We’ve been in Oxford all week and have been sort of trying to wrestle with a few little pieces of negative news, feeling rather road weary, and withdrawal from the comforts of Moss Cottage last week, which is the main reason I haven’t posted much. That said, while Eric worked on some manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, I did have some sweet times with Everett at the Botanic Gardens, a new (to me) cafe called the Vaults and Garden that’s actually in a beautiful old church, and meeting up with my friend Valin from London who came out for the day yesterday. The last time I was here was in college when I got to live at Lincoln College, part of the University, for six weeks, and it was such a strange experience to be back as a wife and mom, not a lone independent college student! Hopefully I’ll get to put up some more pics before long.
But all that leads up to today when we had our low-key, belated, mother’s day celebration. We rented bikes, one with a seat for Everett, and went for a ride along the Thames Path which goes alongside the river (which is very small here compared to what it looks like in London). It was a beautiful, if quite windy, day and several crews were out practicing which was really fun for me. We rode to Christ Church Meadows on one end, then back down to Iffley Lock on the other. Pretty short and sweet and just right for today. I’ll be honest, I was kind freaked out to have Everett in the seat on the back, so I was thankful not to do anything in traffic!
Pause for a picture!
Iffley Lock with a crew actually using the lock to get from one part of the river to the other.
Iffley Church, finished in 1175 (the art history dork in me noticed the combination of Romanesque and Gothic stylings). A sweet little church we sort of found by accident, love when that happens!
In the backpack with dad when we stopped at Iffley, such a happy boy!
I should also mention that part of my mother’s day involved getting a long nap this morning and Eric fixing dinner tonight.
Were off to Holland tomorrow and posting will be scarce from here on out as our communal living situation there will not allow such unbridled access to the internet. But I will be posting my giveaway for May Giveaway Day early tomorrow morning before we jet out of town again, so stay tuned, it’s a good one!
Transient Homestead 