Last 3 days at Harlaxton

Part of our choir singing at Lincoln Cathedral (photo taken by a student) B in the middle behind a student.











Game playing with Leslie & Mike in the Van der Elst Room


















3 yr old Graham (just arrived last Sunday) and
his dad, Chuck

















Eating at Checquers Pub with Barbara Cross

















Dean's favorite reading spot in our room






















Dean with a few of his writings--
Happenings Here






















Forresters' Morris Dancers in Great Hall

















The Morris Dance "Fool"--lots of fun
















Morris Dancers
















We leave tomorrow (Thursday, 29th) to stay in London (St Athans Hotel--our usual place since 1977) over night before flying to Frankfurt, Germany on Friday. Someone(s) from Melanie's (Lori's family's AFS student last year) family will meet us at the airport. We're excited about going and being with her and meeting her family! We'll then be back in London from Feb 3-8 until we fly home.


We are sad about leaving Harlaxton (the place and feeling here) and all the old and new friends we have made among the students, staff, and faculty. Two girls from the college choir came up to me after supper tonight to give me hugs good-by. We'll be here through lunch tomorrow, so will wait to really say good-by then. We are pretty much all packed (midnight).


We played cards with a young faculty couple for a couple of hours tonight ("Oh Hell") and had such a good time. They are both artists and such fun.



Back to Monday, 26 Jan, we each made trips into Grantham to take care of banking, returning a book to the library, and doing a little shopping. I walked around some of the streets that I've enjoyed doing in years past. Later in the afternoon we got in our usual 2-mile walk along the Manor Drive. That evening I went to see the Forresters' Morris Dancers and Cloggers and a Plough Play in the Great Hall & Conservatory. It was all a lot of fun.



Tuesday Dean finished up another one of the writings he has done at Gordon's request (#7, I think), called "Happening Here." These each related people, events, and places from near Harlaxton to the British Studies course topics of the week. I went to my last choir practice; then we joined 6 other faculty folks for dinner at the good Indian food Restaurant we had gone to once before. That was a lot of fun and good food!



Wednesday, today, I spent hours sending (by e-mail) the various faculty members and spouses photos that I had taken of them while we were here. I received appreciative feedback and comments, etc. Our friend, Barbara Cross, picked us up and drove us to a neat Country Pub in Woolsthorp by Belvoir Castle (Checquers Pub) for a delicious lunch in a really cosy place with fireplace and dark beams, etc. It was a good couple of hours with her.


We will finish packing in the morning and be on our way.





















I don't know how much more of this blogging I'll be able to do, but I'll report on our time in Germany & London after we get home if I haven't done any of it before then.

FULL Week and Week-end

Sorry that these photos are not grouped as they should be. I had trouble, so just left them as is.




Coventry Cathedral--The Reconciliation Sculpture in the bombed shell of the old Cathedral

















The Cross family in the Great Hall--







Cameron & Callister with Helen,
their mom

Kay & William with his kids,
Hazel & Martyn





Coventry Cathedral--1 side of the Chancel with organ pipes
other side full of pipes, also.













Coventry Cathedral--Bapistry Window (my favorite)

















Birthplace-
Stratford












Mime playing Shakespeare






















Some of the half-timbered buildings I love
















Our swan on pond above the Manor
Hazel & Calister running to get a photo
















Cross grandchildren--Martyn, Hazel, Cameron, Callister
















Merle & Meurig Thomas--Welsh couple in Village
























Last Wednesday, 21st, I attended the first Musicians' Network meeting. Sally, choir director, is wonderful and is helping students who play instruments and who might need help getting an instrument or who might want to get together to make music, etc., to get to know each other. It was a fruitful meeting; I won't be here to do any making music together, but am glad it's getting started. Sally has gotten a date in early April to have some students perform in a nearby town.

That afternoon we attended a one-person drama commemorating the Holocaust Memorial Day. She depicted two different women's lives very effectively--Irena Sendler and Rachel Corrie.

Thursday, 22nd, we were both fighting colds and pretty much stayed inside and laid low! (We are both feeling better now--Sunday.) That evening we had a 1-hour "Briefing" for our Lincoln trip the next day given by Gordon Kingsley. It was great and very helpful, with students demonstrating the different kinds of columns for the Lincoln Cathedral. He is so good with added drama and visual examples to help us all remember.

Friday, 23rd, all 144 students (required as part of their British Studies Course that ALL take) and about 20 of us faculty persons left on three coaches around 9 am for Lincoln. (The bummer was that I forgot to take my camera, so NO PHOTOS.) We really enjoyed touring the Castle and Cathedral and eating lunch in a warm & dry pub down the street at lunch time. It was cold and the rain came down almost all day, so no eating our packed lunches out on a park bench as we've done in the past. The group was divided into 4 parts and the different British faculty took us around on tours.

