In the Lakes, day 3 & 4

Day three. I struggled to get out of bed this morning, my leg muscles were still sore, never the less I was determined to do another day. There is a lane close to the hostel which goes up the side of Ullswater, with a choice of two paths. You can stay close to the water or you can take the higher route which gives some good views over the lake. I took the high path. I'm on my own today so it's up to me to find the way.

The weather today is much better, lots of clear blue sky, no sign of fog like we had yesterday. Today would have been the better day to go up Helvellyn, but when you organise walks several weeks in advance you have to take whatever weather comes along. You have to go come rain or shine, or fog. This photo is looking across at the hills we were climbing yesterday. If you click on the photo's they will come bigger, then click the back button to come back and carry on reading.

Once you have climbed the first bit, most of this path is fairly level which I was pleased about. Any downward steps I had to make were so very painfull, I felt like an old lady hobbling along. I thought it might get a bit easier the more I kept walking. One view of looking back, the water is on the right.

It was worth making a short climb up to get this view, here I am on a rock, ha ha. At this point I took two paracetamols, my aching muscles was making every downward step so painfull. Unfortunately the painkillers didn't reach my legs so I just tried to ignore it.

Dont look too closely at this one, dont know why I put it in really, shows all my wrinkles ;o(

There was lots of streams and waterfalls, so relaxing to sit and contemplate the meaning of life.

I walked along the waters edge passing the boathouse at Howtown, the halfway point where the steamer sets sail. I thought I might take a ride on it but the timetable in the unmanned shed was a bit complicated and the boats were few and far between. I had already come across lots of walkers going in the opposite direction to me, apparently most people get on the boat first thing in the morning, take a one way ride, then walk back. I had chosen to walk first and maybe get a boat ride later, it was not to be so I carried on walking.

A mile after the pier I did a u turn and set off towards Fusedale and followed the beck, the picture below is where I am heading towards.

The next photo is halfway along the dale, looking back at Ullswater.

And another shot from further on and a bit higher up. The views are stunning. I enjoy walking in the valleys as much as on the tops.

At the top of the valley I did a u turn and came back on a parallel path along the tops, over Brownthwaite Cragg and Steel Knotts. I followed the ups and downs, looking down along the route I had just walked. I didn't have to climb this, but you have to while you are there, don't you!

At the top and a fabulous place for a picnic. Not another soul for miles around, so peacefull and lovely.

I didn't take any more photo's as time was getting on and I needed to crack on. Back into Howton I took a winding narrow tarmac road alongside Boredale Beck. Eventually it fizzled out to a rough track strewn with loose rocks. A clamber up to the top and I was on Boredale Hause, a peak where several footpaths come together. I spent a few minutes wandering around not sure of the way off, looking for the Cairn, when I came across a group of youngsters rough camping. Was I glad to see seven or eight tents and a lot of chattering teenagers. A friendly young girl pointed the way, and half an hour of scrambling down a steep path with my legs about to crumble underneath me, I was back in Patterdale.

It was now 7pm so I have been out for ten hours. Trudging towards the hostel, hardly able to put one foot in front of the other, the sight of the pub 200 yards the other way was impossible to ignore. Stuff the cooking tonight, I thought. I ordered a pint of cider and a jacket potato with all the trimmings, and lowered my aching body into a soft and comfy chair. Bliss. Getting out of the chair was another matter. I staggered out of the pub, anyone seeing me would have thought I was intoxicated, an elderly woman wobbling down the road without her zimmer frame, ha ha. Todays mileage 14.64, about the same as yesterday. Brilliant!

Day four. This is my last day and I have the option of packing up and going home. I checked out of the hostel at 9am, and decided to do a short walk before I went home, can't give up now, surely my legs will hold out a bit longer. Down the little lane again, but this time turning right towards Hartsop. It's a wide level track that passes through a couple of farms. At one place I was greeted by a spotty dalmation who rolled over for some tummy rubs, then a black cat entwined itself around my ankles asking me for some fuss, then I saw these black lambs and watched their amusing antics. What a lovely morning for a walk.

