Pampering my feet

I think I had better start looking after me feet, after all if I am to go off trekking at every opportunity I'm going to need a couple of happy plates of meat. What I would really like is to treat myself to a lovely relaxing pedicure by some professionally trained person, but that is most unlikely because the cost of it would be more than I could bear.

So what's the next best thing? A frugal diy pedicure, my mum used to do this all the time. First of all gather up all the bits and pieces you will need. I had a look in the back of my bathroom cabinet and found some Deodorising Lemongrass Foot Spray and a bottle of Peppermint Leg Cooling Gel, left over from my Bodyshop consultancy job about eight years ago. I did this work for a while so I could get my toiletries at hugely discounted prices.

Next I need some implements to scrape, and scrub, and cut toe nails. I love those sponges with a rough bumpy side, my whole body gets cleaned with one of those, face as well, ouch! A pumice stone for the hard skin, and sharp scissors for my nails. I know you are not supposed to cut them into the corners but I always do, and I have never had ingrowing toenails. A fluffy towel out of the airing cupboard will be needed.

To finish off the treatment I have a selection of moisturising creams in sachets. As I mentioned before, these were given to me as part of a bag of usefull stuff. All I have to do is decide whether to use the Hydrofirming Night Treatment Cream, the Comforting Moisture Cream, or the Biologie Skin Optimizer, what the heck is that for? As I am not going to bed yet, I choose the Comforting Cream.

Nearly ready, boil a kettle full of water, and lay a towel on the floor in front of a comfortable arm chair. A nice bowl of hot soapy water to soak my feet in. Washing up liquid for me, it does the job and is cheap, but you can use any old soap. Time to relax and close my eyes while I swish about. My Andrea Bocelli cd is perfect for these daydreaming moments. When you are scrubbed clean up to your knees, and the hard bits smoothed with the stone, dry your legs and wrap your feet in the towel. A trim with the scissors should be easy now the nails are nice and soft.

Finish off with a foot massage, I use generous squirts and splashes of creams and lotions, all the way up to my knees. If you are going to be wearing sandals you might like to paint your nails. I can't be bothered with that sort of thing so I just slip on a clean pair of socks and my feet feel warm and snug. I am going to pamper my feet more often, they deserve it. I must have saved about thirty quid today.

No smiles from Henry

I've been a bit tied up with Henry for a couple of days, another sleepover. He is a gorgeous fella. Although he was hard work a few months back, he appears to have passed his naughty stage, and is now just a bit cheeky. He has made me laugh this weekend with his antics. Lilly cat has has his face washed several times with Henry's big sloppy wet pink tongue. My dirty socks have been dragged out of the laundry bin and used as a play toy. The carpet has been pulled up at the top of the stairs. I was reading in bed last night and the big lump jumped up and trashed the covers, eventually settling down to sleep on my feet.

It's so funny when we are out walking, he stops dead when he sees someone, and just stares at them. We stood for ages on the street corner while he was people watching, I should have taken a fold up chair with me.

He went at 5pm today, and I felt a bit sad, never mind I shall be seeing him again no doubt. Trying to get a good photo of Henry is not easy. He will not smile for the camera.

Holmfirth, again. Not the touristy bit.

It was a toss up today whether to go on a mega bus ride, or chat with the sheep in West Yorkshire. The sheep won. I arrived at Holmfirth at midday and began my walk with a fairly steep climb out of the town, it wasn't long before I was peeling layers off. A bit of huffing and puffing with the old ticker quickening it's pace has got to be doing me some good. I have already done the touristy bit of this 'Last Of The Summer Wine country', now to explore the rest.

It seems every road out of Holmfirth has an incline. How they managed to cram all those houses into such steep and minute plots never ceases to amaze me. It's interesting to stroll by peering into someones back yard when their roof is the same level as the footpath. Here are two photo's of the first views I saw.

While a lot of dry stone walls are neglected and crumbling I was most impressed with this neat and tidy example. I have no idea how long it has been standing but I would say it is good for a few more hundred years. The square slate like slabs were perfectly placed, I can't see that it will ever fall down. It's a pity these ancient skills are not taught to the youth of today, because when the human race has blown itself into oblivion we will need to start all over again.

I joined the Kirklees Way, a designated leisure footpath promoted by the local council, and was pleasantly surprised at how interesting it was. A bit of allsorts really, I love trees of any kind.

