I'm a member of Smugmug, which is an online photo community for posting photos, hosting websites, and running small photo businesses. Today as I was looking through the development blog I found a link to some photos that were taken by a Smugmugger (that's what they call Smugmug members- I didn't make it up) who lives in Iowa. He has photos of the tornado, and the devastation to his town. I'd heard about the tornadoes, but not much, and so for me this really was eye opening at just how badly they were hit. His captions, with things like "My aunt's house" "Rusty's basement" "My parents' house" made it so much more real. He has about 240 images in his gallery, but it's worth clicking through the first 60 or 70 at least. His link is:
http://30bones.smugmug.com/gallery/5028738_xKAkm#303777226_SEAL3
Smugmug has implemented what they are calling Smugvault, for Smugmug users to be able to archive their original photos somewhere, in honor of the Iowa tornado victims. Online photo communities can really make the world a smaller and more personal place.
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Friday, 27 June 2008
June 24, 2008
I wrote this but couldn't post it on Tuesday.
Today was our last day of iBASE, the group we've been leading for international au pairs and language students here in Cambridge, at STAG specifically. The people whose flat we've been using went away on holiday, and forgot to leave the second lock unlocked for us, so we were locked out. We had been planning to eat our dinner there, but instead we ate on their doorstep while we waited for the iBASE people to come. Of course we didn't have any silverware so we had to improvise. :) I used the lid from the salad dressing that came in my salad as a spoon, and G used his knife to cut a cup in half to use as a spoon. But for the yogurt I had to cut a spoon from the plastic that the salad came in. It was really fun. :)
My self cut yogurt spoon. Brits are anti knives, but they sure do come in handy when strange occurrences seem to befall you regularly. :)
George's cup spoon modification.
Us enjoying our doorstep picnic lunch. :)
We had an interesting happening today as well- a fishmonger came around and offered to sell us some fish! This is the truck he drove:
Looks pretty normal. :) Anyway they come around every 2-3 months, and last time I just said no I wasn't interested, but when I noticed that many of the neighbors were out looking at fish, I decided to do it. I don't generally like fish, but this seemed like a good chance to experience village life. So he had a little metal basket like you'd have at the grocery store, and he went from door to door asking if people would like to buy fish. He had at least 7 kinds of fish, including kippers, halibut, cod, salmon, and 3 others I'd never heard of. Our landlady said she likes kippers for breakfast, so we got some to try that. Such an interesting system- I wish someone would come round with vegetables, I'd so buy them!
We'll let you know how the kippers turn out. :)
Today was our last day of iBASE, the group we've been leading for international au pairs and language students here in Cambridge, at STAG specifically. The people whose flat we've been using went away on holiday, and forgot to leave the second lock unlocked for us, so we were locked out. We had been planning to eat our dinner there, but instead we ate on their doorstep while we waited for the iBASE people to come. Of course we didn't have any silverware so we had to improvise. :) I used the lid from the salad dressing that came in my salad as a spoon, and G used his knife to cut a cup in half to use as a spoon. But for the yogurt I had to cut a spoon from the plastic that the salad came in. It was really fun. :)
My self cut yogurt spoon. Brits are anti knives, but they sure do come in handy when strange occurrences seem to befall you regularly. :)
George's cup spoon modification.
Us enjoying our doorstep picnic lunch. :)We had an interesting happening today as well- a fishmonger came around and offered to sell us some fish! This is the truck he drove:
Looks pretty normal. :) Anyway they come around every 2-3 months, and last time I just said no I wasn't interested, but when I noticed that many of the neighbors were out looking at fish, I decided to do it. I don't generally like fish, but this seemed like a good chance to experience village life. So he had a little metal basket like you'd have at the grocery store, and he went from door to door asking if people would like to buy fish. He had at least 7 kinds of fish, including kippers, halibut, cod, salmon, and 3 others I'd never heard of. Our landlady said she likes kippers for breakfast, so we got some to try that. Such an interesting system- I wish someone would come round with vegetables, I'd so buy them!
We'll let you know how the kippers turn out. :)
June 27, 2008
We've been having network issues here- it's as is a gremlin has crawled into our network and starting messing stuff up. :) So yesterday I tried to post an update that I was taking my drivers license written test (which they call the Theory test) today, but I'm back from the test, I passed it, and all is well. I thought I'd post a few sample questions for you all so you can see just how different the thinking is about driving tests here:
"You arrive at the scene of a crash. Someone is bleeding badly from an arm wound. There is nothing embedded in it. What should you do?"
"You are towing a small trailer on a busy 3 lane motorway. All the lanes are open. You must (2 answers):
a)not exceed 60mph
b) not overtake
c)have a stabiliser fitted
d) use only the left and center lanes
"Areas reserved for trams may have (pick 3):
-metal studs around them
-white line markings
-zigzag markings
-a different coloured surface
-yellow hatch markings
-a different surface texture
That's just a small sample. If you are really curious you can search online for "Online Theory Test" UK and you'll find sample tests. :) Anyway my main concern wasn't the test, it was getting to the testing site, however that turned out to be no problem because G came with me to read the map. And we had an awesome lunch at this cool Indian restaurant- it said Buffet 6.80GBP, which is a steal, so we decided to catch some lunch. The trick though is that there's a 2 course appetizer BEFORE you can get food from the buffet, and we had no idea that was going to happen, and I had to jet to get to my test! I had to scarf down my food. :) It was a super nice restaurant too, the sort that might have a piano player in the evenings. Very nice food and excellent service.
These are the toppings for the pappadums, which are like hard and crunchy tortillas, but not as thick. They're an appetizer. The red one on the left tasted like disinfectant, and I heard some people at another table comment the same thing. :)
More appetizers! We didn't know that though. They were excellent.
So after lunch I took the test- it's all touch screen, which is nice. And they give you a computer print out right after you're finished with it. You have to show that print out in order to take the practical test, or take lessons for the test, which I can't avoid doing. G had to find somewhere else to wait for me (they were a bit rude to him, basically saying "You can't wait here, and we don't know where you can go." ) and he scoped out this cool covered market just down the road. It was awesome! Very Asian style, but the aisles were too wide, and the stalls were very big. I finally found a shovel handle here!
The aisles were very wide, and not very busy.
Plus there was no stinky fish section. :)
This guy was listed as a Seller of Continental Foods,
but most of his stuff was from Jamaica and India. :)
Overall the trip was a blessing in disguise- I thought it would be impossible to find parking for this place, and it'd be a mess driving in Peterborough (which is a bigish city) but the test went well, there was parking available right in front, and the market was so cool that overall my impression was positive. :)
Tomorrow is the last day of the Swavesey Festival- I've been photoing but for some reason our router has blocked me from reaching Phanfare, so I can't upload any more photos. I'm hoping to upload some stuff from G's office over the weekend, like I used to do when we first moved here and didn't have internet at home! Anyway www.gkdunlap.phanfare.com is 98% up to date and I'll be continuing to use it until Smugmug gets the feature implemented that I need for a dual site. So keep looking for more photos on there.
