Month: April 2008

  • Girton–with children

    Remember that long walk to Girton I took the other day? I decided to try it again, this time with the kids.  We packed sandwiches and I bribed them with sodas and ice cream at the Cooperative, and we set off for our three hour tour. (A three hour tour…sing it, Gilligan!)

    No one really complained about the walk, because there was always something to see. Gockle did a perfect sheep imitation and had a lamb walk over to him at the fence instead of fleeing in lamb-terror as the rest seemed to be doing. They spray paint their sheep here, by the way. I suppose it is to identify them.




    The cows in England are the most curious beasts. They come running to the fence whenever people come by, jostling and crowding one another to get a good look. 




    We got to Girton, which really doesn’t have much except a tiny playground.






    But, we discovered there are Magic Bushes surrounding the playground!  First, Wit found a volleyball. He kicked it over to me soccer-style and said, “It followed me. Can I keep it?” 

    “No, of course not!” I said.  But, then, the kids found a tennis racket in the bushes.  “Look, Mom! If we find TEN things, can we keep one?” 

    Not expecting that they would find ten things, I said, “Sure.”

    A few minutes later, tennis balls, parts of a chair, a lighter, and more were assembled for my inspection.  Wilson the Volleyball came home with us in the backpack.

       

    Find any treasures lately?

  • A Whole Week!

    I’ve been absent (mostly) from Xanga for a whole week: not read your sites, not made entries, not kept up in general.  I’ve absolved myself from Xanga Guilt, and I hope you will do the same.  (Although I do want to catch up on your lives.) So, why have I been gone? Some amazing trip or something?  Nah. Just didn’t feel like Xanga.

    Of course, life flies on as usual.  The Fenstermachers fly home today.  It was a great visit with them. We took the Christian Heritage Tour of Cambridge on Sunday, which was excellent.  Strangely enough, we learned the history of the conduit at our house on this tour. (We live on Conduit Head Road. The conduit piped water to the fountain at Trinity College and to a water pump outside.)     



    Gockle had a birthday and got just about his body weight in Skittles and Sour Skittles. (And a Ninja costume)




    And he got to have a steak dinner at the pub.


    Friday, Hunter and I went to London and visited The London Museum, The Churchill War Rooms, and The National Gallery.


    I got to eat my most favorite lunch in the world.


    These freesias were gorgeous and smelled delicious all week.


    We were amazed by our Saturn-like Cheerio. 



    We ordered Domino’s pizza…or was it?

         

    So, what did I miss from your life this week?

  • Another Walk

    I discovered a really nice walk near my house.  First, we go through the gate…





    Past the cows…




    And down this lane.

     


    After about fifteen minutes of walking,  we come to this sign…





    Which is a lengthy name for a small church…



    With a picturesque cemetery.




    Some of the graves are as new as 2007…




    And some are much older. Both of Charles Darwin’s sons are buried here.

        
     



    Their dad is buried in Westminster Abbey. Go figure.



    Are you a lover of walks?

    PS–OneTrueTweedle, the fellow who made that nice 100,000 credits thingie for me earlier, would like to get 10 comments.  Surely you could spare a moment to give him a comment and chat about Chinese food? Ten comments seems such a reasonable, modest goal.

    PSS–The flower in the field is rapeseed, which is used to make Canola oil. The other flower is a mystery. I wish someone could solve it for me. Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?

  • Naming of the Flowers

    First of all, Drew and Diana arrived safely, even though they went the wrong way on the loop around London and wound up getting here an hour or two after I expected they would.  And,

    They brought me Jax Cheese Twists!  


    They are wonderful people.  (But I already knew that.)

    We kept them awake today by making them walk to the American Cemetery.

    ********

    I had an entry planned where I was going to ask for help in  identifying some flowers. But, my dear friends found the pictures in my photo blog and told me what many of them were without my even asking. How’s that for wonderful?

    These beauties are Japanese Quince. (Thanks, Mamaglop!)




    And this upside-down, checkerboard tulip-like thing




    And this upside-down lily-like thing

       


    Are both fritillaria. (Thanks, aj1965!)


    Can you believe this is where I live? How cool is that?




    No trouble identifying these flowers…a present from my American-in-England friend, Lisa J!




    Nor these freesias. They do smell divine.




    But I still need some identification help.  What is this pretty, yellow bush? The flowers are about 2 inches across. The bush is about five feet tall and grows like the quince bush, all sprawled out.



    And what is growing all through fields (like a crop) near my house? They look like wild phlox and they do smell nice. It must be some sort of going-to-flower crop?

       

  • If you had to limit your internet usage to only three websites,what three websites would you choose?

    I think I’d go with Xanga, Google, and Amazon.  But, I’d have to have my library’s website in there, too. So, the third would be my library or Amazon.

    What do you think? What are your top three? 

    I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

  • The Winners…and Some Pictures

    Last entry, I proposed that you write what happened at the Peter Pan playground and promised fame and glory to the winner.  Let the accolades begin! 

    The Award for Best Paranoid Mummy Writing goes to… RJDOHNER for her excellent point that even though there is a fence around the sand-filled park, it is certainly not cat-proof.

    The Award for Unintentional Violence Against a Winged Creature goes to… BUTTERSHUGS for her reminder that we need to watch our words of disbelief and clap like mad.

    The Award for Best Story goes to … AJ1965 who cleverly combined all the elements of wonder and had me pegged as reading at the park, which was 100% true. (I was reading Hamlet, of all things.)

    The Award for Best Story That I’d Actually Like To Have Happen Sometime goes to …  ELIZABETHDNB who really got it right. We do want to fly to Neverland, but Here-and-NowLand calls too loudly.

