Doorways

After my gargoyle post yesterday, that was a little disturbing to some, I decided to post a few doorways today in between more of my very full Oxford posts coming soon. These doorways are from Magdalen College. (Pronounced Maudlin)

I’m working on a full post from Magdalen College with some history of C.S. Lewis’ connections there.

I’ll keep it simple today and leave you with a quote from C.S. Lewis.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” From The Weight of Glory.

Gargoyles

Gargoyles were originally designed in 13th century French architecture as a means of disposing of water. Think of them as the precursor to the gutter. Typically, a trough was cut into the back of the gargoyle and the rainwater was able to run off of the roof and through the gargoyle’s mouth.

And that’s the story I’m sticking to in showing all the gargoyles I took photos of while we were in England in September of 2022. This will be a photo heavy post.

 

If you would like to read more about gargoyles and grotesques in Oxford click here. You’ll see what I missed and what I’ll keep a lookout for Lord willing we ever are able to return to Oxford.

Back to the present in Colville at our Country Bungalow. It’s been raining and the temps are above freezing. Things are getting very soggy around here. We’ll call this the drip and puddle season that will soon turn to the mud season before we see the green of Spring. Dear is driving again and we managed to snow shovel the way for our truck to get out of the shop and on to the dump to make our winter dump run. Romantic, isn’t it? We did stop for lunch on the way home from the dump so that’s a thing. 🙂 Happy New week to you.

As With Gladness, Men of Old ~ Hymn

As With Gladness, Men of Old

As with gladness, men of old
Did the guiding star behold
As with joy they hailed its light
Leading onward, beaming bright
So, most glorious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.

As with joyful steps they sped
To that lowly manger bed
There to bend the knee before
Him Whom Heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
At that manger rude and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin’s alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!

Words: William C. Dix, 1860

He wrote this hymn on the day of the Epi­pha­ny, while sick in bed; it was first pub­lished in his Hymns of Love and Joy.

Two for One

My return to our Oxford travels post today is a two for one. It will cover Sunday and Monday in Oxford, September 18th and 19th of 2022.

On Sunday morning we had some breakfast in the apartment before we walked a little under a mile to St. Luke’s Chapel where we would attend church. We researched churches before we left home and emailed a couple pastors. Andrew Young emailed us back and after further research we decided to worship at his church, the Oxford Evangelical Presbyterian Church. They meet on Sunday mornings at St. Luke’s Chapel, 10:30 a.m. On our way we passed the Oxford University Press Building and this next building.

The Radcliffe Observatory, which is now part of Green Templeton College. This is the back of the building. A statue of Atlas is on top of the tower.

I did not take this photo of Atlas. This is the author of the photo.

As we walked up to the door of St. Luke’s we saw two of the people from Florida that we met at the C.S. Lewis Kilns tour. The Father/daughter duo were in Oxford because the daughter took a job in Oxford. Her dad was helping her get settled. She chose this church to attend while she lives in Oxford. That was a fun 2nd encounter.

We also met a young family who are in Oxford for the husband to earn his doctorate. This family was from Southern California and are part of Grace Community Church, Dear and my first church after we were married.

Pastor Andrew spoke on The Source of Christ’s Authority using Mathew 7:28-29 as part of his text. Part of his outline; 1. Who Jesus Was, 2. What Jesus Taught, 3. How Jesus Lived. What stood out to me; Jesus has permanent authority because of who He is. Jesus is true to the Word of God. Jesus was the obedient Son of God. We live under Christ’s authority. We need to be obedient. Believe, worship, follow Jesus.

After the service we talked with a few more of the folks before we walked back to The Turf Tavern to try to get a seat for a Sunday Roast.

The streets were a little more crowded than usual.

The only seat we could find was in this outdoor section of the Turf. We kept our eyes peeled for a table to open up inside.

This part of The Turf shares a wall with New College. The tower behind and the gargoyles are part of New College.

When our food arrived a table opened up inside and our server delivered the food to our new location. Hooray.

I had the lamb roast and Dear enjoyed the Fish and Chips.

After our meal we decided to shop at the Sainsbury Market on the edge of the Westgate shopping center. We wanted to have food for our meals on Monday since it was the day of Queen Elizabeth the II’s funeral and we knew a lot of places could be closed.

Back to our apartment above the never closed cheap pub, The Swan and Castle. We did not choose to have any meals there but a lot of other people did.

Into the building and that was almost the end of the day.

After unpacking our groceries we decided we needed to add a couple items but our local Sainsbury closed early on Sunday so after looking online we found a Tesco Express that stayed open late on Sunday. Got our walking shoes back on and made the evening trek, a half mile away. Home again, home again, jiggety jig. Now we were equipped for a day at home on Monday.

We woke up on Monday and watched the coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

We enjoyed a charcuterie while watching.

We were in awe of these young men who carried the coffin up and down stairs and down long aisles. It was a wonderful memorial tribute to the Queen.

After the coverage ended we saw that the Slug and Lettuce, a restaurant in the complex was open so we walked down and had a hot meal. We wouldn’t recommend the restaurant, though. Slug was appropriate in their title.

We had big plans for Tuesday our last full day in the apartment before we moved out to Woodstock for a couple nights.

Cheers!

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.

Feather Variety

Wednesday Hodgepodge is taking the month of January off. It will resume on February 1st.

I’m going to speed up the rest of my England posts and finish them off in the month of January.

We continue to enjoy our bird sightings.

This was our first viewing of the House Finches this winter. The others have been daily visitors.

It was fun to see the red feathers thrown into the mix.

January has started very quiet around our Country Bungalow. That suits me fine. I’ve started another puzzle, much harder than the one we put together on Katie’s birthday. We enjoyed watching the Rose Parade on RFD TV. I found their coverage so much better than the major stations. The college games droned on in the background as I worked on the 1,000 piece puzzle.

