Oxfordshire

We stayed a bit closer to home during our second week in the UK, spending most of it in Standlake with Will's mum Sanda. It was a great chance for Will to catch up on a bit of work as well as spend loads of time with his mum. Every Tuesday morning Sanda goes into Witney (about 15 minutes drive away) by bus and does a grocery shop before meeting a couple of friends for coffee. That Tuesday we decided to have a look around Witney as well, so it was nice being able to drive Sanda in with us. We also stopped for coffee (in a different place from his mum, we didn't want to cramp her style!). Since I was last in the UK a couple of years ago Costa have started doing a decent flat white which is quite exciting... If you get it with an extra espresso shot it isn't too far off the NZ version. As a seasonal product they have also started doing the most sublime gingerbread muffins. Check out Will's hot chocolate, it looks like half his daily calories in one drink!

On Wednesday we drove the few minutes to Aston, one of Standlake's neighbouring villages, to visit Aston Pottery. They have beautiful gardens which you are free to wander. They were full of the most glorious dahlias.

We enjoyed a very nice lunch, shouting Sanda for her recent birthday. Afterwards we spent some time browsing the extensive gift-shop. It was a lovely outing.

On Thursday we drove into Oxford and had a nice look around. It's not a place I've spent a huge amount of time, despite it being so close to Standlake.

Proper butcher shops aren't as common as they used to be, especially ones where you can rock up and buy a brace of partridge and the venison is literally hanging outside (or is it wild boar? I'm not really up with my game identification)...

After we'd spent a bit of time exploring together, Will holed himself up in a coffee shop to get some work done, and I set off on a walk for a couple of hours, starting with Christ Church Meadow. It is a very picturesque city.

That evening we caught up with Will's brother Andy and family who live in Witney. This was the first opportunity we had when both parties were free. With three kids who do a multitude of sports and activities, they are one busy family! It was great seeing them, and the kids had grown up hugely in the two years since my last visit.

During our time in Standlake Will and I made a point of going for a decent walk each day we were able. There are some lovely little lanes and footpaths around the village. I had walked some of them on previous visits, but because we are usually there in December it is freezing cold and dark by around 3:30pm which makes getting outdoors a little less appealing. It was very nice going for good long walks in the glorious autumn weather.

One of the walks took us down to the Thames river.

I love these little glades on some of the paths.

There are a lot of small lakes around Standlake, some of which are used as private fishing lakes. We walked around some of these lakes on one of our excursions. One path in particular looked like it got very little use judging by how wild and overgrown it was! We ended up a bit tangled up in blackberry...

There was a surprising amount of people fishing in the lakes. Obviously there are some big ones out there!

It was a beautiful time of the year to be out and about outside, and also very nice having time to enjoy it. Our UK visits are usually much more rushed, full of Christmas festivities and catching up with lots of friends and family.

So, that was week two, halfway through our time in the UK.