Day Thirteen Highlands Day

Hey everyone. I'm sorry to say we just got in from a busy day traveling to Northern Scotland, and it's close to midnight, so I will wait until tomorrow morning to blog about our day. In the meantime, 2 Papa says this is his English look. What do ya'll think?

Talk tomorrow. Hugs, 2 Mama

Day Twelve Castle Day

You can certainly tell from the photo that we are, indeed, in Scotland. Even though kilts are not worn around here anymore, there’s a photo op on most corners with a kilted fellow ready to make a dollar from tourists. We were happy to oblige. The history of the kilt is very interesting. It didn’t make its fashion appearance until the 16th century which means all those great kilt-wearing scenes of Mel Gibson in Braveheart (13th century) are not accurate. The kilt was made of 4 to 5 yards of fabric. Men often slept on their kilts and then tightly wrapped them around their waist and belted them before getting up. The fabric above the waistline was used for covering the chest or head, if needed. The half kilt, as we know it today, was introduced in 1792. Now, aren’t you glad you read the blog today? But wait, there’s more….
We toured the Edinburgh (pronounce Edinbora—they roll their r’s s little) Castle. Unbelievably fascinating! It towers above the city of Edinburgh, sitting on top of an extinct volcano. Known habitation of the site dates back to 900 BC, but not much is known about that time. I’m skipping several centuries (aren't you glad?) to when the actual castle is first mentioned in 1093. The castle is not a single structure, but truly a fortress, with several buildings, used to protect whoever was in charge at the time. It’s a story of “king of the mountain” like we played as children. Scotland and England spent two hundred years pushing each other off the mountain and claiming and reclaiming Scotland. Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to King James VI at this castle and fifteen months later was forced to turn the throne over to her baby son. She should have seen this coming as she was given the throne at six days old. Apparently babies over here are brilliant and capable of ruling kingdoms. The six foot tall redhead, Mary, was put to death at just twenty-five years of age. King James VI was later crowned King James I of England and was responsible for commissioning the King James Version of the Bible. NOW, I know you’re glad you tuned in today.
A European vacation could be featured in Shape magazine under the heading “Ways to Get in Shape.” We estimate we walk around four miles each day in Oxford, but today I’m sure we topped that, and threw in a few hundred castle steps on top of that. When we got in the hotel room 2 Papa called the operator and asked her to connect him to the Restroom Number One. She politely said, “Do you mean Restaurant Number One?” 2 Papa was laughing so hard he could hardly talk to the restaurant (or was it restroom) host. :) Sadly, too late for that restaurant, so we’ll get some more exercise as we look for a place to eat.
Tomorrow—a twelve hour bus tour of Northern Highlands of Scotland and the Loch Ness. Maybe a bit geriatric, but we’ll take it! Keep your fingers crossed for the monster sighting.
Today is my oldest grandson’s fourteenth birthday. He has been a joy from the first day he was born. He used to climb up in the middle of my bed and eat popcorn. Now, he comes over once a week and sleeps on my couch so I can take him to school early on FCA meeting days, plays football, and keeps me up on country music. All and more are treasured memories that will never be replaced by any castle or kilt-wearing Scotsman. Thank you, God, for John Luke Robertson and for the man you are shaping him to be.

Happy Birthday, little buddy. This verse is for you:
“But you, Timothy (John Luke), man of God:... Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.”