"You arrive at the scene of a crash. Someone is bleeding badly from an arm wound. There is nothing embedded in it. What should you do?"
"You are towing a small trailer on a busy 3 lane motorway. All the lanes are open. You must (2 answers):
a)not exceed 60mph
b) not overtake
c)have a stabiliser fitted
d) use only the left and center lanes
"Areas reserved for trams may have (pick 3):
-metal studs around them
-white line markings
-zigzag markings
-a different coloured surface
-yellow hatch markings
-a different surface texture
That's just a small sample. If you are really curious you can search online for "Online Theory Test" UK and you'll find sample tests. :) Anyway my main concern wasn't the test, it was getting to the testing site, however that turned out to be no problem because G came with me to read the map. And we had an awesome lunch at this cool Indian restaurant- it said Buffet 6.80GBP, which is a steal, so we decided to catch some lunch. The trick though is that there's a 2 course appetizer BEFORE you can get food from the buffet, and we had no idea that was going to happen, and I had to jet to get to my test! I had to scarf down my food. :) It was a super nice restaurant too, the sort that might have a piano player in the evenings. Very nice food and excellent service.
The restaurant was so fancy, we felt a bit out of place at first.
These are the toppings for the pappadums, which are like hard and crunchy tortillas, but not as thick. They're an appetizer. The red one on the left tasted like disinfectant, and I heard some people at another table comment the same thing. :)
More appetizers! We didn't know that though. They were excellent.So after lunch I took the test- it's all touch screen, which is nice. And they give you a computer print out right after you're finished with it. You have to show that print out in order to take the practical test, or take lessons for the test, which I can't avoid doing. G had to find somewhere else to wait for me (they were a bit rude to him, basically saying "You can't wait here, and we don't know where you can go." ) and he scoped out this cool covered market just down the road. It was awesome! Very Asian style, but the aisles were too wide, and the stalls were very big. I finally found a shovel handle here!
The aisles were very wide, and not very busy. Plus there was no stinky fish section. :)
This guy was listed as a Seller of Continental Foods,but most of his stuff was from Jamaica and India. :)
Overall the trip was a blessing in disguise- I thought it would be impossible to find parking for this place, and it'd be a mess driving in Peterborough (which is a bigish city) but the test went well, there was parking available right in front, and the market was so cool that overall my impression was positive. :)
Tomorrow is the last day of the Swavesey Festival- I've been photoing but for some reason our router has blocked me from reaching Phanfare, so I can't upload any more photos. I'm hoping to upload some stuff from G's office over the weekend, like I used to do when we first moved here and didn't have internet at home! Anyway www.gkdunlap.phanfare.com is 98% up to date and I'll be continuing to use it until Smugmug gets the feature implemented that I need for a dual site. So keep looking for more photos on there.
Monday, 23 June 2008
June 23, 2008
An update on E- she's conscious and physically ok, largely owing to the fact that someone who received her text called the police ASAP and they found her and took her to the hospital. So praise Gd for that! I've just heard today from a joint friend that she is being transferred to what the call the Friends ward at another hospital, where she will be receiving psychiatric care. This is an answer to pr as well, because I learned yesterday that this is the second time she's tried this in 2 weeks and the first time they released her to go home. Thanks for your prs- the girls here asked some very productive questions of us Sunday which allowed us to have an open and honest conversation about what depression is, and how it affects a person.
In other news, I received my Provisional Licence today! I've been waiting for it for ages, because without it I can't take the theory (what we'd call the written test) or the practical (what we'd call the driving test.) It looks just like this one, but green:
The back of their licences look like this:
I'm scheduled to take the written test this Friday, which is amazing since it usually takes 4-6 weeks to get in for a test. The next earliest one is for July 10th, but I wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Friday afternoon if I passed the test, then I will set up a time for the required driving instruction. I've already contacted an intensive driving school in Cambridge, which puts their instruction back to back, and at the end of which you can take the practical test. Doing it that way increases your likelihood of passing the exam. This all seems ridiculous since I've been driving for 14 years next month, but the guy I talked to at this driving place seemed nice and very helpful, which is encouraging. I'm studying up for the test so I don't have to take it twice, and I'd appreciate if you'd pr for me to pass the theory (which has a multiple choice and a video hazard perception part) so I can get this practical driving test over. It turns out that this process isn't as expensive as I thought- so long as I pass them all the first time that is. :)
On the note of helpful, after all my cycling around trying to meet people in Swavesey, I had a good conversation at the concert last night with a very friendly lady from Over, the next village on from us. She seemed very happy to chat, and since I didn't force her to tell me her name I don't know it. But they're having a Garden Fete in 2 weeks that I plan to go to, and she told me that she's manning the garden sales table. I'm slowly learning anyway. :)
In other news, I received my Provisional Licence today! I've been waiting for it for ages, because without it I can't take the theory (what we'd call the written test) or the practical (what we'd call the driving test.) It looks just like this one, but green:
The back of their licences look like this:
I'm scheduled to take the written test this Friday, which is amazing since it usually takes 4-6 weeks to get in for a test. The next earliest one is for July 10th, but I wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Friday afternoon if I passed the test, then I will set up a time for the required driving instruction. I've already contacted an intensive driving school in Cambridge, which puts their instruction back to back, and at the end of which you can take the practical test. Doing it that way increases your likelihood of passing the exam. This all seems ridiculous since I've been driving for 14 years next month, but the guy I talked to at this driving place seemed nice and very helpful, which is encouraging. I'm studying up for the test so I don't have to take it twice, and I'd appreciate if you'd pr for me to pass the theory (which has a multiple choice and a video hazard perception part) so I can get this practical driving test over. It turns out that this process isn't as expensive as I thought- so long as I pass them all the first time that is. :)
On the note of helpful, after all my cycling around trying to meet people in Swavesey, I had a good conversation at the concert last night with a very friendly lady from Over, the next village on from us. She seemed very happy to chat, and since I didn't force her to tell me her name I don't know it. But they're having a Garden Fete in 2 weeks that I plan to go to, and she told me that she's manning the garden sales table. I'm slowly learning anyway. :)
Sunday, 22 June 2008
June 22, 2008
I have good news regarding E- she is now conscious and coherent, and some of the iBASE girls have been round to see her. Unfortunately she is still very much depressed, and we had a good long chat with the girls about what depression is, how it affects a person, and how to support and encourage a person who has it. Can I just say that these girls have really exhibited JC's love to E- E has been very difficult to love for the past 8 months. She frequently speaks out of turn at meetings, argues with people, and is a bit demanding. I've really seen some true love from these girls toward E, even though her depression has made her not such a good friend to them.
