I wrote this post a few days before the end of the month and published it on the 29 instead of the last day, as usual. We are on holiday and as the last 2 days will be very busy, I published it earlier. June was a very busy month, with plenty of days out, 2 trips to Oxford, and ended with a holiday.
I will start with Volya. She was fantastic this month. We’ve started walking on lead with her, outside the garden, and she is enjoying it very much, while behaving really good. We also took her on walks in her carrier, like in the pictures above, from Stonehenge. I might hold her, as it was on our walk in the Festival Gardens.
This is a picture of her upsidedown, on a transparent chair. I love this picture, it is hilarious.
The first trip to Oxford was for an exhibition I organised, with paintings made by Ukrainian children. I am very happy that so many people got involved and worked hard to make this happen, including the last event, when I was able to talk about the project. I talked about this here.
On that trip, we went with Volya to the White House in Bladon, where Winston Churchill had drinks in his youth, and on the grounds at Blenheim Palace.
The second trip to Oxford was to attend 2 lectures, with 2 historians I admire a lot. After the second event, I met a friend and we went for coffee, so it was a fantastic day.
In the picture above is the talk Timothy Snyder, In conversation with Professor Timothy Snyder, was moderated by the Dean Ngaire Woods. The event was at Blavatnik School of Government. The picture below is from the lecture given at Keble College by Serhii Plokhy’s, The Russo-Ukrainian War Through the Eyes of a Historian.
1. Celebrating. 2. Volya has been with us for 2 months. 3. Finishing the poster for an exhibition in Germany with a fellow volunteer. 4. We bought a new pet carrier for Volya, which she loves. 5. My husband surprised me with a bunch of flowers after our Ukrainian language lesson. 6. The last details for my trip to Ukraine next month were finalised. 7. Homemade vegan macarons. 8. Eonarium FLOW. 9. Cake. 10. Volya was not impressed with being brushed. 11. Park. 12. Celebrating. 13. Vegan cube. 14. Formby Yarn Bombing 2025. 15. Celebrating Father’s Day. 16. In the garden with Volya. 17. Thank you postcards that I designed the artwork for, received on the day. 18. Getting ready for Oxford. 19. Event at Oxford, that’s me presenting on stage, one of my ideas to enhance the project I am working on. 20. Delicious food at The Oxford Blue. 21. Volya’s trip to Oxford: trip to a pub where Winston Churchill drank in his youth; Blenheim Palace; Deddington Castle on the way home. 22. 3 short documentaries/movies about Ukraine. Emotional and beautiful. Pictured is Voices for Hope and Peace. 23. Cakes. 24. Timothy Snyder at Blavatnik School of Government. 25. Serhii Plokhy’s lecture – The Russo-Ukrainian War Through the Eyes of a Historian. 26. 2 new NAFO T-shirts. 27. Train. 28. Stonehenge. 29. How much I packed for Volya [from the day before]. 30. Books in June
I’ve decided to change the way I am sharing pictures of the books I read. I had 2 books with 1 stars this month and I thought it is absurd to include them in the monthly collages. I will continue to list them here, review all on my book blog, and possibly comment on them.
I read 7 books in June and 5 of them were really good. I can recommend 3 fiction books, which is rather unusual for me. Firstly, Escape from Crimea with short stories from different countries, by a Bulgarian author. Secondly, The Ruins in Which We Bleed, is the 3rd book by this author and it is so worth reading all 3 of them. The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a wonderful story, told by a cat, which I praised so much that my husband is reading now.
Books in June:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer – 1 star
Escape from Crimea by Svet Dinahum – 4.5 stars
The Ruins in Which We Bleed by Steve N Lee – 5 stars
Ukrainian script hacking by Judith Meyer – 1 star
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa – 5 stars
Unseen Formby by Gillian Morgan – 5 stars
Cum s-a românizat România by Lucian Boia – 5 stars
I’ve never thought about taking our cat out with us for the day, my son and his girlfriend take theirs out all the time.
Look at that flooofy tummy!!! LOVE the tummy picture!
I think I’d like the Travelling Cat book as I loved a book recently told from a dog ‘s perspective.
I’m v glad Volya is settling in so well!
Looks like you had a busy and a good June! I love that Volya has her new home!
Volya looks very comfortable out and about in the carrier. Well done on organising the exhibition and glad that it went well. Love the picture of Volya with The Travelling Cat Chronicles book. Hope you have a nice holiday. #project365
I don’t know how I ended up with the copy that I have, but I tried to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer – there were definitely enjoyable bits in it but I didn’t finish because I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters. Congratulations on your exhibition.
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It looks like Volya has had a wonderful time travelling this month. Her tummy is so fluffy!
The exhibition and talks sound very interesting.
You have taken some wonderful photos this month. I especially like the t-shirts.
I hope July is an equally good month for you all.
Glad your cat’s settling in. Feels really strange to me to be taking a cat out on walks, but then ours are feral on the farm, we can’t touch or get near them, and our childhood pet cat came from a farm so was always out and about on its own.
Well done on the children’s pictures exhibition. A thoughtful event to put on.
I love that Volya gets to join in on so many of your activities. It always amused me to see her on a leash since the only time I’ve been around one in real life, it didn’t go well. I’ve seen quite a few online, though, so I know it’s just a matter of training. The photo of her from below is great!
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It’s not a matter of training with cats. Some cats want to go out, some don’t. A Ukrainian friend cared for 3 cats of a friend briefly and one of those cats was meowing to go out on a lead, while the other 2 wouldn’t go outside at all. She had to walk one cat each day, otherwise the cat wouldn’t stop meowing.
Volya likes to go outside in a controlled manner. Initially she would fun indoors if she heard anything that scared her. Now, on walks, she is constantly coming to us.
I hope you are having a lovely holiday!
I love reading about Volya, that cat has travelled more than I have in my life. lol I love the days out that you are giving her.
Well done with the exhibition that you organised!
Fantastic photos!
Kim Carberry recently posted…A photo every day for a year! 22nd – 28th June! Week 26 of #Project365