In the pretty village of Hartsop I stopped to chat to a man with his three dogs, in his garden. He had a lovely stone cottage, and proudly showed me his vegetable plot. Everyone is so very friendly here, fellow walkers and local people alike. At the end of the village the road goes into a track as it follows Pasture Beck along Pasture Bottom.

I took a few photo's along here because the scenery kept changing. Walking alongside the Beck. I must say that you don't get as many walkers along the valleys as you do on the tops, it makes for some very pleasant tranquil rambling along.

At this point there must have been a lot of rock fall as I had to look very carefully for the path. The clues are worn grass and smooth rocks where many hundreds if not thousands of pairs of boots have passed that way. Now which way is it!

That's better, found this path on the other side. This photo is looking back at where I have come from, you can't really get a sense of height and distance from a photograph.

If you look very closely at the next photo, you can see a person wearing a red jacket. A couple passed me while I was sat on a rock having a bite to eat, so I decided to keep them in my view. I was now in a big bowl, surrounded by steep sides in every direction. It seems like a dead end with no way out, but if you keep going you find the way, going up and up and up.

At the top there was a junction of several paths coming together, I looked up to my left, the path I had already chosen to follow, and was horrified by the sheer steepness of it, and the loose rocks. There didn't seem to be anything to grab hold of for stability, unlike Striding Edge where you used all of your limbs to haul yourself up and down. For once I was glad there were other people about, just in case I got into trouble. I haven't actually got any photo's of this climb because I dare not take my camera out of my pocket. Any distraction and I am likely to lose my balance. So, onward and upward, was I relieved to get to the top.

And this is what I found when I got up there, the beacon at Thornthwaite Crag, which is on an old Roman Road called High Street. A good time to take a break, it was very windy so I took shelter behind a wall.

The other side of the beacon, there is still some snow about.

The path along High Street is fairly obvious as it is a popular route. This is looking down at Hayeswater on the left, I am doing an anticlockwise route around it.

You skirt round a peak called The Knott, and descend the hill heading towards the corner of the water where the dam is.

By now my legs are jelly again, and I am wishing I was on my way home. But as usual I have over stretched myself, and still have about two hours left to do back to the car. I followed the most direct route along Hayeswater Gill back to Hartsop, and retraced my steps back.

I sank into my car seat with great relief, had a bite to eat, and set off at 6.30pm. As there was still a bit of daylight left I chose another route back. Down the A592 through Kirkstone Pass to Windermere, across to Kendal, the A590 south to cross the motorway and the A65 towards Settle and Skipton. I suddenly remembered a fantastic chippy in Wetherby so I took the A59 to Harrogate and called in for my fish and chip supper at 9.30pm.

My entertainment for this journey was Radio 4 and the Party Leaders Debate, maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I found it interesting. In fact it may be the only political programme I listen to before the election because I have already heard enough spin to last me a life time.

At 11pm I was home, tired but happy. My short walk for today came in at 13.05 miles, making a grand total of 46.40 miles over the four days. Would I do it all again? You bet I would, ha ha.

If you don't ask......

I called in at Poundstretcher today just to see if they had any reduced price food. Didn't bother to look round the shop, didn't need anything else. In the past I have found out of date stuff which has been dead cheap. They had a few items in a basket. Packs of four tins of Branston spaghetti reduced from 99p to 49p, so I bought the four packs which were there. Sixteen tins of spaghetti for £1.96, and only just out of date.

Then I had a nosey on the biscuit shelves checking the sell by dates, and found some flapjacks dated 31st March. There was eight bars at 39p each. I took them to the checkout and said if you reduce these I will buy them. He said 19p each, I said done.

