Half Term Week

Friday already? That week went fast! (I thought it had gone even faster - both M and I have kept thinking today is Saturday and that is what I typed, then realised it is still Friday.) We don't have any freelance work at the moment, but I have been busy in the mornings doing my archive work. The weather has been mostly nasty, though we did manage to get out for a couple of walks. Nothing exciting - just a couple of miles around the local area, staying on the road and paths to avoid mud, and a walk into town for coffee and a pastry on Wednesday morning before starting work late. TG seems to have done very little, but is still complaining that half term has gone by too fast! 

I have been doing quite a bit of social media stuff for work (something I can easily do from home) took the photo below to use on Instagram. There are two of these carvings, one either side of an archway over the entrance to what was once the Ewe and Lamb inn. It closed nearly 50 years ago, but the carvings are still there as a reminder of its history - I love spotting bits of hidden history like this, and was struck by the way the ewe and lamb were peaking out from behind the fascia of the shop next door.  

We are well into autumn now, with leaves everywhere, and some trees virtually bare. The blue sky is deceptive - it started raining again soon after we got home. Fortunately the forecast for next week looks better, with a few dry days. I bought myself a good waterproof raincoat before we went to Appleby so that we could still walk whatever the weather, but I find it very hard to motivate myself to go out when it is damp and miserable. I have been very lazy this month with exercise, partly because I was feeling short of energy and did a couple of exercise classes which left me feeling exhausted. I am determined that next week I will get back into some sort of routine, but will start off with gentle yoga to try to build my energy levels up again. 

We had a band committee meeting during the week, blended between in-person and Zoom. I was one of the in-person people (does that make sense?) which meant I got to play with my friend's gorgeous kitten again. We also had a takeaway curry. Yesterday H bought us a Chinese takeaway to celebrate getting paid, and I promised TG a trip to Wagamamas over half term. M doesn't like Japanese food, so we are going to go on Sunday while he is at work. I'm rather enjoying a week with less cooking. During the spring and summer I was sharing the cooking with H, but she is so bogged down with working and studying that I am back to being head cook.

Having found her independence with her shopping trip last weekend, TG and two friends took themselves to Milton Keynes again today to go to Nandos and binge on spicy chicken. This time they got the bus there, but got lifts home. M and I were going to go for a walk, but the weather was nasty again so we decided to go to Ikea. However we had forgotten it was half term and there was a ridiculously long queue (part of their coronavirus precautions is to limit the number of people entering to stop it getting crowded). We took one look at the queue, gave up and went for a coffee and cake in the M & S cafe instead instead. By the time we had finished, so had TG. She found us in M & S and we did a bit of food shopping before heading home. I picked up some frozen vegan party snacks to use at Christmas or New Year and some vegan chocolates for H for Christmas - I have learned the hard way that it is best to buy this sort of thing when I see it, rather than wait and find they are sold out. TG has a thing about mini Colin the Caterpillar cakes, so we got her a pack as a treat. Hopefully at least some will last long enough for her to take them to school as snacks next week. 

Henges, Halls and Castles

For our final day of our trip away we decided to stay closer to home. We had thought about driving in the opposite direction and heading for the Yorkshire Dales rather than the Lakes, but decided against on the grounds that (1) the weather looked a bit iffy, (2) we needed to get the car charged ready to head home the following day, and (3) we were tired after the previous days excursions. It was a good call. I found us a walking route near Penrith, which turned out to be a feast of history (which made me happy!) and to have an excellent cafe on route (which made us both happy!). Even better, it was flat. No climbing! M is happy to trail round historical sites with me as he enjoys the walk and the scenery, but has very limited interest in history - generally just things he can identify with on a personal level. It is also always down to me to choose our route and be in charge of the map (or, these days, the app) as he has absolutely no sense of direction. 

Considering we have stayed in Appleby so many times, I am amazed that we had never explored this area before. First stop was the ruins of medieval Brougham Castle. We didn't go in - it is managed by English Heritage and thanks to the pandemic entrance has to be booked in advance - but admired it and took photos from the road. We have driven past it many times, but had never stopped to look properly. 

We then cut across some fields and followed the river for a while, before reaching the village of Eamont Bridge. The bridge itself was the ancient boundary between the counties of Westmorland and Cumberland, now amalgamated to form Cumbria. 

