Constable Country

On Saturday Ceri and Dad went to the Temple with the Stake Primary, and Gwen was ill, so Hari and Mum and Tag went to Ipswich again to visit Grandma and Grandpa. On the way back we stopped at Dedham.

Dedham is a hamlet on the River Stour in North Essex. The area is known as "Constable Country" because the famous artist, John Constable, lived in nearby Flatford, and walked to school in Dedham each day. When he grew up he painted scenes from his local area. His most famous painting are "The Haywain" and "Flatford Mill".

We decided to take a boat trip along the river. Here's Hari on the boat...

 ...and here's Tag.

It took about twenty minutes to cruise to Flatford. Here is the boat being tied up in Flatford by the River Stour Trust volunteers who operate it.

Bridge Cottage is now a museum with lots of copies of Constable's work. The door was tiny - Hari is 5'4" tall and she couldn't get through it without bending over.

The ceiling beams were very low, too.

Tag enjoyed looking at the displays of Constable's paintbrushes and sketch books.  

After we had looked at the museum we went to the gift shop, and then to the tea room for afternoon tea.

Then it was time to get back onto the boat and cruise gently back to Dedham.

I photographed this fence because I thought the sign was interesting. It says "Please keep to the right when passing other craft", but on the roads we keep to the left. There were lots of rowing boats and canoes on the river, and we did collide with a couple on the way, but boats travel so slowly that no damage was done. On of the volunteers who operated the boat told us that this fence was also worth photographing because Constable painted a picture of his horse jumping over it.

After the boat trip we walked into Dedham. It was a very beautiful little village, with lots of thatched cottages and very old houses. This pub was built in 1462.

This is the Parish church. It was extremely big, but unfortunately it was locked up so we couldn't go in. The pink house (we're on the border with Suffolk here, so lots of homes were "Suffolk pink") is the Old Vicarage.

Hari loved Dedham and said that she would like to live there. We found an estate agent and looked at the prices of some of the homes that were for sale. A two-bedroomed detached thatched cottage was £425,000 ($705,000) so I told her that she might have to wait a while.

Coming off the High Street were lots of little lanes like this, with tiny higgledy-piggledy cottages in them.

Here's Tag on the edge of the village, looking down towards the High Street.

 

There are lots of really pretty villages in Essex, and throughout England. There wasn't time to visit any others, but Tag was pleased he had the chance to see Flatford and Dedham.

Trivia questions:

1. Centuries ago, some Dedham villagers and their controversial preacher left Essex and sailed to the New World where they set up a community, also called Dedham. Which US state is it in?
2. John Constable also painted a famous landmark which Tag visited a couple of weeks ago. What was it?

(You can give your answers in the comments if you like, and I'll give the answers in the next post.)

Bouncy Bear

Today we had what I may start referring to as a “British Day”, after seeing all of Tag's rainy, cloudy pictures from England! We didn’t let the weather get us down, though. Despite the rain, it was bright and fun inside Monkey Joe’s, our local bouncy place.

Charmin selfie! There were 8 different bounce houses to play in.

Tyson and Teeny pose with Charmin on the pirate ship! This was one of Teeny’s favorites.

Did I mention that Teeny decided Charmin needed a necklace? 

Can you find the little bear hiding in this picture?

Charmin watches the kids play- he was too small to go in the obstacle course. We didn’t want him getting lost!

Charmin takes a ride with Tom & Jerry. Charlotte isn’t so sure about Tom.

Tyson helps Charmin climb the big slide...

And helps him come down, too!

Charmin and I get a photo together, courtesy of Charlotte.

Charlotte and Charmin pose in front of the obstacle course.

This was a special bouncy play area for the littler folks. Just right for Teeny and Charmin.

And a quick video! 

Charmin had a great time bouncing on this rainy day! Only two weeks of summer left...yikes! We’ve got plenty of fun left, though!

A Bear of Culture

For our Family Home Evening this week, we decided to get adventurous and head out to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in downtown Richmond. It’s a beautiful museum with so much to see! There is fine art from all over the world, much of it many, many centuries old- paintings, sculptures, furniture, jewelry, housewares, and even some clothing. If someone put creativity and craftsmanship into it, you can find it there. 

We stopped on our way in to get a photo- the museum is there in the background. And who is that handsome man? It’s my sweetie, Chad!

This neat outdoor colonnade thing is from India. I told my husband I was putting one of these on his honey-do list for our backyard.

Behold, the Golden Hare! We liked this rabbit.

This is one of my favorite parts of the museum- a reconstructed bedroom from the home of a wealthy heiress in New York City. I keep bringing my suitcase and I try to sneak in, but they never let me get very far...

Charmin reads all about the house it came from.

Tyson helps Charmin assume the correct archer’s pose.

Some of the art was really BIG, but Tyson helped a certain little bear get a better perspective.

It looks like the kids are standing on a ledge, but don’t worry- that’s a window behind them. That house is called the Robinson House, and it played a part in the Civil War. You can read all about it here. 

The museum also has a collection of Native American art and artifacts. Charmin liked these. 

He especially liked this funny little guy.

After a lot of walking, we were ready for a break! 

We snagged one last bear pic on the way out. Charmin had so much fun at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts!

Charmin Goes to the Movies

Sorry we (and Charmin) have been MIA for a couple of weeks! We’ve either had kids too busy to bear-sit, or nothing that interesting to report on. But today we headed to the movies! Our local theater does a “Summer Family Movie Express” every summer where they play older kids’ movies on weekday mornings and it’s just $1.00 per ticket. Today was a rainy day for us, so we decided it would be the perfect day to see “Mr. Peabody and Sherman.” 

When we arrived, the line was already quite long! Fortunately, it moves pretty quickly. We only waited about 10 minutes or so.

Once inside, we stood in line again for refreshments. It was chilly in there, so Audrey made sure Charmin didn’t get too cold.

Charmin checks out the goodies. They looked yummy, but we decided on a large popcorn that we could all share.

I help Charmin get situated with Charlotte.

Then Charmin found his own perfect seat in the cup holder.

After the movie ended, we did a little photo op with the “Box Trolls” ad. Charmin is in there with Tyson. 

Charmin liked the penguins, since he’s sort of built like one.

We grabbed another shot in front of the theater on the way out.

They offer free refills on the large popcorn buckets, so we made sure to get a second refill on our way out for us to enjoy at home. Looks like Charmin was eager to dig in as well...

After the movie, we decided it would be fun to head over to Michael’s, a craft store, before we headed home. Charmin thinks he looks good in pink.

Then he goes for a ride on the toy dolphins. Whee!

Taking a little break among the faux flowers. Ahh.

Charmin! Get out of there! That crazy bear... :-)