In Which We Become A Bit Better-Travelled

When last I posted (in October), I was a day away from submitting the final draft of my thesis to the powers-that-be at my university. Here I am holding my thesis for a few moments between collecting it from the printers' shop and submitting it to Registry:

The submission of my thesis was followed by a Great Bustle, in which I madly prepped for classes, attended dozens of meetings, submitted lots of paperwork, and marked a large number of student essays. In the midst of all this, I. and I found time to venture outside Sheffield once or twice.

The first days of November found us back in Edinburgh to visit our church family and pack up our flat.

With a rental car stuffed to the gills, we drove back south and embarked upon the now-perpetual adventure of unpacking in a flat with still very little furniture. This adventure was alternately precipitated and halted by our trip to Oxford and the visitations of a number of friends and family members.

Oxford was, as ever, lovely; I spent two frantic days in the Bodleian exploring the delights of manuscripts, and I. joined me for the weekend as he had never yet visited that lovely city.

The weekend following saw us in London to meet one of our Albuquerque friends who is currently travelling around the world. N. and I. enjoyed a few quick strolls through the British Library and British Museum before my arrival, and we three lingered longer in the Science Museum. Among its great delights were the steam engine demonstration, which warmed up the hall tremendously.

I enjoyed learning about the monoplane developed near the beginning of one of the World Wars (and then never fully tested due to demand for weapons of warfare).

I. was more taken with the DNA model that used actual pieces from the original version built by Watson and Crick. (In the interests of fairness and promoting knowledge to the world, I believe I am supposed to mention that while the model was built by these two Nobel Laureates, the bulk of the research was done by Rosalind Franklin). Here's the model:

After the sojourn in London, we were joined by another Albuquerque friend, and I. and they went out on some exciting adventures (including a well-punctured trip to Hadrian's Wall, of which I. refused to take any photographs). We abundantly enjoyed their visit, and after their departure had just enough time to wash the sheets in preparation for my parents' visit, which was brief but fun. Of particular note during my parents' trip was our corporate journey to Scotland, where many celebrations were had by all. We celebrated St Andrew's Day in fine style, visiting the university named in his honour and participating in the graduation ceremonies.

We are now back in Sheffield and enjoying a quiet and empty house in advance of what will surely be a busy Christmas and New Year's. Merry Winter to All, and to All a Good Night!