Croquet

Hurrah for the Easter holidays! E has had so much going on at school recently that the end of term was more than welcome. Friday lunchtime found us whizzing up to Oxford for a sleepover! E stayed with L in her room and R and I had booked the college guest room for the night. Even though we only live 25 minutes away anyway, it was a lovely treat. 

Here are a few snaps of our room:

 We didn't make use of the little study, other than to make tea, but the en-suite off to the right was very handy.

 I loved the old windows:

Waking up to the chapel bells ringing, this was the view that greeted us.

I found myself laughing out loud at the thought that my baby gets to wake up to this every day; it's quite unbelievable.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. When E and I arrived we collected L, bought a mozzarella flat-bread and a veggie samosa and went to a Chinese tea room. My jasmine green tea with tapioca pearls was lovely. The tea room was small but very cute. Shoes had to be removed and a fine time taking selfies was had by all.

 Walking back to the college, we came across Kes, the kestrel:

 ..... and Toby, the tawny owl.

 Apparently, they are invited along to a local pub every so often for educational purposes. They were both stunning and seemed very relaxed, despite all the attention they were getting.
We had arranged to meet L's boyfriend, J, who, being on a croquet team, had volunteered to teach us the basics. L had played before but E and I were complete novices. It was such FUN! A bit like a cross between snooker and crazy golf and very tactical. J was amazing and EXTREMELY patient with those of us  who hadn't a clue and who insisted on referring to bats and goals!

 A couple of views from the croquet lawn: 

 We played for hours, just finishing the game as it began to get dark. R joined us after work and we walked to 'The Opium Den' for a delicious Chinese meal before returning to the college for the night.
Next morning, we had breakfast in Hall and I couldn't resist taking a photo of this beautiful door - one of the oldest parts of the college:

Then, L had booked a table here:

 A 'meeple', for those who have never heard of them (including me!), is an object used to represent a player in a board game (I've always referred to them as counters!). There were over 2,300 games, all divided into various categories - word, fantasy, children's etc. We chose light strategy and the chap working there made a few recommendations. His knowledge was incredible - when we had chosen a game, he sat down and explained the rules, testing us to make sure we had been paying attention (fortunately, L had!) and then kept popping back to see how we were getting on.

Our game, 'Ticket to Ride', and my maple latte!

 After our game, we had a quick look round Gloucester Green market before going back to college for lunch and then packing L's stuff and bringing her home. We were only in Oxford for just over 24 hours but I felt as if I had been on holiday for a week. It was so lovely and I'm really glad we did it.

Other happies this week:

Making L a 'Don't Panic!' lavender bag to help with revision for her finals: 

 Finally, a visit to the local antiques fair at the racecourse:

 I bought this little sewing basket:

 The following items were still inside:

Even though I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with them, I love them for their sense of history. The smaller thimble will come in very handy - my hands are quite small and I find most thimbles a bit on the large side but this one is perfect. I also have no idea what the pink plastic item, top right, is - answers on a postcard please!

Anyhow, that's all for now. Wishing you all a lovely, restful Easter weekend.
Toodle Pip. x