. Yes, they write the date a little differently in the UK...

Since there’s a little grocery store next to Grace’s shop, we stopped so I could pick up a chocolate orange for my host family (they don’t have those in France), and some items for me to bring back: lemon curd and clotted cream!

When we got home, we finished the curtains (they look great!!) and made some dinner. Tonight it was pasta and salad with my pie for dessert (I put it back in the oven for a bit and it was even better!).

I read Elara two books before she went to sleep and promised to walk her to school tomorrow morning. Then I spent the rest of the evening talking with Grace and Kim, knitting my scarf (I already finished it tonight!), and watching “St Trinian’s 2.” It was hilarious, of course. I said goodbye to Kim tonight, because he goes to work extremely early in the morning. Hopefully I’ll have the chance to visit them all again sometime!

Photo: The scarf I made tonight