Exploring

We've had light rain showers this morning, but certainly not enough to make any difference to our extremely dry gardens. I spent the morning working on one of my old travel diaries again, this time from 1981 when we drove to Italy and I had a holiday romance!

At lunchtime, Sophie and I drove to Bicester, and although the plan had been to have a picnic at Graven Hill, we ended up in a McDonald's after doing a tour of the town itself in search of a Subway! The restaurant was busy with people, and we started talking to a poor woman who'd had an accident on the way home from her holiday and had written off her car... Sophie was suspicious at first that she'd ask us for a lift home, two hundred miles away, but I think she was just upset by what had happened and wanted to share her experience with someone!

After we'd eaten we drove the short distance to Graven Hill, parked the car and had a good look around. The rain had stopped and it felt warm and humid. There was hardly anybody about so we walked around taking some photos of the houses:

When the roads are finished off and the communal areas tidied up, I should think it will be a lovely place to live. We talked to a woman who was picking seed cases in one of the front gardens and she said that she thought some of the houses were weird, and we had to agree! There's such a hotchpotch of different styles, some very traditional and some really "out there" but at least the place isn't boring! It was great to chat with her (her son and daughter-in-law were building a house) and get a little insight into what it's like to live here!

As we walked around it became warmer so we returned to the car, drove around for one last time and went home. The traffic on the M40 was heavy with queues going onto the A43 and I think there was nearly an accident behind us when all the traffic stopped suddenly!

Back at home we relaxed, played two games of Scrabble (one each) and enjoyed cold meats and salad for dinner. It was warm and humid and the temperature in the kitchen was 80f. Phew!