July 8
      From Patrick Scruggs on our visit to Hampton Court:  "It was extraordinarily beautiful with the two different architectural styles of Baroque and Tudor.  The place was impressively built and was very similar to Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles through the vastness of rooms, the massive gardens and fountains, but really the size of it.  There were two rooms that stood out to me the most.  The saircase with a beautiful ceiling painting and a room with weapons surrounding the viewers."
     From Edward Laney on the same topic:  "Straight after lunch a group of us decided to try the maze.  It seemed like we were the oldest people in there with the exception of parents of young children.  I entered the maze thinking it would be fairly easy to figure out; however, I soon found myself walking around the maze aimlessly listening to people who claimed they knew how to get to the center.  After spending much more time in the maze than I had intended, I stumbled upon the center by chance and was able to move on to the gardens."
     Jack Hallow chimes in:  "The moment I stepped foot into the first room, I was amazed.  A painting covered the top half of every wall and the ceiling.  I could see the astonishment in the eyes of every man, woman, and child in the room.  To paint something as grand as that would be a feat for any painter today.  This was it, there was no way it could get better, I thought when I left for the next room.  I could not have been more wrong....The room was for GUNS!"
     From Jake Cooper on the multiplicity of unicorn images in this country:  "When I first saw one of these unicorns, I had to do a double take to make sure that my contacts were working.  Why is there a wooden figure of a unicorn in buildings that are twice as old as the United States?  My friends and I have been asking that question ever since we first arrived and saw one staring down upon us in the Brasenose dining hall.  So when we noted another one today at Hampton Court we decided to ask one of the experts what was the symbolism of this mystical creature.  He said that when Scotland and England formed an alliance they started putting these statues up in buildings.  The gold lion, representing England, stood adjacent to the unicorn, which represented Scotland.  Not even he had an answer to my question of why Scotland decided to pick a unicorn as their national mascot.  But at least it represents something instead of just a practical joke a 16th Century British man made."

     At this point I thought it would be helpful to our loyal readers for you to get a better view of our living arrangements.  First of all, some exteriors.  Here's the beautiful quad that serves as our front yard and occasional croquet court.  This first photo shows the entrance to my room.  Those are my two windows to the left of the archway on the ground floor:

 Here's the entrance to the staircase where the rest of the group lives:

 And here are some views from around the quad:

 Now some interiors.  Here are Jackson and Charles enjoying a quiet moment after lunch:

Here are Dawson and George doing the same:

And now for Maxwell, pensively looking out the window, and Jack, reading the paper:

By contrast we have Jake and Thomas only pretending to be at rest.  They rarely stop moving: 

Riley and Edward also opted for the reclining pose, mainly because dirty clothes were everywhere else in the room (soon tidied after I took this photo):

Finally, cozily situated in our smallest but neatest room, Michael and Patrick wish to convey the gravitas and profundity they have acquired in only six days: