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Caroline’s (next door) sister Marianne popped in on the Wednesday while we were away … or was it Thursday – I’m really not so good at this precision lark… It was pleasant to see her – not so surprising as she is Dr Susie friend & in a way responsible for our being there. She was dropping a friend off at the station & he needed to pick a couple of things up from the house. And then on Thursday, (yes definitely Thursday) we met Caroline (from Hebden Bridge) from the train station in Oxford. When Louise told her that we were planning this Oxford Jaunt Caroline had decided that she might come & stay down here a little with us which was very good of her. The train was a little late in (this apparently happens a lot at Oxford) so the kids were a little bored by the time she arrived – they were glad to see though. I’m not sure it helped Esme’s perception of ‘distance from home’ – alll these familiar faces. She kept asking about going to Hebden Bridge little things like that. As the holiday progressed she asked more about the playground near Dr Susie’s house though – she did like it there.

Friday Caroline spent the day with us.
We didn’t get back to the Natural History Museum, but we went to the Museum in the Town Hall (History of Oxford) which did have a few things that the kids could enjoy (dressing up). We also went to the Cafe there. Set out for the Botanical gardens though Christchuch fields – took a wrong turn & ended up walking along a very pleasant waterway path. Would have been more enjoyable if there were no boats or punts because Jack then got a serious hankering after boating. Not that there looked to be anyone under 16 (or 18) in a boat or there was anywhere that we could hire one from, but that matters not – he got himself a bit upset about that; which was a shame. He did come out of it & he was Ok after that – so that’s good. Naturally Eve & Jude spent far too much time close to the edge of water throwing things in – which meant that Esme was either ina pushchair or on my houlders & continuously complaining that she would be good & then completely not being good when she wasn’t… Hmm… yes it was a little stressful… That’s how things went a lot of the time though, so the levels of stress decline whe the stress is at a constant (if you see what I mean). We have wilful children & although this can be frustrating we’d prefer them to have will than to drone through life. Sanity & freedom is a hard balancing act.

We didn’t make the Botanical Gardens in the end (I didn’t know it was the desired destination or I might have had looked at the map). The wrong turn led us that merry dance – it’s a lovely walk, but it wasn’t where we planned to be.
So we took a back route back toward St Giles for the stocking of supplies & the catching of the bus & headed back to base., Pleasant evening with a cople of bottles of beer & wine (me beer, Louise & Caroline wine) Jack was late to bed as well, but he slept well. Louise was a little groggy in the morning so we didn’t manage to make the 10 o’clock opening for the Caption Convention (not that I’d seriously planned how to get there or anything. Fortunately I’d remembered the name of the venue correctly & we got there without much difficulty (in the afternoon) – The East Oxford Community Centre is “The stop before Tescos” (helpfully shouted out to the bus driver from the bus) on the Cowley Rd.

Time at the Caption Convention was all too brief. I guess all in all I got to say hello to a few people, but actual chatting seemed a bit of a push as n the end Jude refused to go back in& I was left with Esme, Eve & Jack while Louise & Jude went back into town to meet up with Caroline (They all went to the Ashmolean before Caroline had to catch a train home).

Annnnd back to work

….meh…

As is the way of things – we were getting more into the swing of things, but it was time to come home. I don’t get long holidays; not had one for a few years now, but it was good to give the kids a break from the norm, I just with that period of adjustment & excitement that causes then to be that bit harder to manage was a little shorter. Esme has definitely come out of this the wildest, but her spell also works on whomever is nearest to her. She has an infectious joy & mania that she passes onto Jude, Eve & even Jack… maybe me as well.

It’s been a good break. Not looking forward to work today – not just because it’s work, but because there are the problems on the sale (a little cloud that would occasionally follow me around when I let myself think about it (though balloon that goes dark, rains & follows you about – 6 panel comics idea if ever there was one) but there looks to have been some system problems from the weekend that were only cleared up yesterday (oh, joy – a grumpy phone to deal with all day.

So – what happened on our holiday to Oxford. Well, we didn’t take coats – not for ourselves – the kids had coats… So the rather heavy rain that greeted us leaving the station was a bit of a bad stay. We called Dr Susie (who so kindly let us stay at the house) & she said that she could pick some of us up., so we set out to a meeting point to do the ‘pick up’. Louise had the brolly I initially, but passed it to me as I took Jack & Esme (in buggy with raincover) up the ‘canal walk’ way & Louise took Jude & Eve on a theoretically easy jaunt to the pick up point. My passed on instruction on where to meet must have confused matters as Louise then went the wrong way, & it took a couple of calls & consultations on the soggy map printout to get her to the right point. All OK in the end – Louise arrived at the house before me – I came off the canal path a bit early – but it all worked out in the end. Dr Susie had even gone to the trouble of supplying us with a pasta meal & raspberries from her garden – treats!

She has a big house & we had the top (2nd) floor (floors?) with 3 rooms & another attic room. Jude & Esme had the largest room, Eve had her own room (as did Louise & I for the most part – nocturnal visits from Esme) & Jack had the attic room which was up a steep narrow staircase (no door) from Jude & Esme’s room. Plenty of space for our sizey family. Would be nice to have a house on this sort of scale as it could actually divvy up into a room for all (daydreaming beyond my means again).

How to describe the house? It’s seizable enough, but it’s stuffed to the gills. I think that she puts up students some of the year round – but I’m not quite sure… The rooms are still her kids rooms in some cases (Eve was in Polly’s old room & we were in one of her sons old rooms). It may be that she’s running more ‘open house’ for her friends & family’s friends & friends of friends. Her children are all grown up & she has a lot of … (for want of a better word) clutter. Lots of photos & cards hanging up & pictures/paintings & Asian puppets & …well… it creates a friendly atmosphere.

Setting off to work & setting out on holiday (I’ve a bigger bag with me that I usually take).

I’m ambivalent as to whether I am prepared of not. I’ve probably got everything, but I can’t be sure & do I need to be sure? We’ll get by. My biggest worry is how Louise will do with her aching back carrying large bag? She also has the difficult job of closing up the house before leaving and making sure the kids are ready & not running off to play at the last minute… this might prove harder.

Jude cut his toe – that might make things for troublesome for him… He was awake as I left this morning (I left later because I deemed it necessary) and he was in a sweet mood. He was nursing his toe when I went up to brush my teeth & I told him we had some plasters downstairs (don’t worry). He seemed reluctant to actually go downstairs though (it was just before the ‘magic’ 7 o’clock) so he started tidying up some Mr Men books. He was quiet & he was sweet.

Esme slept through the night on her bed again – stumbling up to Louise after I’d had a shower & actually staying asleep, (“Where’s daddy?” “He’ll be here in minute” “…”) She was still asleep when I left – hopefully she’ll sleep in a little – it’ll do her good today. I’m not convinced that she’ll be able to maintain wakefulness over a long train journey… mind you that could all pose problems later this evening when we’re trying to settle them all again.

click through for bigger version (it’s a bit tight, this page)

Page one done – 2 more to do & a rejigging of the cover. might need to see if I can get a better copy of Steve’s centre spread
Comic page for LCC Sept 92 Originally uploaded by jinty

Train a few moments late this morning allowing me a few moments to get the Family Railcard sorted out – the first step to getting ready to go to Caption.

Jude didn’t get the water pistol fight he’d been hankering after most of the day yesterday – not through any especially deliberate ploy on my part, but just because he was off playing before it was time to come in & the day just ran out; no more day left to pay in. I also disappointed Jack later on by not doing comics stuff, but messing about updating thoseschroders blog. There’s a lot I could do on there – there’s a lot to ear about how it works & there’s a lot of tweaking I would like to do, but it’ll have to wait; trickle in, because there’s never enough time to do all that you want to do; that’s impossible.

Esme was tired again – it was a hot & weary day, but she kept going – possibly because of playing “footballer” (kicking the ball about on the backstreet – she loves it).

Beautiful morning – if I wasn’t on the train I’d be taking photographs here; it was still overcast in Todmorden, but the train moves on through the low right morning light & the humid air (obvious aerial perspective) makes everything all aglow. Good landscapes.