The Rasmusens in Oxford

We took a couple of trips last week, and I still haven’t processed most of the pictures and may not for a while. Here’s a selection, though. We spent two days in Dorset. The first day we went to Corfe Castle and the Isle of Purbeck, famous for Purbeck marble, which is a kind of hard limestone.

Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle has a great sloped lawn for rolling or running (which is what we did), as well as romantic beauty.

We then continued down the road to the village of Worth Matravers, which is picturesque in itself but also has trails down to the ocean cliffs. We walked down a long trail (1 1/4 miles each way).  The children did very well, though Lily had to stop and fret at one point. We passed lots of cows, which stared at or ignored us, but wouldn’t get out of the way if they were in the trail.  The trail ends where Purbeck marble was quarried. There are some modern ruined buildings, and the quarrying went on in artificial caves.

In the Quarry

The quarrying was done at the top of cliffs– you can’t get down to the water– and I couldn’t see how they got the stone onto ships. Maybe we were there at high tide.

The Rasmusen Girls on the Cliff

We stayed at a bed and breakfast just south of Dorchester. It was an old farmhouse that the current owner had used for farming pigs till he gave that up for hosting. It wasn’t as good as the B+B’s we went to near Wales, but we’ve been spoiled.

The next day we hurried to Charmouth, famous for its fossils, to go on a walk guided by someone who does that for a living. We couldn’t keep up with the guide, but we did find ammonite and squid fossils,and some petrified wood. The entire trip was inspired by a good
article on dinosaur bones that Grandma Rasmusen had sent us.

Ben on the Charmouth Beach

Lily and Faith

It’s easiest to write things in reaction to the photos we have, so I’ll do that.

We all went to Blenheim Palace last Saturday to hear three lectures by Douglas Wilson, a prominent Reformed pastor from Moscow, Idaho who runs the blog Blog and Mablog. Ben M., a DPhil student who goes to St. Ebbe’s, is his son-in-law.

Blenheim Palace from the Front

A Blenheim Courtyard

The conference was in one of the rooms in Palace, and between sessions we could roam the grounds along with other visitors.

Ben M. at Blenheim

Four Children at the Blenheim Lake

Dad was at high table at Nuffield twice in this past week, after the Benny Moldavanu (from Bonn) and Sergiu Hart (Israel) workshops. It might be interesting to see the guest list and three menus.

The Canal at the Frenchay Bridge

We went for a walk on Port Meadow with Ellie, one of Amelia’s classmates, to see the horses.

At Port Meadow

The End of the Canal Downtown

On another outing, we went to Wytham Woods, which is owned by the University. It took us about 3 months and two letters for the permit to arrive– and then two permits arrived separately within a week of each other! The Wood is not very attractive now– though the views are good– but it will be very nice in the Spring, and it is very large and not at all far away.  Spotting a badger set, we all went forward to investigate, and Helen’s leg found a deep hole and she fell flat and fast on her face.  Thankful that she was not carrying Faith at the time.

In Wytham Woods

Dad gave a workshop at Bath University, driving out and back. It went well, and Bath has some interesting people. The Indian restaurant he went to for dinner was very good, and was in a fancy Georgian building.

The Bath Economics Faculty