Bicester

Tom and I arrived here early afternoon on Monday.  Nick and Di came to New Zealand about 5 years ago and stayed with me prior to going to friends in Australia for the cricket and Christmas.  They live in a small village - pub, butcher and newsagent/Post Office - quite close to Oxford.  They have a TV (unlike big brother) so I've managed to see a  little bit of the rugby, but not any of the "top" games.

On the way here, I was intrigued to see a bird hovering over the motorway - it remained in the same place all the time and flapped its wings occasionally to assist it to remain 'stationary'.  It looked quite bizarre and I even wondered at one point whether it was somehow a fake bird - placed there to act as a decoy.  But Nick tells me it would have been a sparrow hawk - got out a book on such things, and read out that they are particularly found  near motorways where they hover watching for mice and other animals scurrying around at the side of the road.   Yuk.  Another reason to be grateful for a reliable car on the Motorways (the mice, not the bird!)

It is beautiful scenery in this area - yesterday we went for a drive to Charbury, about half an hour from Bicester.  Di's mum's house is up for sale and we went across to check on a few things - over little, narrow bridges that revealed about 20 longboats moored on the side of the river; through and past lovely little villages with tractors ploughing and rural scenes, quite unlike our own, on all sides.  We were on a mission, so I didn't take any photos, but it really was calendar picture scenery ... it's amazing what lies hidden off the motorways.

Bicester (how did you pronounce that?  It rhymes with mister) has a large outlet shopping centre for designer clothes (no I didn't even look) and evidently busloads of japanese tourists arrive daily and leave with bags and bags of (presumably) spoils.  Having purchased a couple of designer items in NZ before I left, I have come to the conclusion that once you're out of your own country, no-one knows the difference, anyway!   Those who know me well will be amazed by this little revelation - I defy anyone to identify either of them!!!!  There is no prize, so don't lose any sleep over it.

Nick (retired since I was here 2 years ago) and Di are keen cricket supporters - indeed Nick has tended the local pitch for the past 25 years, voluntarily and generally single handedly. Last night he attended a function in London - a group called the 'Lord Taverners' who turn out to be supporters of Lords - as opposed to the MCC which also has a large membership but evidently only if your name was put forward by a member, practically from birth.  It was to honour Bowlers evidently - and even Richard Hadlee was included in the numbers.

I move on from here to Sutton Valance (in Kent) on Friday ... staying with Emma's family.  Her father's father was in the desert with my dad in WWII and we have kept in touch with the family ever since.  When I was here in 1969-72 the four siblings were still at home and I spent quite a lot of time with the family as a whole.  They are another couple who have stayed with me in NZ and of course Emma lived in Christchurch for a year.

The days are drawing in - about 3 weeks ago I was bemoaning the fact that the nights were drawing in at around 8.15pm ... last night it was 7.30 p.m.  With any luck, that means the days are getting longer in NZ and spring has begun springing.  I'm about to pack a box of summer clothes (not QUITE sure why I brought them except for the spell in France) and send them home.  So that should leave me some room to buy some furlined knickers and longsleeved vests.  It is a fallacy that being fat keeps one warm - in my case it merely means there's more to feel the cold.

The second series of Downton Abbey has just started here and last night I saw Midsommer Murders with John Nettles no longer in it.  Instead his "cousin" is Inspector Barnaby - I didn't think it was as good.  And at the end of the month, a new series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' begins ... the trick now will be to convince all my family that they simply can't miss it, without looking as though it matters either way to me.  It helps, if they have a TV of course.