wandering around East Oxford

Oxfordshire mornings ♥

Oxford ♥

Oxford ♥

Oxford ♥

Magdalen College

Oxford ♥

Radcliffe Camera

Easy to see why I fell in love with this city, right? Right. This is a new feature on LMJ, my love of Oxford in images with little rambling going on. Beautiful things are best savoured in silence ;)

dreaming away in Oxford

I love Oxford. Sometimes, I need to remind myself of it. Today is as good a day as any and I even have excellent news. I am the proud winner of a spot at Shooting the Breeze - a film photography e-course! Yes, me. Moi. Myself. And I.

I had been flirting with the course for ages, then it opened, and Suzie had this giveaway and I won. Oh life is so good, don't you think? It starts in September and I really cannot wait! Thank you very much, Suzie.

How about you? Would you like to join me there? I bet you would! It would be great to have your company there.

the Oxford route

A while ago I mentioned I had a very special request you'd know more about yesterday. What is it?, tell us LMJ, I can almost here you ask!

I did a guest post, yes, moi même, for the blog lifestyle F for Fabulous. Yes, I did. I was really surprised when Fenny asked me to write a guest post for her; I immediately said yes! When I sat down thinking about the post, it occurred to me the most obvious thing to do was take the readers on the same itinerary I take friends who visit me. Once that was decided, I had to look at the photos I had and work out the ones I needed. This alone took me on my very own journey through Oxford... and I had the chance to fall in love with it once more. Over and over again.

Thank you Fenny, for the opportunity! Hope you like the post!

reading

Welcome to Oxford, where reading is a pleasure which can be enjoyed anywhere at anytime. 

I had a great weekend which did not involve any reading but included a huge amount of walking, a fair amount of running and a great load of fun! My weekend photos are not even on the computer yet, I decided that would be the treat I would give myself once I had looked at my spectacular backlog of photos and even more spectacular backlog of housework. This evening I looked at a few photos, tomorrow I will consider the housework. LMJ is on the ball, beware messy room for your time is up!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

Oxford Blackwell's

Do you like books? Or do you *love* books? LMJ *loves* books. I love reading, but my love of books is greater than that. I love looking at bookshelves filled with books. That alone can make me smile. I can spend quite a long time just looking at them. In my bedroom at my parents' house, I have the shelves organised according to my favourites. I can lay in bed and remember the stories, when I read each book, what it made me feel. I love looking at my growing collection and knowing these books are all mine, mine! With me, they have found a safe place and we shall never part. Maybe I will never read them all, but who cares, that's not important. Their existence makes me happy and I like whatever makes me happy. LMJ is quite simple, really.

Oxford has bookshops. Loads of bookshops! Blackwell is to me the most iconic. I love everything about it, from its size and cosy feel with books everywhere, to the building. Buildings are important. A bit like the cover of a book. I could tell you all about the history of Oxford's Blackwell. I could, but my friend Nicky could do it so much better than I could, that I think we should ask him. Pretty please, Nicky. Ta. From Joey and her readers *insert adorable smile here*

Little note 1: Can you tell I love windows? Clever you!

Little note 2: If you love books, you should definitely read The Shadow of the Wind. What a superbly written book!

of the weekend

To put it mildly, I am so happy last week is exactly that! I was ill with two different things, both of which were pretty annoying and painful and tiring and I couldn't be happier to leave it behind me. So there, it is behind me, or behind the next paragraph which I'm sure counts as the same thing in the world of writing.

Of the weekend.

Friday night. Drinks in London with two dear good friends over wine and yummy food. I felt better instantly. We laughed and almost cried and laughed some more and I came back feeling lighter and smiling at the future. 

Saturday. Knitting club and my sweet slow pace. Oxford United match. Almost won but did not lose. What a match! Freshly made tomato and roasted red peppers and basil soup. Heaven!

Sunday. Lovely slow stroll by the river in good company with cute puppy. I think my UK-induced pale complexion is being replaced by a healthy tan. Or so I want to believe. I finally got to relax and for that I love Sundays!

The weather. Typically one discusses the weather on failure to produce a more interesting topic; not the case here. One has to discuss the weather because it was absolutely stunning and it made me oh so happy!

new beginnings

This weekend Oxford was a place for new beginnings... for my cousin and I. We grew up together. We played and laughed and were children and became teenagers and then a bit older than that and I moved away and we grew a bit apart without really knowing it. Only this weekend when she came to visit because she needed her new beginning, have I realised how this time together became our new beginning. And I like Oxford a bit more for giving us that.

Oxford is...

Oxford is sometimes a peaceful and quiet Autumn afternoon for us to collect our thoughts... and go back to them when we realise how we could have trailed a different path from that day onwards... had we known... but we didn't know... And yet again Oxford comes to our rescue with a moment's silence for the little piece of us we can't get back from that day. Oxford is all those serene late afternoons when I'm free to find myself... so I can enjoy the other Oxford!