A 'slice' of country life!!

Life has settled into a bit more of a routine and the last couple of trips have been much easier with a comfortable place to stay (thank you so much Chris) and time to catch up with friends and family while I am down South. Richard was at a conference in Manchester for a couple of days during my last spell here so courtesy of the 'Oxford Express' (three services running every 15 mins - why do so many people go to Oxford?) we convened in Daniel and Julies house and had a lovely, if exhausting few days with them as we helped them with decorating their extension.
We had the added bonus of seeing Tania, Brook and Oliver (3 months) which was great.

In my absence Sarah had press-ganged Joes Mum, Kay into helping to decorate the kitchen (pictures to follow when it is finished) and she also did some jobs in the garden. She was having such a great time that she changed her train ticket and went home several days later than planned which was lovely as I actually got to see her which was the first time since the wedding!

We decided to go to the community coffee morning which I always try to attend when I am up there as it is a good way to get to meet people (and the home baking is good!) and duly set off down our road only to encounter a cow standing serenely in the middle of the road completely unfazed by my fairly large car.
I decided to call in at the farm to let them know but as I was pulling into the yard a tractor pulled up beside me and a beaming man (who I assumed was Dave, the farmer) climbed down.

'Hello.' I said. Are you off to collect your cow? I'm Liz by the way - just moved in to Keilingha.'
The beam grew wider - 'Aye. Wouldyalikaswid?
Not being totally tuned in to the accent yet I said, 'Sorry?' 'Wouldyalikaswid?' came again. He clearly thought it was something I would like so I said 'Yes, -thank you...' at which he climbed back into his cab, and reappeared carrying a large machete, climbed over the fence into the field and proceeded to cut me two enormous swedes!!
'But the cow?' I reminded him, at which point a further car drew up with people that I recognised as regular coffee morning attendees and the driver got out to report, yes, a cow in the middle of the road.
Dave climbed back over the fence into the field, still beaming. 'I'llhavenoswidsleft!'
We look forward to having his sheep back in our paddock soon, in return for which he will clear the snow from our drive with his snow plough.

My time in Moy was only four days this time but Sarah and I have made cushions for the kitchen chairs which look great and I am looking forward to making matching roller blinds on my next trip. The weather was still good although they had experienced torrential rain during the time we were away and some areas of the garden were still too sodden to work in. The pre-winter clearing up carries on for as long as the weather will permit but I was deprived of further leaf collecting on the mower as it has broken down again and been carted off for repair. Hopefully it will be back by the time I return on Monday and if the boys have done their job there will be a few more mesh bins constructed ready to store the leaves.

I have bitten the bullet and handed in my notice at the hospital so officially my last shift is Dec 5th but have already been booked to work some bank shifts and will be back on 15th for a few days - short retirement!

By the way - the swede was delicious!!