The moral of this story is check the dates in case the staff have missed some, and if you find any out of date ask them to reduce the price for you. If you don't ask you dont get. It pays to be vigilant and not miss an opportunity. I also noticed that the checkout lad gave me a foreign coin instead of a penny. I gave it him back.

In the Lakes, day 1 & 2

What an amazing four days I've had in The Lakes, I stayed at Patterdale Youth Hostel near to Ulleswater. I had a steady drive there on Monday, after taking two dogs for a walk before I left. With the price of fuel at the moment I didn't go more that 60 mph, preferring to trundle along at 55mph with the lorries, much better fuel consumption. The hostel cost me £47.85 for three nights self catering, so I took my coolbox with enough supplies to last.

I arrived about at about 3pm and had a walkabout to check out the area and to find the meeting place where I was to meet up with the walking forum members the following morning. I was immediately in awe of the scale of the mountains, they seemed to be towering up in every direction, hard to imagine what it would be like on the top looking down. I was soon to find out.

It was a gloriously sunny day and I had my shorts and teeshirt on. This is a couple of views of Glenridding looking across Ullswater. It is a very popular area for campers and walkers because there is direct access to Helvellyn, where I am going tomorrow. Patterdale is just 20mins walk away so I could leave my car there for the four days.

Click on the photo's to make them bigger, then click again to make them gigantic

If you look across to the other side of the water, that's where I walked on the Wednesday, more of that later.

You meet all kinds of people in a hostel, that's what I like about them. You can be on your own all day and there is someone to talk to at night. My first night in the ten bedded room and there was only three of us in it, so we all had our little corner to disappear into. After my makeshift dinner, something simple I don't spend ages faffing about as you know, I sat in the lounge reading magazines. I was having trouble staying awake to be honest. Two couples sat in the corner chatting, one of the women came over to me and said they would like to sing and hoped it wouldn't disturb me. She asked if I would like to come over and join them. I told her to carry on, but declined their invitation. For the next hour I was treated to 'Uncle Tom Cobbly and All', over and over again, with great in depth discussions about the words and their meanings. I lost the will to live and went to bed, ha ha.

Next morning I was up early becoming increasingly excited about my day on the mountain. What would I need to take, will it be warm or cool? I was rather hoping the weather would be kind to us so optimistically I didn't take great bundles of clothes. In the first few photo's you can see why I wish I had.

I met up with seven guys from the forum :0) Hey, I was the only woman, and they were all younger than me, can't get much better than that. As you can see there was a lot of mist and fog and wind, which hung around for a good part of the day. There were some clear patches where we had to whip out the cameras pretty sharpishly to take a few snaps, before it was all lost in the swirling mist.

Half the time I didn't know where we were, but I had a feeling we were on Striding Edge, that was one of the most difficult routes across to Helvellyn, but the mist was all around us so thankfully I couldn't see the bottom. If you imagine a letter 'V' upside down, /\ like that, with a scramble up massive rocks at the beginning, and a scary scramble down at the other end. It was probably just as well I couldn't see the bottom.

You would think people had better things to do, but no, when we got to the top of Helvellyn it was like a mororway service area, and Striding Edge was the M1. Amazing how many people were there, all very jolly of course. Me eating my sandwich.

Yes, that's my feet in the snow, it was freezing cold, one of our group kindly lent me a pair of gloves because I hadn't taken any, I didn't think I would need them.

Hey, wait for me guys . . . . .

Aha, the sun has tried to make a break for it, this weather is so unpredictable. A few moments to whip out the camera and capture a nice view before it disappears again. This lake is called Red Tarn, on one side is Striding Edge and the other Swirral Edge, we went all the way round it.

If you look very closely at the photo below you can just about make out three or four dots walking along the path at the bottom, they are a long way down from here.

