Postcards from Oxfordshire

Peeps of sunshine have broken their way through the late winter clouds here in the Pacific Northwest and it has me hoping of traveling overseas again. With the announcement of the UK lifting all Covid related restrictions on Feb 11th, I am dreaming of visiting England again. I also realized I never shared any of the photos I had taken during our stay there! During our trip to the UK (gosh, I think this was back in 2018?) we had some business in London, but we squeezed in a weekend in Oxfordshire for relaxation and inspiration.

A WEEKEND IN OXFORDSHIRE

We stayed in a charming stable cottage at College House (pictured above) in Staton St. Johns, a small village about 4 miles outside of Oxford. I really wanted to experience the English countryside and this placed looked absolutely beautiful and it wasn't too far for us to drive to other villages. 

We spent our first afternoon/night mostly walking around the village. It's quite small and there is not much to do, which is what we wanted. We walked to the village pub and had supper, then walked back to our cottage passing through the graveyard, church, and a big open field where sheep were grazing the next morning. 

The next morning we woke up early and our host, Nicola, had provided fresh eggs from her chickens and a bundle of asparagus from her allotment. I made a simple breakfast of eggs, toast, and asparagus with fresh butter. And naturally we had classic English tea to go with all of it!

I was wearing one of my favorite vintage dresses for a day exploring Oxford and other nearby villages (one of these days I'll recreate this dress for my clothing line, Atelette) and of course I am never without a trusty straw hat during our travels.

We drove the short distance to a big parking lot where buses would pick us up to bring us into Oxford (driving in the narrow countryside streets on the other side of the road and other side of the car was quite a terrifying experience!) so we opted to walk through Oxford instead of drive around (my feet were aching terribly at the end of this day, but I was so content, I don't even think I realized it until we were back in the cottage)

When we arrived in Oxford, we were already hungry again, so we sat down for SECOND BREAKFAST! I was so delighted to have Second Breakfast because our main reason for going to Oxford was so I could visit The Eagle and Child where J. R. R. Tolkien and his literary friends, the Inklings, would often gather. We also took the bus to Wolvercote Cemetary where I placed wildflowers on Tolkien and Edith's grave.

We spent most of our day in Oxford walking around the university and window shopping in quaint shops. As a souvenir I got a small leather bound book that can fit in my pocket and I pressed wildflowers I picked at Wolvercote.