A suit of day pyjamas

Sunday, December 24th., Cadogan Square, London.

Somebody told me that it is Christmas tomorrow but I don't intend to let that spoil my present mood of contentment.

I have recently returned (yesterday as a fact) from a short holiday at Oxford. Not every person's idea of a holiday destination I will admit but it has comfortable hotels, green spaces for walking, several excellent museums and, most importantly, bookshops. Hard to beat as far as I am concerned.

I managed to arrange a conducted tour of the Bodleian Library which was fascinating. Wonderful smell amongst the ancient books. Regrettably not enough time to sit down and browse. A number of historic books were exhibited for visitors, including several which are over a thousanf years old; barely conceivable! Written and illustrated by scribes on parchment they seemed almost as fresh as when first completed such is the care with which they have been kept. Regrettably handling was not permitted. Such was not the case however at Blackwell's Bookshop where I found a number of interesting volumes on archaeology, a subject of particular interest to me at present.

Strolled in the University Park and around Christ Church Meadow. Rather bleak at this time of year, but good to get some air after immersion in the middle ages.

Visited the Ashmolean, the Natural History Museum and the Pitt Rivers Collection. Only a short time in each but enough to savour the individual atmosphere each possesses. I hope to make a longer visit so as to do justice to them.

Of course one of the chief desirabilities of a holiday is that mechanical daily habits should be broken. If for instance you are acustomed, as many of us are, to the daily morning grind and bore of physical exercises, deep breathing, and all the elaborate rigmarole of the toilet, you should be able, on an ideal holiday, to abolish the entire ceremonial. On an ideal holiday the house ought to be so warm, the climate so warm, and the existence so informal that a suit of day pyjamas could be worn without anything else. To think of the sensation of freedom if you could bathe casually and carelessly, and live for the rest of the day in those pyjamas. Well, a woman could do this, and some occasionally do, but not a man. The ideal holiday is impossible for men!