Messing About in Boats

So when the stress and hassle of work and life get to you, it's always important to take advice from the great works of literature:

"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
- Kenneth Graham Wind in the Willows

And so that's what we did:

Half-Term break this year found us heading out to the Norfolk Broads, Britain's largest protected wetland and the third largest series of inland waterways comprised of small dikes and rivers to sweeping expanses of open wetlands:

Always the traditionalists, we set off on our 1-week adventure aboard a 22-foot traditional wooden gaff-rigged sloop, Jenny:

Little Jenny was the perfect size (ok, perhaps we could have done with something a wee bit bigger... ;) for seeing the Norfolk sights, including the traditional thatched-roof homes complete with "boatways" (we're assuming there were driveways too, we just didn't see them!).

And all the fantastic wildlife the broads had to offer:

Australian Swan (European swans are white, and there were plenty of them!). This swan was part of a pair introduced to the broads as an ornamental species who have made a comfy home harassing human tourists for whatever junk-food they were willing to offer.

Crested Grebe (Kim loves these guys, particularly when they carry their young around on their backs!)

Egyptian Geese (also ornamental imports)

Little Turns, up from Africa for the breeding season.

Marsh Harriers swooping around over head.

And lots of other animals (including coots, moorhens, greylags and otters!!!) with lots of little babies paddling about!

One of the challenges of sailing the broads are negotiating the many low bridges crossing the rivers:

The above bridge was in Potter Heigham, an ancient Roman village famous for it's pottery. The low-flying medieval bridge we crossed under is famous for being the most difficult to navigate in all of the broads. Passing under it was fun, but we were particularly impressed with our ability to drop and raise our mast & rigging in under 20 minutes!

After a long day of sailing it was great to moor up in a quiet spot along the banks of the nature reserve, open a bottle of wine, pull out the binoculars and enjoy the chattering of wildlife all around us:

Quiet, restful and invigorating - it was the perfect break after a long and stressful year and a great reminder that:

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
-ee cummings

Goin' a little batty...

So the winter has come and departed since last we wrote. We're guessing by now everyone has probably stopped expecting any new adventures from Team Raccio UK... It was a long and snowy winter here in the UK - beautiful to look at:The view from Kim's classroom window: But we can't lie - fun as it was to finally see a little snow, it caused widespread pandemonium across the Cotswolds. Our car was trapped in the driveway for 12 days (we shoveled - but no plows for the roads!), classes disrupted (but still running - the national exams were underway and they don't stop for no one!), and once we nearly ran out of wine (but a 3-mile trek to the nearest shop fixed that problem). Eventually we decided to take a few lessons from the locals and simply decided to bury our heads until spring:We stayed pretty cooped up with all the snow and work - although we did get out on one or two little adventures, like traveling to Glasgow for a performance of one of Jesse's newest pieces (www.jesseraccio.com) and visiting Necropolis on the way: Very Buffy. Kim wandered around with a stake the whole day:And generally enjoying the food, metro vibe and antics of a city that refuses to take itself too seriously (apparently Wellington is almost never without his cap): Unfortunately our little girl, Bizzler, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in early spring. Nothing can fill the hole left behind by the loss of a fur-kid, but eventually spring came and we've enjoyed the antics of new fur-babies everywhere: Finally deciding it was time to get out and reconnect with the world we excitedly celebrated National Moth Night on May 15th with other crazy Lepidopterain enthusiasts: We got a special perk when we discovered this year's theme was Moths and Bats! We waited patiently for dusk to settle and for some of the UK's most elusive bats to emerge from their daily slumber: And fly right into the harp traps waiting to interrupt their dinner run: It was a busy night with lots of bats being captured and recorded: A good thing for the moths... well, except for those lured by the enchanting glow of the various traps lighting up the forest (so... irresistible...) Good geeky fun for all carried on well into the night: So there you have it - a little update! Hopefully the longer days will bring more interesting adventures (or at least extended opportunities to catch up on old posts!)

One Night in Gaol

After 11 years of marriage, we thought that we ought to try something different - but not too different - so after a bit of consideration we though it highly appropriate to celebrate the event in prison - The Oxford Prison.

Originally built in 1071, the Oxford Castle evolved from a wooden keep into a massive stone structure, later encompassing the Oxford Prison. Closed in 1996, the former Oxford Prison (or Gaol) is now home to a swanky 5-star hotel with a fantastic restaurant and bar - a perfect (albeit ironic) place to spend our anniversary: The Prison at Night (creepy):Looking in through the barred windows at the detention block:
Interior shots of the original detention block, where our room was located:
Perhaps familiar from such films as "The Italian Job" and "A Fish Called Wanda":

The door to our "cell": Interior shot of the door, with kicked dents and other creepy artifacts:
But don't be mislead, our "cell" was certainly 5-star and HUGE by European standards!
Our windows (they took down the barbed wire, but not the bars!):
Before a yummy dinner down in the crypts, we started off the evening in the fantastic prison bar with all sorts of fun drinks like an "Over the Wall" (Champagne, Raspberry Vodka and Chambord):

And toasted ourselves to another 11 years!

Tam, Tam he's our man....

Tam came, Tam saw, Tam conquered. Everything....

Our lovely IKEA banana plant pre-Tam (serving as our christmas tree/Hannukah bush):



Our lovely IKEA Banana plant post-Tam, mutilated, sunburnt and left to die in the back garden:


Who said life with ferrets isn't interesting...?!?!?

