Welcome to England! World Quilting Travel Adventure

Welcome to England!

It's time for England and I'm happy that we have arrived!

There are so many wonderful tidbits of England that it was difficult to choose so few.

1. Big Ben is not actually the name of the clock, it is the name of the bell which is inside the clock.
2. In the year 1945 a large flock of starlings landed on the minute hand of St. Stephen’s Tower (Big Ben) which made the time of the clock go back by 5 minutes.
3. I visited several places trying to make sure about this next fun fact. I understand that there are more chickens than people in England. Okay, for those that don't know me, I am the crazy chicken lady so this tidbit had me smiling ear to ear.
4. The River Thames that flows through London has over 20 tunnels and 200 bridges.
5. Throughout the years, London has been under many names, during the Roman Invasion it was called Londonium… it was also called Ludenwic in the Saxon times.
6. Back in Shakespeare’s day, mattresses were fastened to bed frames by ropes; by doing this you were able to pull the ropes which would make the mattress tighter, therefore making it firmer to sleep on hence the saying “goodnight, sleep tight.”
7. England is 74 times smaller than the USA, 59 times smaller than Australia and 3 times smaller than Japan. England is however 2.5 times more populous than Australia.
8. One of England’s quaintest traditional events is the cheese rolling competition in Brockworth, Gloucestershire.
9. The world’s first public street lighting with gas was installed in Pall Mall, London in 1807. In 1812, the London and Westminster Gas Light and Coke Company became the world’s first gas company.
10. The oldest zoo in the world opened in England, in the city of London in 1828.
11. Shoelaces were invented in England in 1790.
12. There are over 300 languages spoken in England.
13. English people consume more tea per capita than anybody else in the world (2.5 times more than the Japanese and 22 times more than the Americans or the French). 

I love tea whether it be hot or cold so it only made sense that the souvenir had to tea related. The process of making it is as important as drinking it to me. For the past several years, I have been a student of tea and have loved learning how different types of tea are made and where they are made. Did you know that half of the world now drinks tea! If you would enjoy learning more, go HERE. Another fun thing about the Tea Journey folks is that they have a JoJo Club! Now how fun is that. I felt so special seeing my name that I may have to join and get custom teas delivered to my home each month!  I learned about the magazine from a Kickstarter campaign that I participated in. I can hardly wait until the summer of 2017 to get my special, smart tea brewer.

Yay----I only have the binding left to do and wanted to get this out to all of my patient travelers. I will email the pattern tonight so keep a eye on your mailboxes!  :)

Now, can't you just picture yourself walking down a path and seeing the Tea Room sign beckoning you to come in out of the cold for a nice, soothing cup of hot tea! Ole England how I desire to someday visit you in person.

England Souvenir