E apparently made an attempt to commit suicide last week- most of us didn't hear about it because she wasn't rushed to the hospital in a dramatic way. They pumped her stomach out and sent her back home. She sent her suicide text out to everyone she knew, even her roommate, and when her roommate knocked on her door to see if she was ok she said yes, she was fine. Anyway someone else got her text shortly after she sent it and called the police, so she was taken to the hospital quickly after she swallowed the sleeping pills. Anyway pr for E's mental treatment, and for the girls who are trying to love her in spite of all of this.
The garden experience was good- I saw about 8 gardens, and only a few of the owners were there. Of those who were present, I forced one poor woman to tell me her name against her will. :) I asked her what her name was, and she said Pook! And I thought, goodness- that sounds a bit Hobbit like....anyway I introduced myself, and then she said "Oh, my name's Carol." It was very very awkward, and unpleasant, and from this experience I learned something valuable about not forcing your own cultural understanding onto other cultures. :) In America introducing yourself to a stranger by name is common, and polite, and expected basically in a situation like this. I mean I talked to her for at least 10 minutes! Unfortunately here they simply don't do that. You just don't introduce yourself to other people- names are too familiar for most people to share with others. I was disappointed, but persevered through the other 6 gardens with good spirit anyway. :)
The London Mozart Players are coming to perform in our parish church believe it or not- even as small as Swavesey is! So we're going to the performance, and hoping to meet some of the local parish people. The contact person on the flyer whom G called about tickets was an American woman, so hopefully we can at least meet her. :) I met the vicar at the booth yesterday for the bell ringers, and I got a strange vibe from him so we'll see what happens. Anyway all of this seems exciting I'm sure, but keep pring for me to be able to make some relationships here, and to do it in a culturally appropriate way. At least Carol recognized from my accent that I wasn't British and we had a short chat about Edmonton Canada and other friendly topics. :) Sometimes I wish I had a "Excuse my bad manners, I'm an ignorant American" sign. :)
E apparently made an attempt to commit suicide last week- most of us didn't hear about it because she wasn't rushed to the hospital in a dramatic way. They pumped her stomach out and sent her back home. She sent her suicide text out to everyone she knew, even her roommate, and when her roommate knocked on her door to see if she was ok she said yes, she was fine. Anyway someone else got her text shortly after she sent it and called the police, so she was taken to the hospital quickly after she swallowed the sleeping pills. Anyway pr for E's mental treatment, and for the girls who are trying to love her in spite of all of this.
The garden experience was good- I saw about 8 gardens, and only a few of the owners were there. Of those who were present, I forced one poor woman to tell me her name against her will. :) I asked her what her name was, and she said Pook! And I thought, goodness- that sounds a bit Hobbit like....anyway I introduced myself, and then she said "Oh, my name's Carol." It was very very awkward, and unpleasant, and from this experience I learned something valuable about not forcing your own cultural understanding onto other cultures. :) In America introducing yourself to a stranger by name is common, and polite, and expected basically in a situation like this. I mean I talked to her for at least 10 minutes! Unfortunately here they simply don't do that. You just don't introduce yourself to other people- names are too familiar for most people to share with others. I was disappointed, but persevered through the other 6 gardens with good spirit anyway. :)
The London Mozart Players are coming to perform in our parish church believe it or not- even as small as Swavesey is! So we're going to the performance, and hoping to meet some of the local parish people. The contact person on the flyer whom G called about tickets was an American woman, so hopefully we can at least meet her. :) I met the vicar at the booth yesterday for the bell ringers, and I got a strange vibe from him so we'll see what happens. Anyway all of this seems exciting I'm sure, but keep pring for me to be able to make some relationships here, and to do it in a culturally appropriate way. At least Carol recognized from my accent that I wasn't British and we had a short chat about Edmonton Canada and other friendly topics. :) Sometimes I wish I had a "Excuse my bad manners, I'm an ignorant American" sign. :)
Saturday, 21 June 2008
June 21- Festival
The Swavesey Festival is off to a good start. They're definitely not at the same level as the Clinton Fall Festival, but they'll get there. :) The parade was good fun, and the various exhibitor stalls were great too. Right now I'm sitting in my living room, and I can hear the music from the Village Green (which is amazingly close to us as the crow flies) and Rod Stewart's "Young hearts, be free tonight. Time is on your side...." is wafting across Swavesey in an amazingly melancholy way- not very festive, and in my mind not very British either, but that's because I associate him with American Classic Rock. :) The rain held off, and people were very friendly- you could see that people felt a little odd being so friendly, but still they did it. :) I talked to our neighbor Mo, and our landlords, and G's coworker who also lives in Swavesey. Tomorrow will be a good day for meeting folks as well since the garden tour is from 2-4.
June 21, 2008
Today is the longest day of the year. In Michigan I always looked forward to this day, because it meant sunshine until at least 9:30 in the evening. It also heralded the true start of summer, and I absolutely love Michigan summers. Some people who work outside find themselves strongly connected to the land, with every sense very much attuned to the daily signs of the changing seasons- I've heard farmers describe that sort of 6th sense of the land, and I understand their feeling. It seems and feels very strange to be waking up on June 21st to a chilly cloudy day- by chilly I mean in the 60s here. Everything feels strangely wrong, because of course the seasons here, the climate, the sun angle, everything is different. I notice the difference everytime I step outside. Anyway I'm thinking today of wonderful hot summer days, warm nights with a slight breeze blowing, and thunderstorms that rain for 3 days running when it's so warm you can go out and play in the rain. :)
Today is also the official start of the Swavesey Festival- they've been planning it for months and months, and there's supposed to be a parade at 1 going by our house! I know I mentioned to you in the past about wanting to take every possible opportunity to meet people. I'm hoping to photograph as much of the festival goings on as I can to show you all. This is the first year of the festival, and the goal is to strongly build community here in Swavesey. I'm pring for that to happen as well, because Swavesey is a nice small village and there's no reason we can't all get to know each other. In Clinton, there's a population of about 3000, but we still recognized each others' cars driving down US 12, and watch out for each others' houses and at LEAST know the names of our neighbors. That hasn't been the case here. So my goal this week, amongst my other duties with STAG, is to use this chance to get past some British reserve and make some friends here. If you could pr with me that:
1. I would meet and learn the names of people living in a range of 5 houses on each side of ours (at least)
2. The Gardens Tour would not be rained out and that I would meet and learn the name of a person at each house where the gardens are open
3. I would connect with at least a few garden people in a more meaningful way through their gardens
4. We would meet some key people at the local ch's, including Bethel, St Andrew, and the Strict and Particular folks.
That's a tall order, now that I'm looking back over it! It might seem small, but the British reserve is truly hard to crack, and only Gd can make this a successful week for me in meeting people here.
