It was so wonderful to have her companionship and care for nearly a month.
This blog is to document some of the everyday things we've done in her time here.
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| Image from https://twitter.com/cambsphoto taken two days before we were there. |
Our first trip into town was on a fresh sunny day. We walked down the river to Magdalene Bridge, this is pronounced Maudlin - according to one local this is because the upper class had many 'proper mispronunciations' as a type of code to keep the ordinary folk confused and in their place.
Jesus Green Pool was empty and shut up but the new playground beside it was finished and covered with toddlers. The paths across Jesus Green glowed with a golden canopy and carpet making the cyclists look like Calvary trooping the colour as the mums and prams became a parade of royal carriages. A zigzagging tractor towing a giant leaf suckeruppera soon dispelled the fantasy. |
| Won Best Clothing and Accessories Shop - so it's not just me! |
Nana was introduced to my favourite shoe shop in Cambridge - Modish on Green St - where a pair of black boots were bought in preparation for our Lake District tour. After so much walking we caught the Fison Rd Double Decker back to the Tesco's stop and just made it home before the girls.
On the last day of half term, we caught the train down to London. By leaving after peak times we got a ticket for Liverpool St that let us return at any time and travel the Tube for 16 pound each. Petal was festering with a cold shared from one of Willow's friends who had picked it up in Japan on a language excursion, the rest of us had recovered enough to risk a long day in the capital. Charlie was very happy to have someone home to cuddle up with. M was back at work.
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| The Victorian set held is worth over 40 000 pound but the fusty diamond settings are proving hard to move on. The centre case has intricately carved and stained scarabs set into gold. Very interesting but I don't think I could ever wear a house deposit! |
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| Skirt and super thick tights purchased down Neale St. Boots from Fatface. |
After a 1.5hr trip we changed to the Tube and headed for Chancery Lane - the sparkle centre of London. To pick up a Borgie commission we went through double security doors and met Wendy, a jeweller from a company who specialised in pearls. While waiting for paperwork to be completed we were shown antique pieces that they had traded, restored and were selling on. A black pearl brooch was absolutely gorgeous. Next we retraced our steps and Tubed to Covent Garden, the umbellas came out between shops so we headed for the Apple Markets - aimed at big spending tourists, very similar to Sydney's Rocks markets, bent fork hooks, silk prints but post boxes instead of opera houses.
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| Giant pans full of Paella - one flavour - hot and fragrant - quick queues - great idea for a cold London day. |
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| Nana and Willow at the end of one of the three markets under shelter. Christmas deco up already. |
Willow was frothing at the mouth with all the hundreds of lovely - affordable things. Very hard to be limited by now being solely reliant on pocket money for household tasks - being away most weekends makes having a part time job here impossible for her even though there is a Maccas an easy bike ride away! Lovely rings galore but risky to buy for absent fingers; we still took Petal an infinity ring in sympathy for having to miss the trip.
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| It was pouring when we came out - lots of pretty umbrellas but not enough light for my camera. Seven Dials - Convent garden. |
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| Alley off Monmouth Rd, between Neal St and the Seven Dials, takes you into a multi-coloured square, great looking pizza restaurant that had no room left for us |
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| Portabella Rd markets outside the Artisan Bakery - great brownies |
We got back to Cambridge around 6pm and M was waiting at the station to take us home.
Once the kids were back at school, Nana and I took little jaunts around the washing, cleaning, gym, dog walk and reading schedules.
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| On our Way to King's Evensong - 5pm Friday night |
The Kings Chapel has a wealth of information about the construction and benefactors of the building. Its creation was used as a political statement to buoy up the Tudor right to the throne. Their roses, greyhounds, dragons and lattices were everywhere. HenryVI established Eton as a school for boys of the ruling classes and graduates from here, until recently, were given first rights to enrollment at Kings. Now Kings apparently provides more places to the worthy underprivileged than any other College in Cambridge. When Henry the VI (first Tudor/Lancaster King) died the walls of his ambitious Chapel were only 2m high around the perimeter but work and money kept pouring in until it was completed in Henry VIII's time. One of the largest expenses were the stained glass windows. They are designed to show the prophesy from the O.T. being fulfilled in the N.T. - one above the other all the way around.
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| Kings - Riverside |
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| Kings - Roadside |
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| Spot the Tudor devices in the stonework around the front doors of Kings Chapel |
In contrast the windows at Trinity are a gallery of the good and the clever to emerge from its hallowed halls. Trinity was established by Henry VIII by converging King's Hall and Michael House. Henry VIII had a lot of cash to splash around after the dissolution of the monasteries and stripping the Roman Cathedrals of their golden images. Perhaps the gilt from Ely Cathedral built the Cambridge Colleges?
