Back in the USA, May 31

Got home an hour ago - the quickest pass through Passport Control - new system in place at kiosks to do some of the work ahead of time before the re-entry stamp is entered by an actual person. Since I had only hand luggage of overhead bag on wheels (with my Egyptian/Greek goddess/kore inside) and my Celtic boar in the backpack I didn't have to wait for  luggage. Customs was a breeze. On the Heathrow side at London my  backpack was chosen for extra checking because of my little bronze boar but not my case with the big heavy bronze Egyptian priestess. I guess the x-ray image of the boar was unidentifiable to the TSA people.Maybe they suspected it to be some kind of brass knuckles or weapon of some other sort.

I drove home from the airport because my sister Liz was a  little traumatized with heavy traffic. It wasn't bad really and we were on the road just a little after 6 pm. The biggest plus was the traveling light to speed up the cumbersome process of getting one's  bag from baggage claim before Customs control. And since I spent my money on the three workshops that I did with Craft Courses UK, I didn't have much  money spent on anything else beyond a few postcards and books from the Beatrix Potter shop in Gloucester, three books on Sacred Geometry from Emerson College, a book on Cathedral Cats and another cat book by James Herriott.



I have always loved the book about Tom Kitten and his siblings Moppet and Mitten so had to buy one from the shop - my brother Tom gave me the Tom Kitten book over 30 years ago and I needed a replacement. I also bought the Tailor of Gloucester and the Three Little Kittens, a magnet (the only one I bought), some bookmarks and signs to  hang on the doorknob.

Cathedral Cats focuses on specific Cathedrals in the UK and the cats associated with them
The orange or (Ginger cat) is Louis from Wells Cathedral.



Of the Sacred Geometry books, I found the one on mazes and labyrinths to be most interesting to me personally;I have plans on making a kind of Celtic pattern in the patio I want to put in this summer. It will be handmade, sweat equity labor. Yesterday, I took pictures of Wendy Staplehurst's garden in Bedford (she's the mother in law of Tara whose new house purchase is just two houses down). Not sure if you can call the mother of your ex-husband a mother in law but regardless, they are friends and are not happy with their son's decisions.  An English wild garden is exactly what I want ito achieve in my front and back yards though it will take quite a long time to do over a couple of years.

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