I am still plugging away on my photo site- I've decided to keep using Phanfare until September when Smugmug implements a key feature that I need in order to host a split site (personal and pro.) My pro site is coming along and looking good (the front page at least) at www.kristidunlap.com and I've been restructuring and uploading new photos from the past 6 months in particular onto Phanfare. The albums aren't all complete, so any album without a thumbnail image is empty, FYI. Those are at www.gkdunlap.phanfare.com.
Today is also the official start of the Swavesey Festival- they've been planning it for months and months, and there's supposed to be a parade at 1 going by our house! I know I mentioned to you in the past about wanting to take every possible opportunity to meet people. I'm hoping to photograph as much of the festival goings on as I can to show you all. This is the first year of the festival, and the goal is to strongly build community here in Swavesey. I'm pring for that to happen as well, because Swavesey is a nice small village and there's no reason we can't all get to know each other. In Clinton, there's a population of about 3000, but we still recognized each others' cars driving down US 12, and watch out for each others' houses and at LEAST know the names of our neighbors. That hasn't been the case here. So my goal this week, amongst my other duties with STAG, is to use this chance to get past some British reserve and make some friends here. If you could pr with me that:
1. I would meet and learn the names of people living in a range of 5 houses on each side of ours (at least)
2. The Gardens Tour would not be rained out and that I would meet and learn the name of a person at each house where the gardens are open
3. I would connect with at least a few garden people in a more meaningful way through their gardens
4. We would meet some key people at the local ch's, including Bethel, St Andrew, and the Strict and Particular folks.
That's a tall order, now that I'm looking back over it! It might seem small, but the British reserve is truly hard to crack, and only Gd can make this a successful week for me in meeting people here.
I am still plugging away on my photo site- I've decided to keep using Phanfare until September when Smugmug implements a key feature that I need in order to host a split site (personal and pro.) My pro site is coming along and looking good (the front page at least) at www.kristidunlap.com and I've been restructuring and uploading new photos from the past 6 months in particular onto Phanfare. The albums aren't all complete, so any album without a thumbnail image is empty, FYI. Those are at www.gkdunlap.phanfare.com.
Friday, 20 June 2008
June 20 Update on E
Well I've heard good news about E. The doctors think that she'll be physically ok. I found out from some people closer to the situation that she swallowed some kind of pills, and has been unconscious due to that. They weren't sure what she took, but maybe that's changed. They still expect her to be unconscious for several days, and please pr not just for her physical state but for her mental condition as well. When a person has depression we don't always understand their thinking or what they're mentally suffering, and E needs healing in that regard especially. Also pr that she wouldn't be overcome by feelings of guilt about what she did, but that she could accept Gd's forgiveness, love, and grace. There are 3 ladies in particular who are closest to E and who will be handling things and trying to care for her, so pr for them in particular.
International workers here are still trying to contact her parents, and they went to her house to get her passport and other documents to try to locate them. Please keep pring that they'll be able to call them and explain the situation.
International workers here are still trying to contact her parents, and they went to her house to get her passport and other documents to try to locate them. Please keep pring that they'll be able to call them and explain the situation.
June 20, 2008
It's been a hard morning here in Cambridge. When we came downstairs I pulled my cell phone out to charge it, and I had a text from E, which had been sent at 11:15pm last night after we were in bed. It was essentially a suicide note. I was so shocked, because she had been doing really well- she hadn't responded to my texts or emails, but she seemed much better in April at the weekend away. Since we've been doing things with iBASE I hadn't seen her on Wednesdays.
Anyway G and I were really worried, so we called the international worker at STAG and told him we'd received this text, and it turns out he's been getting them from her off and on for a few months. They've tried to get her help and get her to meet with some people at STAG who are doctors, but she keeps refusing. At one point he had to get a couple from STAG to take her to the hospital because she needed care and she hadn't been telling her doctor everything.
When I called him he said a person from NHS (the national health system) had been going to her house to meet with her everyday, and he'd try to ask that person what was going on. I just got an email from him that E tried to commit suicide last night, and is currently in the hospital unconscious. We don't know what her status is, how long she's been there, or any of the details.
Please pr for E, and for those caring for her. People have done everything they can to try to help her, but still pr that those closer to the situation wouldn't feel guilty, or responsible. Pr for us that we would be able to care for the emotional needs of the girls in iBASE, who all already know about the situation. Our international worker is leaving tomorrow for a preplanned conference, so he asked if we could come early Sunday morning to just be there for the internationals who know E and who will be very worried about her, and he was concerned that if E passes away that someone be there for support for our intl community. Also pr for E's parents who are in Poland, and who they are still trying to contact regarding her attempt.
I'm ok- still in a bit of shock, since I had no idea just how bad things had been. But I'm relying on our Father who is in control over all things. I will update when I hear more.
Anyway G and I were really worried, so we called the international worker at STAG and told him we'd received this text, and it turns out he's been getting them from her off and on for a few months. They've tried to get her help and get her to meet with some people at STAG who are doctors, but she keeps refusing. At one point he had to get a couple from STAG to take her to the hospital because she needed care and she hadn't been telling her doctor everything.
When I called him he said a person from NHS (the national health system) had been going to her house to meet with her everyday, and he'd try to ask that person what was going on. I just got an email from him that E tried to commit suicide last night, and is currently in the hospital unconscious. We don't know what her status is, how long she's been there, or any of the details.
Please pr for E, and for those caring for her. People have done everything they can to try to help her, but still pr that those closer to the situation wouldn't feel guilty, or responsible. Pr for us that we would be able to care for the emotional needs of the girls in iBASE, who all already know about the situation. Our international worker is leaving tomorrow for a preplanned conference, so he asked if we could come early Sunday morning to just be there for the internationals who know E and who will be very worried about her, and he was concerned that if E passes away that someone be there for support for our intl community. Also pr for E's parents who are in Poland, and who they are still trying to contact regarding her attempt.
I'm ok- still in a bit of shock, since I had no idea just how bad things had been. But I'm relying on our Father who is in control over all things. I will update when I hear more.
