The Southwest

Here in Oxford I feel like I’m at a writer’s retreat. Our flat is in a building called Cherwell Lodge and it’s right in front of a beautiful meadow. We have a lovely back garden with a bench beside a stream and then on the other side of the stream is Sunnyside Meadow with the River Cherwell winding across it. We start the day with a walk in the meadow, filling our lungs with fresh air and enjoying the softness of the green grass and the sunlight coming through the trees. Then Daryl takes off for the office and I get to work on my manuscript. I find I can concentrate really well. Between the quiet setting and being away from work and home concerns, it’s easy to immerse myself in my project. After a couple of hours of work I go for a cycle ride, stopping at a shop or two for odds and ends. It’s great fun riding a bicycle in Oxford because the city is flat, and there are lots of cycle lanes through quieter parts of the city. Everybody in this city cycles, from toddlers to senior citizens. After my ride I shower, have lunch, then get back to work. When Daryl arrives in the evening we may go out to a pub or for a meal, or have a simple homemade meal, or socialize with the few friends we have here. We go to Sainsbury on a big shopping expedition once a week with the idea of whipping up easy meals for the week. This adds to the feeling of being at a‘writer’s retreat’.

We spent the weekend with my adorably counter culture sister-in-law, Saffs, in the southwest (Somerset) in a village called Yatten, just outside of Bristol. Saffs is now an empty nester (at 44!). Her daughter Zoé will be studying ( not “reading”, you Oxbridge snobs!) statistics and psychology. Tom, her son, is a passionate musician. Plays the sax, composes electronic new wave stuff, burns his own CD’s, etc. Saffs took us for a walk on the coast in Clevedon, a pretty little seaside town. From the coastal path we had great views of Wales and the Severn Bridge. Back at her home we had a delicious meal of roasted vegetables and rice followed by an apple crumble made by Daryl with apples from the garden. Nothing tastier than apple crumble straight from the oven and served with thick double cream. Now here’s a reason unto itself to love England. Where else in the world can you just trot to a random grocery store and pick up pure thick cream from grass fed cows? No whipping required – it’s already thick enough to nicely coat a crumble/pie/tart and oh, so yummy.
We had a friendly game of Scrabble with the help of ginger wine and I won – no surprise there, really.

The next morning we drove through rural Somerset countryside, passing numerous farms and a couple of lakes. We stopped at Bath for a few hours. Bath is famous for its architecture – well preserved stone buildings adorned with carvings and impressive columns. The Circus is probably the most famous of Bath’s buildings. The Circus consists of houses forming a complete circle, divided into three sections. Georgeous indeed. The Royal Crescent, Roman Baths and Pump Room, and the Abbey are also quite stunning, giving the town a uniqueness and making it a very worthwhile stopover. We had lunch at a terrific completely vegetarian restaurant called Demuths. While the food was exemplary the price was outrageous and the portions quite skimpy. Daryl had an Elderflower Sparkling Soda to drink. We are finding that elderberry and elderflower appear on drinks menus everywhere in England. Quite the flavor of the day.

The days are now cooler. We've turned on the heating. The trees are beginning to lose their greenness. Next week classes resume for the new academic year in Oxford. Summer is truly over.