A combat of nude men

http://www.free-nature-photos.org/

There might not be many butterflies in Oxford but look what was in my garden this morning - a beautiful peacock. I couldn't get to my camera fast enough, and it had flown off to sun itself on the roof before I knew it. But here's a picture of one courtesy of the free nature photos guys.
I can't remember seeing a Peacock butterfly before, so it was pretty exciting. I'm a cheap date, really.

Really cheap as it happens. The best free date since yesterday followed hot on the heels of the butterfly sighting. I had made an appointment last week to go and see the Raphael and Michelangelo drawings at the Ashmolean. They are kept in the Print Room and it was like getting into Fort Knox even though I had the appointment. Phone calls to the Keeper, locked doors, locked drawers etc.. We, because Colin came with me, sat for two hours while the nice lady brought, three at a time, a selection of their work for us to peruse. Right there, a few inches from my face. Over five hundred years old. It was like a private audience. I was able to take photos, but I signed a form to say that they are for personal study use only, so I can't post any of them on here. Needless to say, they were beautiful, exquisite, and priceless. It made me very happy. The sign above was on the table.

But wait, there's more! Tonight, we went to a piano recital at the Town Hall which is a Victorian extravaganza of a building. We heard John Lill play some Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Prokofiev. How much culture can a woman take in one day???