Thursday, 19 June 2008
June 19, 2008
I woke up thinking today was June 20th. Because when I woke up yesterday G was wishing me a Happy Anniversary, and so I thought yesterday was the 19th. I spent the whole day thinking it was the 19th, and thinking about our 4 years of marriage, thinking about the amazing things Gd has done in our lives as a couple, and how 4 years ago I would not have guessed that we'd be living in England. Well just now I was going to start writing this blog, and my mouse happened to go over the clock in the corner of the screen which popped up saying boldly that today is June 19th. If today is the 19th, then today is our anniversary! Oops. Better a day early than a day late I think. :)
Yesterday, the supposed 19th but really 18th of June, was a long day for us. :) The TEAM course has special all day talks once a term, and yesterday was one of those. We had a speaker come and teach all day about the book of Exodus. I never put much thought into that book before we moved here- not that I didn't read it, I just didn't think about how it related in the entire bbl. Last term STAG's women's groups studied Exodus, and the Sunday talks were on Exodus as well. I just got an email that we're studying Exodus again next term on Sundays and during the week.
If you've never studied Exodus, you might be wondering why it's all that important. Important enough to spend 2 terms studying as a ch at STAG, have all day teaching sessions on, and to have spent a lot of time in TEAM studying already. Well, I wondered that too. :) I thought, "Isn't this a bit of overkill?" But it's not! Exodus is a key book- a critical book for us to understand if we want to understand the OT, and also if we truly want to understand JC and the system he was born into, his teachings, his life, his death- we can better understand all of those things in light of Exodus. I'm not just saying that because that what I've been taught either. :) Honestly, if you've ever thought that Gd is different in the OT than in the NT, and wondered about what purpose the OT has anyway, Exodus is the book for you. As I've studied it in depth this term, I have come to deeply understand some things about Gd's character, his plan, and how the bbl as one book really does reveal those things to us. I'd believed it before, but I see it now through my own experience.
Since I started writing this I had to stop to do other things and now I lost my train of thought. :) Anyway I have a lot of photo editing to do so I better get back to work anyway!
Yesterday, the supposed 19th but really 18th of June, was a long day for us. :) The TEAM course has special all day talks once a term, and yesterday was one of those. We had a speaker come and teach all day about the book of Exodus. I never put much thought into that book before we moved here- not that I didn't read it, I just didn't think about how it related in the entire bbl. Last term STAG's women's groups studied Exodus, and the Sunday talks were on Exodus as well. I just got an email that we're studying Exodus again next term on Sundays and during the week.
If you've never studied Exodus, you might be wondering why it's all that important. Important enough to spend 2 terms studying as a ch at STAG, have all day teaching sessions on, and to have spent a lot of time in TEAM studying already. Well, I wondered that too. :) I thought, "Isn't this a bit of overkill?" But it's not! Exodus is a key book- a critical book for us to understand if we want to understand the OT, and also if we truly want to understand JC and the system he was born into, his teachings, his life, his death- we can better understand all of those things in light of Exodus. I'm not just saying that because that what I've been taught either. :) Honestly, if you've ever thought that Gd is different in the OT than in the NT, and wondered about what purpose the OT has anyway, Exodus is the book for you. As I've studied it in depth this term, I have come to deeply understand some things about Gd's character, his plan, and how the bbl as one book really does reveal those things to us. I'd believed it before, but I see it now through my own experience.
Since I started writing this I had to stop to do other things and now I lost my train of thought. :) Anyway I have a lot of photo editing to do so I better get back to work anyway!
Friday, 13 June 2008
June 13, 2008
Do you remember way back when you got your first bank account? Remember how they gave you this booklet to teach you how to balance your checkbook, and how to write a check? Well I was harkening back to those days this morning. :) Praise Gd I found our Barclays checkbook (or I should say chequebook here) which, of course, was in a very sensible place- the file folder where I keep all the Barclays stuff. It's been there since we moved, and although we've needed to write checks at least 10 times, we couldn't find it. Today some part of my brain suggested I look in the file folder, and sure enough there it was.
In the US we NEVER use checks. Heck, I don't even use cash either, and haven't for awhile. I use my debit card, which is linked to my bank account. And, true confession time, I don't use those little papers that the bank sends with my account statements which are supposed to help me balance my account. :) Since transactions are same-day now, there's no need for me to use the old system anymore. Those of you who still write each transaction in your checkbook- I hope I'm not being a bad influence or putting peer pressure on you! Certainly keep doing what works best for you.
Anyway, my American habits have come home to roost here in the UK, let me tell you. :) Lots of places don't accept debit cards here- businesses, like the Cattery where Nelly stays when we're out of town, for example. The DVLA, which is the UK driver's licensing bureau. The list goes on. And when you tell them that you don't have a check, they look at you a bit funny. And who carries $200 in cash to pay for transactions? I've had to do all sorts of things, including using the common system of getting their banking account details and sort code and sending the money through the bank. That's quite common fortunately for me. :)
So I found these cheques today, and I needed to write 2 cheques (it looks funny spelling it like that doesn't it? ) :D today to various places. I realized that the last time I wrote one of these was for our first rent payment, and the nice lady at Carter Jonas showed me how to do it. But here I am at home, on my own, with a strange looking "check" in front of me. I decided to go on the internet and see if there were some instructions for these things. Fortunately there are- they are even digital, like a little video, that shows step by step what to do. Take a look here for yourself: http://www.moneymatterstome.co.uk/Interactive-workshops/WritingCheque.htm
A sample UK check (this is a total fake check by the way, curtesy of www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/So my checks are written now, and I have a stack of mail ready to be posted. We're driving up to Norfolk tonight, which is about an hour and half from here, and since the sun sets at 9:40pm or whatever it is these days we should have plenty of time to get settled, walk around, and catch a good sunset over the North Sea.
Thanks for sharing in my joy of finding my chequebook. :)
Thursday, 12 June 2008
June 12, 2008 add on
Since our anniversary is coming up on the 19th, we've decided to take a short weekend trip to the Norfolk coast. It's only an hour and a half away, and the scenery on the coast line there is really cool. We're hoping to get some good photos, and bike along the coast and things like that. I tend to pack my vacations too full of cool places to photo, so we're aiming to not be so busy on this one. We'll be away over the weekend. Everything is so easy reach here, but unfortunately we're coming up on the holiday season, so accommodations are not so easy to get. And the idea of a tent camp ground here includes VW van-campers right next to your tent. :) Even hostels are getting full for weekend trips. July is the busiest month for holidays I think, but there are some hostels having sales, so maybe we'll just visit those random places in July and see what there is to see wherever they are. :)
June 12, 2008
I have been hearing the craziest stories from people all the way from Michigan to DC about this storm front that came through. CNN said 300,000 people in Michigan alone were without power. I hope that you all have power now, even if the limbs and fallen trees aren't completely taken care of.
The weather here has been very bland really- they simply don't get thunderstorms in Cambridge like we get in Michigan. It's been mostly sunny, and a high of 75 on a warm day. Usually in the upper 60s every single day. The monotony kind of wears on you when you're used to Michigan's interesting weather. :) Not that I'm complaining- I'm enjoying the sunshine when we get it.