I like to incorporate a walk around or alongside some water in my travels, and had planned it so I pass a couple of reservoirs. I came down a steep bank to the Brownhill Reservoir, the map clearly indicates a crossing at this point. Unfortunately this was the sight that greeted me, a building site, the path was closed untill the spring. Not the sort of thing you expect to come across in the beautiful countryside, but I suppose they have to do this work to ensure that we enjoy continual clean water at the turn of a tap.

Not to worry, there is another crossing half a mile further along, and this is it. You can see the footpath I took over the little bridge and along the top of the slope.

On the other side I heard the sound of the rushing water as it cascaded down the overflow channel from the higher level to the lower.

Further along the path I looked back to see this great view, it always pays to stop and look behind you, you might miss something.

This photo is taken looking back at the path I have just come down, still part of the Kirklees Way.

And what should I come across but a lovely little waterfall with a rather ugly iron footbridge crossing the water. It was a beautiful woodland scene, very pleasant when you are the only person there.

Couldn't resist taking more photo's.

I arrived in Holme village, after passing a house which was hidden underground. It was like one of those you see on Grand Designs, the only clues to it's existance was a glass dome and several glass bubbles poking up from the neatly planted camourflage. I couldn't get any pictures because of the high banks that surrounded the structure, obviously the owner values their privacy.

This rather splendid building on the roadside is for sale if you fancy buying it.

This is a photo of Digly Reservoir, another water feature I passed on my way back. The darkness was beginning to descend, my day was almost over. It was a race against time to get back to the car, so the last half an hour was along the roadside. Something I hate doing but it makes no sense to stumble around in the dark on uneven ground. I like to make the most of every minute so often find myself trying to cram too much in the day, roll on lighter nights.

One last shot, of this dramatic sky.

I've had the snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip

I try and limit my visits to the hairdresser, not because I am too meant to pay, well ok I don't want to pay very much, but because it is so damn boring in there. I wait untill I absolutely have to go, usually after I have chopped lumps off and it is starting to look a bit odd. I can manage the top and the sides, but I struggle a bit with the back.

I hate sitting there while someone fiddles about with my hair, combing, lifting and separating, clipping it up out of the way, trimming my fringe, pushing my head this way and that, bits of hair floating around my face and landing on my eyelashes and in my mouth. I hate looking at myself in the mirror so it's just as well I can take my specs off so I can't see how awful I look with flat wet hair. I hate anyone else seeing me in this unglamorous state as well.

Then the hairdresser starts making conversation, and I can't hear her because I have taken my hearing aid out. I just smile and say yes to everything, and hopes she gets on with the job pretty sharpish so I can be out of there. I don't know why some women like going to the hairdressers, I wish I could take my head off and just leave it there and go back for it later.

Anyway, I had my haircut today, there is a new shop just opened in town, big signs on the window with the prices, £5 for an oap trim, that will do me. The girl did more chatting than cutting, I was in a rush but she kept rabbiting on and I couldn't hear a word of it. Then she got the hairdryer out and blow dried it, which it didn't need it was almost dry anyway. I said how lovely it was when she positioned the miror round the back of my head. I paid my £5 and as I was leaving I said, 'see you again'. Not very likely, I thought, if she is going to fanny about like that every time :-)

Decisions decisions.

I've been dead lucky today, more free stuff has been donated to Ilona's Welfare Fund. I went to visit my friend Helen, who has been helping her mother in law de clutter. The result was several bags of stuff to be given to charity shops. My kind friend let me have a rummage first and take what I wanted. I came away with lots of candles, lots of sachets of moisturising creams, a bag of fabric for my sewing projects, insoles for my boots, a lovely silk blouse, and a few other bits and bobs. A very nice haul indeed.

We took Henry dog a walk, he was so excited to see me again. He will be coming for his sleepover on Saturday, but we have strict instructions not to do a two hour walk. We must only do several shorter walks, because Henry has started limping a little bit. He is such an energetic dog, but he tends to overdo the dashing about.

I spent a bit of money today, I got the Dyson out and sucked the dust out of the carpets. I'm not sure how much an hour of Dysoning costs, but it needed doing, I got fed up of the place being knee high in cat hairs. Cleaning the stairs is a job I hate, but I can just about put up with it twice a year, ha ha.

