And While the Gingerbread Is Baking...

The joy of having the desk close to the kitchen is that I can get to the posts I wanted to write while doing some holiday baking! I've finished up several banana breads, three Cinnamon Streusel coffee breads and have the gingerbread well underway. Now that I'm feeling a bit accomplished, I thought it could be a good time to visit the Bristol Cathedral (as promised in my last posting). Instead of a smilebox slide show, I'm going to pick and chose some of the more interesting nooks and crannies and share photos that way. I'm not sure how the smilebox slides go over with those who may read these postings. Let me know in a comment what you think- slides or individual photos!?

So on to the cathedral:

Walking to the Cathedral Entrance

One of the first things one notices are the magnificent organ pipes

The stained glass windows throughout the Cathedral are simply beautiful

This is the Elder Lady Chapel- it is older than the main part of the Cathedral and holds the icon of St. Augustine and his companion St. Jordan of Bristol. It is also home to some very strange stone carvings.

Saints Augustine and Jordan

Those strange carvings I mentioned: look above the somewhat ordinary human head and you will see a monkey!
It seems the stone mason who did the carvings was fascinated with monkeys. Why he thought to carve them in a chapel is a mystery.

Yet another chapel within the Cathedral

The Eastern Lady Chapel. This chapel was started in 1298 and was an integral part of the design of the choir.
The Stained glass dates to the 14th century and the two candlesticks were gifts given in thanksgiving of the safe
return of the ships The Duke and The Duchess, 1712.

The badges (see photo above for a better view) on the reredos are badges of the Berkeleys and the Royal Arms of England. Prominent people from the life of the cathedral are buried in the star shaped niches. 

The Nave: This is a great pillared hall: the entire roof is the same height, and it is the only one of its kind in England. The alter of the Nave is the focus of worship on Sundays and on great occasions- the heart of Christian worship.

Carvings above the alter in the Nave

I was fascinated with this bit of science within the Cathedral. It is the St. Mary of Redcliffe Chaotic Pendulum.  Recycled water flows into the center of the cross beam which then tips to let it out. However, no one can predict exactly how it will move minute to minute. Thus: chaos.  The plaque notes:
"Knowledge will never provide certainty". 

As with most Cathedrals, tombs can be ornate. This is the tomb of John Newland (or Nailheart),
Abbot, 1481-1515.

"Here lyeth the bodies of Sir John Young Knight and Dame Ioane, his wife..."

Another of my favorite spaces within the walls of the cathedral, these are the "night stairs".
Generations of Monks would enter the abbey via these stairs for prayers. The monks prayed every 3 hours day and night!

The quilter in me fell in love with these needlepoint kneelers! These are just some we observed on our visit. They bear various coats of arms. There were also kneelers depicting biblical events. 

We were excited (and a bit surprised) to find one with the seal of New York State!

I hope you enjoyed this short tour of the Bristol Cathedral. I love old churches and couldn't have enjoyed my brief  time there more. With my next post we will leave Bristol behind and travel to Bath- a most glorious city and home of the Roman Baths. 

Oh yes, and in case you were wondering- the gingerbread turned out fabulously if I must say so myself- I had to taste test in between my photo loading! Until we next meet...

Karen

If It's Saturday It Must Be Bristol...

Ahhh..Thanksgiving has come to an end, and December is still a day away, so what better time than to return to my travelogue? I'm still editing photos (so many to look through for such a "short trip"!), but since it is always wise to begin at the beginning, we will stay in the U.K. at least for a couple of days. 
Youngest child and the son-in-law live a short drive outside the city of Bristol, which I found to be a lovely place, steeped in medieval charm it it's old city, juxtaposed with the current hustle and bustle of society ( I believe I read that Bristol has a population of approximately half a million). There were lots of nice little places to shop, a lovely waterfront, beautiful cathedral (abbey) and many nooks and crannies to explore. Bristol, as I came to learn in my research, is the largest city in the south west of England, lying between Somerset and Gloucestershire. It also boasts a most beautiful university with gorgeous stone architecture. I think today we will concentrate on the few photos I took of Old Town/ the waterfront area and the university. Bristol Cathedral is a day's worth of photos in itself. My intent is not to bore you all to tears, after all! It has been fun going back and remembering the sights and the sounds- the tastes and the smells. I almost forgot what a joy for the senses travel can be! Tomorrow we'll venture on to the Cathedral. Be prepared with a cup of tea and a scone.

For now, of course- I hope you enjoy today's little slide show adventure:

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There's No Place Like Home

I may not be wearing my glitzy red shoes (a la Dorothy), but I do whole heartedly agree with her sentiment. My trip to the U.K. and Poland was amazing- full of wonderful sites (and some not so wonderful, Auschwitz left me completely drained) as well as lots of family time! I've returned a bit tired, but quite happy and ready to get completely organized and jump back into quilting full steam ahead. I have the huge and quite wonderfully quilted batik project to bind after all!
As for Merry 'Ole England, here are a few photos to enjoy :-)

Buckingham Palace. Apparently, the Queen forgot I was arriving , so no tea with Liz :-)

One of the Palace Guards on his magnificent steed

Big Ben

Off to Westminster Abbey

Daughter's small village- nice to have your butcher shop across the street!

I want to live on Folly Lane :-)

Spar Cottage- home of the daughter and son-in-law

Ashby (DD's labradoodle) waiting for us to get in the car for our day trip to Glastonbury!

Watch for more as I continue to go through the almost 900 photos I took! So many castles, gardens, museums! Can't wait to plan the return visit soon!!

Happy Halloween!