We crossed the road and took a loop round to a prehistoric site, Mayburgh Henge. The henge is thought to be between four and five thousand years old, and stands in the middle of a circular bank built of small stones and pebbles. There was once either one or two circles of standing stones surrounding the great stone in the centre. Now it stands alone, ancient and mysterious - the presumption is that these sites were built for religious and ritual purposes, but beyond that we can only guess how they were used.  

We then headed back to the main road and found another giant stone, this time a modern one erected in 2000 to commemorate the millennium. It is a 50 ton block of granite from a local quarry, carved with an alpha on one side, an omega on the opposite side and a cross in the centre. 

Eamont Bridge also has a second prehistoric site, known as King Arthur's Round Table - it is far too early to be associated with "Arthur" (if he ever existed), but it is round, hence the name. Arial views show the circular raised "table" mound in the centre very clearly, though one edge is now under a road. My photo only hints at some earthworks, but it was the best I could do! 

Then it was back to the middle ages, with this lovely little chapel dedicated to St. Wilfred which is accessed through a door in the wall running alongside the road and up some steps. 

From the chapel there is a footbridge across the road to the ruins of Brougham Hall, a large fortified medieval manor house, now the focus of a major restoration project. The outer buildings are still atmospheric ruins - this had me thinking of the ruined Cair Paravel in Prince Caspian. Much of the main courtyard has been restored and the buildings put back into use as shops and workshops for local crafts people and artists. There was also a cafe where we had a delicious lunch, run by a local charity in conjunction with a home for young mentally disabled adults and selling home cooked food.  

After we left Brougham Hall it was a short walk back to the car - just as well it wasn't too far as at that point it started to rain. Just before we got back to Brougham Castle we past earthworks marking the site of Brocavum, a Roman fort. You can just about see some raised ground in amongst the sheep. There really was an unbelievable range of historical sites and areas packed into this small area! 

After our walk we drove into Penrith and (eventually) hooked the car up to a charging point in the car park of a supermarket which had a cafe, so while the charger was doing its thing we went for coffee and cake in the cafe, then for a short stroll around Penrith where I spotted this sign opposite the Church which made me chuckle. 

In comparison this weekend has been very lazy - for me and TG, at least; M has been at work and H is studying. Yesterday TG and I watched the film Enola Holmes on Netflix, which we both really enjoyed. M and I also binge watched Road Kill over the weekend, a short BBC political drama series about an ambitious minister with a dodgy private life. TG and her friend went shopping in Milton Keynes this afternoon - the first time she has gone somewhere by train on her own, so a new milestone. I don't think they really wanted to buy anything, just to enjoy the fact that they are old enough to go out independently. 

Ambling Round Ambleside

Lots of photographs today because the Lake District is beautiful and I have too many I want to share! The day after our climb up Silver How we went to Ambleside, at the top end of Lake Windermere. We decided were were more in the mood for a gentle amble than something strenuous, so we bought and downloaded a Treasure Trail.  We have done a few of these trails over the last few years. They set out a route around a particular location, with various clues to solve as you go and we thought they would be fun for TG, but she never really took to them. However, M and I found them a good way to explore as they point us at things we would never otherwise spot - the website says they are suitable for ages 6 to 106, so why not! 

The first section of the trail took us across a field and down to the river, then back up through a park where one of the clues related to this stone sculpture standing in a stone circle, which had been created by young artists in 2000. 

The next set of clues took us to the area round the church and included one which took us to the grave of Charlotte Mason. When we used to homeschool I loved her gentle, literature based approach to education. She founded a training college in Ambleside to educate teachers in her method. The college still exists and is now a campus of the University of Cumbria, although it no longer trains teachers. 

 

The next section was around the central part of Ambleside, with a break for lunch. We spotted a Greggs, and as I have a minor obsession with their vegan steak bakes, we bought lunch there and sat in a park to eat it. Having promised M that our walk would not involve climbing, we then discovered that Ambleside had a higher part of town with a very steep set of steps up to it. At least there was a good view once we got there!  

The trail suggested an optional diversion to Stock Ghyll waterfalls, which we thought sounded worth exploring. There were more steps. In fact, there were quite a lot more steps! 

