Category Archives: England

The Nineteen Seventies

Continuing a Happy 70th Birthday Tribute to my dear husband.

We had a nice small celebration with our Colville kids and in-laws for Greg’s 70th on Saturday evening. Our kids called out to friends and family to mail cards to our Colville kids’ home to surprise him with greetings near and far. It was a surprise and so enjoyable to hear from so many. Thank you to any of you who are reading here for your wonderful greetings.

Now back to the Nineteen Seventies!

My birthday tribute for Greg continues with photos from the years we dated, toured England, were engaged, married, our honeymoon, setting up our first apartment, then two houses and our first major road trip from Southern California with stops in Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, and Niagara Falls.

 

My sister Kathy’s wedding about 4 months before our wedding.

Bottom right is the two of us with our first niece, Jenna.

Road Trip 19761

The little yellow Honda was the first vehicle we purchased together as a couple. It is the vehicle we made our road trip across the U.S.A. and into Canada in.

Road Trip 19763

Road Trip 19764

By the late nineteen seventies we were in our second home in Huntington Beach.

Next tribute will be after we had children which started in the late nineteen seventies.

Remembering the fact that today is the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. We honor all those who’s lives were taken away so tragically on that day and the survivors who were forever changed by their experience on that day and the days that followed.

On 9-11-2001 We were living in Kenmore, Washington. We lived in this house until 2018. Never Forget!

The Head That Once Was Crowned With Thorns ~ Hymn

The Head That Once Was Crowned With Thorns

The head that once was crowned with thorns
Is crowned with glory now;
A royal diadem adorns
The mighty victor’s brow.

The highest place that Heav’n affords
Belongs to Him by right;
The King of kings and Lord of lords,
And Heaven’s eternal Light.

The joy of all who dwell above,
The joy of all below,
To whom He manifests His love,
And grants His name to know.

To them the cross with all its shame,
With all its grace, is given;
Their name an everlasting name,
Their joy the joy of Heaven.

They suffer with their Lord below;
They reign with Him above;
Their profit and their joy to know
The mystery of His love.

The cross He bore is life and health,
Though shame and death to Him,
His people’s hope, His people’s wealth,
Their everlasting theme.

Words: Thomas Kelly, 1820

Tea for Two at The Feathers

 

After some time walking about the town of Woodstock we were able to check into our room and get freshened up for our High Tea reservations in the hotel dining room.

 

 

Earl Grey was my choice for tea.

After our tea we took a leisurely stroll to get a glimpse of Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill.

We walked to the end of High Street where these gates to enter the Palace grounds were. Happy to see a side gate open for us to get onto the property.

The end of a long day of walking we headed back to the hotel for the evening.

On Thursday September 22nd we planned to visit Blenheim Palace outer grounds more thoroughly and pay to enter the Palace grounds, too.

The Kneelers ~ Woodstock

One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to walk through the older churches and cathedrals. This is the easiest when traveling in England because there are so many and they seem to be more readily open to visitors. One of the things that has stood out when walking through are beautifully stitched kneelers. At St Mary Magdalene in Woodstock there are over 200 kneelers! That is the most I’ve seen anywhere in my travels and visits to churches.

The brochure I picked up in the church about the kneelers was photographed so I could share the information easier for my record here. I was going to make collages of the kneelers that caught my eye but after reading about all the work involved in creating one of them it seemed to me they were worthy of being presented singly.

Here is the church tower kneeler, the Winston Churchill and one I think might be part of the Blenheim Connection

The following give honor to the Lord, the Bible and Prayer.

Then we move on to more community minded themes…

 

And from the state where Dear and I were born and raised. We were surprised when we spotted the California Kneeler.

 

That’s just a small sampling of the kneelers during our visit on Wednesday September 21st, 2022.

Do you enjoy needlework?

Back to the Present: On Sunday we enjoyed our Sunday services and made a stop on the way home to buy some Deli Salads to go with the 2 racks of ribs we put in the oven. The ribs were pre-seasoned from Costco and turned out fall off the bone delicious. We watched the first half of the Super Bowl game and then hit the record button. Since 2 racks of ribs are more than we could eat, we dropped a rack off at our Colville kids for their dinner before we headed to our Evening service at church. Back at home after church we watched the last 10 seconds of the game and saw that the Kansas Chiefs won. Congratulations to them. I’ve got to say that I really didn’t understand half of the commercials and we didn’t watch the half time show. We got a text with photos of our Grands enjoyed the ribs!

Ribs enjoyed in two households for the win!

St. Mary Magdalene Church ~ Woodstock

Much history of the church and of the photos I’m sharing can be found here.

The church was built during the reign of Henry II (1154-1189) as a chapel of ease so that local people, including members of the royal court, did not have to travel to the parish church at nearby Bladon to worship.

Later in the 13th century the church was enlarged and a bell tower and burial ground were added.