Actually, in the Cathedral, we were further divided into smaller groups of 10 or so, which worked out very well. We went on a really interesting tour in the Cathedral with Gordon K and then again with Jan Beckett. We preferred that to the Roman ruins out in the rain! At 3 pm the choir gathered to sing in the Transept of the Cathedral; Sally had gotten permission afterall. The singing went well (with only 2 rehearsals) and all of our group who listened said it sounded great. The Priest said afterward (from the pulpit on a mic) "We all enjoyed the music and the Cathedral liked it, too." I have asked a student who took a photo of us to forward it to me so I can include it in a blog.

Friday evening we took Gordon & Suzanne Kingsley out to the Gregory Arms for dinner as a "thank-you"; actually, they drove us the mile or so there. We stayed for 3 1/2 hours enjoying the food, the relaxing place, and all the good talk and laughter!

Yesterday, Saturday, 24th, we joined 55 or so others to go to Coventry and Stratford. It was a sunny day, though cold and windy. Coventry Cathedral is still one of our favorites, so the hour we had there was a real treat.

We ate our lunches on the coach and so were ready to explore in Stratford when we got there. Dean & I visited Shakespeare's birthday, New Place, and Hall's Croft doing lots of walking between places (& taking photos of the wonderful half-timbered buildings that I love). We ended up with Italian for supper and then went to see ROMEO AND JULIET at the Royal Shakespeare Company's temporary quarters there. The two main theatres are being rennovated and not in use now. The play was good, though our seats were much too crowded for leg room; for Act II we stood up in SRO spaces which worked much better. We got back home around 12:30 AM and went straight to bed.

Sunday, 25th, we slept in and then had 7 guests that we took around the manner for over an hour--Barbara Cross's 2 adult children (& a girl-friend) and their 2 kids each. It was so much fun showing off various parts of the Manor and the grounds (and our room, of course, though we couldn't offer them tea or hot chocolate with only 2 cups!). Both William & Helen had worked here as teenagers in maintenance and housekeeping. Two of the kids and I took photos all around. (Barbara couldn't come along, but we'll see her on Wednesday for lunch.)

At 3 pm Meurig Thomas picked us up to go to their house in Harlaxton Village for tea. Merle was there to greet us and had prepared all kinds of things to eat along with our tea. They are a Welsh couple we got acquainted with in 2000, when they had us for a meal and to go to a band concert at a nearby Air Base; also, Marilyn & Kim and I went down for tea one afternoon(2000). As it turns out, she's the organist at the village church and he's the one who carries the Cross in the Procession. I didn't realize that when I was there that first Sunday for the Welcome Service!

Around Harlaxton & Grantham

Pat Bunton (WJC Physics Prof) working hard at Faculty Lunch

















Dean at "Faculty Meeting" Lunch















Suzanne Kingsley with Shakespeare character















Betty working on the Archives


















Rose & Peter Carey, Harlaxton Village



















Sally Brown , choir director























Abigail Snow, daughter of 1 of British faculty (9 yr old)




















Nita & Malcolm Knapp with us at The Blue Pig

















We had a good visit with Malcom & Nita Knapp on Sunday afternoon, including dinner at the Blue Pig. Some of you will remember when Malcolm visited us in Liberty in summer of 2006 (I think it was)




Earlier that afternoon on our walk down the front drive we met a couple from Harlaxton village who invited us over for drinks this afternoon (Tuesday). We had not had that happen before. We walked the 25 minutes or so to their house and had a delightful hour with Rose & Peter Carey with tea, cider, beer and wine (1 for each of us) and lots of talk of families and travels. We walked back in time for me to get to choir.


Our Harlaxton College Choir got started late because most of the students and faculty were watching the Inauguration on the big screen TV. (I missed it, but will watch for newsclips later tonight.) The choir is going to sing appropriate songs in Latin and Middle English and Swedish in Lincoln Cathedral and in the Castle on Friday, much to the British professors' dismay, we understand. Should be great fun to spontaneously burst into song when Sally gets us started.


Dean has written 5 of the essays that Gordon suggested, entitled "Happening Here," linking events and people and places from close by Harlaxton to their British Studies Course. He has really enjoyed doing the research and writing them up. I have worked some in the Archives, trying to make some logical order of the info about the Manor building itself. I may or may NOT be making any headway! It is interesting reading.


We had the Faculty Lunch at the Principal's Cottage today, with Suzanne preparing local Melton Mowbray sausages and Hunters' Cake. It was a good time to enjoy good (& different) food and to visit with the others. There was a short meeting with announcements at the end. I believe they just have two more of these "faculty meetings" during the term.


Next Friday (23rd) we'll go with ALL the students (required) and many of the faculty to Lincoln; we've been there a number of times, but we always enjoy it all. Then, Saturday (24) we're going with 55 others to Coventry and Stratford and will see Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company. (I'll write about all that and include some photos afterwards.)

Ceilidg (Kay Lee) Irish folk dancing

These are 3 photos I meant to include with York, misc. It was a lot of fun watching the students enjoying the fast dancing, actually music and dances from a number of different countries.