 

We made it up to the falls. This was the upper section, with a bridge across the top so that we could circle round and come back down the other side of the ghyll. 

Back at the bottom there was another wider, but shallower fall. The falls and the beech woods round them were quite popular and busy, even on a fairly dull October day. I imagine that during the summer there would have been a horde of people there. 

Ambleside's famous bridge house, now owned by the National Trust, provided the final clue.  The trail itself took about an hour and a half to two hours. With an extra hour to visit the falls, our lunch stop and a visit to a chocolate shop for treats to bring home for the girls (there may also have been treats for ourselves!) we spent about four hours in Ambleside. 

Ambleside is about an hour away from our hotel, but quite a bit of the drive has gorgeous mountain and lake views. It is also on pretty good roads - no narrow or steep Lakeland lanes which can be a bit stressful. It is an interesting area to drive in an electric car, as you can see hills visibly draining the battery, only to sail along for miles without using any power on the way back down thanks to the regenerative energy system. Every time we go there I remember that the Lakes are one of my very favourite places. I hope it won't be too long before we are able to go back.  

 

Being Crafty

I have been enjoying indulging in birthday treats. When we got back from our trip away H and TG presented me with a birthday cake. As is always the case when H bakes, it was a beauty. 

It was also large! M isn't a fan of chocolate cake, and there was no way the other three of us could get through it all, so I cut the second half of it into two large chunks and froze them to eat later.

Tonight I started drinking some birthday gin. I am not a big drinker, but my current favourite evening tipple is a gin and tonic, I think because it is not too sweet. H bought me a box with a selection of small bottles of different flavoured gins and mixers, and I sampled the first one this evening - raspberry gin with mediterranean tonic. And very nice it was too! 

I spent much of the summer in a cross stitching mood, and have been working on two Disney bookmarks to go into Christmas stockings for Disney-loving daughters. I finished one, and am about half way through the second. I was confused as to why I came excruciatingly close to running out of a couple of colours - I am quite an economical stitcher, and kits usually have far more than I need - until I realised that instead of stitching two different pictures I was repeating the first one! I am too far on with it to unpick and start again, and I think I can just about make the thread last, so long as I give it a different border colour. I can't believe how long it too me to realise what I was doing! 

Partly because I was annoyed with myself for messing up, and partly because colder weather always makes me want to knit, I have given up on the cross stitch for a while in favour of knitting. I finally finished a jumper (sweater) I started for TG last February, but which had been left in my craft box because I was procrastinating over sewing it up. I knitted a pair of socks as a Christmas present for my brother, who loves handmade socks, and I am now on the second sock of a pair for myself. I love this zig-zag pattern (Jaywalker on Ravelry) in self-striping yarn - I think this is the third time I have knitted it. 

Then I distracted myself mid-sock when a yarn order arrived and started knitting this scarf, also a Christmas gift for my brother. I knitted him one years ago, I think with the same pattern, and he has worn it almost to destruction - it is now very thin and limp, so I decided he could do with another. It is 100% wool so will be toasty warm. I particularly like this pattern because it is reversible. I have just finished the first skein of two. It only took me two days, so I should get the whole scarf finished over the weekend. 

Fortunately the annoying flu jab fatigue wore off after 48 hours and M and I managed to get out for a walk on Dunstable Downs yesterday afternoon while the weather was reasonable. It has been alternating between wet and miserable and damp and miserable for most of the week. In the evening I went to a friend's for a meeting about a brass band issue with the two of us, plus two others via Zoom. She had collected a new kitten that afternoon - eight weeks old and the cutest grey and white colouring. 

She was a tiny little thing but extraordinarily confident, keen to explore and happy to climb up for a cuddle. When I left she was doing battle with a fly. I think the fly was winning because her paws were too small to do it much damage and she hadn't really got the hang of pouncing.  

Silver How

The photos in this post are from our climb up Silver How near Grasmere on Friday. We picked this walk because it was described on my Ordnance Survey maps app as "Leisurely". Never was a walk more badly described! It was a climb up one of the lower fells - easy enough for serious walkers, but tough going for us. I am asthmatic and M's lung capacity is restricted by scoliosis, so steep hills leave us both winded. It was worth it for the stunningly beautiful views, and fortunately we bounce back quickly once we get our collective breath back. 

