Xanga Guilt and Ely

I feel guilty posting this new entry when I know full well that I’ve not been reading YOUR new entries and don’t have plans to do so in the near future.  I got a job (woo!) writing sections of a 12th grade teacher’s manual for a literature book. It makes me happy to be “in” with the English side of the publisher instead of with the math folks, but it does make for a busy Teacherperson, especially given the homeschooling and traveling plans. (Yes, I know your heart aches for me that I’m so busy jaunting around here in England that I can’t read your blogs.  HA!)

But, I was also feeling guilt because certain folks (cough, cough, MOM, cough, LISA) had mentioned that I’d not posted in a bit.  So, feel free to read this entry and leave no remarks at all.  Or, if you do comment, you can tantalize me with all the wonderful entries I’m missing at your site.

Tuesday we went to Ely Cathedral.  The place is named Ely because it used to be in the middle of a fen which would flood regularly and make an island.  There were many eels around, hence the name Ely (eel-ee).  The first religious house was built on the site by Etheldreda, a Saxon princess, who remained a virgin despite having two different husbands. She left hubby #2,  became a nun, and built a monastery on the Island of Ely (which had been a wedding gift from Hubby #1).  This happened in 673 A.D.    The Danes knocked it down 200 years later.

In the late 1000s, the church was built in its present state. It became a cathedral in 1109. To earn coveted cathedral status, you have to have a bishop’s throne. They do. It used to be a Catholic throne, but now it is an Anglican one.

This place has the most gorgeous stained glass I’ve ever seen. We went on a sunny day, and it was amazing. My pictures won’t even begin to do it justice.  (Warning: entirely too many pictures coming.)

We walked from the train station and had a picnic lunch at a playground within sight of the cathedral.

 


As we ate lunch, there was much debate as to whether the animals we saw in the distance in front of the cathedral were horses or cows. As you can see, they were horses (or ponies).


Two of the many windows.  Pictures fall far short of their thousand words.

As the light shone through the windows, it would make colored patterns everywhere.  You can see how the light-brown something-or-other marble (which is actually polished limestone) caught the colors. So did the floor, our hands, etc.




Some close-ups which do a better job of showing just how vibrant the colors are.




Esther getting crowned.




“Ho, hum. All I do is hang around all day, leaning on my arm, surrounded by gorgeous stained glass.”

 


This is the Lantern Tower. It’s like a stained-glass skylight.  In warmer times, you can go up into it if you are over 12 years old. The children were bitterly disappointed that it wasn’t open. So was I!


One controversial thing in the Lady Chapel is this statue of Mary unveiled in 2000. She’s rather large (hippy) and has gold hair.  Even though they are Anglican, they don’t like Mary to be so–curvaceous–I guess.  Or, as the museum guide said, “Nine feet tall and two tons.” Some Madonna!



There was an excellent one-hour tour of the cathedral. One of the most interesting things our guide pointed out to us were The Green Men. They are all over the church, and apparently are all over churches from the 1100s to the 1500s.  Why are these pagan symbols of fertility all over Christian churches?  One theory is that the folks of that time wanted to “hedge their bets.” As they carved their St. Pauls and John the Baptists, they stuck a few Green Men in just to be safe.  Interestingly, when Henry VIII’s goons came in and smashed all the faces off the statues, they didn’t touch the Green Men, nor did they smash off the faces of the carvings if there was a Green Man near it.






Wit looking out a window near The Lady Chapel and the cool, huge cross which is at the main entrance of the church.

Happy Burns Day!

A joke you’ve probably heard before…

An Englishman is being shown around a Scottish
hospital.  At the end of his visit, he is shown into a ward with a number
of patients who show no obvious signs of injury. He examines the first man he
sees who is thrashing on his bed, shouting:

Fair fa’ yer honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain e’ the puddin’ race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
  painch tripe or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace
  as lang’s my arm. 

The Englishman, somewhat taken aback, observes the next
patient who is rolling his eyes and muttering:

Some hae meat, and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit. 

The Englishman, now baffled, turns to a third patient who
grabs the visitor’s jacket lapels and pulls him close. Confidentially, the
patient whispers:

Wee sleekit cow’rin tim’rous beastie,
O what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
  wi’ bickering brattle.
I wad be laith to run and chase thee,
  wi’ murdering prattle!” 

The Englishman extracts himself from the patient’s grip.
“Well,” he murmured to his Scottish colleague, “I see you saved
the psychiatric ward for the last.”

“Nay, nay,” the Scottish doctor corrected him,
“this is the Serious Burns unit.”

Have a great weekend!

Red-Letter Day!

And not just because I got a letter from Bethelbrook, dear and delightful as that was.  And not just because we got two boxes full of goodies like M-n-Ms and gummy fish and Puffs Plus tissues  and some stray things I forgot from home from my mom which had us all jumping with glee. And not just because Hunter got the laptop to play DVDs through the TV so we can watch the American movies we brought. And not just because it is pizza, soda, and video night. (Although those certainly add to the intensity of the red.)

