Birthday

It's my birthday today, and Matt got me not one but two bouquets. It's been a good day but a little low on the trick or treaters. I saw one boy in a skull mask, but I'm not sure if that was meant to be a costume or a disguise. Animal activists are everywhere in Oxford. My niece dressed up for pre-school today; she's a princess. I'm hoping that it's not too cold for her to go out tonight.I worked on the dissertation this afternoon, but tonight Matt and I are going out for dinner to the Griffin. It's a traditional pub, dating back to the 1600s. The food is very good and it's within staggering distance of the flat. I got a lot of cards from family and friends, which was great. I'm relaxing now, enjoying a g&t with lime and watching Friends. Hopefully we'll go away at the weekend. It's been a long time since we've been anywhere. I'm pretty busy with work, so it probably won't be more than a day trip. The OC is on now. It's time to turn the tv off and get ready.
Birthday cake to end the day! And what Matt tells me is a very random entry.

Monday on Holywell

Not a very inspiring pic today as it turns out, but I thought the tree looked quite lovely in the light this morning. The day has gone quite cold; it feels like snow has settled into the clouds.

Sunday Driving

It rained all day Sunday, so we spent the day reading papers and watching bad movies. In the afternoon, we decided to go for a drive. We ended up driving through parts of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire as well as Berkshire.
The suspension bridge at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, built in 1832.
View of the boats in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

Two Sides of Oxford

Monkey's Wedding

On this particular evening, we had a sunshower, or what we used to call a monkey's wedding. There's been so much rain this fall; I hope that means the end of the drought warning..
Last spring I stuffed the planter full of bulbs. Unfortunately, they all died off in the summer. But when I was cleaning the planter, I found one off-shoot was still healthy. This little guy has been flowering all fall. As soon as he dies off, I will plant the crocuses Matt bought me at Windsor Park.

Fish

This weekend we went to London and had lunch with Matt's sister. While there, Matt reclaimed the fish tank. His sister had been looking after it since he moved to Caversham. The boys (his nephews) were quite taken with the aquarium initially but have since lost all interest. In fact, they hardly batted an eye when we dissembled the whole thing on Saturday. Moving the fish turned out to be quite the process. We put them in plastic buckets covered in cling film and wedged them into the back seat. I'm pleased to report that they all survived the journey. Gabriel, the angel fish, is listing quite badly, however. Apparently, this is a sign of sickness in fish.

Wet Weather

I awoke before six to the sound of thunder. It rained torrents off and on all day. Fortunately, I didn't get too wet.

Unlike weather-centric Canada, the Lancet report on Iraq is dominating the evening news. Storm details can be found
here.

Thames Walk

Matt went golfing with friends this afternoon, so I was on my own. It was another beautiful day, so I decided to go for a walk along the tow path.

Windsor Great Park

On Saturday, Matt and I decided to get out of the city and drove to Windsor Great Park, which is part of the Crown estate. Our little walk turned into a seven-mile odyssey. Fortunately, we were both wearing our hiking boots.
We began our walk near Virginia Waters. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and lots of sunshine.
Matt thoughtfully parked the car near the Canadian Memorial. Here is a detail from a totem pole, which reaches over 100' in height.
We quickly went off the path and started walking through the trees. It reminded me a lot of home and being at the lake.
These pine cones seemed rather perky.
Even though it's already October, the leaves haven't really started to change yet.
After walking through the forested bits of the estate, we walked over to the deer park. It's rutting season so we heard lots of interesting noises. I had no idea that deer made a lowing noise similar to cows.
The Long Walk, leading to Windsor Castle, which is not quite visible in this shot.
Detail from statue of King George III. This overlooks the Long Walk and is visible from Windsor.
Final picture, back at Virginia Waters. As you can see, the sun had nearly set. At this point, we had another mile to walk before we got back to the parking lot. When we finally arrived, our car was the last in the lot. And someone, impossible to determine gender or age in the dark, was having a good rummage through the rubbish bin. Classy!

Daybreak

While on my way to the station this morning, I caught sight of the sun rising behind the trees. It looked a little more spectacular in person, but the picture captures some of the colour. No matter what time of day it is, I love looking at these trees. They line the edge of the park, providing some shelter from the busy road opposite. Most of the time, they remind me of France but in this light I think of Stonehenge.

Unfortunately, the red sky at dawn did not presage good weather. It chucked down rain all day. I was in the library and could hear it smashing against the skylights, leaving me little choice but to stay put and read my book.

[ 21 October: Matt has since told me that a red sky at dawn means bad weather: red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky at down, shepherd's warning . . . He is so smart. I think I'll get him to write my dissertation for me.]

Roadwork

Roadworks are a constant feature. I'm not sure what is being done on the High Street but it seems to be taking an awfully long time. Matt dropped me off on his way to a meeting this morning. Even though it was eye-wateringly early, i.e. 7.20 am, traffic was queued. Fortunately, I walk everywhere and it was a lovely sunny morning.

Commute Day 1

This picture illustrates three, possibly four, points about train travel in England.
First, passenger windows are invariably filthy as shown by smear. Second, the scenery changes really quickly. To the right of this rather unremarkable picture, you can see trees and greenery. This is the kind of thing I was hoping to capture, not the brick blandness of Tescos. Third, riding the train is really dull. Why else would I be taking pictures?

Despite spending most of Sunday and Monday asleep, I am still battling jetlag. I started feeling delirious in the late afternoon. If it's one day for every hour, I won't be back on track until the weekend.

Slight delay on my return journey. Someone was killed on the line shortly after 2.00. I didn't hear the news until I left the station but it was obvious that the staff were pretty stressed. Times being what they are, I was relieved that it was an accident rather than terrorism.