Small Secrets Now Open for Business on Etsy

For those who might be interested, I now have a shop open on Etsy where I will be selling my miniature sculpture jewelry. There is currently one necklace up for sale and another one will soon be listed in the near future. You can find links to Etsy and more information about the handmade necklaces I create by visiting the official Small Secrets blog. Click here to go there now.

The Royal Gardens--Pure Paradise

My traveling companion suggested that we visit the Royal Botanical Gardens. We had to take a train just outside of London to get there but was it ever worth it! As you can see from the pictures in this post, it was like wandering about inside a Jane Austen film all day. There were hundred year old trees and several beautiful estates located within the grounds. My favorite part was the lily ponds!


We stopped to eat lunch in a little cafe where we ate in a building that reminded me of a greenhouse with giant glass windows overlooking beautiful vistas as far as the eye can see.

The Sights of London

Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Big Ben, and Westminster Abby. I saw them all on my trip--and got pictures too!

The London Eye

So the first thing I did when I arrived in London was to go and ride the London Eye--one of the largest Ferris Wheels in the world. I had read the book The London Eye Mystery (great book, by the way) and knew I had to take a spin on this amazing structure that had been such a big part of that story.

If you look at the complete picture of the London Eye, you will see that it is taller than the sky scraper right next door to it. It is HUGE. Much bigger than this picture makes it seem since I was taking the picture from a bridge on the far side of the river. It takes almost an hour to ride all the way around. The other pictures at the top of this post are what the giant pods look like while riding inside them.

The Many Lamps of London

So one of the things I noticed on my trip to London were the street lights. Each one was more fancy than the next. There were so many varieties I couldn't possibly get pictures of them all--but here are just a few examples I saw scattered about the city.

So how come we don't have lamps as pretty as these in my home town? No imagination, I guess. : )

Crazy Thunderstorm

I'm back from London and what a great vacation it was! I will be posting more about the trip with photos later. The return trip was long--I had to go twenty-eight hours without sleep. I was so exhausted I slept in until really late the next day and was awakened by a horrible thunderstorm. I went outside and discovered that buckets of large hailstones were coming down. Within five minutes our street looked like a river. I pulled out my camera and took this video of the water rushing through the street. You can see the huge pile of hailstones in the lower left-hand corner of the video. What a homecoming.

Taking a Much Deserved Vacation

I'm off to London for the next few weeks! I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to this trip. Things have been pretty crazy for the last couple months as I've been working like crazy to promote Forbidden Sea. It has been a long time since I've taken a REAL vacation where I can just enjoy myself. Unfortunately, I will have only limited access to the Internet while out of the country and I will not be able to update this blog or answer my emails regularly until I return. So if I'm slow to answer you in the next few weeks, please be patient. I'll catch up when I get back with lots of new stories to tell.

Wish me luck!