I Timothy 6:11
I hope everyone had a great Sunday.
Hugs,
2 mama

Day Eleven Travel Day

Hello from Edinburgh, Scotland! It’s hard to believe that we left one country and entered another one in one day. We left, by train, this morning at 10:30 and arrived at 4:30. 2 Papa was so worried that we would miss our train that he insisted we go early. I told him that it wasn’t like the airport, but he wasn’t going to take a chance. So after going to bed very late last night, we got up early, finished packing, walked to the bus stop, rode the bus into town, got off the bus, walked further to the train station (see photo above-notice all the bikes) and found our way to our loading dock. 2 Papa asked a young attendant what we should do now (since we were an hour and a half early!) and the polite young man said, “You’re a bit early. Why don’t you go into Oxford and have a look around.” I would love to tell you that I handled that with kindness and in the most Christian wife sort of way…..but I would be lying.
At 10:20 we walked through the turn style, excited to begin our adventure. We had two suitcases, one carry on size and one large size. We had already lugged them a good distance and were ready to put them in a rack and enjoy our trip. But, the trains are very streamline with one small area per car for suitcases. It was already full, so for about two hours the large suitcase was stuffed beneath 2 Papa’s feet and his knees were up to his chin. The smaller one and my purse were stuffed under me. We had one change-over, so we hoped the next train was more accommodating, but no. My turn this time--large suitcase stuffed under my seat and knees in the chin for four more hours. But, the view, although speeding by, was amazing--lots of hills, valleys, cows, and sheep. Once we arrived, we had to walk up a steep incline the length of one block and down two more streets to our hotel. About now, the geriatric bus tour was looking pretty good.
Our hotel is amazing. We haven’t learned the history behind it, but we will. It looks like a huge castle and our room is beautiful. You can see from the photo how tall the ceilings are. Unbelievable! Jeremy and Bobby Stokes would be short in this room. Or at least normal. The drapes have an unbelievable amount of fabric in them. Scarlet could have made some kind of fancy dress with these drapes.
We headed straight to the streets before it got dark and gathered up tourist information. 2 Papa is scouring the brochures now, making our plans for the next three days. I’ve heard mumblings of castles, northern Scotland and the Loch Ness monster. What?? Is that really true?? I’ll let you know.
Dinner was at an Italian restaurant recommended by the America girl working at the Hard Rock Café. It was great. The weather is the same as Oxford for now—around 55 degrees. No rain predicted for tomorrow—keep your fingers crossed. We’ll hit the ground running.
When we walked off the train, we were immediately stunned at the beauty of Scotland. God, once again, has charmed us with His creation.
“Bravo, God, Bravo! Everyone join in the great shout: Encore! In awe before the beauty, in awe before the might.” Psalm 96:7
Have a great weekend. Love you all.
Hugs, 2 Mama

Day Ten Odds and Ends Day

I’m calling today “odds and ends” day as we finished up the loose ends necessary to fully be a part of the college. We got our picture identification cards from Fiona and had our computers connected to the college today by the IT guy. Now, we’re officially in college as visiting Members of the Senior Commons Room.
Another reason for the title “odds and ends” is this blog is little bits of extra information. Hopefully, it will be interesting to some of you.
· Transportation: You see every mode, but the most popular is bicycle or cycle, as they say. With not much parking available, young and old cycle. Of course, all in black. 2 papa keeps saying, “There goes the Auntie Em.” Walking is the next choice, because well… most people have legs. Enough said. The buses run all the time, but are expensive—about $6.00 each way for both of us.
· Food in restaurants: Restaurant food has been great, but until last night we had only eaten food from other countries. True confession time—we fell off the veggie wagon and ate some English fish and chips. Peer pressure made us do it! Isabella told us we couldn’t leave England without eating fish and chips. Johnny had salmon and chips (large French fries). He declared it to be as good as anything he’s ordered from a catalog. (What is that saying about the chef???)
· Food in grocery stores: I know I made a big deal about the choices we have in America and I promise I am not reneging on that boasting, but Tim sent me a link to two grocery stores who will deliver anything I want--from fresh foods to mascara. WAKE UP AMERICA! That is the coolest ever. Photo above: 2 Papa “just looking” at a bakery.
· Lunch at College: Lunch is a time for socialization like in America, but you are likely to hear a pretty good theological discussion. Today we heard two opposing views on God and suffering from two of the fellows. They were so English and kept saying, “I’m sorry to disagree with you.” It was very interesting. 2 papa started the discussion and off they went. One more thing --pudding means dessert of any kind so don’t turn it down because you don’t like pudding and don’t get it because you think it is pudding. One more thing—they always have two utensils in their hands at all times. Either a fork and knife or a fork and spoon. They scoop all the food onto the backside of the fork. 2 papa loves this.
· Pubs: As I’ve said, there is one on every corner. One of the most famous is Eagle and Child, where C. S. Lewis frequented. We went in and asked for hot chocolate. Needless to say, they don’t serve hot chocolate. They do serve food and there is no stigma attached to eating in a pub. Even children eat there. It’s like going to Appleby’s.
· The language: I’ve said a little about it in other blogs, but it’s really amazing how difficult it is to understand them and they are speaking English. Since Simon Cowell has been in my living room for three years now, you would think I would have a better command of the language.
· The people: they are very friendly and courteous, but we have not seen anyone hugging as a greeting or, really, any other way. They are very formal when they speak to each other. We are trying to not hug Fiona and keep such phrases as “fixin’ to” and “Do y’all do that over here?” to a minimum.
· Lastly, formal dinner: Tonight was the first formal dinner of the term. It’s in the dining hall and very fancy. The tables are set for a formal meal, with lots of different pieces of silverware, and we eat by candlelight. The fellows and other faculty members meet in the SCR and wait until someone knocks on the door and then we file into the hall. The students are standing until this happens and the president pounds a gavel and says a prayer. See photo of boots and new outfit worn to the dinner. It was so hot in there, I thought I was going to faint. Note to self: Don’t layer for formal dinner.
Well better go. It’s very late and we catch the train for Scotland in the morning. We’ve got to get packed and it’s nearly midnight here. We have had so many incredible messages wishing us well as we take this journey. We are so blessed and thankful.
“God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.” II Corinthians 9:8
Love you all. See you from Scotland.
Hugs,
2 mama

Day Nine Museum Day

Great news today on the appliance front—ALL ARE WORKING! Late last night, after I wrote my blog, we baked potatoes in the oven, took showers, and finished the laundry.

