Windy walk

 I set off for a walk this afternoon thinking I might do the eight mile one. I was a bit late going but I was in fine fettle so thought it was doable. I could always shorten it if thought I would run out of time. 

I came across two men who were fixing a wire fence alongside the track. I noticed that part of the fence I had just passed was falling down, so I mentioned it to them. They might want to go and have a look at it. As we were chatting it turns out that they were having to repair that particular section because it had been torn down by thieves who wanted to gain access to another track which led to some barns and sheds. 

It happened the other night and as it is a bit isolated there, they had plenty of time to do a lot of damage. The farmer lives six miles away so is not on hand to protect his property. The thieves apparently use quad bikes to get around the tracks, they can ride across fields to get access. They broke down the wall to get into a barn, they stole vehicles and diesel, and damaged a JCB but couldn't get it started. 

I mentioned that I had seen some men with quad bikes a few days ago, they were hanging around in a wood as I walked by. The farmer said not to approach them because they are part of a larger gang. He said the police know about them but can't pin the crimes onto them. I told him about the dead sheep I had found. He said yes, they butcher them and dump the remains in bin bags. 

It appears there is a lot of crime around here. I was quite shocked when he told me what had happened.  

I reached the halfway point of the walk, and decided to carry on rather than take the short cut back. The wind was blowing a hoolie, my cheeks were cold but the rest of me was warm. 

I was walking past a row of houses on my way out of a village when I saw that someone had lost a woolly knitted bobble hat, I think they call them beanies these days. I picked it up off the ground and put it on top of a short wooden post which was part of a hand written sign saying Kindling for sale, £3.50 a bag. I thought the person who lost it might come along and find it. A couple of minutes later I turned round, I often look behind me, and saw an old man come out of the house wearing only his dressing gown, no trousers. He lifted the hat off the post and threw it on the ground. What a mean thing to do. 

I stopped for a short break to eat my cheese and peanut butter sandwich, Coming back I was walking into the wind. I remembered to put the torch in my rucksack, I needed it for the last 20 minutes. Dinner tonight was a bowl of deeelishus stew, made yesterday. 

We have a short month now so I don't want to get behind with the walking. The target is 168 miles by the end of February. 

The cats are in, we are snug and warm here. Catch ya tomorrow.   ilona