Oxford is pretty much underwater. This has been happening for the past thousand years, so it's not a great surprise (and is why all of our libraries are not built at ground level!), but it's quite hard to get used to.
Here's the view from our lounge:
It looks innocent enough, until you realise that this wide lake is actually a sports field. You can see the tops of park benches sticking out of the water!
This makes it good weather for drinking tea. Many thanks to Imen, Tomas, and Giorgio for the various samples - I'm looking forward to tucking into them over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for some notes!
In other news, we recently discovered a lovely old traditional shoeshop in town; raising a pair of good shoes seems very much akin to raising a good teapot, requiring plenty of polishing and care after each use, with the intention of developing a rich, deep patina over time. Oddly, polishing shoes seems to get me into the same psychological "zone" as does making tea.
I was standing in the entry lodge of Somerville College last night, and a passer-by stopped to say, "Are those shoes from Duckers?" It's good to see that some old, good things from the past can still hold their own against modern living. I think we'd all count good tea in that category.
Here's the view from our lounge:
It looks innocent enough, until you realise that this wide lake is actually a sports field. You can see the tops of park benches sticking out of the water!
This makes it good weather for drinking tea. Many thanks to Imen, Tomas, and Giorgio for the various samples - I'm looking forward to tucking into them over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for some notes!
In other news, we recently discovered a lovely old traditional shoeshop in town; raising a pair of good shoes seems very much akin to raising a good teapot, requiring plenty of polishing and care after each use, with the intention of developing a rich, deep patina over time. Oddly, polishing shoes seems to get me into the same psychological "zone" as does making tea.
I was standing in the entry lodge of Somerville College last night, and a passer-by stopped to say, "Are those shoes from Duckers?" It's good to see that some old, good things from the past can still hold their own against modern living. I think we'd all count good tea in that category.
Very pointy, those shoes. Works for those with narrow feet. Leather is nice, though, in that it will conform to your feet with proper conditioning. My current favorite brand of shoes is Keen, which makes good shoes for those of us with wide feet. Extremely comfortable and well made, and a few styles that dress up fairly well. For years I wore Doc Martens, but had to break them in, every pair. I no longer put my feet through that; if the shoe is uncomfortable anymore, it goes away.
ReplyDeleteLookin' sharp. I have two pairs of "casual" Allen Edmonds shoes which I clean and polish every week or so. Polishing may seem like a chore but hey, I enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteDear Carla,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of narrow feet, the shoemaker says that it is a "known fact" in the shoe industry that Americans are predisposed to having narrow feet. Apparently, most shoemakers have an "A" width (i.e., hyper, hyper narrow) just for American men. Shoes for British men seldom go below a "C" width now, with the median being "F" - I'm a "G" (chubby feet!). I overheard him telling this to an American who was trying to fit into some boots, but simply found them too wide - at "B"!
Dr. Marten, the stuff of legends. Even these Duckers shoes (and a similar pair of "monks" I since acquired) require some serious breaking in - I can't wear them for very long at a time, currently, because they're still far too hard.
Doddy,
I thought you'd approve. :)
There's something in that polishing... very mindful!
Toodlepip both,
Hobbes
Ha! Tell that thing about American shoes to my husband, who can't seem to find an A width in any of the styles he favors to save his life.
ReplyDeleteIf those are wide shoes, the taper really makes them look quite narrow. I didn't mention it, but yep, you're stylin' now. Very nice.
G has "A"-size feet? Amazing! I don't think I've ever seen such feet before. I wonder if the shoemaker's statement about American mens' feet was correct, and, if so, why would it be so?
ReplyDeleteToodlepip,
Hobbes
Weird to me too. I'm a size 10D which I was told was rather average in width. The casual styles I have include more room in the front toe box so if I get a skinnier style shoe I may need to try on a width E to make sure my tootsies don't get squished.
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to suspect the widths are measured on a different scale, between the UK and the US, just like the sizes are. For instance, here we never see F, or G. It goes from E to EE to EEE, and that's the widest I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteDear Carla,
ReplyDeleteI think that's true - the scales are definitely different. What the chap in the shoeshop mentioned was that there was a special "British A" made for the US, given their narrower feet. He showed me one example of that size, and it was like a girl's shoe! Very dainty.
Toodlepip,
Hobbes