Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

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Anne Hathaway was the wife of William Shakespeare. Her cottage was known as Newlands Farm in Shakespeare’s day.

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Their love and marriage was probably a bit of a scandal as Anne was 26 and William was 18 and seven months later Anne gave birth to their daughter, Susanna.

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William was given six pounds, thirteen shillings and fourpence upon their marriage as her dowry.

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Anne Hathaway’s cottage is the most photographed home in all of England and is a spacious 12 roomed farmhouse with several bedrooms.

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Shakespeare’s Courting Chair.

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The Hathaway bed.

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The last private owner of Anne Hathaway’s home was Mary Baker.

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Another bedroom with Tudor style walls.

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This is showing you the insulation of the home. Back then mud and hay were used to build the walls. You can still see the fingerprints in the mud even thought the home was built in the 1460′s.

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Looking out through the window into the garden.

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The last stop was in the kitchen. These are the original floors of the home and all the cooking was done in this fireplace.

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The sightseeing isn’t over yet. Next we will head to Mary Arden’s farm. Mary Arden was Shakespeare’s mother (and her mother’s maiden name was Webb). Are you beginning to see the trail I am leading you down? I’ll explain it all soon!

William Shakespeare’s Home

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After a morning walk, my Beloved’s first stop on his list was to see the home of William Shakespeare. This was his childhood home where he was born and raised, and where he also spent his first five years of marriage to Anne Hathaway, and later returned at the age of 49..

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Williams father, John, was a glover and apparently did well for himself. Upon entering the home, the Parlor was the warmest room in the house with a fireplace and a bed. During Shakespeare’s time, a bed in the Parlor was considered a sign of wealth. This is the room where it is believed William Shakespeare was born and where they would’ve entertained guests.

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This tapestry beside the bed would have been a symbol of wealth as well.

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The Hall (below) is where they would have gathered for the noon meal (main meal) of the day.

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The photo below is in the Hall looking back toward the Parlor.

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This would have been Shakespeare’s bedroom.

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Above his bedroom was his father’s office.

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The girls room was large and has many artifacts. The chair shown below was Shakespeare’s chair and what looks like a desk to the right was actually a pantry that had snacks if the children got hungry in the night.

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William Shakespeare’s chair.

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Below is the parents bedroom. Children typically stayed in the same bedroom as their parents until they were about 5 years of age. Before they could sleep on their own, they had to pass a candle test, meaning they had to show they could hold a candle still for atleast one minute. Fires were aplenty due to the candles, so the town had a curfew of lights out at 8pm every night.

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This is a book of visitors to William Shakespeare’s home.

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Many writers, actors and historians have visited Shakespeares home including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Thomas Hardy, John Keats, Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Carlyle, Walter Scott, Ellen Terry, and Henry Irving. They have etched their names in the glass leaving their signatures behind.

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The small doorways, some of which came to my hubby’s 6’4″ frame were made low so that they would hold the heat in.

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A view out the window to the garden.

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Below is what is believed to be William Shakespeare’s signet ring with his initials (reversed so as to give a positive impression when pressed into wax) and a “true lover’s knot.” The ring was found in a field owned by Shakespeare and close to his church. Signet rings were popular in that time to show the authenticity of letters and documents and to make sure they were not tampered with. A signet ring would have been the most expensive item a person of that time possessed. Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden, had a signet ring as well. Her signet ring was of a rearing horse.

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Considered on of literature’s greatest influences, little is really known about William Shakespeare. Author of 38 Plays, 154 Sonnets, and countless other poems, we have William Shakespeare to thank for many famous quotes like “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool” and a whole host of sayings like “break the ice” and “eaten me out of house and home” which is how I describe my punks.

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So until tomorrow…

“Like as the waves make towards the pebbl’d shore, so do our minutes, hasten to their end.” ~William Shakespeare

Stratford Upon Avon, England

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After some much needed rest my Beloved had one more day before work started, so he headed to Stratford Upon Avon. He has traced his Webb family tree all the way back to here, so he was excited to do some sight seeing in this area.

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A market town in south Warwickshire, Stratford Upon Avon sits along the River Avon and is best known as the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

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As morning broke, he was drinking in the countryside.

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These fields of yellow were beautiful and expansive but he was up before anything was open so he found a park and went for a walk on a few walking trails to wait for businesses to open.

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Couples were out for their morning walk and as they would pass by they would say “Cheers!”

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Which my man from West Texas found pretty neat. He should’ve replied “Howdy!” and that would have really woke them up!

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We have nothing like these walking trails here in West Texas, so this was a nature feast of a walk for him.

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Tracing your family history is an amazing process, and going back to where your ancestors started and were rooted is a pretty amazing experience. I’ve got lots to share with you about the Webb family in the coming posts, so stay tuned!

