Saturday was all about relaxing & avoiding doing jobs/chores. So the plan was to head out to Oxford, breakfast at Oxfork & then stroll down to the Botanic Garden. We decided to buy an annual pass as it means unlimited visits to both the Botanic Garden & Harcourt Aboretum, another favourite walking spot. The reason I like both these places is that there’s always something different to see as the seasons change and it means I can take tons of photos to feed my Instagram addiction. We spent ages walking around the garden & were rewarded by seeing some great things & plenty to fill my Instagram page. Below are the pictures I took. Apologies if the names are wrong/missing!

Begonia Augustinei

Passiflora Alata

Cyclamen

Dichotisandra Thyrsiflora

Not sure what this little fella is, but it’s a bundle of seeds

Fungus growing on a John Downie

Jay

Now I love all these pictures, but my favourite is the one of the Jay. We’d been looking at some Goldcrest birds, trying to figure what they were, and we spotted a Greater Spotted Woodpecker (my OH has a bird identifier app on his phone!) Then we were walking along & I spotted the flash of the blue on the wing of the Jay. It’s a much bigger bird than I thought a jay might be, as I’ve never seen one before. We followed him around for a bit then he settled on this tree. I never thought I’d get picture of him, but he stayed still for ages! And I just kept taking pictures and walking closer and closer. The picture above is the result. What do you think?! Not too bad for an iPhone picture!

This is why I love going there – you never know what you’re going to see. Plus it’s like a little oasis in the middle of the city. We’re going to go back further into winter to see what else has changed. If you haven’t been, you must go! It’s lovely. And you can always just sit & read on Will and Lyra’s bench and watch the world go by. Let me know if you do go and share any pictures you take! x