Pink Sapphires and Green Rubies

Ok, now I know most people aren't delighted at the thought of a snake coiled around them, but if you remember that they were worn as protective amulets (the healing snakes of Asclepios, the Greek god of medicine) of the ancient world, it's really not so bad. And then you can really concentrate on their alluring beauty and the detail of each and every scale... I went to the V&A jewelry exhibition a while ago, and I really recommend it. And it's free. They were donated a magnificent collection of rings that have been displayed in a spiral, showcasing the vast variety of colour spectrums of each precious stone and mineral. Really quite astounding. Who knew rubies could be a shocking shade of green? A sapphire such a deep pink?

  

Now this astronomical compendium is in a whole league of its own... not only is it a mini sundial with which you can measure the hour by day, but one can also place it front of the eye and look towards a pointer star in the constellation Ursula Major and find the time at night. Oh and it's a compass. And it can tell you the phase of the moon. And the position of the sun and the moon in the Zodiac with its rotating discs, cogs and magical pointers. And its the definition of mechanical perfection and beauty.

A Mini Adventure

Not 24 hours after we finished our small mince pies and white wine/cranberry juice mixers (poured enthusiastically by our merry faced tutor) at the annual Wimbledon College costume department christmas "hurray it's over for now!" party, we four unlikely characters embarked on a Scottish mini-adventure...

It was four days of childish glee, running about deserted castle ruins in the rain and getting unceremoniously locked out of our newly adopted home. There were chips without the haggis, the exchange of five quid and under presents around a beautiful yet teetering christmas tree, and soggy tramps across picturesque bogs and lochs.

The mini was driven by and provided very generously by Elizabeth, while the dodgy viking outfits and helmets were courtesy of the Caerlaverock Castle Museum interactive scheme. 

All in all, a timely antidote to the end of term stress-shenanigans that always seem to crop up and convert even the sanest of us into red-faced spluttering she-goblins.