We started in the village of Grasmere, and to start with it was a relatively gentle walk, which lulled us into a false sense of security. Just look at those colours.  

This was the point at which we started to realised it was going to be tricky. Is it the bed of a stream or the path? Gorgeous, but a bit of a scramble. Fortunately we had walking poles as well as boots, which made it easier to keep our balance. Nearer to the top we almost missed the path completely, until we realised that we needed to cross a stream on stepping stones. 

Once we reached this plateau near the top of the fell we sat down on a rock and refuelled on bananas and fresh air. Apart from the occasional fellow walker, this really was getting away from it all. The heap of stones is a cairn marking the path. 

This was the point where we started to head back down, with the peak up to our right. At one point it looked as though the path - or what we thought might be the path! - was disappearing over the edge.

Fortunately once we got to what appeared to be the edge, we discovered there were stone steps cut into the rock. Pretty uneven, and we would have struggled without the walking poles to compensate for dodgy knees and lack of balance. 

As we got to the bottom of the steps our phone signal kicked back in and we picked up a text from H to say she had passed the first of her accounting exams which she had taken the previous day. That bit of good news put a spring in our step for the rest of the walk. At the bottom we passed the end of Grasmere - the lake - before heading back to the village and a late lunch. The walk was less than three miles in total, but took us two and a half hours - we are not speedy walkers at the best of times, and we are very, very slow climbers! It may have left my legs tired, but my inner batteries were very definitely recharged.

Annoyingly, although I came home feeling refreshed and energised by the fresh air and exercise followed by relaxation back at the hotel, I am now feeling tired and foggy brained. We got our flu vaccinations yesterday morning. M's left him with a sore arm but otherwise OK. My arm was fine, but by the afternoon I felt as though I was wading through glue. Apparently my body is not appreciating the battle of immune system vs. inoculation. Whatever lingering virus I had at the beginning of the year has left me irritatingly prone to fatigue. It seems to be very like long Covid, except that the dates are wrong. There do seem to have been other nasty viruses around last winter, so I think it must have been one of them. Hopefully in another day or two my immune system will have sorted itself out and my energy levels will pick up again. 

Back from the North

There has been a gap since I last wrote on this blog as we have been away for a few days break at our favourite hotel in Cumbria. We first stayed there 24 years ago, when R was a toddler, and have been going back ever since. Although we found it because it was recommended as family friendly, we only went back once with the two older girls as it became our go-to place whenever M and I had the chance for a weekend away on our own. This year we were originally booked to visit in May, but had to postpone due to the lockdown and picked this last weekend as it was a big birthday for me - 60! I find it hard to believe I am quite that old, but am grateful that I am still fit and healthy (apart from a few creaky bits!) and that I am of a generation where it really isn't "old" any more. 

The hotel is in the Eden Valley, on the edge of Appleby-in-Westmorland, which is now no longer in the old county of Westmorland, but in Cumbria, a short drive from the Lake District. (Hmm! That makes it sound as though the town has picked itself up and moved - local government reorganisation has a lot to answer for!)  We had three full days there, visiting the Lakes on two of them and staying a bit nearer to the hotel on the third. We climbed a mountain at Grasmere (almost - we didn't scramble up the final slope!), did a "mystery" trail around the small town of Ambleside, and explored historical sites near Penrith. I have lots to say about all three expeditions, so will probably write a separate post about each. 

This was our first trip away with the electric car, so we had to tackle the challenge of using public rapid chargers. It was ... interesting! The English electric charging network is made up of a hodge-podge of machines owned by different companies, all with their own separate apps or payment systems, and of varying reliability. The motorway network has chargers run with Ecotricity, which have a pretty dire reputation, but I had downloaded their app in advance, and after a false start with the first charger we tried, had easy, successful charges both going north up the M1 and coming back south again. The only downside is that they both limited the charging time to just 45 minutes, and we could have done with a few minutes more. 

