Wasn't 'There and back again' the subtitle of The Hobbit? Or was it Lord of the Rings?
We had a lovely day out with friends in Oxfordshire today. I've know her since I was 2 and she was 4; we were next door neighbours. Luckily our respective spouses get along too...
They live a generous 2 hour drive away... for some reason (well I know the reason) I decided that leaving at 9.30 gave us plenty of time to get there for 11am...
9.30 - 10.30 - 11.
What came over me? So I had to ring and say we were going to be an hour late. She's a very understanding friend.
We sat outside and had a bbq - meat done in the oven, (that was probably my fault!), vegetable skewers on the bbq - and an enormous selection of salads. Everything tastes even better in the open air, looking at a view like this
There is a small river in the hidden valley at the bottom of the wheat field; that line of trees is further away than you might think! From time to time red kites would slowly ride the thermals over the field.
Coming home was a bit of a confusing journey. I don't know what was going on in our heads, and things were not helped by Google maps taking us home by a completely new way to avoid congestion on the M25...
We ended up retracing our steps no fewer than 5 times from constantly choosing the wrong exit at roundabouts.
Weird.
We even, I kid you not, missed an exit less then 5 miles from home and explored one of the brand new housing estates springing up all round us.
Still, we arrived home safely - hence 'there and back again'...
Music
We're ready for an early night. Here's Chenyin Li again, with a very recently composed lullaby by Jelena Poulíčková;
Jelena Poulíčková is the winner of the Pianist 2025 Composing Competition. All judges fell in love with this thought-provoking Lullaby. The score appears inside the June/July issue of Pianist (No 144).
Well, you got there, eventually! Its easy to make errors with timing. The view frm the garden looks delightful.
ReplyDeleteTheir house is in a fantastic spot almost at the top of a hill on the North Downs. A lovely place to live.
DeleteAt least you got there safely and had a nice visit. Too bad the trip home didn't go more smoothly. (Roundabouts are enough to drive me crazy).
ReplyDeleteWe went through some interesting tiny country lanes; there was a diversion to actually reach their house in the countryside, and of course we diverted ourselves on the way home!
DeleteI'm not surprised you needed an early night after such a busy, enjoyable day. Well, maybe the journeying might not have been quite so enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteThe journeying part was... let's say it was an interesting exploration of many crinkle crankle single-track lanes through scenic countryside...
DeleteHello, Kirsten, and thank you for visiting my blog. I totally resonate with getting lost, even close to home. Btdt too many times! We do eventually get there, though.
ReplyDeleteSomehow satnav doesn't make it foolproof!
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