The only parts of that original chapel of ease to survive are a section on the south nave wall and a beautifully carved round-headed 12th-century doorway set into the south wall. The doorway is carved with two orders of traditional Norman zig-zag pattern separated by moulding. Unusually, the zig-zag carving extends all the way to the ground.

The above photo is of that ancient door from the outside and below from the inside.

Separating the church porch from the nave is a wooden screen, carved in the early 16th century. The screen was originally installed in the traditional place between the nave and chancel, but was moved to the west end of the nave in 1999 to make the high altar more easily visible.

This flying eagle lectern is like several others I’ve seen in churches in Great Britain. I think they are so cool.

The superb column capitals on the south nave arcade are one of the church’s best features. There are 23 carved heads incorporated into the design of the capitals, interspersed with foliage.

Each capital is different and the heads are all unique.

All of the stained glass is Victorian.

The angels at the top have banners that read: Let us love one another ~ For love is of God.

Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

Over 200 kneelers are in this church of which I photographed quite a few. That will be another post.

Inching along to complete posts about our last few days in Oxfordshire in September of 2022.

Back to the present here in the U. S. of A. Yesterday, Friday February 10th, we traveled to Spokane to do some shopping at places we do not have here in Colville. After our stops at Home Depot, T.J.Maxx, Costco, Hobby Lobby, and Trader Joe’s we tried a new to us Chinese Restaurant called the Red Dragon. We had the best Hot and Sour soup and some good potstickers. After we ate we made one more stop at Fred Meyer before we headed home.

Happy Saturday to you.

A Day With C.S. Lewis

Those of you who are familiar with C.S. Lewis and his series The Chronicles of Narnia will see Mr. Tumnus on this doorway in Oxford. It is said that this doorway was an inspiration for C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Warning: This is a long post, be ye forewarned…

On Saturday September 17th we had our first taxi experience in Oxford. Our first ride was to Holy Trinity Parish Church in Headington Quarry where C.S. Lewis worshipped.

We had a tour of The Kilns, C.S. Lewis’ home while he lived on the outskirts of Oxford, scheduled for noon. We wanted to visit the church before our tour to see the Narnia Etched Window and to visit Lewis’s grave.

We had the church to ourselves.

It’s not easy to take photos of an etched window.

The church had this prayer by the window.

O God of searing truth and surpassing beauty, we give you thanks for C.S. Lewis, whose sanctified imagination lights fires of faith in young and old alike. Surprise us also with your joy and draw us into that new and abundant life which is ours in Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

From the church we headed out to find The Kilns, a mile walk.

The site was so understated we walked right past it and headed into the C.S. Lewis Nature Preserve. After a roundabout we made it back to the home of C.S. Lewis and waited in the garden for our tour to begin.

As we waited in the garden, several other people arrived to wait for our scheduled tour. Everyone who arrived were also from the United States. The home states represented were Texas, Illinois, Virginia, Florida, Minnesota and Washington State.

Colin was our tour guide and he shared many interesting things about Lewis and his brother. More information about the Kilns and C.S. Lewis can be found here.

The home is modest and is maintained by the C.S. Lewis Foundation.

This poster was in the meeting room in the house with a nod to the Eagle and Child or the Bird and Baby where Lewis and the Inklings would meet up.

Sadly, the Eagle and Child in Oxford was closed when we visited and was closed since March of 2020. Hopefully someone will take over the renovations and open it again in the future.

After our tour we had scheduled another Taxi to take us to The Trout for our meal of the day. We were happy to see the taxi waiting for us when the tour was completed.

We had reservations for a meal at 2pm at The Trout a favorite of C.S. Lewis. It was good we made those reservations because when we arrived we noticed a sign that said they were fully booked and wouldn’t accept walk-ins.

We had a good meal experience and our server took care of all our needs including arranging for our third taxi ride of the day back to our apartment. A very full Saturday and we were happy to enjoy the evening in our apartment making plans for our Sunday.

St. James’ Church Chipping Campden

History

The History of St James’ Church

St James’ is one of the finest wool churches in England. Much of the current building dates from the 13th and 14th centuries; a testament to the significance of the town and the wealth of the medieval merchants who paid for its construction. Much of Chipping Campden High Street dates from this period and reflects the historic importance of the wool trade.

The East Window which is a memorial of the First World War (1914-1918) and was dedicated in 1925.

In the Noel Chantry is a memorial of note; that of Sir Baptist Hicks, who built the nearby almshouses and the picturesque Market Hall. Hicks gave money for the pulpit and lectern, and also gave £200 to re-roof the nave. His striking monument is built of marble columns supporting a canopy. On the wall nearby is a memorial to Penelope Noel (d. 1633), daughter of Edmund Noel, Viscount Campden.

 

The right honorable Sir Edward Noel Viscount Campden and Baron Noel…

This post concludes our Cotswolds in a Day recap.

We enjoyed the grounds of St. James back in September of 2013 with Josh and Laura. That post is here.

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We are enjoying a quiet weekend here at our country bungalow. We’re looking forward to going to church tomorrow and seeing our people face to face. Hope you are having a good weekend.