This is Swirral Edge, I think ;o)

We have completed the circle and this is Red Tarn from another angle. The thing about walking up high is that the scenery changes every few steps, you have to keep getting your camera out

I'm not sure where I am on this photo, we went up and down that many times. I think the guys wanted to get in as many peaks as they could, and I was happy to follow. In fact I felt like I was being dragged a few times, but that is exactly what I wanted. I like to push myself that bit further, out of my comfort zone. If you carry on doing the same things day in day out, month after month, life can get a bit boring.

Off we go again, I'll follow you.

Here are the team, two of them split earlier, for a different route.

We're on our way back now, my legs were beginning to buckle a little bit under me. The pain in the muscles in my upper legs was agony, especially on the downhills. I have never done so much climbing in one day before. No point in moaning though, just get on with the job.

When these are the views you are rewarded with it is worth every step.

There's only one way to experience the height and that is to be there, the photo's don't do it justice. When you look down you wonder how on earth you are going to get back down to ground level, it seems such a steep drop. But the hills are covered in paths that you cant see untill you are up there. There is a way down from here.

Only one thing left to do, a pint in the pub, boy was I gasping for that! I am a happy bunny, and the verdict is that we have walked, or should I say scrambled, stumbled, slithered on bums, nearly fifteen miles in ten hours. Now what will my legs be like tomorrow, because I want to do it all again, on another route.

Legless

My poor legs have never done so much work, I am struggling to get up and down stairs. I have climbed several mountains. Each day I thought crikey that was hard work, then the next morning I got up and did it all over again. Four days in the Lake District, I'm off to bed now, will sort out the pics tomorrow.

I'm gonna climb a mountain

To follow on from the last post of building a mountain, I shall be climbing a mountain on Tuesday. I'm off to the Lake District to meet up with a few others from http://www.walkingforum.co.uk/ and we are going up Helvellyn, the third highest mountain in England. Whooopeeee, I'm so excited. While I am there I thought I might as well do some walks myself as well. It looks pretty interesting on the map, lots of hills, and I might have a trip on a boat, that's if they are working. So, I'll catch up with you later, lots of pics to post when I get back.

I'm gonna build a mountain

I wont keep you in suspenders any longer, you may be wondering what the heck has happened to this piece of foam. . . . . . .

Well, I am building a mountain. Inspired by my walking, this is my interpretation of the great outdoors. I started by roughly cutting a piece of any old fabric, this happens to be an old teeshirt that someone gave me. I then tacked in some seams to make it roughly fit the foam mould. I started at the bottom adding pieces of randomly cut fabric, using any stitches in any colour of embroidery thread. At this stage I had no set plan.

I knitted small pieces and added them, I cut up any fabric into any shapes, pinned it on and stitched around the edge, frayed edges are fine it doesn't have to look too perfect.

So, imagine standing at the bottom of the mountain looking up. The black snakey thing is the footpath cut from black vinyl, the green stitches is the grass growing between the stone slabs. I think I may have to do a little more work on the footpath because it looks a bit lost amongst the other colours.

The beads represent piles of stones.

The green tufts are the ends cut off the plastic fatball bags that you hang up for the birds, and the flowers I cut from coloured vinyl. Now I am beginning to make a sculpture.

There is still a lot more work to do on it. I am going to add more features to it, maybe a couple of climbers, some sheep, and it will have snow on the top. I also want to add a waterfall, hedges, and a stile or two. Then I am going to add more at the base, to take it further out, and possibly add another mountain. There is no limit, it could grow and grow to be a whole range of mountains. I will go wherever it takes me, just like my feet following a map, only this map is in my head.

Full to bursting

It's been a lovely day today, hence my spring picture above. I am not able to go far this weekend as I am looking after Ben dog untill Monday. This morning we were picking up litter around the village. Ben is getting on in years and his back legs are becoming weakened, a common problem I think in dogs of this breed, he is Collie/German Shepherd cross. He can only walk very slowly, and not very far. It is so sad to see him struggle, we can only make his life comfortable from now on.