Gordon Kingsley, Principal, observing the fun in Great Hall.

York & misc

Here are 12 more photos.

1 & 2--National Rail Museum in York.

3&4 & 5 are at Yorkminster (Cathedral in York)

6 --Roman City Wall around York & cold Betty

-7--plaster work along part of the Cedar

Staircase at Harlaxton






8-Beautiful skies out our front window (Sat 17th)

9-Belvoir Castle in the distance today

10--Our friend, Barbara Cross, in her sun room

11--2 more of Barbara's grandkids, Jessica & George,11 & 7

12--Dean enjoying a cup of tea at Barbara's--photos taken by George

We had a fun day in York on Friday, enjoying the National Rail Museum, Yorkminster (Cathedral), walking the Roman City Wall, and The York Museum (no photos). It was quite windy, but the sun came out for a while.

This morning was beautiful, as you can see from 2 of the photos. We had an enjoyable lunch and play/talk time with just Barbara, her daughter, Sally and her mate and 2 kids. We have now gotten to be with all of her family. She picked us up and brought us back home.

I almost got them lined up with their descriptions; I MAY have it all together by the time we leave--HA

Thursday--last class day this week

Tomorrow almost all of the students and the American faculty are going to London for the week-end. There is great excitment among all of them. Dean & I chose to not go this time, as we'll have 5 days there after we visit Melanie & family in Germany at the end of the month. Instead, Dean & I are riding the train to York tomorrow (one of our favorite English cities); we'll go to several favorites places, including the Yorkminster (wonderful cathedral), the castle museum, maybe walk some of the wall (if it's not too cold and windy), and visit a new spot for us--the railway museum. We're thinking that will be a fun link with the "Art in the Age of Steam" exhibit that Dean took tours around.

Saturday we're to get together with Barbara Cross and ALL her kids and grandkids and then Sunday we're going to Malcolm & Nita Knapp's and for a pub meal at The Blue Pig. More about all these things after we've done them.

Dean's "work" has been writing some essays that Gordon requested; he has enjoyed doing a little research and then writing up a page for students to use later. My "work" involves the Archives, specifically the pages about the manor building itself. I have done lots of reading and now "know" more than I really want to about all the people involved in this magnificent building through the years. It was completed around 1838, so it's not very old by English standards. I'm supposed to be organizing all the info; we'll see if I can get that accomplished in the next 2 weeks, though it's no biggie if I can't.

The British Studies lectures at 8:30 AM (Yes, I made both of them this week.) are very interesting. I sometimes have trouble keeping up with the different speakers with their accents and rapid speech. I feel for the students who are just hearing the British accents for the first time.

We had 2 days when the sun was shining (Tues & Wed) much of the day, but we were back to rain and dreary skies today. The sun's shining makes our daily 2-mile walk down the Drive and back much more enjoyable. I rode the shuttle-bus into Grantham this afternoon to get a few things at the grocery store and to walk around in town a little bit before catching the shuttle back home. One of the students from Baker University (Eric Ford) was on both trips; he knows Marci Zigler well, so he had fun talking about her and music making at Baker, Lyric Opera, and here at Harlaxton. (She taught at WJC for a number of years since 2000.)

We have gotten to know the five (5) WJC students to varying degrees. It is so much fun to live, have classes and activities with, ride the shuttle-bus, and eat with all the students. What a special opportunity, which I especially enjoy tremendously. (Again, wish we could stay all semester!! But, we won't, of course.)

There is an Irish Ceilidh tonight in the Great Hall, which will be mostly dancing with a few musicians, I think. It will be loud, no doubt. I'm going to go for a little while before going to the faculty party. There is always something going on that we can join in if we want.

Enough for now! There will be more photos after our week-end, I'm sure.

Wednesday 14 01 2009 update & photos

I'm going to add 10 more photos taken yesterday (Tuesday). Look at the bottom for the guide to who and what. If that goes well, I'll then add some more notes of what's been happening since I last wrote. I just discovered that what I wrote went to the bottom itself. Sorry about that.

1--back of the Manor (Lori's 1977 room up there somewhere)

2--the sleeping lion behind the manor

3--the other lion with Harlaxton gardeners at work already

4--looking down the Drive from the front of the Manor

5--and yet another friendly lion out front

6--up close-a house in the Village

7--the same house

8--another house, pond, and ducks in the village

9--D by a hawthorn tree, we think, in the village

10--The Manor & Carriage House, taken from the village

All is going well. I went to both the college choir (about 35 students) and the local choir practices last night. They were both very interesting and lots of fun. Sally Brown is so enthusiastic and just draws everyone into singing, teaching all by rote (even 4-parts). The local group members (about 80 or more) come from all around, some driving an hour or more to get here. They welcomed me and were so friendly and inclusive that I just joined the choir for 3 weeks (I guess).

The sound was amazing in the Great Hall.

More next time.