    Speaking of Here-and-NowLand, I’ve been a real [insert favorite synonym for annoying, impatient person].  We have about 30 days of school left, and I’m weary.  Actually, I am behaving poorly and need a kick in the pants.  But, right now, I have to put the children to bed.

    Around Town on the Underground

    Teacherperson, TGD, Hunter, Wit, LibbyK, Gockle, LittleMiss, and Big Ben

  • Neverland

    Have you ever wanted to go to Neverland and play with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys?  Have you wanted to climb on a pirate ship, hang out in a teepee, or careen through the forest? If so, you may want to visit the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens in London. 

    Now, you Peter Pan fans already know that Peter lived in Kensington Gardens before he moved to Neverland, so it is a fitting place for a playground modeled after the book. Kensington Palace is where Princess Diana lived, which is a stone’s throw (if you have a really strong arm) from the playground. 




    The playground opened in June 2000 and is supervised at all times. In fact, if you don’t have children, you can only get in the gates between 9:30 and 10:00 in the morning. If your children try to get in without you (as mine did while I finished lunch at a table outside the fence), they will not be able to do so.

    The pirate ship

    Some happy pirates manning the ship: Little Miss, Friend J, and Gockle (Actually, Gockle made them more like Horatio Hornblower’s men!)

    This is a sand box (all the ground around the pirate ship was also sand–really clean sand, a pleasure to play in)

    The mermaid lagoon

    The Lost Boys’ houses

    The Indian encampment

    The big climbing area blended in so well with the landscaping. In fact, the whole place was amazingly landscaped. It was just wild enough to make you feel like you were exploring, yet it was terribly well kept-up, which made you feel as if you were in a wonderful garden. 

           

    And, you could climb and explore everywhere. The pirate ship was for climbing. You could go in the Indian tents and dance around the totem pole. In the “woods” were musical instruments like big chimes and other things. There were even sound effect machines stuck here and there to make sounds like water near the mermaid lagoon, for example.  (I think in the summer there is actually water on the lagoon. There looked to be sprinkler heads among the rocks.)  


    Could this entry sound more like a formulaic “What I Did Last Thursday” fifth grade report?  Tell you what. To spice things up, take a stab at telling what REALLY happened at the playground.  Best response wins the fame and noteriety of my saying, “Best response!” 

  • Orange You Going to Tell Random Things?

    I accidentally dyed my hair orange. I really didn’t mean to. I thought that the highlight kit for light brown hair would work fine. But, I panicked and washed it out early, fearful I’d be a bleached blonde. Well, I’m not. I’m a slightly fuzzy orange head.  Joy. But, my kind husband said I still look pretty.

    We found Oreos in Sainsbury two days ago! I ate three while watching Captain Blood (old Errol Flynn movie)  and felt sick. So I ate another one and felt better.

    There is a Portuguese chicken restaurant in town called Nandos. I do not go ga-ga for their peri-peri sauce, but their ice is to die for–little balls like snow cones. Yum, yum.  (Aw, come on. Don’t you sometimes choose a restaurant based on the quality of its ice cubes?)

    We can’t figure out how to work the heat in our house, and our landlords are gone to Shri Lanka for a month, so we can’t ask them. Consequently it is rather warm in the house all the time. But, the open windows are a refreshing treat. Except this one bumble bee keeps coming in. (I assume it’s the same one.)

    Today, April 4th, is Act Like a T-Rex Day. I have been practicing for days. I got a great video this morning of Hunter and I engaging in a T-Rex fight, but alas, I didn’t bring the correct video transfer cable to England, so I can’t post it for you. 

    And, I’m sure you are all keen to see my orange hair and share in the rejoicing.  As it says in Job 21:3, “Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, MOCK ON!”

  • Tweedle Rocks!



    Thanks, Andrew!

  • A Walk to Girton

    Now, I should give you some elaborate April Fool’s joke, but I’m rather lame with them. So instead, I’ll tell you about my Sunday walk to Girton.

    About a mile from my house, there is a sign which says “Public Footpath to Girton” and opens into broad fields. Every time I’ve seen it, I’ve been tantalized. Sunday was the most gorgeous day we’ve had since we’ve been here, and the outdoors beckoned.

    I donned my trainers, jacket, and floppy hat and headed out. It was just about wonderful–all that English countryside and wide, blue sky.

    And when I get excited about England, I get all literary.

    Is this where Jane Eyre might have popped out…

    As Mr. Rochester was riding down this road?

    Could this be where Harry and Dudley met the dementors?

    Had we but world enough, and time…
    We would sit down and think which way
    To walk, and pass our long love’s day;

    Baa Baa Black Sheep

    Oh, for some pattens!

    And then I came to a closed and locked gate barring my path. What to do? This was supposed to be a public footpath!  But, then I noticed it. A stile! This tickled my literary fancy more than just about anything else had so far.  One can hardly read an English book about walking in the country without the mention of stiles.


    After about an hour, I reached Girton, a village of about 4,500 people to the
    north-west of Cambridge.     The old name for
    Girton was “Gretton,” meaning “village on the gravel,” because the
    settlement grew up along a gravel ridge.     People have been living in Girton since pre-Saxon times, although I didn’t see much evidence of it in my brief jaunt.  The houses I saw were modern and tidy an had a pristine beauty of their own.  (Further investigation is required!)


    This photo was taken rather hastily because I didn’t want any of these tidy English villagers to think ill of me.


       

    This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
    This other Eden, demi-paradise…
    This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England

       

    Did anyone pull any April Fool’s jokes on you?