Hope 2023 has started kindly in your corner.

Another Year Older

A week ago we celebrated our daughter, Katie’s, birthday. It’s been sweet being able to celebrate her birthday at our place even though she lives over 300 miles from us. Since we typically all gather for Christmas in Colville we can add another celebration together to honor her day.

We used to have our traditional Swedish pancake breakfast on Christmas but lately it’s been happening 2 days later on Katie’s birthday. Dear managed the two pan feat with his damaged left hand and was humbled with thoughts of my dear maternal grandmother who went through most of her life with just one hand.

The photo above is of Father and daughter in a morning conversation.

The grands arrived later in the morning and helped me mix up Katie’s birthday cake, Applesauce Spice Cake. Into the oven and time for some piano interludes with Auntie Katie.

We had a taco lunch prepared by our Colville kids and then it was time for a trip home for naps before our dinner together.

During the quiet of the afternoon Katie and I started this puzzle and when everyone arrived again for dinner it was finished off with the help of Dan and Addy.

The Happy Birthday to you singing this year was epic sending us all into belly laughs!

After cake JJ and I had some fun times together while the rest of the crowd played Mexican Train.

This photo was a leftover from Boxing day night when we all had leftovers for dinner.

Here are the Birthday thoughts and prayer for our dear Katie that I posted on Facebook…

It’s our little girls birthday today. She was our little surprise years ago and we thank God that He gave her to us. She has enriched our family with her wonderful talents and wit. She’s a sweet Daughter, Sister and Auntie.
Dear Lord God Almighty,
“As she traces out the trails you put before her; may she pray and strive to follow straight and strong,”
“Give her wisdom at each turning, Lord we pray”
Give her grace and understanding and more love for You in this coming year!
We love you dear Katie!

Chile Relleno Breakfast Bake

This would be a nice meal to have on New Year’s Day watching the Rose Parade or football games. Serve it with some chunky salsa. I’m cutting the recipe in half and making it to enjoy while watching the Rose Parade today. Interesting fact about the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game, it always happens on January 1st unless January 1st lands on a Sunday. When January 1st lands on a Sunday the parade and game are moved to January 2nd. Today is the day.

Another note of interest is the next time Christmas lands on a Sunday will be 2033. New Year’s Day will be on a Sunday in 2034.

Chili Relleno Breakfast Bake

Ingredients:
4-4oz. cans of whole green chilies
4 cups of shredded Cheddar Jack cheese combination
12 eggs
2 cups sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
Chunky salsa of your choice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare 9 x 13 dish by greasing lightly.
Remove and drain the whole green chilies.
Slit the chilies open and lay flat covering the bottom of the dish.
Sprinkle the chilies with the cheese.
Beat the eggs, sour cream, and salt until thoroughly blended.
Pour over cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until center is set.
Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Serve with your favorite salsa.
Yield: 8-10 servings

Enjoy your Monday holiday everyone!

I Hear the Words of Love ~ Hymn

I Hear the Words of Love

I hear the words of love,
I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty sacrifice,
And I have peace with God.

’Tis everlasting peace!
Sure as Jehovah’s name,
’Tis stable as His steadfast throne,
For evermore the same.

The clouds may go and come,
And storms may sweep my sky;
This blood-sealed friendship changes not,
The cross is ever nigh.

My love is ofttimes low,
My joy still ebbs and flows;
But peace with Him remains the same,
No change Jehovah knows.

That which can shake the cross
May shake the peace it gave,
Which tells me Christ has never died,
Or never left the grave!

Till then my peace is sure,
It will not, cannot yield,
Jesus, I know, has died and lives—
On this firm rock I build.

I change, He changes not,
The Christ can never die;
His love, not mine, the resting place,
His truth, not mine, the tie.

The cross still stands unchanged,
Though Heav’n is now His home,
The mighty stone is rolled away,
But yonder is His tomb!

And yonder is my peace,
The grave of all my woes!
I know the Son of God has come,
I know He died and rose.

I know He liveth now,
At God’s right hand above,
I know the throne on which He sits,
I know His truth and love.

Words: Horatius Bonar, (1808-1889)

Happy New Year everyone!

Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given;
While angels sing with tender mirth,
A glad new year to all the earth.
~Martin Luther

 

Boxing Day 2022

On Monday, Boxing Day, the travelers loaded up and braved our Colville kids mile long snowy driveway for some fun in the snow. It was above freezing and they wanted to get some sledding in before things got too mushy. Baba and Gramps stayed home and had a quiet recuperating day until dinner time.

Uncle Andrew and Uncle Josh used their muscle power to speed up the fun. Daddy was at work this day but he groomed the trails anticipating this fun day.

Addy wanted the snowman to be super big! Olaf the snowman is super big. Great job everyone!

When the fun was over they had a wild ride back to our Country bungalow through all the slush and ice. We enjoyed leftovers for our meal.

These are all Auntie Lolo’s photos and I love this shot of Main Street Colville that she got looking North towards Colville Mountain. The shot of the beautiful sunset is from her phone, too.

One more post coming of our time together celebrating Auntie Katie’s birthday.

BTTP (Back to the Present) It’s snowing again this morning. Our road has been cleared nicely of the snow and ice from the previous storms but the city side streets are still a mess with bumps and ruts and sheets of ice. It made for a very interesting ride to get Dear to Occupational Therapy yesterday. Our Westside kids all are home safe and sound and their snow is not an issue anymore. We had a couple of days of rain and above freezing temperatures that left us with a clear deck but today it is white again. Temps in the 20’s are predicted again for the first week of 2023 so our views will continue to be white for a while longer…

How are things in your corner?