This afternoon we were in the garden. A lot of my plants had outgrown their pots so needed potting on. Ben was snoozing in the sun.

Tonight's dinner was an invention. My food stocks are very low as I am running everything down before I go shopping again. So, I chopped half a butternut squash and an onion into small pieces, and fried them in olive oil. Then I added a squidgen of tomato puree, teaspoon of turmeric, dash of lemon juice, spices that are three years out of date, some apple juice, and added some sauce I made with a packet of beef stroganoff mix.

Into a pan of boiling water I put any odd bits of pasta and spaghetti I had. The finished meal........My goodness I am full to bursting, and it was lovely.

A sad state of affairs

This is an observation, it's not a criticism, and not aimed at anyone in particular, just something I have noticed. These photographs which I took yesterday in town, make me very sad. There are ten barriers in total which have been installed in strategic places at a busy crossroads in the town, which is a magnate to teenagers hell bent on rendering themselves totally legless and out of their skull. The area has several bars close together, and on Friday and Saturday nights it has been a no go area for quite some time now for people not wishing to partake of this activity.

The police and ambulance services are in attendance to pick up the bodies and hopefully make sure that no lives are lost. But what a sad state of affairs. The reason for the barriers across the roads are to prevent vehicles entering the area and accidently knocking the intoxicated teenagers over, whilst they stagger from pub to pub. You might say it is health and safety gone mad, but I suppose it is better that people have to divert from their normal route rather than a young life be snuffed out.

Young people drinking has always happened, it's nothing new, I did it when I was a teenager. But never to the extent that I didn't know where I was. I always went home while my legs could still carry me. How sad that now they are picked up off the street, taken to a hospital, cleaned up, and escorted home, and that's if they are lucky. Some may even find themselves lying face down in a back alley having been beaten up and raped. Truly shocking.

How sad that the only way to control the situation is to put up these barriers. In a way the message they give out is, 'you go ahead and drink yourself into oblivion, we'll keep you all in one enclosure, watch over you, and take you home when you are ready.'

Responsibility for your own actions is a hard lesson to learn. You drink a little, fine, you can handle it, most can but some can't. They don't know when to stop. I am not talking about alchoholism here, but social drinking that has got out of hand. Walk down any street when it is collection day for recycling glass and tins. I am shocked at how high the boxes are piled up with beer and lager cans, and wine and spirit bottles. It seems like every day is party time.

I listen to people who think it's fun to have a few drinks, not just once or twice a week but every single night. I think it's sad that people feel they need to drink to enjoy life. The harm they are doing to their internal organs does not enter their head, it's only later on in life when their bodies can no longer function properly, that they begin to wonder if they might have overdone it a bit. It is possible that some people will never connect their ill health to the amount of alcohol they have consumed, instead looking for other reasons why they are so tired and have digestive problems.

Oh dear, this all sounds a bit preachy, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be. I just feel sad that some people don't think about the choices they have in life. Ok teenagers might be at the experimental stage, and hopefully they will grow out of it, but some will carry on the downward spiral into an early grave, that's not only sad but tragic.

My father's premature death was caused by excess drinking and smoking, he dropped dead of a heart attack at the age of 46. Thank God I have not inherited that gene from him. The thing is that none of us know when our time is up, but I am sure as hell not going to do anything that might accelerate my demise. I am having too much of a good time, with an ocassional bottle of wine once a month.

Gourmet cook? Probably not!

I thought I might take a leaf out of Frugal Queen's book and concoct some tasty morsels for my lunch. So here we are with a tin of borlotti beans, all the gunge rinsed off under the tap, cost 44p. Add a splash of toasted linseed oil, teaspoon of turmeric, lemon juice, black pepper, sprinkling of herbs and spices. Take a fork and mash it all up.

Finely chop an onion and a handfull of spinach, and add these to the mix. Take a desertspoonfull and mould it into a flattened ball. Four of these will use half the mix. Put them on a piece of foil on a grill pan, and grill them till they are golden brown, flipping once.