As I suspected, the underwear finished somewhere around 4:00 this morning. We went to bed at 1:00, and at 2:00 I heard 2 Papa get up. When questioned about what he was doing, he said he was going to turn that noisy washing machine off. I protested, needing the clean undies. I admit it was loud. For hours, it whined, spit, sputtered and wiggled. We hadn't heard that much noise out of something so small since Ashley had colic in 1978. But, I encouraged 2 papa to shut the door to our room to which he replied, “Why didn’t I think of that.” Once again, job security for me.

We definitely walked on the wild side today. The absolute, cardinal rule in Oxford is to never leave home without your umbrella, but we did it today. We felt quite rebellious. Then, I went a step further and wore a white coat. Now—I have not heard anyone say this, but I’m quite sure they prefer wearing black as the entire city needs a good power washing which makes wearing black the preferred color in case of an accidental brush up against a building, car, truck, railing or small child. Just a theory, but it’s seems plausible. It didn’t rain the whole day, which was fantastic, but it was cold. It appears to be a trade off.

After three full days of working and the promise of a sunny day, 2 Papa was ready for some action. Don’t get too excited--- he had read every brochure we had picked up and was looking for museum action. We went to three museums before lunch. As a side note, lunch here is at 1:00 every day. People start their day later in Oxford so lunch is late and supper is late. I have a theory about that too. For many locals drinking starts at lunch and continues through the rest of the day until they crash late at night—see Pub map that is posted around town in case one can’t make it from one block to the next without locating a beer. Again, just a theory….

The first museum we visited was The Museum of Natural History. There we met a fellow American--see picture of the dinosaur from South Dakota. Then we went to the Pitt River Museum. The specialty there is pretty cool. Each display is done by geographic region, showing how people all over the world created things of necessity. It was amazing to see how brilliant our ancestors were in problem solving and how similar the inventions were regardless of the thousands of miles between each culture and no Internet. The last museum was the Museum of Natural Science. It was a little boring except the displays of the invention of penicillin, cameras, and one of the chalkboards that Einstein actually wrote on. It was his theory of the expanding universe, distance between galaxies, and age of the universe in an algebraic formula. A little like my theories, I think.

Now, my turn. SHOPPING! We went to what is called by the locals, a covered market. I think that’s a good name since it’s a market and it’s covered. After all, we’re in Oxford—lots of bright people here. I didn’t buy anything. I’m just on search missions at this point. Speaking of buying, if the weather holds out, my new boots will make their debut tomorrow for High Table. If you will remember, High Table is the Friday night chapel and dinner attended by students and fellows, who are dressed in their gowns. Everyone dresses up super nice for the event. Should be interesting!

One museum display I loved was showing games created by or for children. Sheepknuckles was a game where children threw up four actual bones from a sheep’s knuckles and tried to catch them on the back of their hand. Perhaps this game came when some tired mom tried to keep her kids out of the kitchen while she prepared supper. I imagine she just tossed the extra sheep knuckles to them and said, “Go outside and figure out to do with these.” And they did! God is so great! Of all the inventions we looked at today, there is none greater than mankind.

“God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth." Genesis 1:26

I’m thankful God created each of you.
Hugs,
2 mama

Day Eight Survivor Day

We woke up this morning wondering if we had signed up for “Survivor Oxford.” In an attempt to cook, we stood; staring at the oven like it had dropped down from Mars. We absolutely could not get it to work. All three knobs were pushed and turned numerous times and ways with no success. Once again, we turned to the wisdom of Google, but this time, even Google was puzzled. I know, many of you are thinking “Chrys can’t work an oven in America, why did she think she could in Oxford.” Good point. But, I’ll remind you that I've always said I know how, I just don’t choose to. Eventually, we resorted to the microwave and resigned to asking the landlord, who is by now, most assuredly, tired of us.

