Remembrance Sunday...............

Yesterday was one of those poignant days in England, Remembrance Sunday. My son Austin is an officer in the Territorial Army and we drove to London to watch his regiments' annual parade and attend the church service.
As a newcomer to this area I allowed a good two hours to get to north London, a journey which usually takes about one and a half hours. We set off on our journey following the satnav's instructions and all was going well until after driving for some 40 minutes we came to St Neots and discovered a deviation as road works were taking place. This meant virtually returning to Huntingdon and then taking an alternative route to pick up the highway. Most annoying and a hard lesson learned as next time I will do some research before driving anywhere on a Sunday to check whether there are any road closures. This meant that we were rather late and just made it to the church for the service and found a parking before the road was closed to traffic!
Austin was a very happy soul as he had just received a promotion to Lieutenant hence the big smile in the following picture.
On Saturday we went to a craft fair held in a town not too far away from our home. The main theme was bobbin lace making but Megan found a good selection of interesting threads for her tatting and I came home with some beads.
Although I did have to learn to re-fuel in my car whilst we were holidaying in the States and apart from forgetting to put the petrol cap back on one expensive occasion in France, I was of the opinion that I was coping quite well even managing with my dear daughters' assistance to put air in the tyres. Until today that is, stopped at my usual garage but at a different pump. Just could not understand why the pump would not work until a dear man asked me if I needed help and pointed out that I was trying to fill my car with diesel! Thank heavens it did not work but was I mortified at this blonde moment. Really need to concentrate on what I am doing and not go off into some creative space when doing mundane tasks such as this, could have been a very expensive mistake.
I have always been fascinated by the 'honesty box' system in London where you can buy your newspaper at W H Smith and just put the money in a box if you are in a hurry. I have discovered a similar system exists in the countryside. In my travels I have passed several little tables with a selection of vegetables all priced and a box for payment. I have been buying the most amazing free range eggs from a farm just up the road with a similar system, a room with the usual little box for payment, the eggs all waiting in their cartons and a place for returned containers. The chickens are very obviously free range, sharing a field with a small herd of Highland cattle who by the way, have some delightful little furry calves.
It seems hard to believe that Christmas is just a short few weeks away. We have patterns to design and bears to make, I seem to have been very slack lately and have not achieved much completed work. So this is the week when it will (hopefully) all happen................

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. ~John Gardner