Day 10

I was very brave last night. I went into the bathroom, and on the bathmat was a very, very large black spider. Did I scream? No. I could only rely on my brave self.  I was thinking about the huntsman spiders that my Australian friend Rebecca used to tell me about. Ugh.

I managed to pick up the four corners of the bathmat and shake the spider into the toilet. I slammed down the seat cover and flushed four or five times. Just wanted to make sure!

Breakfast shared with new friends, then off to class.

This is what I learned today. 

1. Back in the day, people knew turkeys were foreign. They assumed they came from Turkey. Therefore they called them turkeys.
2. Tea was a feminist symbol. Coffee and chocolate had to be taken out in coffee houses. Only men got to go out. In fact, the coffee houses became the men’s clubs or places of business. Lloyds of London was a coffee house first. Tea was served at home, and the mistress was the keeper of the tea leaves, which were incredibly expensive. She would invite her friends over to join her for tea. And subversive feminist clubs were founded.
3. Did you know Oxford was the first place to serve coffee?

Julia allowed us to leave class a few minutes early so we could have lunch before meeting at Tom Quad to walk down to our bus.

We had a field trip to Cogges Farm.

The original farm was listed in the Domesday book dating from 1000.

The buildings retain a lot of the medieval work, it was incredible. The farm was also used as Yew Tree Farm on Downton Abbey.

They had goats, sheep, a pig and ducks and geese. All looked very happy and well cared for.

We had a wonderful guide who was passionate about the place. He’s been there many years, he and his wife do a lot of the gardening there as well. 

When we went into the kitchen, there were two docents and a 9 or 10 year old girl dressed in costume. The little girl served us Welsh cakes. They were pretty good. Sort of like scones, but flatter and topped with cinnamon sugar. I got the recipe. This Welsh Cakes recipe is similar.

I left a donation because it is a terrific look into the past. 

Pat sat at high table this evening for dinner, I took a picture of her for posterity. I get my chance tomorrow.

So far we have had chicken, pork, salmon, and tonight, some sort of beef fillet. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Dessert was a meringue topped with fresh banana topped with whipped cream drizzled with butter scotch. Every night, something wonderful. Crème brûlée, tiramisu, lemon tart.

Once again, we were the last to leave. I sat with my friends, Jeff and Gail from Vancouver, Alona from Sydney via Latvia, and Stephanie, who lives on the border of England and Wales. We had a great conversation about English and Australian TV series.

I walked back to my room in Canterbury Quad. I stopped in Tom Quad, the main area and just watched the sky and the setting sun for a while. It’s so beautiful it makes your heart hurt.  A bell has been peeling for a half an hour. It just stopped! I wonder what it was for.

Love,
Lynn