The hotel had two chargers, a rapid one and a slow one, both BP's Polar chargemaster network. All went well the first evening, until we tried to disconnect, at which point my app went off into cloud cuckoo land. We were only able to disconnect the car once the machine decided it was fully charged. After a long wait on the phone, BP reset my app so that I could use it again the next evening - same problem! We then decided we would use the contactless payment option (slightly more expensive than prepayment with the app) the next evening. At that point the charger gave up completely. We phoned BP again who tried to reboot the charger, only to find it was not showing on their system, meaning it would need an engineer to fix it. We also tried the slow charger, but that refused to connect too. Fortunately we had plenty of battery charge left, and knew there were chargers we could use in Penrith the following day to top up ready to head home. After a failed attempt at one supermarket, we found the two chargers at another supermarket across the road were both in use - fortunately one was almost done, and we had no problem at all with that machine. 

Over the five days we were away we managed five successful charges, but it took us nine attempts on seven chargers with four different networks, and two phone calls to BP Chargemaster about my locked app and the malfunctioning machine. We also had to put credit onto two apps which we haven't yet managed to use because the machines either wouldn't play ball, or - in the case of the malfunctioning hotel machine - failed to deduct any money! We never got to a point where we were concerned that we may not be able to charge, or where range anxiety became an issue, but it certainly made us appreciate just how easy it is to charge the car at home. Fortunately home charging is all we need 99% of the time. Apologies for all this waffle about car charging, but I wanted to record it. It feels as though public car charging is currently at the "dial-up internet" stage, with erratic connections and a jumble of providers. I am sure that within a few years there will be many more chargers, they will be as easy to use as a petrol pump, and it will be hard to imagine that it was ever a complicated mess. 

Occasional charging hiccups aside, we had a wonderful relaxing time. The hotel insists on masks for both staff and guests, and it felt very Covid safe. Our booking included use of the spa, which was fully open but only for limited numbers so that everyone could socially distance. Sitting in the jacuzzi or hydrotherapy pool after spending the day outdoors walking was a treat, as was the hotel food. As an extra treat, R and H had organised a bottle of sparkling wine for us as a birthday treat, which was a lovely surprise when we arrived. It feels as though we have come back with our batteries recharged ready for what I am afraid may be a long and worrying winter, between coronavirus and the impact of Brexit once the transition period we are currently in ends in January.

Sunny Sunday

We took advantage of a beautiful autumn morning for another circular walk around Dunstable Downs. I have often wondered what this strange finned metal structure was and spotted a sign today which explained it ... apparently it is a wind trap which sucks air into pipes underneath the ground which then goes to cool the visitor centre and cafe behind during the summer, and helps to heat it in the winter. It is in a very exposed position and is guaranteed plenty of wind! 

There are still quite a lot of rose hips around, though the leaves are disappearing fast. These berries are very high in vitamin C and used to be collected to make rose hip syrup to give to children. Lots of bright colours today, with the red berries, blue sky and green fields. 

My iPhone camera really doesn't do justice to the views up here. After we got home I cooked a roast for lunch and my brother came over to eat with us - Sunday lunch has been a family tradition for years. These days we don't cook every week as M is often working, but we still do it when we can. Sometimes these days it is just me, M and TG, other weeks it can be eight, with all three girls, the older two's partners, and my brother. Today there were five of us. 

After lunch I helped my brother order some boots online - he doesn't normally do online shopping, but had drawn a blank trying to find a pair in town - then he went home and M went off to work an evening shift. Later in the afternoon H went round to an old schoolfriend's for dinner. Her friend has just got engaged and H was officially asked to be a bridesmaid at her wedding in 18 months time. Very exciting for her! TG also went out for a while to meet one of her friends, so unusually I had an  hour or two home alone. 

An Errand and a City Walk

TG discovered last night that her camera wasn't working, and after a bit of experimenting realised that it was turning on and taking photographs, but the LCD screen was blank. Fortunately we bought it from John Lewis (department store) with a two year warranty. M phoned them and they confirmed it was covered for repair. We needed to drop it into the store, so decided to combine the errand with a walk round Campbell Park, the main city park in Milton Keynes which is conveniently just across the road from John Lewis.   

After dropping off the camera with a helpful tech support lady, we headed across to the park and spent a bit of time exploring one of the public art works there, the Milton Keynes Rose.  The photograph above doesn't do it justice. The website describes the Rose as a place for celebration, contemplation and commemoration. There are over 100 inscribed granite pillars of various heights, set in the intersections of petals etched on the ground. Each pillar commemorates something different; the inscriptions are very varied, ranging from the serious to the lighthearted. We wandered around for a while reading some of the inscriptions - the photo below includes World Food Day (with the quotation "First we eat, then we do everything else"), Disability Awareness Day and First Tea Bag Day. Some mark world wide events, and others are specific to the Milton Keynes area - the first tea bag was produced in a local Tetley factory in 1953.  