One of my most favorite days of the year! I'll be off tonight Trick or Treating with my favorite little man (oops, make that Pirate!). Wanted to take the time to say Happy Halloween to you all!!
Now I must do something completely scary...try to pack a rather large suitcase efficiently so I don't go over baggage weight limits! Two weeks of clothing, and a stack of "must bring to the U.K." items for youngest daughter sure add up!
Good bye for now....see everyone in a couple of weeks....

Here She Comes

As my slide show loads, I thought I'd get a head start on my musings for this morning. Sandy is still hours away, but already the leading edge of the winds are being felt. The sky is heavy with clouds, with the winds already beginning to pick up around my neck of the woods. I thought I had better do my blogging now, and then shut down for the day as I do things around the house that need doing :-)

Some of you may have already felt Sandy's wrath, and I know others are waiting her out. She's being called a once in a life time storm, and the reports from New Jersey (particularly Atlantic City) are something- considering we still have hours before this storm makes landfall.

So, if you have a a bit of time (and an warm cup of coffee!), sit back and enjoy yesterday's fun thanks to "The Silver Sisters" and their quilts! I am still shaking my head at how productive these women are. Maybe I will sit back with some hand stitching today as the winds blow all around us. It is definitely a good day for that!  Be well and stay safe until I return with new musings.

The Silver Sisters Quilt Show and Share and Family Challenge 2012:

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And a Wonderful Day was Had By All...

I could not have spent a more wonderful day if I had tried. I didn't have to try very hard, actually, since I was invited to a day of family fun and sharing at the home of my friend Pat's mother. Mom, her sisters, one husband, several daughters, two adorable (great) granddaughters, and various others (including my own little group of quilt friends) gathered to share in a quilt viewing extraordinaire. I could do little except gasp, shake my head, sit in awe and just snap photo after photo of amazing quilts! I'll let Noel fill you in with her blog post! Just go here and enjoy!!

I took close to 80 photos, and have been working on a slide show to share- hopefully I can finish and get it posted before Sandy barrels into N.Y. leaving her mark on us.
For those in her path- stay safe.
For me, I think now that the house has been battened, I've updated my information for up-to-date airport information (great week to be planning to fly!), the cell phone is charged, the Kindle Fire is almost recharged, I've restocked the water supply and finished the laundry I wanted to get done, I can think about heading for bed. Could be much ado about nothing...or could be a wild couple of days ahead. Either way, I'm ready!
Be back soon...with lots of quilts to share. Oh yes, and maybe a photo or two of Noel looking completely overwhelmed :-)

A Perfectly Ghoulish Night

Every year, our city hosts a Ghost Tour through the city. I've always wanted to take it, and decided to do it this year. I was worried as the Trolley Company has new owners, but it was a total hoot and just plain fun to be in a trolley full of people out to have a good time and hear ghost stories! We began our night at one of our cities "haunted" mansions. Living in an old city (settled in the 1600's by the Dutch) has its merits when it comes to historical legend! Ten Broeck Mansion is one of my favorite homes in the city and I should make a point of revisiting in the daytime! Being there at night was quite fun- we only walked the outside grounds and gathered for our story telling- hoping that the Lady in White might make an appearance in the upper window (she didn't) or that the purple Orb seen on a previous night would return (it didn't, sadly!). Not to say that we weren't in for a surprise as we returned through the dark, kind of creepy grape arbour!

We continued to the Anglican Church (met by the "man in the bloody shirt") and listened to local history and the ghosts connected to this particular site. Next up- again a favorite of mine- the NYS Capitol Building. First off, the building is magnificent and I had already known of the most famous ghosts to walk through its halls- the most famous being Samuel Abbott a night guard who died in the great fire of 1911. Our evening's host, Sally, told us the story behind the Secret Demon of the Western Staircase (the great staircase is made of limestone with elaborate carvings and a stone carver who was dismissed returned one night and hid a carving of a devil's face within the staircase). This is one of the highlights of the daytime walking tours- and it has been a long time since I've done that tour as well. Another thing for the list!

On to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and its own set of ghost stories. I love this church. My two eldest children were Baptized there, and it has undergone a marvelous restoration and looks majestic once again. I learned that there are several Bishops buried within the Cathedral. I was surprised, but guess I shouldn't be. I loved the story of the priest who would pilfer mass donations and then go have a night of good eats at Jack's Restaurant down the hill! 

We drove past the Kenmore Hotel where Legs Diamond  took his mistress to dance and "hold court" while his long suffering wife sat at home, and then on to the boarding house on Dove Street where he met his demise in a hail of bullets. Nothing like a good gangster story- or the involvement of the notorious Albany Political Machine!

We then traveled to the north end of the city (my old neighborhood!) where we disembarked to learn of the apparitions that haunt Graceland Cemetery. 

(Just an aside here- I was a bit worried about my reaction to this stop as this is where my husband is buried, but upon our arrival there was a "cemetery party" going on and it was right at our burial location! I couldn't help but smile and think to myself "oh, sure! you're having a party and didn't think to invite me?" It took the edge off being there!)

As we traveled back towards the river and our starting point, we stopped at what is now the central offices for the state university. It is in the former (and very grand) D&H building. And we were regaled with tales of Abraham Lincoln's connections with Albany and his mourning train as it pulled through the city after his assassination. In particular I loved the story of the one year anniversary of the mourning train. It seems that that night- one year later- the tracks glowed a bright blue, a train pulled in backwards and time stopped! Fact or Fiction?? You decide. 

All in all it was a night of fun with a nice group of young and old- who appreciated the stories, the ghouls and most of all the tales from beyond! If you have a chance to take a ghost tour near you do it- you won't be sorry!  In the meantime, here is a little side show tour for you to enjoy:

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