We've just been plugging away here- the CE course ladies are understanding more and more of what we've been studying, although it's the season for holidays among internationals here so they tend to be gone every other week. Our ladies intl bbl study has just finished studying Paul's letter to the folks at Colossae, and we're looking at Jonah for the next 4 weeks. You'd be surprised- there is way more depth to that book than most people realize. In iBASE we studied the best and worst king in the OT- his name is Mannaseh, and his history was recorded by both the writer of Kings and the writer of Chronicles. We saw how he turned from being the most wicked king ever to being the total opposite. And yesterday in TEAM we studied some very deep issues about JC, much of which went over my head. :)
G's work group is getting more internationals by the day. They've just added a man from Sweden, who is marrying an American woman in a few months and will be working remotely from Atlanta. They already have 2 Italian guys, a French guy, G (who as you know is American ;D) and another American guy who is of South American ethnicity. Oh, and there's one British guy. :) It's quite interesting. There seem to be more and more people working remotely for Citrix, which bodes well for us when the time comes to head back Stateside. But part of our reason for being here is for G to gain experience in a real workplace, making friendships there and reaching out to the people there- that's not something which can be done remotely. So we're keeping that in mind as we consider our time here.
We had a food adventure yesterday- one of my own accidental doing. :) Everything here is labeled differently than I'm used to, and when I get tired I stop thinking in "British labeling mode" and I start thinking as an American. We've been eating this great Italian dish, it's basically fresh tomatoes (washed of course), a type of mozzarella called Bocochini, basil leaves, and vinegar and oil. It's great- we had it in Australia and loved it, and now we make it all the time. Well we bought the cheese in a different store than we usually buy it, and I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. But I found something that said "di bufala campana" on it, which I thought was one of those weird European labeling things that meant it was called Buffalo Mozarella. When we got it home though, I opened the thing and pulled the cheese out, and it looked different than what I usually buy. It comes in water, in a ball, but this was just different texture. So I read the package again, and I had accidentally bought mozzarella that was made from the milk of Italian water buffaloes! Oops. :) It was very interesting- similar to what we usually buy, but with a MUCH stronger flavor.
They have an interesting system in the EU, which they call "Protected region of origin." You may NOT label something "di bufala campana" unless it really was made in Campana. The same goes for basically any regional food- wine, cheese, anything that comes from a unique region. So no labeling Champaigne unless it was made in Champaigne, for example. It's meant to prevent knock offs of a food type, which would drive the original producers out of business. It's an interesting idea I think.
I've been getting a good chance to chat with our landlady this week- she's been out pulling the weeds from the garden next to us, since her renters moved out. They can't rent the house out until they've painted, gardened, and some other things that need to be done. So I've been out chatting with her about the garden and random things. It's been nice- you just about need an excuse to talk to folks here. I'm excited about the Swavesey festival events in 2 weeks- I'm really looking forward to meeting some people in the village, and trying to form some relationships. Its hard to break into a small village, but we're persevering. :) I'll let you know how it goes.
The weather here has been very bland really- they simply don't get thunderstorms in Cambridge like we get in Michigan. It's been mostly sunny, and a high of 75 on a warm day. Usually in the upper 60s every single day. The monotony kind of wears on you when you're used to Michigan's interesting weather. :) Not that I'm complaining- I'm enjoying the sunshine when we get it.
We've just been plugging away here- the CE course ladies are understanding more and more of what we've been studying, although it's the season for holidays among internationals here so they tend to be gone every other week. Our ladies intl bbl study has just finished studying Paul's letter to the folks at Colossae, and we're looking at Jonah for the next 4 weeks. You'd be surprised- there is way more depth to that book than most people realize. In iBASE we studied the best and worst king in the OT- his name is Mannaseh, and his history was recorded by both the writer of Kings and the writer of Chronicles. We saw how he turned from being the most wicked king ever to being the total opposite. And yesterday in TEAM we studied some very deep issues about JC, much of which went over my head. :)
G's work group is getting more internationals by the day. They've just added a man from Sweden, who is marrying an American woman in a few months and will be working remotely from Atlanta. They already have 2 Italian guys, a French guy, G (who as you know is American ;D) and another American guy who is of South American ethnicity. Oh, and there's one British guy. :) It's quite interesting. There seem to be more and more people working remotely for Citrix, which bodes well for us when the time comes to head back Stateside. But part of our reason for being here is for G to gain experience in a real workplace, making friendships there and reaching out to the people there- that's not something which can be done remotely. So we're keeping that in mind as we consider our time here.
We had a food adventure yesterday- one of my own accidental doing. :) Everything here is labeled differently than I'm used to, and when I get tired I stop thinking in "British labeling mode" and I start thinking as an American. We've been eating this great Italian dish, it's basically fresh tomatoes (washed of course), a type of mozzarella called Bocochini, basil leaves, and vinegar and oil. It's great- we had it in Australia and loved it, and now we make it all the time. Well we bought the cheese in a different store than we usually buy it, and I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. But I found something that said "di bufala campana" on it, which I thought was one of those weird European labeling things that meant it was called Buffalo Mozarella. When we got it home though, I opened the thing and pulled the cheese out, and it looked different than what I usually buy. It comes in water, in a ball, but this was just different texture. So I read the package again, and I had accidentally bought mozzarella that was made from the milk of Italian water buffaloes! Oops. :) It was very interesting- similar to what we usually buy, but with a MUCH stronger flavor.
They have an interesting system in the EU, which they call "Protected region of origin." You may NOT label something "di bufala campana" unless it really was made in Campana. The same goes for basically any regional food- wine, cheese, anything that comes from a unique region. So no labeling Champaigne unless it was made in Champaigne, for example. It's meant to prevent knock offs of a food type, which would drive the original producers out of business. It's an interesting idea I think.
I've been getting a good chance to chat with our landlady this week- she's been out pulling the weeds from the garden next to us, since her renters moved out. They can't rent the house out until they've painted, gardened, and some other things that need to be done. So I've been out chatting with her about the garden and random things. It's been nice- you just about need an excuse to talk to folks here. I'm excited about the Swavesey festival events in 2 weeks- I'm really looking forward to meeting some people in the village, and trying to form some relationships. Its hard to break into a small village, but we're persevering. :) I'll let you know how it goes.
