19-24.06 - Days 156-161 - Iceland to Buckingham
Wednesday 19th June - Stokkseyri (Iceland) - Buckingham (UK) (Day 156)
A super early start at 4:30 am to eat and shower before leaving at 5:15 to drive 75 minutes to the airport. Thankfully one of the benefits of the long day is that it is as bright now as it will be all day, which helps make it a little less painful. There is genuine rain now and we’re happy to be leaving and after no airport dramas we’re on our Easyjet flight en route to London Luton airport.
Wednesday 19th June - Monday 24th June - Buckingham (Day 156-161)
On arrival at Luton airport we’re quickly through, surrounded by the comforting accents of England. We meet Mum and Dad (Mema and PawPaw) who whisk us back to Buckingham where the dogs Buddy and Ollie are very excited to see us. Gulliver and Zill, the tortoises are only interested in that we might be another source of lettuce or dandelion leaves, so too Corinne’s tortoises Basil and Cybil.
We soon settle in to home comforts, the kids happy once again to play with toys that are being used by their cousins regardless of whether it’s new toys or toys from mine and Corinne’s childhood - Duplo and Lego - or even mum’s childhood - the large doll house (which in fact was also played with first by her mum as a child).
To stretch everyone's legs we take the dogs out for a walk, bounding through the farmers' crops. More home comforts in a spaghetti bolognese dinner all together around the kitchen table.
The next several days pass in an easy routine with some common threads - schoolwork, of course, playing with the dolls house including many trips to the impromptu workshop in the garage to mend or repaint furniture, dog walks out to Maids Moreton and back, building with the Lego (rather rebuilding the boats, planes and cars from the many instruction leaflets still rolling around - noticeably the shift to today’s Lego containing more unique intricate pieces and also more detailed instructions).
Thursday (Day 157, 20th Jun) afternoon we 6 head out to Hogshaw Farm, 25 minute drive away nestled in the countryside and narrow winding roads. We’re still being spoilt with the weather - only sunshine since our arrival - it’s almost too hot as we first race on the go-kart tractors before walking amongst the pygmy goats in the fields and in the barn goats just a few weeks old, still unsteady on their feet as they prance around. After a hot jump on the bouncy pillow we find an incubator where chicks are hatching, their cheeps met with Sienna’s shrieks. As we leave at closing time there’s just time for a few more laps on the go-carts, all three generations enjoying the simple pleasures.
Friday’s outings (Day 158, 21st Jun) cover two doses of literature - at Buckingham University bookshop to invest a couple of vouchers kindly given by family friends Sherry and Cliff, and also at the library where Sienna and Seb discover the frustrations and successes of chose-your-own-adventure books. On an afternoon visit from my aunt Joa, she and mum corroborate the local goings on from their sources before we finish up with a BBQ in the long evening sun.
Saturday (Day 159, 22nd Jun) morning I join 270 others doing the local 5km Park Run - after not running for a year it feels harder then I remember and gives me a time …. to build upon (25m 10s).
There’s a full family dog walk out to the playing fields in Maids Moreton where then Seb and I return a few hours later to watch my old cricket team, who to their credit have moved away from flirting between South Northants Division 3 and 4 and now find themselves in the Premier League, despite, it must be said, maintaining a very similar series of body shapes.
I last played for them in 2007 and one of the players from that era is now the chairman who happens to be the only spectator so we catch up for a few hours, as well as looking for some balls clobbered into the undergrowth and neighbouring field by the opposition - another familiar feeling.
Seb is content to watch and very happy to serve the orange squash on the pitch in the drinks break and help polish off the teas too. Gary proudly shows off the new emblem which has (finally) usurped the one I created in PowerPoint in around 2004 which had suspiciously similar design as Lord’s (both MMCC). Inside the clubhouse is a wall dedicated to the highs (and some lows) of the club, with results printed out from the last 20 or so years. Seb proudly manages to find my name and now possibly thinks I’m a famous cricket player.
Sunday (Day 160, 23rd Jun) is a trip to Oxford to catch up with an old school friend Ben at Flo’s in the Park before we join up with my parents at the Cherwell River Boat Club for some wayward (when done by me) punting.
When not bumping into the banks or bending down as we pass under a low hanging willow tree branch, it's a sedate affair - for all the passengers. Meanwhile Dad and Ben on their turns made it look decidedly easier as we glided through the water, the kids confident enough to jump across the punts. All this middle-England hard work needs a drink so we reward ourselves with a waterside pint at nearby Victoria Arms, Seb trotting off to play some football with other kids.
Monday’s (Day 161, 24th Jun) something different comes in the warm late afternoon, helping Elle out with some horses Charlie and (forgotten) and donkeys Dusty and Snowy, along with giving them a brush and Seb wheeling all their poo into a trailer.
We also help another lady who comes to put away the guinea pigs but needs fetching / rescuing / prodded out from under their hutch, which somehow necessitates Sienna and Seb climbing into the run to shepherd them into the right areas.
