Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Cambridge University and Crafts

Hello Everyone!
What a day it’s been. Lots of thunderstorms and more on the way later, but I do love them, as long as they aren’t severe. There’s nothing like being cozy in a rocker with my knitting, windows all open, watching a movie while listening to thunder and seeing the lightening flashing all around. It used to scare our Chloe girl something awful, but Zoey barely notices. She’s always curled up on one of our laps under her blankets. The next two days are supposed to be in the 90’s but then another cool down so the windows will be opened once again.
 
I’m still not feeling up to par. Still no voice, (and I think Dennis is enjoying that), and a cough that keeps me sleeping in the recliner at night. As soon as I try to lay down, I start coughing like crazy, so it’s easier to just stay comfortably ensconced in my chair. 
 
Today I’m going to share our last “field trip” out of London for this trip, to the town of Cambridge and Cambridge University. Our wonderful DIL graduated from Cambridge and loves it very much. Alex is hoping to get his PhD there soon. One thing that I didn’t realize before going is that there is a town and a university. The University does dominate most of the town though. It is easily the most beautiful town I have ever been in, and that’s saying something.
 
Here are a few photos to share of this beautiful place.

This is the actual apple tree that Sir Isaac Newton sat under when he discovered the law of gravity when an apple fell on his head. The tree was blossoming beautifully when we were there.

This is the round church in Cambridge. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is absolutely stunning, but it was locked and we could only peak through the windows. It was founded in 1115! Isn’t that incredible? There are a LOT of churches in Cambridge.

Although this one is even more majestic, I can’t remember it’s name. It was huge and very awe inspiring. The churches of Europe always fascinate me in their beauty and artwork.

Here we are standing on a bridge overlooking the canal that runs through the university and town. You can just barely see the boats with punters, like they have in Venice behind us. My hero husband carried my purse for me all day because my back was in a so-so mood. Alex and T. presented him his coat as a retirement gift and he enjoyed wearing it on our excursions. Apparently it’s a poplular brand in the UK. It’s a Barbour jacket.

This is the entrance into the school that our DIL gradulated from. Do you see the gates at the entrance? The suffragettes chained themselves to these gates in the late 1800’s for various womans rights. I think these are some of the most beautiful building on the campus.

Can you see tiny us sitting in front of the Great Hall of the law school?

The lawn is beautiful and is the only one on campus where students are actually allowed to walk or sit without punishment.

Another view of the beautiful buildings.

Yesterday I began making a “Wonderful Wallaby” sweater for Piper. This will be her third one. She has outgrown her most recent sweater but is still wearing it with very short sleeves because she loves it. She chose gray from my stash for her next one. I added a few darker Gray stripes on the bottom ribbing and also on the wrist ribbing. At the top is the first sleeve I just began about an hour ago. I love to make these sweaters. They look difficult but are really very easy. The front pocket is knit as you go, so there are no pieces to attach. The sizes go from childrens size 2 to adult XXX.  I bought the pattern years ago at my LYS and use it often. It is a fairly quick knit.

While wandering around London at different times, I bought a couple of bags for groceries since they don’t provide bags for groceries there. You can never have too many bags can you? How appropriate is this bag for me? Queen’s Park is just a short walk from the kids house and we had a picnic there last Sunday.

This one I bought when were wandering around Portobello Road in Nottinghill. It was under 5 pounds so I went ahead and bought it for the produce we purchased while out. Now it has Piper’s Wallaby Sweater in it! We also had lunch at an amazing Lebanese restaurant in Nottinghill. Oh my! The food there was delicious.  Alex ordered about 10 small plates so we could taste lots of different things. We could never live there permanently though. That neighborhood is definitely out of our price range!
After dinner tonight the rain let up and I went outside and harvested the first batch of rhubarb for the year. I bought the plant from Spokane and I was amazed at how much rhubarb I have already. Mom has a bunch too and Dennis picked  at the same time. She doesn’t have an oven anymore so I’ll wash and freeze it tomorrow morning. My energy ran out before I could take care of it tonight. I think I’ll plan on a rhubarb crisp in the next day or so.

But for tonight we were both craving something sweet, so I made a pan of brownies while I cut up the rhubarb. We just had a warm brownie with ice cream and it was so yummy.

Another treat I got for myself was this Cath Kidston bunting that hangs in my craft area. I just love the colors.

Here is a bit closer look along with the gome that Piper made me for Valentine’s Day. She reminded me a couple of weeks ago that it was way past Valentines Day and I could take it down, but I like it. It makes me smile and it will stay up all year. :-)

I posted this on facebook today because, well, because it’s true isn’t it?  Who wouldn’t rather be playing with yarn than cleaning?

I hope all is well with you. We’re adjusting to being home and very, very thankful for FaceTime. We’ve gotten to talk to little J several times this week and she does seem to remember our voices. When we talk to her she turns toward the phone and smiles. Ah, it does a Grandma’s heart good.
 
Poor Mandy has a similar thing to what I do, but she also is running a fever. She’s trying to work through it all because later this month they are leaving for a trip to Paris and London. I hope she gets over it quickly. I do think I’m on the mend, but my voice is still pretty bad. I did have more energy today though and I’m taking that as a good sign.  I’ll be back soon!

