Warwick Castle

Ed looked at the blog and told me that I forgot to include our day at Warwick castle last weekend. We were told it would take two hours to go through the castle. I think we were there for at least four and could have done more. Instead of just touring the castle, there were many things to watch such as jousting, sword fighting, archery, trebuchet exhibition, large bird flight exhibition, etc.

A weekend away

There is a yearly event in Cheltenham on the raceway called "Greenbelt" which in a nut shell is a Christian Arts Festival. There are musicians, speakers, Boothe's, and much more that thousands of people attend. Some camp on site, others come for a day or stay nearby in a hotel or B&B. Our church, the London Menn. Centre plus a couple other organisations that the Centre is connected with have boothe's there and people sign up to man them. Ed and I decided we aren't the camping sort, especially in this case where the tents are only about 5 feet apart from each other, no showers, sleeping on the ground, etc. Plus all the hotels were booked. So we drove the others there and then took off for a long weekend away. Monday was what the British call a Bank Holiday. I don't know what the holiday was but it gives most people that Monday off. So the next few entries are about what we did. We had a great time and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was mostly sunny, usually in the mid 20's (C) which would be low 70's F and dry.

Stratford upon Avon

We spent a day and a half in Stratford which is on the river Avon. This is where Shakespeare was born and lived. The entire town is dedicated to him in one way or another. You can tour his home, his wife's home, they have the Royal Shakespear Company which has all kinds of Shakespeare productions all year long. All of these were on a break during the weekend we were there. However, we found a young theatre group that put on the production of The Twelfth night on a stage outside by the river. We sat on mats on the grass and it was a beautiful day plus it was free. Well they did ask for donations at the end. After that a younger group, as in 12 year olds, were doing Hamlet, but we ventured on towards other events. The first picture is of the river Avon, the next is Shakespeare's home where he grew up, third is the theatre group at the end of the play, and the last is a statue of Shakespeare.

Monk's Barn

This is the Bed and Breakfast where Ed and I stayed for three nights. It's just outside of Stratford upon Avon on a working sheep farm. The Barn is dated pre 1500's and they are in the process of restoring it. It is registered so they have to do things in a way that takes a long time. While were were there we could watch them putting on a new thatched roof. Very time consuming. This first picture is of one of the buildings close to the house which we think had at least one bedroom in it. The second picture is of the pasture/meadow right behind the house of their sheep grazing. The last picture is the backyard of the main house which has at least four rooms for guests. Ours was the room with the three rectangular windows on the right of the house. She served a "full British Breakfast" which is 2 eggs, grilled bacon, sausage, a tomato, mushrooms, toast, cereal, juice, and coffee or tea. You could have baked beans if you asked for them which is very traditional as well. They look like they come right out of the can. Yogurt and/or fresh fruit could be ordered for a lighter appetite. We usually had the larger meal which lasted us until evening.

Hidcote Gardens

When we were driving through the Cotswolds country, we happened upon this garden. It's one of the largest I've ever been to and was really varied. It had wooded areas, large open trimmed grass areas, "English garden" type areas with boxwood, etc. and wilder looking areas that were less "manacured". I would have to put in 20 pictures to give you a decent idea of what it all encompassed.

"Where time has stood still"

Here is the Village of Snowshill which on the info from our B&B said that it is one of a couple of villages in the Cotswolds where it appears that time has stood still. The road into Snowshill was just barely more than a one vehicle width and we would often have to stop and pull over slightly to let the oncoming vehicle through. It is worth it just to see the quaint homes and shops that are all made of the same sandstone.