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| Sunset over St John's College opposite the gates of Trinity (gap to the left) Heffers Bookshop - a new discovery- front right image from twitter.com/cambsphoto |
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| This tree has grown from the one Newton sat under. He lived on the 1st floor behind |
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| Nana tickling Newton's toes in the Trinity Chapel Tennyson and Wordsworth were there too. |
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| Trinity court in front of Trinity Hall. Is Nana about to learn Quiddich? The fountain is a rebuild of the original, looks a lot like the entry to the Chamber of secrets |
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| This is the outside of Trinity's Wren Library, designed by Christopher Wren. The windows are high so that scholars are not distracted from their studies by the lovely views. On display inside we saw the handwritten first copy of Pooh by Milne and a 1st edition of the 1st folio of Shakespeare's plays, several medieval maps and the oldest text in the library. I think this was a Medieval Psalter - corrections in tiny calligraphy were strewn across the page - beautiful illumination. I'll have to check with Nana about the last. |
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| Ceiling detail in Trinity Chapel - Tudor touch |
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| Wren Library - Trinity College, no photos allowed! This is a poor photo of a postcard we purchased. Busts of allumni line the room. Desks and computers in each alcove. The display tables with glass tops were covered in red cloth. |
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| Trinity Chapel Glass |
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| King's Chapel Glass |
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| Remembrance service at St John's - Watford |
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| Of significance to Corn, Bibbles and Myles |
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| Rob's Sunday lunch - with sprouts! Even the photographer had a few without going green himself. |
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| Naughty Nana let Lady Lulu up to the table - R's offering of a sprout leaf was refused in the kitchen earlier - rare |
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| R, Petal and M took the dogs for a run, Nana and I hit IntuWatford |
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| Petal caught Charlie in full flight retrieving his little tennis ball. |
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| Medical Research Facilities at Babraham Park |
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| Out the front of Ely Catherdral The heavy bags are the result of purusing one of the three floors of books at Topping's |
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| Opposite Ely Cathedral - Oliver Cromwell's house/museum behind |
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| Thai Pub lunch in a village near M's work |
Nana shouted lunch the days we were out and we've probably all put on weight! The Cow was cheap and friendly Italian which did Petal approved Pizza. Carluccios always has a queue but it moves fast and the food and coffee is worth it. Nana had a laugh as I dragged out the raw red onion from my 'Byrons Proper Burger' - Philly, but happily chomped into their 'best in Cambridge' onion rings. We never got to Fitzbilli's for avo tea - they are famous for their cake selection and Chelsea buns- we were always running out of time and tried to get home before the girls did at 4:30. We tried the Debenhams and BHS cafes at the Grafton where service was fast at both. The Costa cafe at Tescos was handy but would have been stopped at more often if they had had their new Christmas mocha on the menu earlier: the Gingerbread and Jaffa flavours are yum. We had lots of fun at Zaparallies (L'Artista) in Watford one Sunday night sending photos of the dishes for the cousies to guess who had which. Tiger won with the most correct guesses (although we do suspect collusion after G got trounced by Leelee and Twincouse) - must be those sharp as HSC brains still flickering. Nana took a giant gold coin medallion with purple ribbon and signed serviette home as her prize as per instructions of Rob the game creator. RevD kept trying to give clues with his sleeve in one photo and drink in another but Rob's choice of Leelee's fave pumpkin ravioli kept the game afoot.
