24 October 2023

Up, up, and away! Today we must drive close to London, just past Oxford. A long drive—almost six hours of freeway (“M roads”)—and rain forecast. But first: cleaning. Strip the beds, wash and put away the dishes, sweep the floors, run a cloth around the sinks and tub. We like to leave our cottages as neat and clean as possible. 

Here is where we’ve stayed for the past six nights:




An old-fashioned cottage, which I greatly prefer, but decorated with an eye to beauty as well as comfort.



Ruth and I shared this attic headroom for two nights while Teresa was staying with us.
I had the bed on the left. Its slats kept falling out whenever I would turn over. 
It’s funny now, but it wasn’t then.

This was a second sitting room, located upstairs.
Really nice, but we never used it!


We left at 10:20, drove through hours of rain and some congested traffic along the M6 and M40, arriving at our 16th century thatched cottage in South Moreton, Oxfordshire, by 4:30 p.m. 


Our success in arrival was mainly due to Ruth’s incomparable skills as a navigator, especially around the tricky interchanges near Birmingham and Oxford. What a gift to have her along on this trip! (Also for her cheerful disposition and laughter and love of walking the English countryside.)

We brought in our suitcases, made tea, then took a brief walk around the village, which is ancient and has many black-timbered and thatched homes.





We ate dinner at The Bear in North Moreton, a three-minute drive from South Moreton. A lovely pub, and Ruth ordered the quintessential British meal: fish and chips and mushy peas. Delicious! Washed down with ale, of course.




Then home to South Moreton to enjoy the warmth of an electric fire in the massive hearth and to pack our bags so that all would be ready in the morning for an early departure (well, early for us anyway—7:30 is our target).




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

11 October 2023

Image
We landed around 7:30 a.m. at Heathrow, breezed through customs, and picked up our rental car. Then—on our way! The A1 and the North! With Ruth as trusty navigator, and me struggling to remember how to drive stick, we zoomed and drifted and clutched our way up the M25 and thence northwards. We chose Burghley House as a stopping point (two hours from London), which was good, because at age 70 it’s not as easy to drive for hours on no sleep. We walked the half mile or so through the lawned and forested parkland toward the house (thinking not about a tour but about bathrooms and a cafe), passing ancient English oaks and massive sweet chestnut trees that must have been close to a thousand years old, through grounds that had been landscaped by the inimitable Capability Brown.  The lawns and house were lovely, and it would be nice to return someday to do more exploring. Burghley, the chief advisor to Elizabeth I and an ardent Protestant, lived here when not in London serving the queen. N...
Read more

21 October 2023

Image
The morning greeted us in Scotland with light rain that began to clear mid-morning. It was lovely to have a cup of tea and sit by the fireplace.  Teresa and I took a walk to stretch our legs along a beautiful canal that runs past her home. Some photos she sent me of the canal (on a sunnier day): We drove into Kirkintilloch to shop before I left, then I started on the three-hour trip back to our Lake District cottage and Ruth. Arriving in time for tea, it was good to relax and enjoy the clearing weather. We decided to take a walk around Wast Head, the village at the far end of Wast Water. The drive there was stunning—a narrow lane that twisted and wound its way around the shore of the lake, with views of the surrounding fells. We found parking on the village green and started out on a path to the lake, about one mile away.  We were stopped in our tracks, however, by an enthusiastic stream that flowed across the path.  There were rocks to step on, but I’ve always been a bit...
Read more

16 October 2023

Image
 Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me… Being here is indeed a marvelous gift—thank you, dear Phil! Today was our last full day in York. I had planned to make the most of it by spending a few hours in the York Museum, where the main character in my novel must research a history project. However….I had failed to take into account that the museum is closed on Mondays.  So instead we decided to walk along the River Ouse along the opposite direction, then explore the museum gardens, the Minster, Goodramgate, and St. Andrewgate—all places in which Freya will live with her father for their one year in York. But first we stopped at Lucius Books, near Micklegate Bar. He had some lovely antiquarian books (far out of our price range), and also a row of first editions illustrated by Arthur Rackham, my favorite illustrator. I must find some copies of these. I loved this original artwork from another illustrator,  Annie French, priced at 8,750 pounds. From thence we climbed the M...
Read more