Serve them on a bed of spinach. Don't they look delicious, yummy.

Now for the truth. Difficult to get the mix to stick together, they fell apart under the grill, and broke up when flipped. They went all dry and had no taste, like eating cardboard, ha ha. But I still ate them because I don't throw food away. The other half of the mix is in the fridge, I will use it as a sandwich filler as it tastes quite nice raw ;o)

The plan unfolds

I've had such a lot of fun today, and I haven't even been anywhere. I surrounded myself with maps and guide books, the computer has been purring away while I've been flicking backwards and forwards from one web site to another, checking and double checking. My map of the south coast from Dorset to Cornwall now has a series of dots stretching from Lulworth Cove to Lands End.

No, don't get excited, I am not going to walk all that way, a ramble of that magnitude would take about two months and I can't spare the time. But I will be exploring lots of interesting places in my car, staying at Youth Hostels along the way.

So, it's all booked and ready to go, only a few weeks to wait and my holiday begins, I'm so excited. The first hostel is Salisbury, then Lulworth Cove, Salcombe, Perranporth, and Lands End. Then I fly to the Isles of Scilly on the Airbus, it only takes 20 minutes. I have four days there, staying at a guest house.

I have been watching the television series, An Island Parish, all about the Scilly Isles, and made my mind up to go and see it for myself. When I spoke to the lady who owns the guest house this afternoon she tells me she is a friend of Heike the vet, and she will introduce me to her. I am chuffed to bits as Heike is a smashing lady, it's going to be so thrilling.

Ok, I know it's going to cost a bit of money, quite a lot actually, but this is why I am frugal in other ways. I don't smoke, rarely drink, don't eat out, don't go to pubs, and don't put the heating on. I save a few pennies wherever I can, so this is payback time. I shall be self catering at the hostels so that will keep keep the cost down a bit. I shall be doing a lot of exploring with my feet, and visiting places which cost very little or nothing to get in. I'll take my bicycle with me, and might get to use my bus pass. I will check if I can exchange my Tesco vouchers for admission tickets, might visit the Eden Project again. And of course there is lots of free fresh sea air. Can't wait :o)

Eye catching necklace

It's been a blustery old day today so I've been doing a bit of crafting. Remember the red velvet necklace I made, here is the picture to remind you.


I have made another one, same idea but a different design. This idea suddenly came into my head. Here are the materials I used. Twentysix small glass marbles, some brown knitting wool that looks like eyelashes, and some fabric cut from a dress I bought for 50p. If you want to have a go at making it this is how to do it. Make a long narrow sausage from the fabric, just wide enough to slide the marbles inside. Sew it together inside out then turn it the right way round. You need to make it as long as you want the necklace plus extra to tie it at the back.

Push the first marble inside to the centre, then take two pieces of wool about six inches long, you can use any wool, and wrap them round the fabric so you trap the marble. Tie it tight, then take a needle and thread the same colour as the wool, and put a few stitches through it so it doesn't come loose. Keep on adding the marbles, and seperate them with the wool, untill your necklace is long enough. I have 30 in the red one, and 26 in this one. If you don't have marbles you could use any small beads.

You finish off the ends by tucking them inside and securing with a few stitches. Then you have your necklace. I am really pleased with this one, though the photo's don't do it justice.

All I need to do now is find somewhere nice to go so I can wear it.

A right good natter

I went back home today, by home I mean my home town of Burton upon trent, a visit to my relatives was well overdue. I don't go that often, maybe two or three times a year, everything has changed so much since I left thirteen years ago. The house where I used to live is on a main road, and now it has a McDonalds opposite, it is so busy with traffic now, thank goodness I moved out.