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| Waving goodbye to Willow |
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| and Petal as they cycle off to the bus |
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| Willow's lounging suit (not a onesie!) and Petal's school uniform (IVC) |
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| Oblivion |
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| Willow's friend had bruises next day from Petal's elbows as she fought against the centrifugal forces Both 6th formers wearing the twisted loop scarves so popular this autumn all bundled in warm jackets cause it's COLD. |
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| E'vill Swan looking for bread as we settle into the punt |
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| Under the first bridge - Magdalene, but still a little nervous. If we had started at the Mill pond end, Scudamores would have provided hot water bottles as well as blankets. Wed was a sunnyish day but a family day out wasn't on as M had to go to Germany for a meeting and the girls had commitments at school they couldn't bunk. |
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| The bridge of Sighs - the only way it is similar to the one in Venice is that it is covered. Perhaps the boys from St John's College thought that the classrooms were not dissimilar to the prison that the Venetian bridge originally lead to. The bridge leads from the 'wedding cake' below to the lecture halls etc. The guide said Queen Vic thought it the best view in.town. |
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| New Gothic architecture - German - this back view of St John's student quarters and tutor rooms is called the 'Wedding Cake'. It was the first large building on the west bank built by any College and still must have fabulous views over all the other river College's Backs. Clare College has a stunning garden only available to the Fellows (Professors) |
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| Mathematical bridge - Queen's College. All stories of Newton having designed it to hold together without any nails then challenging his rivals at Queen's to reconstruct it - who couldn't and had to use nails is baseless as Newton died 22yrs before it was built to Etheridge's design. The bridge is made completely of straight wooden planks. It was rebuilt in 1905 to the same design. |
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| Moon on the chimney pots - |
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| Our local across the river, good food, dogs allowed |
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| Main forms of transport around cramped Cambridge town. Nana eventually became accustomed to the cyclists whizzing around but thinks it best that Bon shouldn't stay too long. |
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| Round Church - Really old |
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| Petal's fave sweetie shop and St Johns College |
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| Looking past the Corn Exchange to The Cow Jamie Oliver's left - haven't been allowed yet Grand Arcade roof at the back - carpark to the right |
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| The long boats by Jesus Green have to pay rates - the ones down by us don't so they aren't quite as pretty and have all sorts of junk on their roofs. |
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| Me and Hippo loved Nana's dressing gown! |
Thinking About: Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night
In the Catholic/Protestant struggles for power some people and organisations would do anything to get the upper hand. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic and wanted the Protestant influence in England to end and members of the 'True Church' to regain their full rights and influence. He and 12 other fellows who had fought together in Spain decided that violent action was required. Their solution was to pack the basement of Parliament with gunpowder and blow it up.
Luckily this plan was foiled by a member of the group who had second thoughts about the innocent casualties this would cause. Deciding that even if the Prime minister and the Prince of Wales were present it wasn't worth the risk, he sent a letter to his friend who sat in the House of Lords to warn him not to go to work on the 5th of November. King James was shown this letter and poor old Guy happened to be the one member of the gang present when the cellar was raided. He was tortured and executed. Bonfires were lit that night around England celebrating the safety of the King and liberty.
Every year since this first Bonfire in 1605, Nov 5 is celebrated with council organised Bonfires and Fireworks around the country. The burning of 'Guys' is still common which is a little blood thirsty for my democratic western tastes. As a child I remember having to stay up very late in the NZ spring for it to be dark enough for the fireworks and bonfires and having no idea why somebody's old clothes had been stuffed with straw and thrown up on the fire. In Australia it isn't celebrated at all - probably because Nov can be a wicked month for bush fires. It was wonderful fun in Cambridge in the dark and cold with the lights of the fair rides behind, the blaze in front and the sparkles in the sky.
Modern times haven't really changed - there are still extremists who take to terrorism to force others to share their beliefs and who try to punish people for not holding the same ideals. The women in Saudi Arabia this week who are driving cars and being arrested for it in protest that it is illegal for them to do so in their country have made a statement that harms no one except themselves, they should be applauded for their bravery and convictions. It contrasts sharply against the insanity of the suicide bombers used by terrorist organisations that destroy life and doesn't prove any point except the absolute necessity of preventing this philosophy gaining political power.
Humans will believe what makes sense for them to believe through their experiences and needs and there will always be people who feel so inadequate that they can't bear others disagreeing with them. Let us not pretend that the inquisition was about securing the souls of unbelievers or the holocaust was about removing a spiritual parasite any more than current terrorism is about religion - it is and will always be about resource distribution, wealth and control. Same old same old. The cross fire of power and greed, harm is harm regardless of motivation.
Reading Now: The Mitford Girls
A biography of remarkable sisters with bits of parents and the brother by Mary S Lovell.
ABACUS
A mother with strong views on education and health and a father who is a second son and inherits on the death of his 'star quality' brother - opinionated, impatient with a strong mistrust of the German's he fought against in WWI. Together they raise 6 willful, beautiful daughters and a beloved son. Five of the girls are published, one a communist, two are Fascist, one becomes a Duchess, two marry philanderers and one was obsessively in love with Adolf Hitler. Strong and arrogant - half the girls demand their way at all cost with little regard to the love and dedication lavished on them by their parents. An upper class tale of the complex vacillations between selfish desires and family loyalty that were once the privilege of the ruling classes.
A sympathetic but honest recount of a surprising family with very individual perspectives of an interesting period in world history. This biography has tried to reach through the infamy and myth to show the real people. As always, relationships are at the bottom of most genius and terror.
"The two men had been visiting the slums of Liverpool and Churchill (Yes-Winston!) was moved by the misery and degradation. 'Imagine,' he said. 'Imagine how terrible it would be, never to see anything beautiful, never to eat anything savoury, never to say anything clever'." p326
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