Next we walked up the hill to the Light Pyramid, which aligns with the rising sun on the Summer Solstice - the city was deliberately built with the main avenue through the centre in that alignment, and the route continues into the park. The Pyramid is a good viewpoint across the parkland, and rather than walk back a longer way round we scrambled down the steep grassy side of the mound and walked through the park down to the canal and along the tow path for a short way before heading back to the car to get home in time to collect TG from school. 

There were some good autumn colours in the park. Also more public art, a labyrinth, and a Japanese garden, but time was getting tight so I didn't stop to take photographs. 

By the time we got home I was tired - the slight cold I had last month seems to have triggered a minor recurrence of the post-viral thing I had earlier in the year. I now suspect it may have been long Covid. The timing seemed wrong as I first got ill in January, but it now seems likely that coronavirus was circulating in Europe earlier than was first thought, so it could be a possibility. I imagine I will never know for sure. Whatever virus it was, the fatigue certainly lingered for a long time, and it seems to have left me less resilient. At least I can still manage the walks and some exercise, but I am finding I need a bit more time to recuperate than I did before. A lazy afternoon and evening watching TV has helped. I finished watching the Star Wars spin off series The Mandalorian on Disney Plus, just in time for the second series later this month, and M and I watched a couple of episodes of Michael Palin's Pole to Pole travel series - an oldie but a goodie. While the rest of us were being lazy H and her BF drove over to R's for the evening. It's lovely that as adults the girls enjoy each other's company and want to spend time together. Also good for H to have a break from all the work and studying she has been doing. 

A Walk Around Buckingham

The weather forecast yesterday morning was decent so I took it as my morning off from archive work and M and I went to Buckingham for our walk. This is another town on our short list of possible places to move to in a few years. We know it well as my mother lived there for twenty years, and we might well have decided to settle there ourselves when we moved out of London nearly thirty years ago if it had been easier to commute as M was still working in London. In the end we came here to south-west Bedfordshire where we are in easy walking distance of a railway station. 

Buckingham is a bit larger than Towcester, and also a historic town although not quite as ancient. The Old Gaol in the middle of town is now a museum and tourist information centre. Although built in the style of a medieval castle, it actually only dates back to the mid-18th century. 

I have walked past the house below many times, but had never noticed the detail in the plasterwork until a heritage trail I found online pointed it out. It seems I don't look up often enough! If you look closely, you can see that the pictures are sunflowers. 

Like the Old Gaol, the church is not as old as it looks. It was built after tower and spire of the previous church collapsed in 1776 at a higher site on Castle Hill from where it overlooks the town. The site was once occupied by an Anglo-Saxon fort, and the later Anglo-Saxon kings established Buckingham as an administrative centre for the shire (county) named after the town. The Normans also had a castle here, but it seems to have demolished or fallen into ruins at quite an early date - possibly in the early 13h century. My mother was a very active member of this church for many years until she moved to be closer to us just before she turned eighty. 

The old churchyard is down the hill from the church. This holly tree was almost dripping with berries - a little piece of winter in amongst the early autumn foliage of the trees. 

In the evening we had another socially distanced band rehearsal, and recorded a number of Christmas carols - the seasons really are tumbling over each other. We are planning to put out a virtual Christmas concert jointly with a local choir, and need the carols so that choir and audience can sing along. As we have no idea for how long it will possible to rehearse in person, we took advantage of the opportunity to get the recording in the bag while we can. While we can record things individually at home, it is very time consuming for our techie expert to put all the recordings together into a full band version. 

Today's walk was in the late afternoon, when it was at least dry, even though it was still very dull and felt as though it was threatening more rain. Autumn seems to be coming fast now, with much more colour in the trees then when we walked along this same stretch of the canal tow path a few days ago. After we got back I took TG to her dance class, then came home and cooked stir fry for dinner. She has a geography test tomorrow and wanted me to test her on the causes of coastal erosion and the various possible options for mitigating it. H is still mostly closeted in her room either on work training calls or studying.