My latest Tesco vouchers arrived this morning, I now have a grand total of £39 in the pot. They sent a Rewards catalogue as well so I had a look to see what I might treat myself to. I could fly to Paris and back. I could have a Thornton Chocoholic Hamper. I could get an annual pass to visit ten attractions as many times as I like in the year. I could have a years membership of English Heritage. I could go sky diving, air balooning, hire a narrow boat, go across to Ireland, eat out in restaurants, and get rescued by the RAC. Decisions decisions.

The mystery cat

Last night I spent almost three hours standing, then sitting, at the top of my stairs looking down at the slightly open back door. I had to be very quiet and hidden, and not take my eyes off the door for a moment, because I was hoping to catch the pussy cat that has been coming into the house to steal food from the cats dishes in the living room. I know I could close the door to keep other non resident cats out, but this time I wanted the cat to come so I could see who the culprit was.

At 10pm I gave up and closed the door. For the previous two nights food has been eaten, and guess what, tonight food has gone again and I don't know who came in for it because I wasn't watching. Do I just close the door now and give up, or do I carry on watching?

The reason for my detective work? Mr Beasley, the big ginger puss has gone missing again. We found his owners for him when he was lost a few weeks ago, they came to pick him up. He was kept in for a couple of weeks so he would know where he lives, but then he went walkabout back to his old home. The owners found him and took him back for another spell of confinement. But the little ugger has scarpered yet again. I wonder if Mr Beasley is stealing our cat food?

Free hat and gloves

Crikey, it's gone back to winter again, snowing here. I have no pressing need to go anywhere so I might as well hang around here for a while. I've just taken Ben dog back home, we went a walk earlier then I brought him back to mine for an hour, he likes to see the pussy cats, and scavenge the left overs from the food dishes.

The phone rang this morning, a friend from my last job said he is in the area and could he pop round for a coffee. I call him my friend, and he is, but we had a bit of a thing going about five years ago. It didn't last very long and we parted on good terms, but hey, you can stay friends with your ex I reckon.

We had a bit of a catch up work wise, I still like to talk shop even though I have been out of it for a while. Interesting to find out how things have changed in the last year and a half. He told me about his biking and I told him about my walking, and suddenly he jumped up and said, 'I've got just the thing for you,' and disappeared out to his car. When he came back he handed me this.

A lovely pair of gloves with matching hat. He had them for Christmas and didn't need them as he has loads. The gloves fit perfect and the hat is snug, perfect for treking out in the cold. I like it when people give me things :-)

A little teaser

Sorry if the previous post sounds a bit goboldygook, but the sizing of my photo's was puzzling me a bit. Some need to be large, others are ok in small. I generally make everything large, cause that's how I am, bold and brassy and shout it from the rooftops type.

There's still a lot to learn from this blogging, I need to look into the nuts and bolts of it, all a learning curve I suppose. Anyway, that fiddling about has taken a good part of the day up, but at least I got there eventually. I increased the size of some of the photo's but you can still click on them to make them gigantic if you should so choose. Please don't look too closely at my wrinkly mush, ha ha.

I must get on with something else and get off this computer for a while. The garden needs tidying, the bin men are collecting the brown bin tomorrow so I will go out and cut a few trees down, only joking, trimming a few shrubs will do.

Just to leave you with a little teaser, I have an idea for another craft project, but I'm not going to give too much away at this stage. Here is a couple of pics to start you guessing.

Take a round piece of foam, 8 inches diameter and 5 and a half inches deep.

Take an electric carving knife and slice pieces off the sides, making it into a cone shape, it doesn't have to be perfect.

That's it. It's going to be a complicated piece like the rock pool, so you will have to be patient, it will take a while. I have a picture in my mind of how I want it to turn out, and I'm going to look pretty silly if I make a hash of it. The inspiration comes from my walking. That's it, toodle pip.

Trying something

Trying something

My mini break at Grinton Lodge

Hi, there are quite a lot of photo's in this post, I took 65 and more than usual have turned out ok, I hope you like them. I left home at 9.40am on Wednesday and met my sister and her husband at Bedale, a few miles from the A1 in North Yorkshire. They are staying in their caravan near Stokesley on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, and came across to meet me. We found Panetti's, a cosy little Bistro where we had lunch, this is me, Bryn, and Anna Maria.