Last night, with the washer still out, we decided to lay one towel over the heating rack in the bathroom for a morning shower. The towel was sufficiently dry; however, when we pulled it off the rack, it resembled a white sheet of plywood. Johnny was willing to scrape his body with it and proceeded to take a shower. “Screaming like a little girl” doesn’t quite describe the next sound from the bathroom, but there was a loud yep followed by, “There’s no hot water.” We added that to our growing list for the landlord.

We worked as usual in the morning and headed to college for lunch. To college is the correct way to say where we go every day. We are not to say “to the school” or “to the university” or ‘to class.” These facts, and such information, were given to us by Isabella Bunn (pictured above). Davis (her husband) and Isabella are the ones responsible for our trip here. They live about one hour from Oxford. Isabella is the Associate Director for the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture. She does not tutor students, but occasionally gives lectures. She is responsible for bringing guest lecturers from all over the world to the center. Davis has been an author in residence at Oxford and is a full time author (was one of ours). They are both Americans, but have been in England for 25 (her) and 35 (him) years. It was great to sit down with her after a week here, now that we know enough to ask a question, and get some valuable information. We had planned to take a bus tour to Scotland this weekend, but she was adamant that we not do that. Listen carefully—she said, “You are too young for a bus tour. Those things cater to geriatrics.” Whew!! Just when I thought a bun and cane were right around the corner, I get this great news! So, we’re going to Scotland on Saturday on the train with all the “youngins.”

We got home today around 5:00pm and there was a note on our counter telling us the washer was now working. WOOHOO! We started it at 5:15 with two hand towels, three washcloths, and one dish towel (remember, it’s very small). It’s been washing since then and it’s 8:00pm. I figure by 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, we’ll get to the underwear.

As for the hot water and the oven……the hot water has a booster switch that has to be turned on occasionally and the oven has a switch on the wall that has to be turned on—in other words—the electricity was off. WHO KNEW???

In America, we often compare plugging in our electrical appliances with plugging into God. Both supply energy and are a source for strength and power. Without either of them, we are found lacking. As we touched the switch that would warm our water and the one that would heat our food, we were reminded of our greatest energy source. “No prolonged infancies among us, please. We'll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.” Ephesians 4:14

NOTE TO SADIE: Notice the umbrella that I never leave home without. You did a great job picking it out. I love it!!!

Hugs to all,
2 mama

Day Seven Work Day (Sort Of)

It's Tuesday---we can't believe we've only been gone for seven days. It's seems like months already.

We've been sight-seeing, we've been orientated, and now it's time to go to work. That was the plan anyway and we actually did that for half the day. We worked in our flat until 12:35. At that point, we headed out for the our 20 minute walk to the university. We arrived at 12:55, just in time for the lunch bell to ring at precisely 1:00. We lined the dining hall, waited for the prayer, and then lunch was served. Yesterday there were three long tables; today there were four. The students are starting to arrive so the dining room had to grow. We witnessed something that has never happened at Regents. The head table, the sacred post for faculty members, but not used by Regents faculty, was used today as there was not enough seating in the dining hall. It caused quite a buzz among faculty members. Some said it was historic. If you don't recognize the handsome man in the photo--that's 2 papa, all dressed up for college. He's standing in the beautiful quad of our school.

It was warmer today (still raining though) so after lunch we decided to walk back down to the shopping area and check out those great boots I spotted the first day. They were still in the window waiting for me and are now enjoying my new bedroom floor. Great purchase. You'll all love them. Actually, if you'll notice the mannequin is missing her clothes as I bought the entire outfit right off her back.

Back to our flat with high hopes that our washing machine would be fixed. Instead, we found a lovely note that said they could not make the washer repair today as they were unable to get the parts. I have to tell you our bathroom is not smelling that great since that load of wet clothes is still sitting in the bathtub. It smells a little like a gym locker room. UGH!! We walked seven minutes to the nearest shopping area and located a Laundromat. The coins we found in the drain may come in handy after all. Tomorrow--clean towels!!

If you know me very well at all, you know I love peanut butter. The peanut butter I bought the first day doesn't taste very good, so we went back to the grocery store to get another brand. What was I thinking??? We are so blessed in America! I know for myself I'm not always grateful that I can choose Jif, Peter Pan, or the cheaper store brand. And even if my washing machine breaks, I can go next door and someone will gladly let me use theirs. As with any trip out of the country, this trip reminds me of all the blessings I have. I love this scripture in Luke as it is translated in The Message. I need to be more noisily grateful for all the blessings I have.

"They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful—and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, "God is back, looking to the needs of his people!" The news of Jesus spread all through the country." Luke 7:16

I hope you are all having a great week. You're missed and loved. We are loving skype and getting to see our grandkids by video phone. Another blessing! Thank you God.

Hugs, 2 mama