Prom 2012

Saturday night I had the most fun at a Prom photo shoot with my oldest punk and his incredible friends. These kids are just too much fun, and that made for an awesome time, awesome pictures and awesome memories.

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This is my oldest punk…

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and these are his fun friends.

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Saturday morning I woke up knowing I wanted to make this fun so I downloaded a few photo booth props from Oh Happy Day and Accent the Party.IMG_3684

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But it wasn’t until I walked into my oldest bedroom and saw his Iron Man t-shirt sitting on his bed that the very best idea hit me right between the eyes.

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I’ve seen pictures of groomsmen doing this before and it all flashed through my head in an instant. I bounced the idea off my punk, he called his friends and we all couldn’t wait. Who wouldn’t want to be having this kind of fun? Seriously?

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But, what fun would a photo shoot be without a little brother photo bomber? (Say hello to my youngest punk.)

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As a final photo, I had to capture them in the elevator headed up to the Amarillo Club. Let the fun begin!!!

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Bath, England

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After my Beloved visited Stonehenge, he jumped back in his car and drove… still without any sleep… on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road to Bath. It’s all about adventure… and seeing how much sight-seeing he can do before work takes over.

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He arrived in Bath, parked his car and came up from the parking garage to see this. This is St. Michael’s Church, constructed from 1734 to 1742; however, there has always been a parish at this site since the Middle Ages.

This view down the street shows Bath Abbey at the end of the street.

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I’m not sure if this sign is helpful or more confusing…

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But somehow my Beloved made it to the Roman Baths without me… shame, shame.

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Beautiful and ornate upon entering, aren’t they? (Did I just speak Yodanese?)

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Originally called Aquae Sulis (“waters of Sulis”), the springs were discovered by the Celts and dedicated to the goddess Sulis.

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During Roman occupation of England, the Romans founded these public baths in 75 AD. Visitors from across the Roman Empire were attracted to the healing powers of Sulis (who the Romans called Minerva) and the mineral-rich water from the spring.

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Next he set out for Bath Abbey.

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Originally a monastery, Bath Abbey was found in the 7th century and today is an active place of worship.

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He didn’t go inside, but you should take a look at these photos I found online. So beautiful!

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After a quick jaunt around the Abbey, he headed down the street to Jane Austen’s home. No pictures allowed inside, but this cute little chap was greeting everyone outside. Lucky for me, he picked up a few goodies inside the gift shop for me… including Jane’s complete works (squee!).

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Next up we’ll head to Stratford Upon Avon! I think it’s time my beloved got a little sleep, don’t you?

Stonehenge

Last week my beloved jumped across the pond to attend an academy at Oxford University without me, shame… shame.  He got to do a bit of sight seeing while he was there, so my next few posts will chronicle his adventures in England. His first stop after stepping off the plane was to rent a car and drive to Stonehenge.

Important note: Not sleeping all night and driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road help keep the adventure exciting.

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Unknown fact: Stonehenge was created by aliens. See photo below.

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The sheep know this to be true. They are really aliens but hide themselves by day as sheep.

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Just kidding!

Stonehenge has been a place of myth, legend and most recently academic research. Stonehenge dates back to 3100 BC and is located in Wiltshire, UK. Stonehenge is not the only ancient site in this area. About 25 miles north is Avebury. Avebury was more of a site dedicated to birth, life and death, where Stonehenge was dedicated to Astronomy.

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Other evidence points to Stonehenge being a burial ground from its earliest days as cremated human remains have been found on the site.

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Below is the Heel Stone, also called the ”Friar’s Heel” or “Sun-Stone.”  It is called this because when facing north-east through the entrance towards the heel stone, one sees the sun rise above the stone at summer solstice.

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But of course there is also a folk tale about the Heel Stone.

“The Devil bought the stones from a woman in Ireland, wrapped them up, and brought them to Salisbury plain. One of the stones fell into the Avon (the river Avon), the rest were carried to the plain. The Devil then cried out, “No-one will ever find out how these stones came here!” A friar replied, “That’s what you think!,” whereupon the Devil threw one of the stones at him and struck him on the heel. The stone stuck in the ground and is still there.”

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There are many other theories, about Stonehenge, but one cannot deny the beauty of the rolling hills surrounding the monument.

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So, who built Stonehenge? It is believed that the native inhabitants of Britain were the builders of Stonehenge. They were animal herders who maintained small scale agriculture, skilled flint-workers and used pottery known as Grooved Ware who obviously had  dedicated cosmological beliefs.

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What was Stonehenge for? A place for ceremonies, a burial site, and an astrological site. Many other theories abound such as a place of Druid worship, an astronomical computer, a centre of ancestor worship, or as a cult place of healing.

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Over 900,000 people visit Stonehenge a year and it is truly a site to see and wonder at.

For more information about Stonehenge, click here.