Now that I think I have survived my midlife shopping crisis, I'm ready to share some more interesting tidbits I've been collecting since we arrived... Can you believe we've been here 3 months now! In some ways it seems like longer, in others I can't believe that much time has passed already!
Warwick Castle - central in the British Civil War (War of the Roses)
Farthingay Cathedral - an axe's throw from the remains of Farthingay castle where Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded (did you know it took 3 whacks to get her head off? Damn!)
Inside Kings Chapel at Cambridge - stunning
Also in King's Chapel - a panel from the Organ case with HenryVIII initials
Bridge over river running through Cambridge campus - I love Cambridge!!
Peterborough Cathedral
Charlcote Hall - the family of the Earl or Duke of something or another still live in the "west wing" we saw a lad jumping on a trampoline in the back - almost classifies as "quirky"....
On the grounds of Charlcote hall - beautiful
Tattershall Castle - Oliver Cromwell's pad from like the 1400's or something - fascinating to think about life in a place like this
Storefronts in an old Cathedral in Stamford - who says the Brits aren't resourceful?
Isaac Newton's home - this is where he pondered the concept of gravity, bent light through a prism and came up with F=MA - Damn that is cool!
Springtime in Britian means fresh rack of lamb on every Easter dinner table... Many lambs were spared this year due to Easter's early arrival (as the butcher told me - they are too small- ew)
Ice cream at Kings Chapel Cambridge - tastier than it looks!
Cool Tree - lots of cool flora around here
Coughton Court - a very important place for Catholics during the reformation period when Catholics were punished for practicing their religion - there were a couple of "Priest holes" used for hiding priests - Henry VIII had a common practice of executing priests. Interesting stuff... The Chemise worn by Mary, Queen of Scots when she was executed is on display here along with a copy of her death mask - soooo interesting!
SOOOOOO Many daffodils EVERYWHERE this time of year! Love it!
England's last remaining "unspoilt' pub, The Fleece Inn - circa 15th century!
Crisps (potato chips) and lemonade (sprite) - Audrey and Zoe's favorite pub grub!
Enjoying some locally brewed Ales at the Fleece (mine was called Pigs Head...)
Fireplace at The Fleece - see the "Witch Circles" painted on the ground? This was a typical medieval practive - they believed that witches came down the chimney and if you painted these circles on the hearth that it would drive them away...
More purty flowers - at Baddesley Clinton House this time
Of all of the things you could sculpt a shrub into, why and egg cup? Quirky to be sure...
Baddesley Clinton - 15th Century Tudor home. Check out the cool moat all around. Also known as a Catholic home during the Reformation with 4 Priest Holes - a lot of interesting stories about this place - it was stunning inside - lots of wood panelled walls and period furniture
More Baddesley Clinton
Mama sheep and her two babies trotting up the road - Quaint, no?
The Quaint
Ok, now on to the quaint...
Mail Slots - there are no mailboxes at the homes here - only a slot in the front door. Our neighbor bangs the little flap door when she comes to our door (instead of ringing the bell or knocking ) It never ceases to scare the crap out of me!
Escutcheon - we have key holes - like for skeleton keys for our doors. None of the keys are the same size shape or color. An Escutcheon is the little fancy door that goes over the keyhole. They are not insulatated - just a little metal disk - cold air comes FLYING through the keyhole. My question? Why not just call it a keyhole cover or something simple? Who knows - they also call zucchini courgettes and eggplant Aubergines- quaint defined...
Escutcheon - such fancy word for such a simple little thing.
Radiators - when you hear that a place has "central heat" do not expect to hear the rush of forced air from a furnace. Instead, when the heat kicks on you hear a "boiler" fire up and then the radiators and the pipes leading to them creaking. I've grown to love the sound of the creaking pipes. In the bathrooms the radiators are typically located below the towel rack. I love the feeling of a nice warm towel after taking a shower! Oddly, the bathrooms are always FREEZING cold, and the toilet seats are like sitting on an ice ring!
Ivy - it grows on everything and it is always green! Phone poles, tree trunks, sides of buildings, fences...everywhere..
English Mustard - SPICY! For a country that is known for its bland food, you cannot even believe how spicy English mustard is - OUCH!
Ice Lollies - popcicles :)
Washing up liquid - dish soap. I have my groceries delivered (so much better than going to the store each weekend with the whole famdamly...) and when I was on the Tesco (like Walmart) website, I was trying to find the damn dishsoap... I don't know how I had to go to the kitchen and look at the bottle of dishsoap on the sink to figure out what they called it so I could order more!
Poorly - means sick or unwell: "Zoe is poorly today" I have a hard time with that one...
Kitchen roll: Paper towels - they are about 2/3 of the width of what we are used to and have about half as many on a roll - apparently they use these instead of paper napkins at mealtime.
Tea - Dinner - yes, the neighbor just came over to pick up her kids from a playdate with Audrey and Zoe and said that it was time for their tea. I was lost the first time someone said that to me - I was thinking cakes and scones and I asked my neighbor what she typically served with tea and she explained that she meant that tea meant dinner... totally blew my image of little kids sitting around having tea and cucumber sandwiches after school - plus I felt like a total idiot :) won't be the first or last time :)
Ok - Quirky is just going to have to wait - I've been working on this posting all week and I just need to get it up there
More later - Cheers!
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