Tweedy Toasts.

I finished these yesterday. They were designed by Leslie Friend, who was inspired by the hand/wrist warmers that are ubiquitous in the pages of the Toast catalogue.



These are just some Photobooth pictures that I took this morning; I imagine that I'll take better ones later.

Big Stripe.

Today I discovered this on my cat's Facebook page (yeah, I know):


This is the huge, stripy cat that has been hanging out in my backyard at home, scaring away the birds and driving Miss Teto into a frenzy. I have named him Big Stripe.

Other items of interest - long sweater:



Sunrise on Thursday:

London!

Yesterday Elizabeth, Kenny, Yoel, and I went to London. It was a gorgeous day and we got to see all sorts of incredible things. I wore this:


I'm a little scared by the realization that I actually have two pairs of those leggings, two of that skirt, and three of that shirt ... in different colors, of course. In my defense, the shirts were three for the price of two. I don't have any defense for the other things. I just know what I like and I buy lots of it. Clothes, Raisin Bran, paninis ... I really should just buy them in bulk.

At Gloucester Green, there were pigeons taking a bath in a puddle. I thought it was cute.


Also cute: big fluffy sheep as seen from the window of the bus.


Our first stop in London was St. Paul's Cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren, an Oxford man. We couldn't go inside without paying insane amounts of money, but we took a peek through the doors and took some pictures outside.



Kenny is holding a caramel hot chocolate from Starbuck's in the above picture (in a red cup, of course). He let me try some; it was delicious.

There was also a statue of Queen Anne:


We took a bridge across the Thames to the Tate Modern, which is too ugly for photographs. In fact, I was afraid that photographing it might break my camera. That's how ugly it is.

But I did get these nice views from the bridge:




In that last picture you can see a reconstruction of the Globe theater.

Our next stop after the Tate was my favorite: the British Museum! - where most of the artifacts are stolen, but not this one:


It's a cheek piece from a helmet found in the Staffordshire hoard! There are only a handful of these in existence! And I got to see it!

More artifacts from Staffordshire:



I forget what those things are in the first picture, but the second picture shows a buckle and pieces from a scabbard.

The only thing that could have made me more excited at this point would be to see the Sutton Hoo treasure. Well, guess what was like ten feet away:


Sutton Hoo helmet!! Yes, I needed a picture of myself with the Sutton Hoo helmet. Who doesn't need a picture with the Sutton Hoo helmet?

Other Sutton Hoo goodies ... an axe:


A sword:


The iron of the sword has been badly corroded over 1,000+ years, but trust me that it was an effing beautiful sword. This was the type of sword that would have a name (like Herbert? Why not) and be passed down for generations.

Pieces of a shield:


Silver bowls:


It's pretty amazing how well the silver stuff holds up over time in contrast with the iron. These bowls looked like new.

These are the famous maybe-baptismal-spoons:


They are marked Paulus and Saulus, which makes some historians believe that they were a gift to the King Redwald (who is maybe-the-dead-guy-in-Sutton-Hoo, if there was ever a dead guy, because he would have dissolved by now) when he was baptized, because it was a tradition to give someone a pair of spoons as a baptismal present.

A bowl and a platter:



A seriously fancy whet stone (used to sharpen knives on):



A hanging bowl:


Fish handle:


Coins:


You wouldn't believe how small these are. They're about the size of your fingernail.

Gold buckle:


Shoulder clasps:


Reconstructed vessels:


Reconstructed barrels:


I also got to see a lot of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian artifacts that were not found in the Sutton Hoo burial, like these keys:


And these sceattas (little silver pennies):


Can you guess what this is?


It's a chess piece. How awesome is that?

Cat comb (catacomb?):


I believe these were King Alfred coins:


And these are findings from excavations at Whitby, where there used to be a nunnery. The round things are spools for thread.


Here are some standing crosses:


Hairpins:


I think these were pieces of jewelry (see the holes where a string would have been drawn through):


Tweezers:


I forget what this is, but it's awesome:


Brooches:


More ornamental dudes:


On my way out I took a glimpse at some pre-Anglo-Saxon stuff, including this mosaic of Christ, which is the earliest surviving artistic expression of Christianity in Britain:



... and this helmet.


It may just be the coolest thing ever. It would make an excellent birthday hat, I think. Everyone would know it was my birthday when I wore this hat.

After the British Museum, we went to a tapas restaurant. I had never had tapas before; now I'm in love. We had all sorts of lovely dishes, like spicy potatoes, tomato bread, chicken wings, a Spanish omelette, stuffed peppers, and this potato-pepper-egg thing that came in an iron pan.

We also got to go to the National Gallery for a few minutes, but they wouldn't let me take any pictures. Rest assured there was lots of art there.