Saturday, 7 June 2008
June 7, 2008
It's 8:30am on a Saturday- not a time I'd usually be blogging. :) But so it is. G left early to go to a meeting at STAG for men who are interested in joining what they call the OP group- Occasional Prchers. STAG is a large ch, and a well respected one, and rural/country chs when they need to fill in for their prcher frequently give STAG a call. STAG staffers are just about at their capacity with their own responsibilities, and in order to encourage the growth of prching gifts among the ch body, they put together this group. Can I just say what a good idea? STAG's staff are so very focused on training people to reach what Gd has for them, and this is just one example of the many that are available here. The OP group meets twice a term (about every 5 weeks) and they have seminars about giving talks, they have speakers, and all sorts of things like that. One of the staff at STAG just outright asked G if he'd like to be on the group, and he was pretty excited (and a bit nervous) about the opportunity. Tentmakers (that's C folks who are using their career or starting a business overseas) frequently get asked to give talks or prch at a local ch, so we thought this was a wonderful chance for G to get some experience. A staff person goes out with each man when he prches to give him feedback and to encourage him, and they also have you practice your talk with them before you go. G and I have been in separate groups for TEAM (where we've been practicing writing and giving talks based on a section from Mark) and his talk was very very good- I was so proud of him. :)
This has been a crazy year of taking advantage of the opportunities Gd has given to us here. It's hard to believe that last year at this time I was embroiled in a flower project for my class at WCC, and we were wondering when we would ever get that work permit. :) Now we're at the 11 months mark, looking back on an incredible year here full of Gd's provision for us, making new friends, and sharing the good news with internationals here, in addition to globe trotting. :)
I can't remember if I've already posted this, but awhile back I sent out some requests to just about everyone I knew to see if you had any NLT bbls that you could spare. Thank you all so much for joining with us in that way! An anonymous person donated a box of 32 NLTs for us to use here, and we are so very grateful! We managed to get them back here to Cambridge in our suitcases, and we'll be using them Tuesday evenings for iBASE and I'll be using them in the CE course.
You might be interested to know that we're still running a dehumidifier inside (in the hallway where they spill was) and we are still getting 2 full "buckets" everyday of water being pulled out of the air. The house feels much dryer with that thing running- I've avoided hanging clothes to dry inside so I'm not adding to the moisture. The bathroom floor is still quite wet, and I don't know how long it'll be before the moisture makes its way out of the walls and ceiling completely. Keeping a low humidity in here helps the water to evaporate, so here's hoping that we won't need the dehumidifier soon.
Now that we're approaching the longest day of the year, an interesting phenomenon is occurring here. It involves waking up at 3:45am to it being light outside. I'm not kidding- 3:45AM and it's basically predawn! The sun is setting past 9:30, and it's not really dark until almost 10:30pm as it is. G and I have some eye covers (we like to call them eye patches) that British Airways thoughtfully gives its customers, but honestly it is difficult to go back to sleep when your brain says "Hey look! It's dawn!" After next week the days will start to get shorter slowly, and I never thought I'd say that I'd be happy for that to start happening. :)
This has been a crazy year of taking advantage of the opportunities Gd has given to us here. It's hard to believe that last year at this time I was embroiled in a flower project for my class at WCC, and we were wondering when we would ever get that work permit. :) Now we're at the 11 months mark, looking back on an incredible year here full of Gd's provision for us, making new friends, and sharing the good news with internationals here, in addition to globe trotting. :)
I can't remember if I've already posted this, but awhile back I sent out some requests to just about everyone I knew to see if you had any NLT bbls that you could spare. Thank you all so much for joining with us in that way! An anonymous person donated a box of 32 NLTs for us to use here, and we are so very grateful! We managed to get them back here to Cambridge in our suitcases, and we'll be using them Tuesday evenings for iBASE and I'll be using them in the CE course.
You might be interested to know that we're still running a dehumidifier inside (in the hallway where they spill was) and we are still getting 2 full "buckets" everyday of water being pulled out of the air. The house feels much dryer with that thing running- I've avoided hanging clothes to dry inside so I'm not adding to the moisture. The bathroom floor is still quite wet, and I don't know how long it'll be before the moisture makes its way out of the walls and ceiling completely. Keeping a low humidity in here helps the water to evaporate, so here's hoping that we won't need the dehumidifier soon.
Now that we're approaching the longest day of the year, an interesting phenomenon is occurring here. It involves waking up at 3:45am to it being light outside. I'm not kidding- 3:45AM and it's basically predawn! The sun is setting past 9:30, and it's not really dark until almost 10:30pm as it is. G and I have some eye covers (we like to call them eye patches) that British Airways thoughtfully gives its customers, but honestly it is difficult to go back to sleep when your brain says "Hey look! It's dawn!" After next week the days will start to get shorter slowly, and I never thought I'd say that I'd be happy for that to start happening. :)
Thursday, 5 June 2008
June 5, 2008
It's the season for moving here in Cambridge. Like Ann Arbor, there's a period of what feels like mass exodus, where not just students are graduating and moving, but families, friends, etc. In our iBASE group about 75% of our students are returning to their home countries within the next 6 weeks. Most au pair positions are for a year long assignment, and then the students return home to begin university. It's like the gap year idea here in the UK, where many students take a year off after high school to work or travel. Anyway be pring for them as they return to their home countries and try to find chs where they can get involved.
We have a new friend, A, who has just come from the Czech Republic. She came to STAG Sunday and came to iBASE Tuesday. A's English is not very strong- she doesn't understand most of what people are communicating. So she's really struggling right now. We were so blessed to see the iBASE ladies reach out to her, and starting to form friendships with her and helping her to get settled. Our one Czech girl is returning home in 6 weeks- she's a young C but is eager to share with A. iBASE ends in 2 weeks, so pr that A would form some relationships with the girls who are staying in the UK another year.
As for me, the beginning of every week is very very busy with preparing studies or going over materials for the next study, and preparing a talk for our practice sessions at TEAM. Thursday is always a big relief- it's like the start of a 4 day weekend. :) I still have a lot of work to do on my website (which is why there are no photos going up) plus I am at the point where a complete overhaul of my photo storage system is necessary. The way I've been keeping track of my photos is no longer feasible, and I need to reorganize my computer files and start a new system. I'm hoping to do a sort of skill swap with a friend of ours who is starting a small business buying Chinese art and selling it in the galleries here in Cambridge. He happens to have some web programming skills, so I'm hoping to be able to get him to help me on my website, and I'll take photos of his art for him to use when talking to galleries and such, and on the web. We'll see.
We have a new friend, A, who has just come from the Czech Republic. She came to STAG Sunday and came to iBASE Tuesday. A's English is not very strong- she doesn't understand most of what people are communicating. So she's really struggling right now. We were so blessed to see the iBASE ladies reach out to her, and starting to form friendships with her and helping her to get settled. Our one Czech girl is returning home in 6 weeks- she's a young C but is eager to share with A. iBASE ends in 2 weeks, so pr that A would form some relationships with the girls who are staying in the UK another year.
