Why Oxford is Called the City of Dreaming Spires?

Why Oxford is Called the City of Dreaming Spires?

By: Globus

Oxford has long-served as an inspiring landscape to writers, artists and dreamers. In his poem, “Thyrsis,” written to commemorate his friend, Arthur Hugh Clough, who died in 1861, Matthew Arnold famously captured Oxford in the view from Hinksey Hill with the evocative expression, “that sweet city with her dreaming spires,” describing the elegance of the famous university buildings.

Today, the view from Hinksey Hill is less dreamy, despite the greensward foreground of “Matthew Arnold’s Field,” which was purchased by the Oxford Preservation Trust in 1928. Now, those spires are best appreciated from atop St. Mary’s or Carfax Towers in town. Other literary treats lie in Oxford’s Christ Church College, where Charles Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll) was a mathematics tutor from 1855 to 1898. He created his stories Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass to entertain the daughters of Dean Henry Liddell. Much of his inspiration came from Christ Church, including the long-necked “firedogs” that hold the logs in the fireplace (Alice’s neck stretched long), the narrow spiral staircase down which the Dean would disappear after meals (down the rabbit hole) and the mulberry tree outside the library where a cat would perch (the Cheshire Cat).

Today, a stained glass window in the Hall depicts scenes and characters from the stories. And, of course the Hall was used in the Harry Potter movies as the dining hall at Hogwarts. For the less lofty, a stained glass window in Christ Church Cathedral tells the story of St. Frideswide, Oxford’s patron saint, with her deathbed panel bowing to modern convention. The window was made in 1858 – a year after the aptly named Thomas Crapper invented the flush toilet. Thus, a flush toilet sits clearly in the background of the final dramatic panel of this famous stained window.

Destinations aren’t just places on a map. They’re the backdrop for some of the most fascinating stories in history. What story might you discover next with Globus and RJP Consulting?

8 for 8

WOW! I am now depleted. I have stayed up late every night since 08/08/08 watching the Olympics, both Gymnastics & Swimming. I have loved both since I can remember. They were both sports that I could take with me where ever I moved throughout my childhood.
I remember watching the Olympics with my family and I was always begging to stay up to watch both sports.

Tonight I watched sporting history be made! Michael Phelps with the help of his teammates for his 8th Gold Medal !!! I remember Mark Spitz winning his 7 Gold Medals. There were many who said that Michael would not make it, but I have said all along that he could do it. This race was absolutely one of the best I have seen in a long time, however last nights race was even better. I was also amazed by both the men's and women's gymnastics teams. They performed wonderfully. I personally feel that the ladies were robbed the gold by a group of 12 year old girls there is no way that the Chinese were playing by the rules for this sport. Now lets get back to the phenom called Michael Phelps.

My youngest daughter has now said that she is very interested in swimming. One thing you may not know, but she has just recently been diagnosed with ADHD and I for one have told her that two people she truly likes to watch also have ADHD, both Michael Phelps and Ty Pennington. By doing this I was trying to show her that just because you have this does not mean that you can not achieve everything you set your mind to do. The entire family has been working with her to get everything on track for her. I can not wait to tell her about this AMAZING accomplishment of Michael's!

Now on to Dara Torres. AWESOME 5 Olympic Games and at 41 she has received a Silver Medal. Way to go! This goes to show that age does not matter.

Okay it's off to bed I go! I must get up early tomorrow!!! New tires for the car....

Hot Water!!!!!!!!! Got any????

Well today a new hot water tank was installed today by my husband and a buddy... It was a true treat to sit here and listen to them. I can never truly tell what my husbands thoughts are when it comes to working with this buddy around the house. I get the impression that he is either in awe or is just purely filled with envy about the tools this buddy has and what can be done with them. Now I am not saying that my husband does not have some cool tools, but it seems the buddy had better ones. You know he saying, "A boy and his toys", well this buddy is in the home repair trade and he always seems to have something my husband does not. Now the really nice thing about this is that my husband does not come to me all the time and say "I gotta get that", but there are times when he does! I really can't wait to hear what it is this time. I find it humorous to have my true blue one of a kind geek working around the house at times. There also are times when I sometimes shutter to see what he is doing, but of course he most likely feels the same about me when I get going on projects around here. Their comments to one another are so funny. You should be a bug on the wall when they are together!

Anyway, I am up at 6 o'clock this morning taking everything completely out of the pantry, I ran the carpet cleaner to suck up any remaining water - there was still a lot of it in the carpet. We got lucky because of the shelving, therefore I did not have to remove the foods from there until this morning. I also had already removed anything and everything that got wet last night and got rid of it, so there really was not to much to do except get up as much water as possible. We got the kids up to start the day and then just as I am finishing getting one daughter up, the phone rings and it is the buddy. My husband calls up the stairs to tell me that he is leaving to take our oldest to work along with her boyfriend and a foreign exchange student. He also tells me that his buddy will be here in 5 minutes. OH GREAT! at this point I'm not even dressed. I ask him to stay here just until I though on some clothes. The next thing I know is that my mom calls to find out where we are with the kids. She thought we would all be coming over to take a shower. I explained that we were not doing that as one had swimming today and the other was already at work. I was hanging out here until we could get everything taken care of. I told her that my husband and his buddy were doing the replacement and that we should be back up and running within the next hour. This must have really set her off.... I could hear it on the phone and I could see it when I stopped over there before dropping my youngest off at summer camp. We had to pick up her bathing suit. I really thought she was going to blow at me for something, but my dad was there and he just said to let it go.... and it was gone..... I really can't wait to get into a nice warm shower....