Blessings and love,
Betsy

18 comments:

  1. Betsy, Cambridge is a beautiful place to visit. We had been through the church you couldn't remember name of. Been to college area as well. If I remember correctly, that church was one I did bronze rubbing indoors with a group I was with from RAF Bentwaters. The bags you bought were nice. Even back in the days we were there, people had baskets they'd take to put their items in. That's how I became a basket freak!! :-> I am glad you are feeling better. Hopefully you are still diffusing your YL essential oils. Thieves, R.C. or Raven and Lemon are good when one has a virus of some sort going on. Sad you can't talk much even though Dennis thinks it's ok. Using some Thieves cough drops may help as well. Take care and heal well soon.
    The Wallaby sweater looks so good. I have that pattern as well. Maybe I should make one myself. I think you can use left over yarn as well. Our weather is warmer lately which is good but we have a/c on when it's above 70 degrees in the house. Prayer and virtual hugs, Becky

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved looking at all the pictures and hearing about your trip. When I see the beauty of old buildings and compare that with modern styles I can't believe the difference.
    I absolutely love the bunting you got.
    I hope you will soon feel 100% better. I seem to have some kind of scratchy throat and have been faithfully gargling with salt water to no avail.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful place! My son gifted me an ipad for Mother's Day and I got to Facetime with the big Grands last night and it was so much fun. Between Covid running through their house and our mites I haven't seen them since October. They've grown up so much since I saw them last. I got to hear them both play the piano and they are so talented.
    I hope you are feeling better soon. I've been sleeping in an Ikea chair for nine weeks now and it's a bit hard on the back. I wish I had a nice recliner.

    ReplyDelete
  4. QUE HERMOSAS FOTOGRAFIAS BETSY, LOS LUGARES Y LA ARQUITECTURA DE LOS EDIFICIOS SON INCREIBLES, TAN MEDIEVAL. TU TEJIDO SE VE MUY LINDO, ESPERO QUE LO TERMINES PRONTO PARA TU DULCE NIETA, Y LAS AGUJAS DE MADERA SON MIS PREFERIDAS. LAMENTO QUE TENGAS POCA VOS, NADA MEJOR PARA UN MARIDO QUE SU ESPOSA NO PUEDA HABLAR AJAJAJAJA, ¿TE HAS HECHO UN TE CALIENTE CON MIEL Y LIMON? LA MIEL ES MUY BUENA PARA LA RONQUERA, PARA MI ES MUY EFECTIVA, ¿TIENES UN PAÑUELO EN LA CABEZA? ¿A QUE SE DEBE? ¿ES BIBLICO O PORQUE HABIA VIENTO EN ESE LUGAR? PREGUNTO PORQUE CONOZCO HERMANAS QUE USAN VELO EN LA CABEZA POR MANDATO BIBLICO. ERES UNA HERMANA ENCANTADORA, DIOS TE BENDIGA RICAMENTE.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a beautiful place to attend school. I would be awestruck every single day.

    Hope you are feeling better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cambridge is a beautiful place, isn't it? Hope you feel lots better real soon. Your Wallaby sweater looks like a cozy one; no wonder Piper loves it. You are so lucky to find rhubarb! We love it, too, and haven't been able to find any this year.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh the history!!! Wonderful pictures.
    I hope you're feeling better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  8. It was fun to “accompany” you on your trip through the photos. The Wallaby sweater is fun to knit: Piper picked a good color.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sending prayers your way for a speedy recovery. ((hugs)). Thank you for sharing all the lovely photos. England is filled with such lovely places. Wishing you a day full of many blessing my dear sweet friend. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had to laugh about that quote because it so fits the picture! I darent pick up any of my crochet wips of a morning because I know nothing else will get done! Super envy you having visited Cambridge a place I am quite fond of. I lived for a time in the town of St Ives just 44 minutes away from Cambridge. I used to visit Cambridge quite often at the weekends with my friends. It was after all the place to go to have some fun then. There is so much to see there too. You know I am having the same symptoms as you Betsy; dry sore throat and a cough that doesn’t let you sleep at night. It has been 10 days now and I still can’t get rid of it. I have tested twice for COVID and it has come up negative each time. I think it is the tail end of COVID that is going around too weak to register on the COVID test but messing with our health all the same. My daughter has the same and other neighbours too. Take care. Amanda x🤩

    ReplyDelete
  11. Undiluted lemon juice might help with your coughing and sore throat.
    Thanks for sharing the beauty of Cambridge, the town and university.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Betsy, Hope you feel better soon, if not maybe a Dr appt is in your future. Such pretty buildings we have nothing to compare here! Good that you can facetime with the baby...soon you will be reading her books! Nice start on the sweater for Piper! Raining here today, had some hail that bounced around in the grass and melted! Supposed to turn real cold here:(

    ReplyDelete
  13. The round church is beautiful! the new sweater looks like fun! What is it about buntings that are so appealing?! So cool! I hope Piper feels better soon-kids do tend to rebound quicker than adults!

    ReplyDelete
  14. PS-the meme about knitting is hysterical!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love all those old buildings. Old architecture is so beautiful! I'm sorry that you are still feeling under the weather. I hope you start feeling better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow....Cambridge is beautiful. How neat that you got to walk around there and take pics and eat at a Lebanese restaurant too. It looks like it was an awesome trip, never to be forgotten. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Hope you're feeling much better soon!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely pictures Betsy. What a gorgeous place Oxford is. What will Alex be studying? I sure hope you feel better soon! And I hope Mandy feels better before traveling. Will they be seeing Alex and his family while in London? If so, I just know Piper (especially) will be smitten with the baby.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh Betsy! What a wonderful time you had in London! I'm so thrilled that you had such a precious time with your son, DIL and baby J. I enjoyed the picture tour and your delightful descriptions and stories. How wonderful to be able to visit such remarkable places. Cambridge is incredibly beautiful, the stately buildings, churches and schools! I do hope that you feel better soon. So thankful for your safe and wonderful flight home too. I hope the thunderstorms aren't damaging. Spring weather is so flighty! Piper will just love her new sweater you are making, you are so talented! Many blessings to you dear friend!

    ReplyDelete