Thursday, September 10, 2009

Going to Cheltenham

For years, my family has been in the possession of a portrait of my great great great grandfather Charles Dalenger Chenery. The first I remember of it was when it was hanging at my grandparent's farm in their living room. The next was when I was a little kid, when I remember a large crate arriving at house in Montreal. The portrait then hung in our dining room, and we got a new sand box in the garden! "The portrait" would watch over us eating dinner, especially when we would stir our ice cream. Nonetheless, he looked handsome on our wall between the sconces, so naturally he looked right at home in the Vicarage in our dining room there. The sconces came along as well, so they fit in too. When Mum and I moved out of the Vicarage to Bloxham we took the Portrait with us, and he got a new home at the top of the stairwell; where he greeted us every time we went upstairs. The reality was that when we move back over to Canada we couldn't take him with us and it would be better to bring him back to his 'stomping ground' in Cheltenham. Before Daddy died, he wanted to donate the portrait to Cheltenham College where Grandpa Chenery taught as a founding master in 1841. So this is what we did. Mum, Dorothy and I packed him up in the Volvo and with Dorothy's directions we drove out to Cheltenham on a beautiful, sunny day. The archivist at the college had arranged to meet us there and after presenting her with the portrait she gave me a tour of the campus and up to the archives themselves. She explained how they are always happy to receive any information on the early days of Cheltenham as they were missing quite a lot. We were all made to feel welcome and they were all so appreciative of the donation it really was quite touching to know the portrait would be well looked after in his new home.

Charles Dalenger Chenery, M.A.
A Family photo of sorts.
"Farewell!"
The College reception.
Inside the Chapel
The room Grandpa Chenery would have taught in over a hundred years ago.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Emeralds!!

You may remember my 2 year anniversary ring that my handsome man bought me, but that was two years ago and it was time for a new one another 2 years on (pine sap killed the last one). Ed and I trolled through hundreds of pages of rings on eBay, and looked in various shop windows looking for the best. Eventually we both spotted one on eBay, and with Mum in the background drooling over the prospect of new emeralds, we bought it! I waited for several days as the post man would come to our house with no package for me, and yesterday he did have one. I love looking down, seeing my 'bling', and instantly thinking of my fabulous handsome man. I will miss him terribly while I'm in Canada and he's in South Korea, but I'll have a wonderful reminder of him whenever I see my shiny green emeralds!

Monday, September 07, 2009

Hook Norton Brewery

For the past four years I've been telling Ed that we had to go to the Brewery. I didn't specify when, though. With 3 weeks until we flew, Ed and I booked a tour of the brewery and a tasting session of the beer. I had gone on the tour once before with Dad but I still enjoyed seeing the history of the brewery in action. They used gravity throughout most of the brewing process, which isn't widely used in the country so is something special to see. And they are one of the last to use a steam engine to pump the 'brewer's liquor' (spring water) up and into the system. The tour takes you right up the whole 5 floors of the brewery and out side where they keep their horses. They used to have 20 horses at their peak, but now use a combination of 3 horses and lorries to distribute their beer. 'Hooky' beer has a very good reputation, and is well loved by many including myself. I'll just have to find a way of getting some when I'm in Montreal!!

Ed and I outside the Brewery
"Not another picture"!
Me by the steam engine
This is the "mashing" process, unlocking all that loveliness!
One of the carts they still use to get the beer to the many pubs they own.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Haying

Mum and I are currently living right across from a field that seemed to be left fallow, or so we thought. We can see the field from the window on the landing, and one day when I was walking down stairs I saw the tractors working out in the field. The previous week I had noticed that the grass that had grown very tall had been raked into long rows. This week, they had three tractors total: one to run over the rows of grass collecting it underneath to compact it into rectangles, one to run around collecting the blocks once they'd come out from the first tractor, and a third to carry the hay away. Mum and I stood and watched as the entire field was organized in a matter of minutes!

The first tractor
The second tractor, carrying the hay.
All three tractors working together.