Trip to King's Sutton

The train ride up to Banbury went perfectly: a smooth ride over rolling countryside with pretty views all the way. Bev was there to meet my train and drive me to King's Sutton, the village she had moved from two years ago when her husband's work brought their family to our neighborhood. King's Sutton would not be an easy village to leave. Its stately manor houses and tidy cottages (some half timbered, some thatched roofed) had beautiful gardens -- billowing banks of hydrangeas, roses, and lots of begonias...big, lush ones. It's a complete village with every shop and service you could ever need, but its narrow and curvy streets made everything feel cozy. And then there were the girlfriends! Bev had invited four of them to come for lunch, and what a good time we had! Pictured above, from left to right, are: me, Vickie, Sarah, Bev, Barbara, and Rona. Lunch was delicious and the conversation was lively...punctuated by gales of laughter. These were women whom Bev had known for twenty years, and their fondness for one another was evident. What a joy to be in their midst! Way too early it was time to return to the station and catch my train back to Weymouth, but I came away feeling I knew Bev better, knew more of what she had left behind and better understood the longing she sometimes feels for a place called home.