I love visitors!

Hello Dear Readers,

This weekend Chris's cousin Christiana graduated with a master's in Economics at Surrey University, officially.  She's been living with her parents in Cyprus and just recently got a job as a receptionist at a hotel, which she is understandably ecstatic about in this economy, and in Cyprus especially.  Of course she doesn't earn enough to move out of her parents place yet, but it's a start.  She and her sister flew into London this weekend for the ceremony.  She's the second from the left in the above photo.

 Chris went to the ceremony in Guildford, which is a really sweet little town.  Speaking of sweet, they apparently have an "American Candy" shop there, which sells all sorts of delicious things from the US which are impossible to come by here.  Of course it's nothing I would ever be caught with in my shopping cart normally, but somehow being here I can't get enough of it.  My knitting group asked me last night what foods I would miss from the UK if I moved, and I confess I couldn't think of anything (Except McVities chocolate digestives, but you can find those in the US so it's not really a loss).  I think the truth is you don't miss anything until it's gone and you can't have it, so I'd have to actually leave the UK to realize all the stuff I love and would miss here.

 Of course there is no shortage of M&M's here, as we took the girls out for Chinese in Soho and swung by the M&M shop on Friday night.  You would never believe how many people want to shop for M&M related products close to midnight on Friday!!

 Saturday was a rainy day and we spent the whole day at Westfields mall where the girls shopped until Chris and I dropped..... and then kept shopping.  Fortunately we had dinner at one of my favourite spots, YoSushi! where the food comes by on a little track round and round.  I was very good and had a seaweed salad and some tofu before giving into the red bean past mochi that I eyed over and over as it came round and round and round... they even had a chocolate one!  Yum!  The girl weren't so sold on Japanese food, and Valando had to use the kids "easy" chopsticks that were more like wooden tweezers  but I have to give them credit for trying new things outside of their comfort zone.  Even if those new things all looked suspiciously like fried chicken with just different dressing....

Sunday the girls did the Madam Tussards and London Eye thing while Chris and I enjoyed Putney and sunshine!  We walked along the river path, and discovered a yard full of gnomes and frogs and whatnot to rival even my mother's collection. (Though only barely so).  What you can't see in this photo is that behind the tree on the left there are EVEN MORE GNOMES!

In the evening I helped Patrick get in his US taxes just under the wire, while Chris and the girls went to Ed's Diner in Picadilly to enjoy American style food, burgers, shakes and fries.

I'm almost done with Patrick's amazing birthday sweater, just in time for the weather to get warm and sunny. Of course I have every confidence that it will get cold and rainy again soon....photos to follow next week when Patrick is back from the US, with exciting news about his new job in London.


Cheers