Bodleian Library, Oxford

I ordered this Bodleian Advent calendar the other day – it features an image of famous Oxford works in the Bodeleian library, dotted with 24 small doors, which open to show famous paintings from the library. It will be placed next to my eagerly awaited Whisky Advent Calendar, which has not yet arrived.

This morning I received a massive, padded envelope labelled ‘Documents Enclosed’, with a shipping slip in plastic attached to the front. I thought maybe I’d gotten x-rays taken and forgotten about them. Or finished a university degree in my sleep and the diploma was arriving in the mail. What I’m saying is, I didn’t remember any recent activity that would have generated the mailing of Documents in such a  fine and official envelope.

So I gingerly opened the envelope, and found: My Bodleian calendar. No note, no further documents, just the mailable calendar, along with its own mailing envelope. Huh. Those Oxford folk really do things up right! Also, thanks for the super envelope, which is lovely, reusable, and probably more expensive than the calendar itself.

(If you want your own, I can’t promise you’ll get the beautiful mailing package, but the shop is http://www.bodleianshop.co.uk/christmas/gifts-and-stationery/christmas-bookshelf-advent-calendar-new-for-2012.html)

Now I’m disappointed that the card, its envelope and the shipping envelope didn’t come gift-wrapped in a box, inside a bigger box.