Mugging for the Camera

When I started my first MA back in 2004 (!), Dad sent me a joke:

Q: How is an academic like a squid?

A: When threatened, they both hide behind a cloud of ink.

So, when my former housemate, Claire, graduated with her MA, I gave her a nice pen (to create the cloud of ink) and a University Mug (to put the hot drink in to keep her company on those late nights spent working on the cloud of ink).

Then, disaster.

My parents were here in England for Christmas (No! That wasn't the disaster bit!) My washing machine was leaking just a bit. So Dad and I set about sorting it out. We had to pull out the machine from under the kitchen counter. Only, I'd forgotten that the counter top was actually resting on the machine. It was broken, and only looked like it was attached to the wall. So when we pulled the machine out, down came the counter top. And Claire's mug was on top! Several other things were on there as well, but fortunately only Claire's mug and one other (random, not special) mug broke. Of course, I felt terrible about having broken Claire's mug. She was very kind and said not to worry about it, but I did. The only time they sold those particular mugs was during Graduation. So I couldn't just nip up to Uni and replace it.

So, July comes around again. Graduation. Only this year, I'm participating in the ceremony. I wanted to get a new mug for Claire, and get one for Jenny (who'd been on my MA course, so was also graduating). Unfortunately, I was so rushed off my feet that day, I didn't get a chance to get any mug! So, what to do? What to do?

Inspiration. There's a ceramic painting shop on the High Street in Colchester. So I took Mom down there and we painted 2 mugs. She did the watercolour bit and I did the lettering. It's the backs of our heads (Claire, Jenny and mine) with morter boards flying up into the air. Then, along the other side it says 'University of Essex Linguistics'. And along the handel it has the owner's name. Mom had finished the artistic stuff, and I was working on the lettering for the 2nd mug when I decided they were turning out so well that I needed one for me. So Mom painted another, and I did the lettering on a 3rd. I had to send them off to be fired, of course, and it took 2 weeks to get them back. Then it was another 2 or so weeks till I could get both Jenny and Claire in the same room at the same time. I was absolutely desperate to give them their mugs! Finally, we managed to have lunch together last Thursday. They loved the mugs (of course!) So, here's the photos of what they look like:

Easter Snow?

Woke up Easter Sunday morning and started down the stairs. In my house, the stairs face the back garden, and there is a window looking out. Imagine my shock when I looked out the window and what did I see? I'll give you a hint -- it was white, but not 'Popcorn popping on the Apricot Tree'. More like someone got overly excited with the popcorn maker and sprayed it everywhere! We had SNOW!!! I've seen a grand total of maybe 3 inches of snow in the 4 years I've lived in England. None of it later than mid February. And by the time I got to Church (10.00 AM) it was more than an inch deep. My grandmother is visiting. She had Shingles last summer, and has some residual pain from that, which causes her not to be able to sit on a hard bench for 3 hours of Church without really suffering, so in the middle I darted off to collect her for Sacrament Meeting (which we have last). I had to be very careful driving out, because the snow had reached 4 inches by that time, and Colchester simply was not prepared for it. It continued to snow all through Sacrament, reaching the staggering depth of 6 inches! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who's side you're on) it quit snowing and started to melt by the end of Sacrament meeting, so I didn't get a photo of it at its deepest. Never mind.

After Church I came home and got dinner started. The West family came to my house for Easter dinner. We had roast beef, roast potatoes, mashed sweet potato, green salad, carrots and parsnips for dinner, and Vanessa made a raspberry trifle and a chocolate birthday cake (for me!) for dessert. The kids played with the playmobil sets Mom gave me for Christmas, and had a great time slaying dragons and jousting knights. All in all there were 11 people (me included) in my house for dinner: Claire (housemate), Russ (her boyfriend), David, Vanessa, Elliot, Camilla, Jonny, Hannah and Jordan (West), Grandma and me! Loads of fun. Thanks for coming, everyone!