2024 Oxford

Back to Oxford again to cat sit the two Siamese brothers...
Mike & Donna in Melton Mowbray kindly drove us to Leicester station on the Saturday as there were scheduled engineering works from Melton station.
We had previously booked the Advanced Singles which usually saves over 50%.
​The train goes to Oxford via Birmingham New Street station with an 18min change to Oxford which arrives at 4:40pm.
Wendy's Great Niece and husband Rory were coming to visit for a few days from the Sunday when Stephen & Louise left for Austria for a month.

Oxford - July 1st - August 7th

April 15th - Monday
Louise took us to Abingdon to have a look around there. Lots of lovely old buildings and river walks. We were lucky with the rain holding off until we nearly got back to the car...it was very windy! Lovely afternoon out :)

April 16th - Tuesday
Stephen & Louise took us out to Stowe Botanical gardens which are managed by the National Trust. The main house is actually a school... see more about Stowe Gardens HERE . The gardens, monuments and temples were put together over 30 years by five world renowned architect/gardeners. It is a HUGE place...245 acres of Gardens and 700 acres of surrounding woodlands and farmland.
See map here: MAP of STOWE

May 1st
Wednesday 1st May I had my private appointment with Dermatology Surgeon to remove the two large cysts on my scalp.
We had walked to the hospital a few days before to make sure how long it would take to get there and exactly where the Dermatology center was at the Hospital. It was a "See and Treat" appointment so quick consult and then into surgery. Total time about 45 mins :) Stitches to be removed 1 week.

April 30th
Daughter Skye from California arrived from London on April 30th with husband Willow and two of our grand kids - Robin (1) and Rose (2).
Great to see them all as we had only previously chatted on video calls.
The weather was cloudy with some light rain but not too bad during the days.
We walked around the Christ Church meadows, Covered Market and other places. We made a small pasta lunch at Stephen & Louise's and looked after the kids for the afternoon so that they could have a rest!
Took the kids to the local adventure playground and they loved the swings and the see-saw!
We were treated to a great pub lunch at the Oxford Blue and took them all to lunch on another day.
They left on Sunday 5th to go to Bath for a few days then down to Cornwall and back along the south coast to Arundel area I believe.
Was a great few days while they were here!

May 8th - Stitches out and all healing well

April 27th
Walked down to river via Donnington bridge then down past the pub, Ifley Lock, under road bridge down to the old railway bridge (1915) over the river.
Lots of college boats on river practicing...
Nice walk and it had stopped raining. 3.8 miles total.
Back for a cup of tea! More rain forecast later!

May 10th - Walked around the local 30 acre Eyot (island in a river - pronounced like ate) just down the bottom of the road. Large Chicken of the Woods fungi.
Beautiful day and a fantastic walk along the Thames river.
Time to mow the grass again...growing fast having had plenty of rain and now 70+ deg days with lots of sunshine!

Oxford - April 14th - May 19th

April 14th - Sunday
Arrived at Oxford Bus Station at around 11am from Luton Airport via National Express. Brother Stephen was already there to meet us which was very kind of him!
Went for a short walk down river to the Isis Farmhouse for a drink. Still pretty wet here after a lot of rain...lots of fields still having pools of standing water.
Came back for a rest before going out to dinner at a local Everest Nepalese Restaurant and Bar, within walking distance.
Yummy food!

August 3rd???
When Stephen & Louise returned from ???Austria we went out to Minster Lovell and its 15th century Manor ruins.

Link to Minster Lovell Wikipedia

To be continued...We moved on to our next sit in Melton Mowbray on June 2nd but were back to Oxford on the evening of June 29th.