After a walk round we parted company, and I carried on a few miles further to Leyburn. I have wanted to visit this small town for years, ever since I delivered cement to a quarry there. It was just as I remembered it, a charming Dales town full of character. Then it was time to go to the hostel. The road is quite narrow and twisty and passes large areas of moorland which are out of bounds to everyone except the military who do a lot of their training there. Best not to wander into it in case you get shot at. It had started to snow and after a couple of miles it was getting quite heavy and settling on the road. I was down to a crawl in some places. I couldn't see the edges of the road. Thank goodness I came across the hostel before it got too dangerous, I was pleased to see the huge castle like building come into view, partially hidden in the trees.

I checked in and found I had the place to myself, just me and the warden. I had my own room with four beds to choose from, and numerous shower and toilet facilities. I had the kitchen to myself and after I cooked my own dinner I had control over the television remote all night long. A real fire in the grate and a can of cider, it was heaven.

This is Grinton Lodge, I took a photo of the poster on the wall. It was built at the centre of a large shooting estate in 1817, by James Fenton of Doncaster, a mansion with outhouses and stables set in gardens with wonderful views of the surrounding moorlands. It changed hands several times and had extensive alterations in 1880 for it's disabled owner to enable wheelchair access. The lodge was sold with 5 acres of land to the YHA for £5,500 in 1948. I wonder what it's worth now.


This is the sight that greeted me when I set off the next morning with my backpack and my map. This path is opposite the hostel, no footprints, just rabbit paw prints in the snow.

It wasn't long before I came to a deep and slippery slope down to a stream.

And a climb up the other side. You can see it is quite misty.

Into Grinton village, this is St Michaels Church.

I took a footpath alongside the river, then veered off to the right through the fields heading towards Cuckoo Hill. If you look at the skyline in the next picture you can see the snow at the top of Fremington Edge, I am hoping to climb up there.

A breather half way up and a chance to look down and admire the view. There is a lot of mist hanging in the sky, and the sun is trying to come out.

Oh well, set off again, still a fair bit to go.

A bit further to go, stop for another breather. The weather is changing by the minute, the sun is trying to make a show on the left, the wind is swirling the mist, sometimes you can see for miles, then the view is hidden.

Another stop before the top, the view is so magnificent I sit on a rock and take a few minutes to take in the gloriousness of it. You can just see the barn on the left hand side of this picture that was in the shot at the start of the climb. This is better than flying.

At last, the pile of stones indicates I have made it. That last few hundred yards was rather difficult, a vast shelf of frozen snow to cross with no obvious foot holes, I could have done with some crampons. But once you get so far there is no giving up and going back. I know to some experienced climbers that this would have been a mere stroll in the park, but to me it was a wonderful opportunity for a challenge. The sense of achievement I felt made me beam with pleasure, and the rewards are a stunning view. Well worth the effort.

At the top I turned left and walked along the edge for about an hour, the mist was coming down very fast so my views were totally lost and I was walking on a ridge of snow alongside a wall with the moors on my right, and very little vision in any direction. Eventually I came to the point when I had to start my descent, the mist cleared a bit as I went down. It wasn't obvious where the footpath was, but thankfully the kind walkers before me had built little piles of stones to mark the way. I eventually got down to the bottom at Langthwaite, and turned left to follow the Arkle Beck back to the hostel. Time was getting on, and at one point I lost the footpath. It was becoming quite difficult along the waters edge, the erosion of the soil, due to possibly snow and rain, and walkers boots, had left all the tree roots exposed. I was literally stumbling about which was taking it's toll on my feet. I noticed a lot of branches that had fallen or been blown from the trees had been stripped of their bark, I thought that was strange. I also noticed that there were a lot of dead rabbits about, probably hundreds of them, also very strange.

It was time I was getting off this rough ground and onto the road before it got dark, a race against the clock. Eventually I came to the road at High Fremington, and knew that I could easily get back to the hostel along the road from there.

Day three. A drizzly start to the day so waterproof gear needed. I headed towards Grinton on the road and came across a pleasant little footpath alongside a stream.

There was a poster in the hostel that said Market Day in Reeth on a Friday, so I went to explore. It's a gorgeous little village. This is the Babtist church.

It was a very small market because it is early in the year. I had a chat to two of the stall holders who said how much they enjoyed coming and it definately was worth the effort to get up early and travel the long distances, because the same regular customers came every week.

This tiny cobbled street with it's pretty cottages is typical of many Dales villages.

I had a look round the craft workshops and had a chat with a very friendly artist who makes animal sculptures. I asked him if he could shed any light on the dead rabbits. His explanation was that they have had three weeks of snow and the rabbits wont have been able to find any food so they have just died. He said that would also explain the trees without the bark as they would have been desperate to eat anything. Also the burrows would have been flooded. I felt very sad that all those bunnies have died, but I suppose that is the law of nature.