Because Everybody Loves Puffins!!!

Caption Contest!!!

As we prepare to embark on our next voyage beyond THE NORTH (a.k.a Scotland), we took a few minutes to reflect on some of our favorite moments from our last visit to the Hebrides. Although we won't be returning to the home of these puffins on Isle of Staffa, special "highland prizes" will go out for the best captions to the following photos:

(1)______________________________

(2) ____________________

(3) _____________________________


(4)_____________________________

(Ok - so it's a bit of lame excuse for our noticeable lack of real posts - but you've got to admit that these poofballs can make you smile! Of course, if your only motivation is a prize, it should also be noted that the tiny island we plan to visit is renowned for both wildlife AND 8 distilleries producing what could be argued as some of the world's best whiskey...)

Over and Back Again

Once again - the joys of Term Break were upon us... This time, rather than hitting the open road of the Autobahn, Eurotunnel or other methods of continental travel, Jesse and Kim decided to explore the beauty of the English Countryside - starting from West to East. In late April we loaded up our ever-faithful Hyundi Getz (ours is silver) and headed to The West, striking out to the famous coastal countryside and stationing ourselves in the quaint artistic community of St. Ives (and as close to the US as we've managed to get in the past two years!). Our base - a fantastic little (and we can't emphasize how little) self-catering apartment smack dab in the middle of the ancient fishing village of St. Ives: Tiny and quirky (we don't know if these photos actually do justice to exactly HOW SMALL the apartment was!) - The Wreck provided a fantastic base for exploring the fishing village, coastal landscape and Surfing Haven of St. Ives: Mind you - this was April... and to us the weather was freezing, wet and grey... but that did stop the hard-core surfing community that flocked to St. Ives: Although some of the locals were better "kitted out" for the crappy weather than we were: Despite the cold, driving rain and generally miserable (a.k.a "English") weather conditions, we did manage to find places that made us feel right at home: (Unfortunately Kim didn't have her sweatshirt, given to her by her mom as a present many years ago, to wear when we actually visited the Three Ferrets pub. We're pretty sure our ferrets - all 4 of them- we're snuggled up inside the sweatshirt wondering why the hell they were stuck in their room whilst we were away!). We didn't worry too much about that, as we had our own problems with some of the locals: Unfortunately a few complications back home (i.e. - Shandy eating one of our elastic hairbands), forced us to return a bit prematurely... so we didn't get to hit all of the sights on our list such as the Eden Project or Penzance. But the Cornish coast is surprisingly easy to get to, so we'll be sure to go back! But the Cotswolds isn't all that shabby this time of year with some great hiking footpaths leading right out of our back yard. Spring is a vision of blooming beauty - and hayfever (oh god do we miss our Clartin-D! Note to parents - we're running a bit low on the stuff. Care packages would be greatly appreciated...): A-choo! Clearly there isn't much else to do in our neighborhood: Ok... so enough of the flowers (Barassica rapa, or Oilseed Rape. Also known as Wisconsin Fast Plants to those who've been lucky enough to work with them on a bio term project or two). An unfortunate name for a lovely crop that could provide hours of bad... very bad... puns, which we've tastefully decided to omit from our blog) Moving on... a few weeks later we were blessed with yet another term break (and some SUNNY weather!!!) and in true Baggins spirit we headed to The East, striking out for the other side of the island which included a lovely stop in the academic splendor of historic Cambridge:

(St. James College, University of Cambridge)

The view from our hotel along the River Cam: And the famous Cambridge pass time - Punting. Although we're not sure this is exactly the way it's supposed to go... there seemed to be lots of drunken university students celebrating the completion of finals with bottles of champagne (or Jack Daniels) which clearly inhibited their punting abilities: Of course, Cambridge was home to many, many famous scientists - Kim was particularly giddy to see the Museum of Zoology with its extensive collection of dead and squishy things:

Shout out to all you Bio-9ers who ever survived a Raccio class (or a Noble Proctor Biogeography course). The ultimate mascot of Limiting Factors --- The Whale Billed Stork! (Apols - the author is having a biogeek moment...)

But wait -- it gets even better!!! Actual finches collected by You-Know-Who on the infamous Voyage of the Beagle: And his Beetles!!!!

Not willing to settle for the second-hand experience, we had to visit the grounds where Darwin himself studied and expanded his coleoptera collection:

Established in as the first National Park in England, Wicken Fen was a beautiful haven for all types of wildlife:

(ok - so not a beetle, but still a lovely arthropod, no?)

And when it was time to refuel, a visit to the famous Eagle Inn, where Watson and Crick argued their formative ideas on the structure of DNA over a pint or two, and earlier, where US Air Force troops signed their names into the ceiling with lighters, lipstick or all other means before heading off to fight in WWII:
Not to monopolize the science-geek front, we also sought out other venues that our musical-geeks in our reading audience would better appreciate:

Now converted into a Bed and Breakfast, we spent a lovely evening in the the home and birthplace of the famous composer Benjamin Britten, which was located in Lowestoft, the Easternmost village in the England:

Of course, even the best plans eventually go to the birds:


In this case it was visiting the fantastic RSPB preserve Minsmere - complete with plenty of fluffy chicks (above) and sand martins (below): Wild Konik Ponies: And the otherwise fabulous beachscape of the North Sea: All in all a lovely time over and about the island. Now we're back again and looking forward to our next adventures...