Cold, Wet and Windy - Is It Really May?

It is hard to believe we are into May as the weather feels more like the beginning of March, far too chilly for this time of year. At least it was dry yesterday morning so we went for a walk on Dunstable Downs for the first time this year. We did a tiring four mile circuit along the top of the Downs - going down is OK, getting back up again is hard work! 

The first part of the walk was along the ancient Icknield Way. I am trying to learn more about ancient British history and have been reading Home by Francis Prior, a history of domestic life from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age. At one end of the Downs is a set of seven round barrows known (confusingly!) as Five Knolls. These date back to the Bronze Age, possibly as far back as 2500 BC. The picture below shows the path which crosses the three barrows at the southern end of the site. 

In the afternoon I watched Thor with TG, then cooked a large roast dinner for which H and M2 joined us.  They seem to be doing well and are very happy with their new house. Poor TG has had a nasty sniffly cold over the weekend and had to miss a dance class on Saturday, but she has now pretty much shaken it off. Although today was a bank holiday M had to work this morning, while TG and I stayed home and were lazy apart from a quick trip to the supermarket. 

This afternoon we had arranged to go over to R's for a BBQ, along with H and M2. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. We did manage to cook outside on the grill, despite a strong wind, but then it started to rain heavily and there was no choice but to eat inside. Under the current coronavirus restrictions mixing indoors isn't allowed, but it is clear that in two weeks time it will be. Given that M and I are vaccinated and local Covid rates are very low, it felt safe enough. While R was cooking I managed to distract R and M3's dog from the smell of sausages for long enough to get a photo of him sitting still and looking every inch the beautiful beagle. After we ate we played scattergories -there may have been a few disputes over the acceptability of answers! Despite the weather it has been a good weekend. One positive thing about the pandemic is that it has made us truly appreciate how good it is to be able to spend time with family, rather than taking it for granted.