As for me, the beginning of every week is very very busy with preparing studies or going over materials for the next study, and preparing a talk for our practice sessions at TEAM. Thursday is always a big relief- it's like the start of a 4 day weekend. :) I still have a lot of work to do on my website (which is why there are no photos going up) plus I am at the point where a complete overhaul of my photo storage system is necessary. The way I've been keeping track of my photos is no longer feasible, and I need to reorganize my computer files and start a new system. I'm hoping to do a sort of skill swap with a friend of ours who is starting a small business buying Chinese art and selling it in the galleries here in Cambridge. He happens to have some web programming skills, so I'm hoping to be able to get him to help me on my website, and I'll take photos of his art for him to use when talking to galleries and such, and on the web. We'll see.
Sunday, 1 June 2008
May 31, 2008
Me and the 500 year old hornbeamToday we decided to go out to Hatfield Forest- it's about 45 minutes from Cambridge, and is the only remaining Medieval hunting "forest" which is still managed in the traditional ways. It also happens to be almost underneath Stansted Airport. :( The forest is 1000 years old- it was originally part of the Great Forest of Essex. Think like Sherwood Forest- nobody can hunt the King's deer, etc etc.
The funny thing about the forest though is that it's not all forest. Forest was a word that meant something like "a place where deer live." Fallow deer were introduced there in the 12th century for the king to hunt, or to be hunted for him. If you want more info you can go to http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-hatfieldforest/w-hatfieldforest-why_special.htm
It's a cool place- it has awesome streams that look like they came out of a movie, and wide open meadows where herds of cattle graze. They still coppice some trees (an ancient method of tree farming where they would cut the tree back to the ground and wait 15 years for the branches to grow, and cut those for sale) and pollarding (same idea as coppicing but cutting the tree back at 7 feet high so cattle wouldn't eat the branches.) Anyway hornbeams and hazel trees were the most common for pollarding, but many of the ancient oaks and ashes show signs of having been coppiced like 400 years ago- they're amazing trees. We enjoyed walking all over the forest, following the forest trail path, getting ankle deep in mud, and admiring the amazing old trees.
As is always the case with us, adventure seems to seek us out. :) Even in a peaceful, quiet place like Hatfield Forest. Our first bit of excitement came in the form of a herd of cattle- they're used to manage the forest, to keep scrubby trees out, and keep the weeds out of the meadows and stuff. I love animals, and I always like to get a good close look if I can. Cattle I usually don't get too close too, especially considering that they have babies right now. Well, we were enjoying this fabulous ancient hornbeam, taking photos, lounging around in the evening sun, and the herd became visible way off afar. We were like "Hey look over there! How cool!" They seemed to be coming in our direction, but we thought they'd follow the main meadow section. Well, they didn't. They got closer and closer, to the point that we began to think "They are DEFINITELY coming straight for us. Umm..." At that point it was too late to go anywhere else, too late even to grab my purse which was near another tree where I set it down. They came VERY close- basically the herd split right in front of our big tree! There were about 30 of them- maybe 40, it's hard to tell. I didn't want to startle them when they realized we were behind the tree, so we started making some small sounds and talking a bit louder, and though they were a little alarmed they classed us as non threats, which is good. :) The bull of the herd came right over, and believe it or not started scratching his head on the next tree over (where my purse was) and I thought for sure he'd step all over it or eat my sunglasses or something, but he didn't. He stepped on the corner though, but nothing was damaged.
I got some great close up shots of many of the cows, their babies, and this big bull rubbing his head on the tree. As they got closer we were like, "Ok, we'd better plan on climbing this tree if they attack us." But they were fine. One might think that the National Trust wouldn't allow dangerous animals in their spaces, but cows with horns, and babies, are worth of special care. Alas, I couldn't video this whole thing because my cell phone was in my purse!!!!! Argh! Anyway here are some photos from the vantage point of a 500 year old hornbeam.
Getting closer...
Closer still...umm that one has horns...
Uhh, that bull is like 15 feet from me...I hope he doesn't eat my purse!
Mama passing 5 feet to the right of our tree...
A baby running by to the left of the tree
A baby running by to the left of the treeAs if that wasn't adventure enough, we were continuing on our way, on the tour of the forest, looking at every ancient tree we could find, and stopping to admire how amazing they were and pet them (I like to pet trees) near the end of our tour we stopped at this crazy old Ash tree. It was the stumpiest, shortest, fatest ash I've ever seen. They NEVER grow this way naturally. That was the theme of the day in fact- pollarding and coppicing make the trees grow unusually. Anyway I was photoing this tree, and there was a plant in front of it that I didn't like. So I thought "I'll just push that to one side" and when I touched it I discovered that this is no ordinary weedy looking plant- it's a stinging nettle. How did I find that out you may ask? Well, stinging nettles have histamine in their "stingers" and I got 4 of them jabbed right into the inside of my left ring finger- possibly the most sensitive part of one's hand. My finger swelled up a bit as if a bee had stung me, and let me tell you it felt like one had stung me. It hurt like crazy- it even looked like a bee had stung me.
I have always had unusually strong reactions to anything that injects histamine into the body- I have seasonal allergies as it is, and my body goes way overboard with the histamine production. Anyway, if that info wasn't enough, George's comment of "Umm, I think you're having an unusual reaction- I've touched these and never had anything but a rash" wasn't very comforting. I keep benadryl in my purse, so I took one just in case, and I crushed one and used some water from my water bottle (hand things those water bottles) and rubbed the benadryl paste onto my finger. That helped considerably- the swelling went down fast, and it stopped hurting quite so badly. I still can't wear my wedding ring because it irritates my finger.
Here is the amazing 400 year old ash, and those scruffy looking plants
at the base of it are the offending stinging nettles.
I have always had unusually strong reactions to anything that injects histamine into the body- I have seasonal allergies as it is, and my body goes way overboard with the histamine production. Anyway, if that info wasn't enough, George's comment of "Umm, I think you're having an unusual reaction- I've touched these and never had anything but a rash" wasn't very comforting. I keep benadryl in my purse, so I took one just in case, and I crushed one and used some water from my water bottle (hand things those water bottles) and rubbed the benadryl paste onto my finger. That helped considerably- the swelling went down fast, and it stopped hurting quite so badly. I still can't wear my wedding ring because it irritates my finger.
Here is the amazing 400 year old ash, and those scruffy looking plants at the base of it are the offending stinging nettles.
Despite the crazy adventures, we loved Hatfield Forest and would like to go again. The funny thing is that we got there around 2, and when we left there wasn't a car in the parking lot- British folks usually leave somewhere around 5, so they can get home and start cooking dinner, having it ready to eat at like 7:30. The place was crowded near the entrance, with people sitting next to the parking lot in lawn chairs reading...I saw about a MILLION places I'd rather be reading than next to a parking lot! But to each his own I guess. :)
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