I thought I would have a spell of easy walking along the road to give my feet a rest. There was a lot of baa baa noises coming from the fields as I was passing, so I stopped to talk to the sheep. They seemed curious and all came strolling towards me bleating incessantly. It was so funny, I had to take a photo.

I was watching the time, this walk won't be as long as yesterdays because of the time I spent in Reeth, but I wanted to make the best of every minute and not get back too early, so I took a diversion up a steep track at Healaugh. My goodness it was very short and very steep, I had to peel off a couple of layers I was so hot. I passed by a lovely big house and had a chat to the two gentlemen in the garden, they pointed out the track back to the road past Thiernswood Hall, a big stately home.

Back on the road, I eventually I came to a junction and turned left over a bridge.

I turned left again and continued along a tarmac track. A short way along there I had the option of dropping down onto the edge of the river Swale, or keep on the track back to Grinton. I chose the river walk.

The river is quite fast flowing here. It looks as if the path might have been washed into the river at some time, because it has been repaired with large rocks.

After a few bends the path leaves the river for a while, it eventually returns and you see this wooden footbridge. It looks quite spectacular from a distance but close up it looks like a miniature version of the Humber Bridge. It would look quite at home in a theme park.

I walked back to the hostel over the fields rather than the road. Quite an impressive building don't you think.

If you've got this far well done, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.

A lot of walking

I'm back and I've had a fab time. Didn't get much sun, but it wasn't too bad. I'm a bit tired tonight because I have walked and walked and walked, up hill and down dale. Guess what, I could go and do it all again tomorrow, I'm already thinking about where to go next. I absolutely love setting off with a backpack and a map, on an expedition to discover new places. I am addicted to it, every time I see a stile, and footpath sign pointing across a field I have an uncontrollable urge to go and see where it leads to. Even when I drive around, I want to stop and have a look. I suppose being nosey helps, I like to find out things, meet people, ask questions, it all adds to the tapestry of life. I'll get the photo's sorted tomorrow, I'm off to bed now.

Please can I have some sun

Haven't done much today, except get ready for tomorrow. No point in just dreaming about going away is there, let's get on and do it! I'm off to North Yorkshire in the morning, booked myself into Grinton Lodge Youth Hostel near Richmond, for two nights. It's only £14 per night, a bargain, I am taking my own food so it will be a very frugal holiday. I am planning on walking miles and miles. The hostel is an old shooting lodge, it looks a very interesting old building with lots of history.

I bought an ordnance survey map of the area this morning, and I have a couple of books out of the library which have interesting routes to follow. I like to read up on a place first to get the feel of it. Years ago I used to deliver cement in the area and always thought I would like to go back and explore it. Now I can, yipeeee :-)

So, I am meeting my sister and her husband for lunch at Bedale tomorrow, they are up there in their caravan, then I shall have a look round Leyburn before I check in at the hostel. I used to deliver to the concrete making plant at the bottom of the quarry at Leyburn, getting quite excited about going back there.

I'll catch up with you on Friday, hopefully with some good photo's, that's if the weather isn't too dull. Let's hope for some sun.

That Monday morning feeling :-)

What a lovely way to start the week, a soak in the bath, I needed it after that sweaty walk on Saturday. I thought I would wait untill this morning to indulge in a little relaxing water therapy. It seems so much more heavenly to bath on a weekday morning, and remember the times when I used to be up and out on the road at 4am. Such bliss to lie and dream about the week and months ahead, making plans.

This year I want to go out more, see places before I die. I dream of wandering around Scotland, the south coast, the Scilly Isles, the south west, the Yorkshire Dales, and many more wonderful places. So what do I need to do to achieve these goals? For a start I need to find someone reliable who will come in and feed my cats, I don't think they would do well in a cattery, even though my friend runs a top class establishment. I'm going to ask a few people close by and offer some payment for the service, that way it is ok to ask several times.

After three years of growing my own veg, I am going to scale it down a bit for this year, just grow a few things that need very little maintenance. In the past I have faffed about looking after my precious seedlings through wind and rain. This year they will have to fend for themselves.

Right, that's the plan, I still need to be frugal though to pay for my holidays, so I had better carry on with my money saving. The first thing I can do is re use my bath water, shame to throw it down the drain. The car is pretty mucky so here is my bath water.