Hot night in the Hollow....NOT!!

This is where homeownership really makes you want to be a renter again. I get home from the food store, only to find while putting the food away, that the flooring in the pantry is soaking wet. This just is the topper to a wonderful weekend. After some investigation my husband and I find that the source of the water is our 11 year old 50 Gal. hot water heater. Yes our hot water tank is in the pantry, but hey you put the shelving where you have the space... right?!?!

Well the weekend started off pretty well. I was able to attend breakfast with my mother and her friend and we all went to have our nails done. Next stop for the fam, was my company picnic... There was a lot of '80's music, but only 5 showed up dressed from the decade. The kids received a pair of brightly colored cheap sunglasses. There was a pool, but we did not bring our suits. Our youngest saw there were tennis courts, so she wanted to try it. Off we go and then my oldest decides that she wants to try her hand at tennis. My husband takes her on and I have the youngest. Having played tennis since I was about 8 yrs old my children did not know what to expect. They just assume that I have never picked up a racquet other than for racquet ball. Lately though I had forgotten what it is like to serve the ball. However, I did have to take it easy as I was showing an tweener how to play. Well as it turns out she got smacked on her fingers with a ball and she managed to hit herself on top of here head. Now the other one is getting some pretty good hits against her dad. He however lobbed a ball over the fence. Our youngest shortly said she wanted to change partners, she wanted to hit the ball with dad. So change we did, on the second serve my oldest, who was wearing flip-flops, went running for the ball and she ended up having the ball hit her right on top of her foot and that ended our game. Oh well, off we go in search of water and a ladies room. We left shortly after having some great family time! Next stop was to Friendly's Ice Cream so the girls can get something to eat. My husband and I had a Christmas in July party to attend later on that evening.

The party had GREAT food and drink, AWESOME company. The party was going strong, but we could not stay forever. Our oldest daughter works every Saturday & Sunday. Someone needed to take her in the morning. We left earlier that we would have liked.

So now it is Sunday and I got up early to take one daughter to work and when I get home and get the rest of the family ready to get some breakfast, my youngest daughter tells me that I need to call my mother, but my husband stops me from doing that and tells me that one of my aunts has passed away. Even though we knew she was in hospice and that she would be passing, it still hurts and I am managing through it. We go for some breakfast and we take care of many different things for the day. I chatted with my mom later on in the afternoon just about family stuff. She tells me that we all left the party to early seems my sister-in-law go hurt. A citronella candle was burning and someone said that one of the tables was on fire, she went to blow it out and the candle exploded in her face. Now I have been told that she is fine, but she doesn't have any eyebrows or lashed and she has a few burns and she will need to apply burn ointment to her lips and her brows. I spoke with her this evening and she tells me she is okay. Updates will follow.

So, now back to the water matter. My husband called a friend and we will be replacing the tank tomorrow morning. I then call my mom and tell her what has happened and she has so kindly offered the use of the shower for the family. Then it is time to clean up the water. First the tank needed to be drained, the power to it turned off, (after 11 years we finally learned where the electric breaker is for this tank).

Days like today really make me want to rent again. As a matter of fact my husband asked me, "How long before we can move into a 55+ community?" We figure we have many more years here and we will rise above the water tank......

Notes from the Hollow

So, I thought I would join the younger pixies in the hollow and try blogging. It has been hot here in the hollow for the last 6 days. Can't wait for cooler weather! I know we complain when it is cold and we complain when its to warm. Why can't it be between 70 to 75 degrees daily?

Well let me tell you about what my day job employee association has decided! They have announced that our annual company picnic we will be remembering the 80's on Saturday. I thought that decade was long gone. Visions of big hair, too much make-up and jeans that are much to tight come to mind. We the employees have been asked to dress according to the them of the gathering. I for one know that I burned those fashions long ago, well not actually burn them. My mother made me give them away when I moved out on my own. The only reason to gather the fam up to attend this is to see if the CEO if the company and his Management team actually do dress in the 80's fashions.

After my company affair it is off to the husband's company picnic..... This one sound and looks nicer than mine. It seems to be on the beach and it is turning in to a family vacation weekend. We are planning to stay overnight at the beach for 1 night maybe 2. Our oldest has even managed to get time off from her employer. Yeah no pancake batter smelling clothes for the weekend. We ge to play on the beach and in the water all day!!! We all can't wait.

Next stop for just the husband and I will be a Trans-Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 (QM2) in October. More about that as we get closer to our embarkation in Brooklyn. This will be our second trip on the QM2... Our travel agents are the best. The travel consultants at RJP Consulting, Inc. called one day to tell us about a historic crossing in October. The QE2 (Queen Elizabeth 2) has been sold to a company in Dubai to become a 5 star restaurant and hotel. Cunard has decided to have an escorted crossing with the QM2. Then we get to have 2 days in London to explore. We can hardly wait!!!!!