Celebrating freedom!

A nice autumn lane visited on Sunday

Hooray, David doesn't have to go to work anymore! We are both thrilled at his newfound freedom. It even made the weekend better, since we didn't feel we had to cram everything into it before Monday. I think this is going to be a really nice two weeks, and I'm glad we have the chance to really soak up the wonderful area we live in before we leave.

David had a nice farewell lunch on Friday, at which his co-workers gave him an England rugby shirt and a card. He also got contact info from his two favorite people, Stuart from England and Harry from Greece, and plans to keep in touch with them.

Saturday we went into Oxford for a celebratory lunch at Wagamama, which just opened! Until now we have only been to our beloved noodle restaurant in London, so that was pretty exciting. And David had what he described as his best meal there ever.



Then we went hiking-boot shopping in preparation for wet England walks and snowy German streets. We were both successful and are quite happy with our purchases. The city was more crowded than we'd hoped for this time of year, but we did enjoy a fantastic Irish band playing on Cornmarket. Then we had to leave because we had a two-hour limit on our tiny parking spot. Ah, Oxford. Made for horses, not cars.

Sunday was pretty rainy but we visited a church that had its main attraction on the inside - one of the most complete sets of medieval murals in England (painted in about 1330). It was only five minutes' drive from our house and I didn't even realize it until that morning, which is pretty incredible. We arrived just as a lady was leaving and she turned on the lights for us and said she'd be back in an hour or so to lock up. The murals were very cool and we had a great time.






While we were out we decided to try a Sunday roast at another pub recommended by Charles, called The Mole Inn. A sign on the door said it was Michelin recommended and it was beautiful inside, all old stone and wood beams. But unfortunately the food turned out to be nowhere near as good as our local Lamb. Our bread and olive appetizer was fantastic, though.




As we pulled out of the parking lot at the Mole we saw a sign for a parish church, so headed down the lane to check it out. The village has one of the best names yet - Toot Baldon. The church itself was not terribly exciting, but it was located at the end of a long, tree-lined road and had a very cozy feel about it.




After it got dark, which was some ridiculously early hour like 4:30, we settled in with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End on DVD. It was unfortunately quite boring and we didn't make it all the way through before David fell asleep and I went back to work on my website.

Monday we went back into Oxford to do the other two things we'd wanted to do on Saturday - shop for long pants for David (it is finally getting a bit too cold for shorts!) and visit the Ashmolean Museum. As a bonus, it was brilliantly sunny all day and this time we got a parking spot with a three-hour limit.

David found some pants at Marks & Spencer (they sell clothes too), then we picked up lunch from Pret and ate it on Cornmarket, which was much less crowded this time. Finally we headed to the Ashmolean Museum, where I was mainly hoping to check out the inscription we'd seen at Odda's Chapel in Deerhurst the other week.



Alas, it is closed on Mondays! So we went here instead:


Ben's Cookies in the Covered Market. Yum.


Black pudding in the Covered Market. Not so yum.

As we headed back to the car I gazed down Broad Street and remembered waiting there for the little yellow Wolfson bus, usually with groceries in hand and library books weighing down my backpack. It's amazing how long ago that seems already!

On our way home we stopped at the Marks & Spencer on the outskirts of Oxford for some groceries, and since I had my good camera along I snapped some pics for the memory books (and for Steve and Linda):


The potato section...


The extensive cheese section...


Steak pies and other quick meals...


Wall o' condiments in jars.

And finally, yesterday evening we took a very nice walk, crossing through fields, admiring the autumn leaves, and visiting our local dream house, Cuddesdon Mill:



Look at this backyard! And the very modern kitchen looks right out over the river.


Sunset over the field across from our house.