So, what is it that makes me post a blissful blog entry?  I have a friend in England! And, this friend has a love for Christ, a generous spirit, a fondness for games (including Boggle and cards), and a minivan.  She took four of my kids and me to Tesco (think Wal-Mart where you don’t know the layout and all the food is slightly different and some of your staples don’t even exist).  Then, she and her son (age 3) stayed for lunch and to play (we Boggle, he blocks and outside).  LittleMiss went home with her to play with her three girls.  Huzzah! Now, for a Xanga name…

Did you know you can’t get Italian salad dressing in England? Or caffeine-free non-diet soda? Or chocolate chips to make chocolate chip cookies? But you can buy pre-made chocolate chip cookies.  In fact, I might just go eat one right now.

What color was  your day?

P.S.–It’s spring! In January!

Found!

Pellinore didn’t find his Questing Beast.  Arthur’s knights didn’t bring home the Holy Grail. Ponce de Leon died without his Fountain of Youth. But–Teacherperson found cheese puffs!

Yes, I am sure you are all off your feet, cheering loudly just as if I smacked the winning goal in the 1980 hockey game at the Olympics. The kids and I went to a different bit of Sainsbury grocery store, the part where you can buy ready-made sandwiches.  And, there they were: Sainsbury cheese balls.  I had some for lunch today. They were okay (a bit sweet instead of salty), but I felt satisfied in a quest fulfilled.

Speaking of chips (er, crisps), I walked by a vending machine today and saw Roast Chicken flavor potato chips and Turkey and Stuffing flavor.  It reminded me of Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka. (Mmm! Roast beef and baked potato! Blueberry pie and ice cream!) I suppose one could just pull out a bag on Thanksgiving. You’d have the potato, turkey, and stuffing all conveniently there.

Another thing that Gockle was delighted we found were Skittles.  So, in typical American excess, they bought 24 bags of them.  (Rationed to last for months!) Here the kids are labeling their bags of candy.

Time for random pictures!

Here’s the path we walk down every day to get home from the bus stop.

Hunter, LibbyK, Gockle, and Wit on the top of the double-decker bus. (It was really sunny, hence Gock’s closed eyes.)

The underside of the porch of The Fitzwilliam Museum. We went there yesterday and  spent an hour or two drawing copies of paintings and looking at other paintings and Greek pots.  A lot of the little statues seem to be called “Naked Fat Person” or “Naked unknown god”. 
(Look, she was being British and put her period (er, full stop) outside the quotation mark!)

Wit took this shot. It’s something in Cambridge, but I don’t know what.

Cheese Puffs and Cambourne

I think I am suffering from lack of processed cheese in my system. Sort of like nicotine withdrawal or something.  There are no Jax Cheese Twists in England. There are no Cheetos of any sort.  I keep telling myself to stop whining about junk food.  You tell me that, too.

Tonight we had quite an adventure. Hunter and Wit planned to go to the teen Bible study at the youth leader’s home. To get there meant a cross-city bus trip with a transfer in the middle, something none of us have tried before, so I went with them. I checked in on Sunday and asked at the main bus station which bus, where to get on, etc.  The bus guy told me, and I was sure all was well.

We gave ourselves an hour for the trip figuring we’d get to the house way too early. Ha! 

First of all, we missed the first City 4 bus because we were a minute late.  We crossed the street to a bus shelter and asked a random person if the City 4 came to that stop. “Yes,” she said.  We waited another five minutes and another City 4 bus came–across the street.  We decided to wait for the one on our side of the street as we saw the last City 4 that came that way turned toward town.  It came, we got on, and the bus left.  After a moment, I realized that we were going AWAY from town. “No bother,” I thought. “They are probably just going to the Park and Ride lot a two-minute drive away.” 

Three minutes later, I peered through the mud-splashed bus windows into pitch blackness and realized I didn’t recognize the road. Where were we?  Oh, no! We were on our way to Cambourne!

Were you ever trapped on a bus to an unknown location, not knowing when it would stop or turn around, and all the while you are watching time slip away when you have to be somewhere? That’s the feeling. Not so happy.

Twenty minutes later, the bus emptied its last passenger (save us) into the quaint town of Cambourne.  I went to the front of the bus and explained to the driver that we went the wrong way.  “Well, I’m off duty now, but I’ll take you to a bus stop where you can wait for another bus.” Off duty? He wasn’t going back to Cambridge?  “But, there’s a nice fish and chips shop near there you can pop into while you wait,” he offered jovially. 

The three of us stood umbrella-less at a deserted bus stop in the wind and rain (poor, poor us) counting the seconds until the bus would arrive. (It was 1,020 seconds.) By this time, the Bible study was starting back in Cambridge.  The boys were not happy, but they were kind and un-sulky.

