WEEK 10: It gets busier...

This week has gone by SO fast!! We continue to work at the various farms, repairing, painting, mowing lawns/weeds, and While the Elders are busy with bigger repairs, we Sisters hurry home around 2-3:00 in the afternoon to continue to preserve the fruit we pick up around the farms. Drying apples is our now favorite choice, but I make an apple pie a week for Steve to eat.  I'm trying not to eat all the goodies, but Steve really likes them!  I made extra pie crust dough this week, so just for fun made a banana cream pie.  I thought we would find someone to share the pies with, but Steve took care of them both! He works so hard during the day, he's not even gaining any weight! Great metabolism!!

This Saturday we went to visit Oxford University.  There are 39 colleges that make up the University, and the whole town of Qxford is amazing!  We took the walking tour of the town, with a nice young guide named Stephan, so we would know what we were looking at.  He even showed us the spot where 3  priests were beheaded due to the changing of religions.  Depending which King or Queen was in power, and their belief, they all started out Catholic, then because of marriage problems, King Henry VIII started the "Church of England," a Protestant faith. Then with Queen Mary, it was back to Catholicism, etc... and of course they had to get rid of everyone that didn't agree with them during their reigns. That is an over simplified explanation, but it was too sad for me to dwell on.

There are remnants of old Roman walls surrounding parts of the town.  I love all of the old, ancient buildings!  I know they have been living and building there for centuries, but I am still amazed at the complexity of the brick and stone use.  They were built 1 brick/stone at a time! Wow.  It's amazing to see how they integrate the modern buildings (and conveniences) into the old, and mostly they try to make them compatible.  There are libraries and museums EVERYWHERE!  It is home to the largest library in the world, I think is what our guide said, which goes underneath the road.

Doctorate Graduate

This was also Graduation Day for all of the colleges. They have it all the same day, and all of the colleges graduate together, on the same day!

After our fabulous tour, we went to The Eagle and Child Pub for lunch. This is a pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkein  would meet weekly to discuss the books they were working on. They wrote the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe series and Lord of the Rings series while they were at Oxford.  Next, we took another drive to  Blenheim Palace, a beautiful, HUGE palace, where Winston Churchill was born.  It belonged to his grandfather.  His parents were there visiting when mom decided to deliver!  It is a very grand place, complete with a private lake and manicured gardens. Churchill stayed and played there often as a child.  It was very grand! We will have to return to see the second floor of the palace next time, as we only had an hour before the building closed, so we explored the beauty outside after the first floor.  We love visiting the historical places of this beautiful country.  I wonder where next week will take us!?!