Another castle and cathedral, and fame and fortune!

School's back in, and I think we were all ready for it. Phew, 6 weeks till half-term!

We had a last-minute daytrip to Norwich, about an hour away on the train. There's a big castle, which was a prison for most of its history and is now a musuem, with lots of nice, small displays -- one doesn't tire of the Anglo-Saxons before the Normans come along.... And there are geology and natural history galleries (lots of trophy heads of various animals on the wall) and a whole teapot gallery, with info about the real Mr Twining and teapots with The Green Man on, and teapots that look like London buses and ... on and on, but no pillar box teapots!
The kids made crowns in the keep, and wore them all day long! There was a really cool exhibit on buried treasure which showed lots of things found by amateurs -- and luckily by amateurs who called on pros once they realised they had something exciting. There was a story of a man who found a large hoard during the second world war, who used the ancient silver tray for his fancy dinners, but was convinced to hand the stuff over to the authorities after the war. And of course a few stories of people who learned where finds were and stole things that we'll never see again...

The other must-see in Norwich is the cathedral which has a few little gems. The bishop's throne is behind the altar, and there's a passage behind it. It is said that the monks would go and pray right behind the throne, and there is a little hole there so he could hear what they were praying for, or what his advisors were telling him, one could imagine! Also they have wonderful carved bosses on the vaulted ceiling, all different, and including a Green Man. There was a big tilted mirror on wheels that you could move around to look at the ceiling without craning your neck! And in the cloister is a maze in the grass. Much fun was had following the trail to the middle. A good way to run off some steam!

The trains were a bit odd -- it was Monday, but a Sunday schedule, except not all the time, and one Cambridge train was cancelled so we took another and had to change at Ely and then the next train was also cancelled, but after an hour on a cold platform in the dark, we did eventually get home! Phew again.

And what's upcoming here, on the Cam? Tomorrow I am expecting a blast from the past, a visit from a woman I met in 1972, when I was a kid here with my sabbaticalling dad. We went to this school, which was not then a technology college, nor was there a samba band. And not even any boys! See a picture here, and this one shows my headmistress, Miss Clarke, who used to swoop into assemblies in her academic gown like a big bat. Here are some of the girls, wearing their school uniforms, of course. I was in second year so got the tunic, instead of the skirt. My friend was last seen in 1984 when I was on a whirlwind trip through Europe. So, that'll be exciting... Tune in for more news later!

This just in: Check out this! (Updated Jan 9: Actually, the link doesn't always take you to my work any more, but it will take you to the amazing collection of stuff uploaded recently! Mine's the brownish Buttonhole Bag) The Mason-Dixon ladies alerted the world that we can post pictures of our non-garment knitting at the Victoria and Albert Museum! So I did! Woo-hoo!