Graduation

Thursday night we took Elizabeth to Cheltenham. We stayed overnight in Detmore House, it's a very nice old Victorian house, on the outskirts of Cheltenham, and the rooms we were in are enormous. The views of the countryside on a frosty November morning were stunning. Finding it was a challenge though. The AA route planner takes you almost all the way onto Cheltenham. We didn't really have time to appreciate the views, or the house. We'd arrived very late, and had a 7:30am appointment with breakfast. So then it was off the Cheltenham Racecourse for the graduation ceremony.

While we were waiting, I took some pictures of Liz by the winning post. Cheesy - yes. Karen joined us from Luton. The event itself was well-organised with refreshments both before and after the ceremony, but the gowning left something to be desired. I'd had trouble with the booking and ordering. It was a very poor website. Then the order hadn't got to the people doing the gowns. We got one eventually, but it set Liz off.

The most important part of the day only took a minute, Elizabeth received her handshake, which changes her from a graduand to a graduate.

Then it was picture taking, and for Elizabeth meeting old friends. I'm not digital yet, so you'll have to look here or here for pictures, which I'm sure will be there in a day or so.
After the pictures, we went to eat in Cheltenham. A nice meal, with a glass of champagne for graduates and their guests, but the portions are a little small. We left Karen to take Liz back to Stoke Gifford, and made our way to Swindon, where we left Jo's mum to stay with friends for a couple of days. We spend a good hour trying to find the house in Swindon - which was very frustrating.
 

On the way home, we watched the fireworks from various displays, and some bonfires that were too close to the motorway. There were also a couple of Fire Engines racing down the other carriage way. Apart from that, the journey was uneventful.

An excellent day, and a privilege to play the proud father role again.

Congratulations Liz, BA

Travels (1 of many)

Over the summer months I will be doing a reasonable amount of travelling across the UK. Saturday saw us travel to Cheltenham (M25 = 2.5 hours A127 - M4). From there we loaded up the car with all of Elizabeth's University goods, and travelled on towards Bristol. On arrival at Stoke Gifford, we saw the place where Liz will be for the next year. It was a lovely day, the sun was bright, and the weather warm. We sat on the green outside the building pictured and enjoyed a snack, and a chat about how the year might pan out. I really do enjoy these days, particularly when we can get an easy schedule, but feel so tired at the end.