Life List

As we near the new year it's traditional to make resolutions.  These seem rather negative to me, as they tend to be agreements with oneself not to do something, and if there's one thing guaranteed to make you want to do something you shouldn't it's telling yourself not do to it....

It's time for a near term life list.  Near term, say 2 years.  Life list, biggish things which nevertheless are doable.  Becoming a concert pianist and becoming fluent in Japanese may not be in the frame, whilst building a tree house with the kids is a definite contender.

Is this the county's best ploughman's?

This autumn we were spoilt with some gorgeous weekend days, crying out for a long romp in the countryside. We wrapped up the junior EOWers, borrowed a dog to walk and set off for Minster Lovell to do a very accessible circular walk. We'd had a tip off  that we would be walking past a pub which did a fabulous ploughman's - worth checking out in anyone's book. So our motley crew wound up at the Lamb Inn in Crawley, waiting for them to open up with thick ham slices and interesting cheeses on our minds. And we weren't disappointed. The Lamb was dog and child friendly, had a roaring fire and best of all, great food. The ploughmans were amazing, beautiful seasonal veg, various scrumptious meats, tasty chutney, tasty bread and butter served on a stone. It was a work of beauty.

Spot of crafting anyone?

You might be fed up of being told that crafting is the new cool, but it really is. Feast your eyes on this lovely company. Set up by some local crafters, they offer a lovely way to learn some new craft skills, meet new people and best of all produce lovely new things.

Oxford venues include Turl Street Kitchen and Oxfork, both great places to do anything.

Sunday Sessions

Last Sunday, me and Mr EOW and EOW juniors went along to the Florence Park Community Centre for the Sunday Sessions. And what a treat. These sessions have been going on since the spring and have had an impressive array of live music aimed at a family audience. What a great concept, Sunday afternoon with friends, kids and live music! Add to that a bar, interesting snacks and kid's competitions and they've covered all the bases.

We made some school boy errors: we first went to the Florence Park children's centre, in the park, the community centre is on Cornwallis Road. The session runs from 2-5 and we rocked up at 3.30 to minimal parking and even scarcer seating. Despite our tardy approach, we had a great time. The community centre is an intimate venue which allowed the charms of the Brickwork Lizards to infuse the room. The "Turkabilly" sound of this accomplished Oxford band is fresh and exciting and it is no surprise that they are being booked by major national festivals. For me the highlights were some great trumpet playing and a fabulous cello. Our kids enjoyed the fact that the band member's kids got to do backing vocals on one of the tracks.

Watch out for the Sunday sessions, it's what cold Sunday afternoon were made for.