This was the day we went into Sheffield to see where Adam grew up and to meet up with his friends.

I wanted to go to Cromford because I’d read there was a quilt shop there. On the way we stopped at Caudwell’s Mill and Craft Centre.

This guy must sit there all day waiting to get his picture taken in the iron works. I actually walked in and turned right to take photos of the cool old machinery, and he said, “Over here!” I almost jumped out of my skin, I hadn’t even seen him.

This was Arkwright’s Mill in Cromford. Sir Richard Arkwright basically invented the water-powered fabric mill.

And that’s where the quilt shop was, inside the mill. Very fitting. And also really expensive. Almost 2x as much as fabric here in the US, and most of it had been imported from the US.

We had lunch in Matlock Bath, home of about a trillion “chip shops.”

Then we went to this upholstery fabric store called Fabric Design, run by a friend of Cora’s (who sadly wasn’t there that day). This place was a real find, and much more affordable. It was like a treasure trove, every time you thought you’d seen all the rooms you’d uncover another hidden one with addictive walls of fabric like this. Loved this place.

I liked Matlock Bath, just the look of it was cool.

Then it was on to Sheffield. After getting the tour of Adam’s old haunts, we walked around Sheaf Square, near Sheffield Hallam University (where Ian teaches).

I love the juxtaposition of new and old on this college campus. And there’s my mother-in-law taking it in.

The Sheffield Central Library is right off the square, and I ran into the children’s department and asked them if I could snap a couple of photos to show to my students back home. They probably thought I was nuts, but I think my students will get a kick out of it.

And then we met up with Adam’s friends for a great night of just hanging out. It was really so much fun, I loved it. This trip made me decide that I love northern England a lot more than London. It’s fantastic up there.

This was even more firmly confirmed after our flight home from London was canceled Sunday night because the landing gear broke. We stood on line for hours getting rebooked onto another flight, and I had to miss work on Monday because I was stuck overseas. Blegh.