Finally, we got our bus, got into Cambridge, figured out the bus we needed for the transfer, and  made it to the study–only 45 minutes late. Sigh.

Thankfully, R, the female youth leader, drove us home. “You’ve had enough nightmare with buses for one evening,” she said.  May her six month old sleep through the night–God bless her!

Sunday Rambles

We finally made it to church, Eden Baptist. It’s not one of the hundreds-of-years-old one, but it’s round and wooden inside.  The pastor had an excellent message. (Guess what, FBC friends? They are working through Hebrews in the morning and the evenings are Genesis–ha!)  I was so eager for the kids to go and find friends. It just so happened that friend-making was a bit easier. All the kids were dismissed to a Sunday school-like time during the message, even Hunter and Wit. (Their class meets every other Sunday.)  So, all were able to find someone worth knowing.  And, when the service was over, one family came up to greet us. 

Guy–Hi, I’m Jim.
TGD–You don’t sound English. Are you an American?
Guy–I’m from Minnesota! Are you American?
TGD–Yes, we are.
Guy–Yeah! (Embraces TGD in ginormous hug)

The couple appear super-friendly, and they have four kiddos, aged 10 to 3.  Mrs.Jim (the wife) even offered to take my whole brood to Tesco (“better than a Super-Target,” said she) in their eight-passenger van!  Woo!   They are here for a year while Mr.Jim gets his doctorate. He’s a pastor.

Tomorrow night, the older boys are planning to go to a teen Bible study. It will be a big bus adventure.  Back home, we just get directions and drive. Here, TGD and I spent about 15 or 20 minutes consulting bus tables and time tables and figuring out where we’d have to transfer. (I’m going with them this first time.)  Bible time and friends are well worth the hassle.

After church today, we splurged and took the family out to lunch at an English pub. I had fish and chips.  The kids had pasta (pronounced pass-tah with a very long “a” sound). It’s the same thing as you would expect–penne pasta with marinara sauce. Momentarily, I forgot that fries are chips. When I was ordering TGD’s chili, the man said, “Do you want chips or rice?”  “Uh, I thought we got both,” said I, thinking of tortilla chips.  Duh.

For those who want to know, when you go to a pub, you get your table and table number. Then you go to the bar and order your food and drinks. You carry your drinks back to your table, but they bring you your food. Maybe that’s how you order food in American bars as well. I’ve not been, so I don’t know. 

You’ve Got Mail
(It just gets dropped through the slot)

The yard (er, garden) where the kids play.  This is the view from an upstairs window.

 

M-n-Ms, Mince, and Museum

Pip, pip, cheerio and all that jazz.  How are you?  I have foundered myself with peanut M-n-Ms.  One of the things I stuffed in my suitcase was a 45 ounce bag of those chocolate yummies.  Last night we opened them, and I don’t think they’ll be long for this world.  You just can’t get glutton-sized bags of candy like that here in Cambridge.

But, one thing you can get is mince. I always wondered what mince was. It turns out, it’s ground beef!  We bought some and made hamburgers tonight.  Tasted just like ground beef should.

This afternoon, TGD came home after his talks and we headed to the Museum of Zoology. There are about five real-live museums in Cambridge in addition to all the history dripping from every building you pass.  Skeletons and stuffed things seemed like a good plan for a gray afternoon, so off we went.

Outside the museum hangs a real skeleton of a whale.  (I forget what kind, but it’s huge.)  Inside are all sorts of nifty dead things and fossils and skeletons and stuffed things. One of my favorite parts was the big display of stuffed, local birds. (With all those M-n-M’s, I might qualify for the stuffed part.)  It enabled us to identify several birds we had seen in our yard and in our ramblings. 

Hunter narrowly avoided an attack by this–um–skeletal thing.

Tonight, our Youth Group back in PA meets. They are going to Skype us for the first hour of the meeting so that my kids can visit with their friends and play Pictionary with the crowd. It means a late night for us (midnight start time), but it will be well worth it.

If you aren’t familiar with Skype, I highly encourage you to check out this FREE system for calling anywhere in the world and having a webcam link as well. We’ve loved it. My mom calls almost every day and visits. It makes us not feel so far away.  Go HERE to learn more because it is really neat and totally free to download and to call and is a great way for grandmas to see their grandkids every day.

Off to listen to TGD read aloud to us while I quilt and then watch another episode of Horatio Hornblower.  Bliss.

Simple Pleasures

I was feeling sort of icky last night, so I slept in rather late this morning.  What a pleasure to lounge in bed with the covers up to my chin. Bliss, bliss, lazy bliss. Which reminds me–The Kween of  the Queens posted a new writing challenge, and it really appealed to me.

Searching for Saltines

Side note–We did find something akin to saltines, or un-Saltines, rather. They are called Cream Crackers.