Stained Glass, and a Stock Pot

These stained glass windows are located in the library where I work. Aren't they amazing? They aren't actually installed as windows -- they're in protected cases backed by special lighting. They're taller than I am.

This window depicts Joan of Arc and the one below depicts the Venerable Bede. They are the work of Luke Dampney, who created them between 1920 and 1930 for All Saints Church in Plymouth, which has since been demolished. Dampney's windows were salvaged and preserved in the London Stained Glass Repository, which was created by the Worshipful Company of Glaziers & Painters of Glass and English Heritage to save creations like these from "redundant" churches.

They were installed in the library as a memorial to a family from our school who died in the Lockerbie airliner bombing of 1988.

I think it's pretty amazing to have these in our workplace, though like anything we tend to stop seeing them after a while. I took photos the other day to remind myself that they're there. They make especially good photo material at this time of year, when London is so dark!

Speaking of darkness, I went out last night after work to see some of Lumiere London, a festival of lighted sculptures and art installations that has been installed in and around Westminster.

You may remember that I went last week to see some similar artworks in Canary Wharf -- part of a different event with about the same theme. (It's pretty brilliant to do these light installations at this time of year, when everything is dark and people need a reason to get out and about.)

I made the mistake, though, of trying to combine an outing to see Lumiere (which my spell-check insists on trying to correct to "lumber") London with a major errand.

Dave has been wanting a big stock pot. He's talked about it for years. So I decided to get him one for Christmas, and I went to our standard kitchen retailer down in Soho. (We were so busy with travel and wedding stuff over the holidays that we never had a chance to get each other gifts!)

I bought this one, a 35.5-liter stainless steel behemoth that weighs something like 20 pounds. I guess I had imagined carrying it in a big bag that I could easily grasp, but as it turned out the shop didn't have a bag big enough, so I had to hold the pot (wrapped in the largest available bag) by the handles.

As you can imagine, that got old fast. I didn't try to see any of Lumiere London after all!

Instead I trudged straight to the tube, where I expected to be questioned by security staff at any minute about what I might be carrying in that immense pot. Surprisingly, no one questioned me, though I did get quizzical looks from fellow passengers as I schlepped it home.

Maybe I'll try Lumiere London again tonight. Meanwhile, enjoy our stained glass -- also a festival of light.