The Cotswolds 2022

It’s been a while since my last post on our trip to England in September of this year. I have a goal to finish my posts before the end of the year. Our tour with Go Cotswolds, a small family owned touring company, was called Cotswolds in a Day.

On Thursday September 15th (two months ago!) we walked to the Oxford Train Station to be picked up for our day in the Cotswolds. At the station while waiting for the tour van we met another couple waiting for the tour. We enjoyed getting to know them and connecting some dots in our backgrounds that intersected. The rest of the tour group arrived and we hit the road for our first stop which was Chipping Campden. We had a set amount of time to enjoy the village. We chose to spend our time at St. James Church. That will be a separate post.

In 2013 and in 2014 we visited Chipping Campden and my posts are here in 2013 and here in 2014.

From Chipping Campden we stopped at Dover’s Hill for some panoramic views.

It was breezy!

On the way to Snowshill we passed The Broadway Tower.

St. Barnabas Church in Snowshill

Snowshill village sits on the top of the escarpment above the villages of Broadway, Buckland, and Laverton. It is a secluded village where ancient pretty cottages and a 19th century church cluster around a small green. As its name implies – if there is any snow about then you will find it here first.

This was our tour group on this day.

In 2014 Dear and I enjoyed this little village and my post is here.

The weather was good with beautiful skies. Our next stop was Moreton in Marsh where we would enjoy some lunch which left little time to explore.

I hurried from our lunch table at the Talbot Inn so I could get some photos of the wonderful door on the back side of St. Edward’s Church.

If you walk around the churchyard towards the north porch, you will stumble upon what’s known locally as ‘The Yew Tree door’ or ‘The Hobbit door’.

“Speak friend and enter”

In 2014 we had more time in Stow on the Wold and my posts with more information are here and here.

Next time the villages of Bourton on the Water and Bibury.

 

A Mighty Fortress is Our God ~ Hymn

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Words and Music: Martin Luther, 1529.

This song has been called the great­est hymn of the great­est man of the great­est per­i­od of Ger­man his­to­ry, and the Bat­tle Hymn of the Re­for­ma­tion. It was sung at the fun­er­al of Am­er­i­can pre­si­dent Dwight Ei­sen­how­er at the Na­tion­al Ca­thed­ral in Wash­ing­ton, DC, March 1969.

My Pumpkin Brain Hodgepodge

Since Joyce brought up pumpkin in her Wednesday Hodgepodge questions for today, I borrowed this photo from our daughter-in-law at the first pumpkin patch visit of this Autumn.

1. Thursday (Oct 13) is National Train Your Brain Day. What do you do to keep your brain in tip top shape? Is it helping?

Bible study keeps your brain sharp. When my Mother-in-law was living with us and signs of dementia started showing she was the sharpest when she was studying her Bible everyday and attending a Bible Study weekly. The Holy Spirit in followers of Jesus Christ illuminates the Word of God for us and helps us to discern and gives us understanding. The Word of God is living and enduring and it keeps my brain in tip top shape while teaching me how to live on this earth.

2. You can sit with anyone in the world and ‘pick their brain’…whom do you choose? Tell us why? 

If we are talking about a living person…

Patricia MacArthur, wife of John MacArthur one of my favorite living pastors who is 83 and still preaching at the same church he started at 53 years ago. She has lived through ministry and suffering and I know there is a lot of wisdom to glean from her.

If I could choose someone who has died…

I’d choose my maternal grandfather who I never got to meet because he was killed in Persia after my parents immigrated here and before the rest of my mother’s family immigrated.

3. What’s something happening in the world (or your corner of it) right now that you have trouble ‘wrapping your brain around’? 

Well you have opened up a can of worms here for sure. There is so much happening in this world that is unbelievable to me.

Calling good evil and evil good.

The whole gender identity stupidity.

The Border Crisis

The escalation of crime with no punishment for wrongdoing.

I can go on and on…

4. On a scale of 1-10 where do you fall in the pumpkin fanclub? (1=blech, 10=make it all pumpkin all the time) Tell us something delicious you’ve tasted recently that had some pumpkin in it somewhere. 

I’m pretty much in the middle. I enjoy some things pumpkin but mostly baked items like cookies and bars or a good spicy soup. I’m not a fan of drinking pumpkin flavored coffee or any kind of flavored coffee, etc.

5. Share a favorite song, book, or movie with an autumn title, setting, or vibe. 

I drew a blank on this one. I know I’ve read books or book series that included fall but nothing with that theme in the title. I did find this song by Nat King Cole…

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of Autumn…

I took this photo in Woodstock, U.K. on the grounds of Blenheim Palace on September 22nd of this year, the first day of Autumn. Winston Churchill was born at the Palace in the Autumn, on November 30th, 1874. He didn’t live at Blenheim but his parents were visiting Blenheim and the Mrs. went into labor and he ended up being born there. There are many tributes to him at the Palace and on the grounds and in the village of Woodstock, too.

Thank you Joyce for the Hodgepodge.