After Sunday's walk along the Thames Path, we were out walking again on Monday. We had arranged to meet three friends for a circular walk along part of the Greensand Ridge walk to Woburn and then back across fields. They actually walked further than us and we arranged to meet them part way - we might have done the longer distance if we weren't already tired from the previous day. The first section was through woodland, where we saw a few bluebells - it hasn't been a great year for them this year.
We passed trees which had blown down across the path in a couple of places - one we went round, and this one we went under (it was bigger and taller than it looks in the photo). When we got to Woburn we stopped for coffee and a light lunch - most of us had sausage rolls or pasties. It was take away but there were picnic benches outside the cafe to eat at.
The weather was all over the place. Sometimes sun, a bit of rain and even something cold and stingy (sleet or hail?) at one point. The final stretch was across open fields where the wind was strong enough not to be able to hear each other speak at times. The last field has earthworks which were once the site of a medieval manor house - the location is shown on a 17th century map, but the house disappeared some time after that. The dip in the bottom picture was once the moat. Around the earthworks the field still shows the old medieval ridge and furrow field strip pattern very clearly.
Work took up the rest of Monday, all of Tuesday and part of Wednesday. We didn't do much more walking as the weather turned wet and unappealing, so we stuck to just short local walks. Yesterday we went to see a local kitchen installation company to organise a quote to get our kitchen refitted. We last had it done when TG was tiny, and it has definitely seen better days. We wondered about just replacing cupboard doors and the work surface to brighten it up, but in the end we decided it would be better to replace all the fitted cupboards, do some retiling and put down new flooring. Most of the appliances are still functional - we need a new hob and will probably replace the dishwasher - and we will keep the layout the same. It is only a small kitchen and there isn't much we could change anyway, unless we wanted to do a major remodel with building work and knock the kitchen and dining room into one large room. As we are wanting to move in three or four years, we don't want to commit to that level of cost and effort. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we can get everything we want done within budget.
After starting the kitchen ball rolling we went swimming, when later in the afternoon I went to the supermarket and topped up food for the weekend and the beginning of next week. While we are experimenting with Hello Fresh we don't need as much, so I decided not to bother with an online grocery order. Today M has been at work, TG ignored the grotty weather and went into town with her friends, so I had a few hours home alone - something that very rarely happens! I have spent the day being lazy, reading, wasting time online, and watching the first Avengers movie with TG.
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