Bristol to South Oxfordshire - Day 1

Today four of us set out on our journey from Bristol to South Oxfordshire. In fact, on a round trip, as we started from South Oxfordshire' catching the train from Didcot to Bristol Temple Meads. I should add at this point that the return journey is expected to take almost four days.

Day 1 has gone well. We arrived at Bristol as planned and it was really easy to pick up the cycle track that was going to take us to Bath. This part of the route is on a disused railway. It has a good surface and was reasonably flat, so we made good time. 

When we arrived in Bath we were pleasantly surprised to find that the signs for our route were very clear and, as luck would have it, the route took us past a real good bakery, which served a very acceptable Cream Tea. We felt this would be perfect preparation for the hill we were going to have to climb out of Bath. 

Suitably fortified, we set off again following the signs for National Cycle Route 4 and soon found ourselves climbing up a hill. No sooner had we started up the hill than we were directed to turn off. This was the canal path we were to take, so the climb out of Bath was 'something and nothing'.

The rest of the day was very pleasant, cycling at no great pace on easy track. The real bonus was that the weather was very kind to us, which after the dreadful weather we had over the past few weeks was not guaranteed. 

We found our B&B without any difficulty, only a short distance from the route. It is a lovely spot and there is a pub within easy walking distance. All in all a good first day

The is the viaduct at Avoncliff. We past  couple of these, they are truly magnificent.

Morning Bunnies!

One of the many joys of our new home is the wildlife we share the area with. My cycle ride to the station takes me past fields and hedgerows and it is alive with all kinds of life.

One of my favourite areas to ride through is actually along the side of a housing estate, very near the station. Not only does it have a great riding surface, it also has a real mix of wildlife. But most importantly, it is the only part of my ride where I am likely to see rabbits. Whether they are more timid around the fields, or whether the edge of the housing estate is just a more hospitable location for them, I could not say.

Every morning, come rain or shine, there they are keeping the grass down alongside the cycle path. The younger ones are a bit more timid and tend to bounce off when they see this mad woman on her mint green bike, but the older ones happily sit there nibbling away. I like to think they are wishing me a good day as I say good morning to them (I did say I was mad!)

It is one of the joys of life.

This seems so long ago

I was just looking through the photos on my phone, looking for a picture of a sunny day (remember those?) and came across this picture. I took it just before we moved to show the joy of packing and how much space you need to empty your cupboards.

It certainly does what I wanted,  but now,  looking at it out of context it all seems so long ago. All the stress leading up to the move is becoming a distant memory. Frankly that is just as well as there were a few, well more than a few, moments when I seriously doubted that it would actually happen. All best forgotten now.

Packing up your home, putting it in a van and unpacking it 50 miles away is a very strange sensation. Having all your familiar objects around you, but in a totally unfamiliar location feels slightly surreal. You start to question which bit of what you are seeing is wrong, knowing that something is. Don't get me wrong, we love our new home and have settled in very well and incredibly quickly, but there is still that slight sense of unease. There is also the regular questioning of whether it has actually happened and whether we really own the new house; it is so different from what we were used to. 

So, did it actually happen? Yes it did and we love that it did. 

Well that was a surprise!

Before we moved from West London I was very used to seeing flocks of parakeets flying around, you just accepted this as one of the quirks of life there. Since moving to Oxfordshire I have become equally accepting of Red Kites. I am also enjoying spotting birds I have not seen for many years; Goldfinches, House Martins, Swallows and Yellow Wagtails for example.

It was a Yellow Wagtail I initially thought I saw as I cycled to the station this morning. There was just a flash of long yellowish tail flying across the path in front of me. I followed the path of its flight and realised I was wrong. This was no Wagtail. It was about the right length, but too plump and had an 'exotic' look about it, but I felt it was familiar in some way. Could it be a Parakeet slightly out of its usual realm? No, it was too small. Then I realised where I had seen it before. Some friends have Lovebirds and this is what it was!

I know all of this deduction happened in the space of about 30 seconds, but I am as certain as I can be that this is what I saw. How it found itself flying around Oxfordshire I can only imagine. My guess would be that it escaped from a home nearby. I just hope it finds a friend to keep it company as I think they need chums around them.

You just never know what you will see if you keep your eyes open.

What happened to the weather?

Did I imagine that we had some extremely hot weather about three weeks ago? Where has it gone?

My regular commute now includes a 15 minute cycle ride from home to the station. It is a lovely ride, along a dedicated cycle path which runs along fields most of the way. In the sun it is the most perfect start or end to the working day. But last week it rained more often than not on each journey. Not so idyllic.

I accept that there have been periods of sunshine amongst the wet, but not many and not for long. This is July, we should be able to rely on some half decent weather. Looking at the forecast for the next few days doesn't give much hope either. It is more of the same, sunny intervals with scattered showers, some heavy. I say again, where has the good weather gone?

I have a whole summer wardrobe aimed at good weather and it is sitting, or rather hanging, in my cupboard laughing at me. If I have to wear a knitted top to work one more time between now and the end of July, I may scream. They are meant for April/May and late September,  not the middle of July.

Come on weather,  buck your ideas up!

Calm Down!

Since our move to the country the cats have been having a great time exploring their new surroundings. There are any number of new smells to investigate and places to visit. Fields are being explored and some of the local wildlife played with and sometimes brought home to be shown off. These little visitors do not always survive to tell the tale so there is a steady stream of small mammals to dispose of. Most recently the visitor was a rat and it was deposited in the Man's study for us to find.

I suppose the most important question about the little visitors is whether we are getting more or less than before the move. I think generally the rate is similar, but there is just more variety.

Our black panther has already found a new spot in which to pass the day. We have no idea where this is, but he clearly has somewhere. We will not see him all day and then he will turn up late in the evening, or sometimes in the small hours, desperate for affection and getting over excited. He will squeak to get our attention and purr very loudly, then lie down only to get up again a few seconds later. He pushes his paw under your hand to make you stroke him. This can go on for a good while.

When he is in this mood the trick seems to be to distract him to calm him down. Tonight it was the inside of a toilet roll and a light switch pull. But it worked and calm has been restored.

Garden progress and everything country

My blogging went very quiet for a long while again; this seems to be just how things go in my life. But this time I do have a bit of an excuse.

About a year ago we started thinking sbout making 'our move to the country'. We had both lived around West London all our lives, but have always talked about moving to the country. Originally the idea was to buy a small holding, then we realised just how much hard work that would involve, so I think that might have been why it took us so long to actually move.

But here we now are, settling in to our new home in Oxfordshire.

The house is laid out in a similar way to a Roman villa, with a formal garden in front and another area of garden to the side, perfect for turning into a fruit and vegetable garden.

The formal garden is pretty much how we want it already. We have removed a couple of shrubs the we really did not like and replaced them with some from the side garden. Other than increasing the ratio of grass to moss in the lawn, there is nothing we want to do now until we have seen it through a year.

The side garden is a different matter. That is due to have a greenhouse and a number of raised beds. We have put one small raised bed in for strawberries and planted raspberries and plumbs but the greenhouse we want has a long wait time, and through a local quirk, we need planning permission for it. We hope to have everything sorted out ready for next year.

So that is what is happening and I am hoping you will be able see the progress as it happens.