Tower Bridge

These are pictures that we took back in March when Weldon, Jenny, and Laurel Martens were here visiting. Ed and I just haven't done much recently and haven't taken any pictures to show. And with all the cloudy, rainy, cool weather we've been having, I wanted to look at some pictures with blue skies to remind me that we do have sunshine here.
We are going on a weekend get away to a B&B and hope to have some good pics after that. We actually are flying back to the States on September 12th to visit my mom and family in the Harper area, then most of the time in Colorado. We were hoping to be able to stay in our house that is being built in Woodland Park, CO. However, even though the inside is finished, the outside things are not completely done. The city & county are stricked and they won't give us a certificate of occupancy until things are all done. It's hard for Emily and JJ as they are going to move into the house wants it's done and they don't know when to tell their land lady. She wants a months notice and it's just hard to know. A year ago we thought we might possibly be in our house by the end of the year or at least before we left for London. Oh well!
The Centre has officially been closed to meetings, seminars, etc. for the month of August. We have continued to have guests in the guests rooms. We've had several people on their way to mission assignments and it has been interesting hearing about what they will be doing. Some are going home from their assignments and they enjoy having a stop in London for a few days before they go home. I'm glad we have a place for them to relax.
I'll try to post after we get back from our weekend in the Cotswolds.

A trip to Bristol

Ed and one of the guys that live at the Centre took a trip to Bristol which is close to the West coast of England. They went for two days and saw a few sights. Ed can't remember the name of this bridge but he must have been impressed as there were a lot of pictures to choose from to post.
There was a balloon loft going on and again lots of pictures to choose from. They stayed with the sister of Will, one of the other guys that both lives and works at the Centre. Will goes to Bristol nearly every other weekend to visit his mother who is in a long term care facility so Ed and John rode along.

Brunel's ss Great Britain

This is the ss Great Britain which is the worlds first great ocean liner. It could run on either steam or use it's sails.

This is a picture of one of the great halls, (on the ship) where they would have dinners etc. Here it is set up for a wedding reception that was to happen later that day.

More from Lithuania

I am sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe by a lake and behind me is this counter where you can purchase smoked flounder. We had some kind of pike for our meal and it was really good.
This castle is on another lake in Lithuania near Vilnius, the capital. The bottom part of this castle is the original and the top is new since some time in the past 40 or 50 years. I can't remember at this point. There were too many facts about Lithuania to absorb in a week.
Lithuania is strongly Roman Catholic and there are many icons to be seen. This is one we saw often which is called the contemplative Christ.

Lithuania

I'm still learning how to post things on the blog to get them in the order that I want. Seems like when I think that I have it figured out, then it changes. So for the next few pictures you need to read the paragraph below the pictures to know what they are about and where we were.

The beach and folk singing/dancing

The beach was great. The water however was very cold. There were quite a few people who got in however.
We had supper at a large restaurant in the country and they had arranged for this group of players/singers for us. They played and sang traditional Lithuanian songs and did some dancing as well.
A number of times they would grap someone from their table and start dancing. I happened to be close to the group so I got chosen a couple of times.

This is a view of Klaipeda from the top of a tall building where we had lunch one day.

Mennonite Mission Network workers gathering

Sorry that it has been awhile since I have entered anything on the blog. There hadn't been a lot happening at the Centre as it slows down somewhat during the middle of July through August. We went to a seminar/retreat for MMN workers of Europe which this year was held in Lithuania. It has been about 15 years since the dissolution of the USSR and Lithuania is still in transition in many ways. Much rebuilding is going on with the infrastructure yet there are reminders of the old Soviet Union. We flew into Vilnius, the capital city, took a 3 1/2 hr bus ride to Klaipeda. We stayed in the student dorms of the LCC International University. (Formerly known as the Lithuania Christian College). There are a lot of North Americans teaching and working there on staff. The University has been in existance since 1992 as an invitation from the Lithuanian Government shortly after they received independence. It is an amazing thing to see how they have grown and what is happening there. Too much info to put into this blog. In a nutshell, we had a great time. Visiting with other missionaries in Europe, eating the local ethnic food, and doing a lot of shopping and touring in the city. We spent a couple afternoons on the beach but the water was very cold. Klaipeda is at the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska but isn't quite as cold. However they say Lithuania has two seasons: July and Winter. It was quite cold when we arrived and I wasn't sure I had enough to keep me warm. We had warmer temps as the days went on with upper 70's or more by the end. It was really humid so I'm glad it didn't get too much hotter. I will not insert all 500 plus pictures we took (thank goodness for digital photography) but will put in a few and maybe throughout the next couple of weeks as well.