Spending time with Mum

Mum arrived on Christmas Day and since her arrival, she has spent some quality time getting to know her granddaughter and we've tried to ensure that her time is not exclusively spent housebound.

Although she arrived early on Christmas Day, mum's first hours with Ava were a mixture of discovery, doting and mothering:

Our 1st real outing was on the 27th when Dirk, Barbara and Saar were visiting. We had a great time visiting my college, exploring the sights of Oxford and then retiring to the Turf Tavern for a few Ales and some lunch:

The Bridge of Sighs

In the Chapel Quad at Pembroke College

From the tower of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, overlooking All Souls College

Mum in front of the Radcliffe Camera

The 3 of us in front of the Radcliffe Camera

Our next outing was on New Year's eve day when we took a leisurely drive through the Cotwsolds, heading North East from Oxford firstly to Great Tew for lunch at a pub that Terry had 1st tried unsuccessfully to take Claudia and I to a few years back:

Outside the Falkland Arms, where we enjoyed a lovely Sunday lunch

A view of the pub in Great Tew, a small but picturesque Cotswold village

After our lunch and two quiet ales, we continued along our route heading west toward Stow-on-the-Wold, where we stopped for tea and cake in a traditional tea room. I enjoyed a lovely Treacle pudding which was the pick of our choices.

Outside the tea room in Stow-on-the-wold

After enjoying the delight of the main square in Stow, we drove on through appalling weather through a number of Cotswolds Villages: Lower and Upper Slaughter, Bourbon-on-the-water and Burford were amongst them. We returned to Oxford in readiness for our NYE celebrations with our friends at the Oxford Retreat.

On the 3rd of January Mum and I headed for Stratford-upon-Avon as Claud and I had bought Mum tickets to the Royal Shakespeare Company for Christmas.

Royal Shakespeare Company - Stratford-upon-Avon

Mum standing in the Shakespeare garden in Stratford

The Shakespeare memorial

Statue of Hamlet - part of the Shakespeare memorial

Looking across the river Avon to the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre

Mum standing in front of some traditional Tudor Style buildings

Christmas spirit in Stratford

Mum in front of Shakespeare's birthplace

We were very fortunate to watch Judi Dench and Simon Callow in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives. The entire ensemble was outstanding and the performance was humorous, dramatic and extremely engaging. It was possibly the best theatrical performance I have seen, just eclipsing Spamalot that Claudia and I saw in New York last Christmas.

Our most recent venture was yesterday when Claudia and I drove mum to Wiltshire to the house of her friend, Di Wallis, and Di's husband John. We were treated to a lovely lunch in their +400 yr old home and afterwards took Finn for a walk through their acreage with John and their 5 dogs! Suffice to say by the time we got home last night, Finn was knackered!

Finn herding sheep under John's watch

Farmer Mac and Finn in front of the stables

Mum's next sojourn is to Paris and Flavigny on Tuesday. Until then we'll let her relax as I also return to class on Monday!