Stoke Bruerne canal village

Today I went to a family meal in Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire. It is a very traditional English village, with lots of thatched cottages and pubs. It was a family event, a bitter sweet one, marking the 50th wedding anniversary of my aunt, whose husband died a decade ago. It was a lovely day though and there were lots of my young cousins running around (my aunt's grandchildren and a great grandchild). We had lunch in a pub overlooking the canal and then went for a walk along it while the children and some of the adults went on a short canal boat ride. I chose to walk so I could take photos. I saw a lot of birds and some rabbits in a field of cows. It was a lovely peaceful afternoon and although not exactly warm, it was pleasant enough in the sun.

I found a mobile phone on a bench and asked a couple if they'd left it there - they hadn't, so it became my responsibility as I couldn't exactly just put it back on the bench. After asking everyone along the towpath if they'd lost a phone and holding it in case it rang, I wasn't sure what to do as we had to go back to London soon and it isn't the kind of place you can find a police station easily, so I handed it into the pub and explained the story. Just as we were leaving, the barmaid I'd handed it to told me that the phone had rang and they'd answered it and the owners had just been by and picked it up. So I'm glad I managed to do my good deed for the day and help somebody to get their phone back.

I drove my parents' car back along the country roads to the M40 and along it for a while. I've not been on a motorway since just after I passed my test. It was a lot easier than the M25! When we got to the Oxford services, we stopped and had some refreshments and my dad took over driving duties to tackle London. The services weren't very exciting inside but outside they had some large ornamental ponds and some fountains, with a lot of carp in. Water features have always fascinated me so I went for a walk outside. The fish looked a bit dejected, perhaps because of the cold or perhaps because of the amount of rubbish sharing their ponds. There were a lot of birds around - I saw sparrows, goldfinches, starlings and blue tits among others - but then a red kite showed up and there was a flurry of activity with birds diving for the cover of trees. All in all, a rather exciting visit to the motorway services and I took a lot of photos. It's nice just to get out of London from time to time.