The Round Church

As I continued my walk the other day, I ended up at the Round Church, one of the oldest buildings in Cambridge. It is free for residents, but I didn't have any way to prove that I was a resident. I waved my hands and told the woman at the desk roughly where I lived, and looked sheepish for not knowing my postal code.

On the floor were many bits of these tiles I love so much.

This square is for Mark,

and this one is for Matthew.

I don't know what the wooden decorations on the ends of pews are called! There must be a word. Finials? There were many, and all different.

The roof, wonderful! Old!

Held up by giant pillars!

I must remember to take pictures of "the whole thing" and not just details. For all this, you might have no idea what the Round Church looks like at all...

Spot the bird

Walking past my favourite ditch, I saw a bird.

Now then, do you know what kind of a bird this is? I was about to tell you it was a coot, but it is in fact a moorhen, because I watched this video about how to tell the two apart.

I feel like I should put a red circle around the bird! Even though they are blackish, it is hard to pick them out against the green and brown background. Look for the white stripe along the side.

I hope I see lots of black water birds on my holiday, so I can dazzle my husband with my knowledge of what is a coot and what is a moorhen!

Places to eat

I strolled along the river the other day, and met these two swans. They were very keen to make my acquaintance, but since I had no treats for them, they lost interest quickly enough.

They are so large and kinda scary up close, so you don't get a lovely portrait of their faces or close-ups of their great big feet!

At the end of the common, there is a very fancy restaurant. We have not eaten there.

I was surprised to see that there are now giant stone apples on the pillars outside. Apparently they are quite new. Interesting...

Just down the was is the Fort St George, the pub we used to take the kids to in 2005, and still a lovely place to sit outside in the nice weather, and cosy inside as well. Perhaps we'll have a Festive meal there before we leave, a touch of English Christmas!

Remote blogging again

We are on our way to Scotland!

I went out yesterday and piled up a few photos to get us through the next few days before we get back on Tuesday.

Firstly I will give you the end result of the shawl knitting!

Terrible, indoor, badly lit photos of an unblocked shawl.

Next week I shall sew in the ends, wash it and make it lovely, and take it outside to get some wonderful photos.

Getting closer

My Starflake shawl is getting bound off. I am making little picots along the edge.

It is quite lovely to see the shawl emerge; the outer edge is around 600 stitches, so, um, 120 or 150 inches long, something like that.... and my needle was maybe a meter.

It is taking forever, but it is so enticing to see what it actually looks like!

A wintry afternoon

Yesterday on my way home from the ceramics show, I passed a school at about 3:15 pm. Instead of the Range Rovers and Mercedes one sees at some school pick-up times, this school was surrounded by bikes with trailers, bikes with front-mounted chariot-like things, tandems. These are probably the "family car" for many!

I walked across Jesus Green, noticing the trees are really mostly finished.  It's hard to catch the rich browns. This is what my brown scarf is supposed to remind us of.

A golden gingko tree overhanging a brick wall.

And the large boulevard of plane trees, all ready for winter.

Christmas shopping

It might be reasonable for me to buy soft things like tea towels or wool scarves to take back to Toronto for Christmas, but today I went looking at a show and sale of ceramics, which are heavy, breakable and just impractical to buy here to carry there. At least I was saved from any tough decisions: no one is getting a lovely mug or bowl!

I didn't get any cards for any of the artists, but let's see if I can find any links. These bowls are by Karen Banks.

Alas, I have no idea whose these are.

Perhaps someone can decipher the name of the gnome-builder. They are quite cute.

The show was in All Saints' Church, which was decorated in the Arts and Crafts style. (There are leventy-million churches in this town, and not all of them are still used just as churches.)

In this picture I believe there is painting, tapestry and wallpaper, not to mention the stonework.

The ceiling is a bit of a marvel.

I do have a list of other Cambridge churches done by the same team of designers and craftspeople, and I must find time to go see some more.

A walk down a lane

Yesterday we were having a pretty lazy day at home, and I decided to take a little walk in the afternoon just to say I'd been outside.

I went down a lane that had all sorts of signs about Private Lane and No Through Road and so on.

There were a couple of decorated garage doors.

I wouldn't call this decorated. Just old paint.

The lane was not paved, at least not this century.  Potholes and puddles and mud.

And there was a way out at the other end!

I just had to cross over the pedestrian bridge, and home again.

Tonight we are eating the lamb stew I made yesterday, with some colleagues of Stephen's. I bought a fractal cauliflower to amuse the physicists.

Ooops, missed a day

I seem to have gone about my business yesterday without blogging! Oh, dear.

Today so far, I have watched two and a half episodes of the new series of the Crown on Netflix, and I have stuck a pot of stew in the oven. We will eat that tomorrow night when a colleague of Stephen's comes for dinner.

Yesterday I did take a picture of this wacky plant outside our apartment, which I am informed is a Mahonia.

It just started blooming recently, when other plants are losing their leaves, so I say it is marvellous.

More action today will involve cleaning up, going to the store and watching more of the Crown.

That was fun

It's always a treat to go to London! I met up with my friend and we did a wander through the British Museum, getting distracted and ending up in Korean pottery when we'd set out for the Elgin Marbles.

We went to see clocks, because I remember going to see them in maybe 1972. This wooden case was amazing!

There was a volunteer in the coins room telling us about all sorts of coins through history. What a bonus!

If you are the British Museum you can find the very best example of a certain coin and just put the one out, unlike many smaller places that try to impress with the large number of crappy ones they have. This Athenian "owl" coin is perfect and impressive all on its own!

The Lewis Chessmen looking splendid.

Those Korean pots we stumbled across.

So modern looking, yet some are 400 years old.

Ah, the Elgin Marbles!

My friend lives in Walthamstow, sort of in the northeast corner of the London sprawl. I got to ride on an Overground train, for one stop.

William Morris spent some of his life in Walthamstow as well, and his family's house there is a little museum. It was lovely, but very dark for photos. Imagine a sample book of fabrics from his shop! I could see it, but of course not flip through it! I did buy a tote bag... which I need like a hole in the head but whatever.

A quick walk down the High Street this morning, looking at fabric stores, and back on the train for me.

Delighted to see this ridiculous tree at the Cambridge Station. It wants to be a big old redwood in California that someone cut a hole in in 1941.

And now I am home alone for 24 hours, and I have restarted my Netflix subscription and am having yogurt and muesli for supper. Fun times!

Off to London

I have a friend in London to visit today. We will tackle the British Museum, unless the sun comes out.

I wish I had a vintage Morris Minor to travel in, but I shall be on the train, as usual.