Jeremiah Watt

NOt my photo, I had to borrow it, good aerial view of Blenheim and grounds

England had long suffered militarily at the hand of King Louis XIV of France . Too the man who would prove to be the King of Frances victor goes a just reward you could say. That person came in the character of a young man 1st Duke of Marlborough, an academic scholar and a brilliant battle strategist. It should come as no surprise that the young Duke actually worked for King Louis, before he became his conqueror. Now King Louis did not in the end loose the rule nor occupation of his country, but he did give over the supremacy of the high seas to British Fleets, and he no longer held that position of power with his continental land troops.

Wrought Iron gate within Belnheim, thru the gate to the Victory Obelisk

Front door is what we call it in a trailer house, but these folks call it a Grand Entry way.........I dun'o seems like a lot of letters used up for the same thing.NOT MY PHOTO

Heres the outside of the Grand Entry way

As a gesture of gratitude to the 1st Duke of Marlborough, the King of England made a special gift of a Castle on an Estate. Not just any castle mind you, but the Castle Blenheim which is a very grand statement of architecture for sure. There is a little unknown history that comes with this whole story, and it plays a role in one of my own favorite hero’s, and that person is Sir Winston Churchill, who is of the Marlborough family line. Mr. Churchill was born in Blenheim, and also wed at Blenheim.

This is a sitting room............but dang you'd be afraid to sit here after a branding. NOT MY PHOTO

My crew at the front gates of Blenheim

Just take a look at that Library, what a magnificent collection of books it contained..............and ther wasn't even one Hank the Cowdog. NOT MY PHOTO

It was time though for us to move on and get to All Souls College in Oxford before it closed, it was a stop of major importance to the young scholars in the back of the road rocket in which we rode. Both seem to hold this Oxford in some sort of high regard when it comes to education, far for me to say if it is or is not a bastion of education. The campus was shut down for the most part, no more tourist walk through, mostly due to a tightened level of security etc. SO we did manage to get permission for a security guard to step into one alcove by the front gate a snap a quick picture for our “posterior’s” sake.

From Whale jaws to T-rex skeletons, boy howdy they had it all at teh Natural History Muse

Gardens and fountains at Blenheim. NOT MY PHOTO

JW loves butterflies, not sure why, just fascinated with the colors and patterns. This was a tiny portion of a huge cool exhibit. We didn't have a lot of time so we had to flutter through.

Next stop the Pit River Museum of Natural History, and what “muse” this was, boy howdy I would have loved to have my older brother Bill with me on this one. He and I both love the Natural History type Museums, and this one was a dandy. A total of 4 floors, if I remember right, but only the 1st and 2nd have collection open to the public. The third floor is under renovation at this time, and is due to open in 2009 I believe. This was a collection of natural history items with a little Ethnology thrown in for fun. We had about 2 hours to make the tour and then onto another Muse.

More Gardens at "the back of the house", mind the lawnmower says the fella. WOW-NOT MY PHOTO

Yes, the security and the janitor were all a little concerned as I lay on my back and took this upward view of T-Rex...........even the little kids asked me "aure ewe allll right Sir".

Folks these are the wildest set of jaws I have ever seen, and as much as JW loves all things dead and hairy I am determined to have me a set of these...................DANG, I hate getting old, can you tell me who they belong too??

A new twist on Dead Critter Walking, over 90 feet of skeletons come marching past in zombie like fashion

This time around we are at the Ashmolean Museum, which holds the record as the first Museum to charge a fee, but also the oldest collection put forward as a Museum,…….so in Rio Linda, you would call it the first Museum.

A row of pillars that surround the second floor mezzanine, the light was just to cool to pass up

The Pit River MUseum from the second floor

Some very intricate wire work showing here on the handle of a Pistol

The Asmolean, as it appears, with cases too numerous to count. Each filled to the brim with artifacts from every continent, and from every culture............except COWBOYS

No, this is not the KETTLE section form the ZZ Top tour band. It is a kettle section from a Shinto Shrine in Japan............close though because Japan and Texas are on the same planet which is something that beautiful young girl in South Carolina may not know.

This was a spectacular stroll, in amongst the Renoir’s and Matisse, amongst the cases housing “Straddle-various” Violins and Viola’s. The collection of musical instruments would cause the socks to roll up and down for a guy like Scott Brown or Julian Tubb, who both used to be fine saddle makers but now have turned their talents to Luthery. This was a collection of everything cultural and many things natural, but its interest was that of Arts and Culture. I loved it, but I could tell the kids were getting a little burned out on things older than Brittany.

Walking the foot paths to All Souls "Collage"

NOw this will make yer sticker peck up. A sound hole in a Lute, it has a total of 7 layers of delicate wood fret work counting down inot the center, and a spiral stem sticking up from the bottom that is 9 layers. It was behind glass and a tough shot, I hope you can see it well enough

An Ivory and Rosewood Octagonal box...............wowzer Grommit this was a nice piece.

Without doubt the crooked-est house I have ever seen. I bet that the third floor leaned over by more than 3 feet........its amazing it is still standing after all this time. Built in 1295 and in constant use as a bar, with Disco Dancing on the third floor.

We walked quite a bit, as the kids blew off steam and done a little shopping in various stores along the busy streets. We seen some strange signs downtown, warning of Humped Pelicans???? Not sure just what it was all about, but we kept a wary eye out. It was getting on, so we found our VERY funky Hostel for the night and took refuge, by luck there was a grocery stop close by and we bought something to cook instead of dining out. Just simple stuff, some Pasta and Bali Sauce, a little corn and peas and yes I musn’t forget we had a package of cold pancakes and jam for dessert. Pancakes in a package are a very common item over here, easier to find than pancake mix matter of fact.

My crew JUST inside the gates of All Souls College

A very busy street in Oxford, say, isn't it almost time for Tea??

Good Night and God Bless