My first port of call was to see Uncle Stan, he is coming up to his 87th birthday in June, and is still as busy as ever with his painting, hairdressing, and gardening. He has been busy painting pictures for an exhibition in the library starting on Tuesday for two weeks. All the money from the sale will go to the Air Ambulance, a charity Stan has supported for several years. He was in the local newspaper recently
www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/Blind-artist-has-a-fund-raising-vision.htm

I was invited for lunch, and Pat his wife prepared a lovely spread, vegetarian lasagne, steamed vegetables, roast potatoes, and bread and butter pudding with cream. I was well stuffed.

After that I knew Stan would doze in his arm chair so I went to meet my sister and her husband in their local for a drink, then back to their house where she showed me some photo's of her new granddaughter.

Then I went back to pick Stan up and we went to see my Aunty Lyn, Stan's sister. Neither of them are able to drive any more because of sight problems, so while I am visiting in the car it is a good opportunity to get them together for a natter. And boy did they natter, we left at 7.15pm, I dropped Stan off, and drove the 95 miles home arriving at 10pm.

So there you are, visit three relatives all on the same day, and everyone is happy. Now I can relax with a glass of wine.

Direct debits make you blind

I had a letter today, in fact it says it is a special letter, wow, I am privileged. It says, 'Don't miss your EARLY BIRD savings,' now that's a word I am interested in. Savings, what can I save, and what do I have to do to make a saving? I read on.

My Early Bird reminder comes from Saga magazine, offering a wonderful opportunity to save mega pounds off my next subscription. You may remember I was given my current subscription as a Christmas present from my uncle, and going by the date on the letter, we are only three months into it. Never the less they are keen, or should I say desperate, to keep my custom so have come up with this amazing offer.

The letter continues, 'It may seem a little early to be thinking about renewing, but if you choose to do so now, well ahead of time, you can secure a further 12 issues for £5.95. That gives you a fabulous discount of £24.05 off the full subscription price.' What is even better is that you don't have to pay anything untill your current subscription runs out.'

This isn't the first time they have written to me offering a cheap subscription, it looks to me like they are falling over themselves to get people to sign up. Of course to take up an offer you have to commit to direct debit payments, this is a sure fire way to extract money from people without them even noticing it. In eight months time when the direct debit is due to kick in, they hope most people will have forgotten they ever agreed to it, and won't even notice the money disappearing from their bank account.

It is possible that a great proportion of the British public, or even the world wide public, have no idea how many direct debits go out of their accounts each month, or even what they are paying for. Oh yes, the letters may arrive year after year informing of the new subscription about to start, but how many people read them? A quick glance at the company name on the top, oh is it that time again already! Haven't got time to deal with it now, I'll sort it next year. And so it goes on, and on, and on.

That's why big businesses favour direct debits, they spin their web around you, extracting your bank details, and squeeze so tight that you can't get away, the temptation is just too strong. They prey on people's weaknesses, and their vulnerability. Their sales literature is so worded that you think they are doing you a favour by offering these fantastic deals. Well this old gal can't be won over.

When my current Saga subscription stops at the end of the year, I shall start at the beginning and read them all again, because by that time I will have forgotten what was in them. I did the same with Gardeners World, one year of growing veg is much the same as another. Mind you, I am looking for a good home for twelve copies of Psychologies magazine, it was pretty boring and didn't tell me much more than I already know, so I won't be reading those again. Ha ha.

It's not a race.

That was rather unkind of me yesterday, wasn't it, I'm so sorreeeeee. A little bit of April the 1st tomfoolery. I did speak to the man at the fair, and he did say they were looking for drivers, but the rest was my little fantasy. Ah well, it's nice to dream, back to reality.

This isn't fantasy though, it's true, I walked 20 miles today, yipeee. You do believe me don't you ;0) I wanted to beat last weeks walk of 18 miles, so I worked the route out first and checked the distance before I started out. I set off at 10.15, behind the church then along the hills above the River Trent. I decided to stay local for this walk.

The footbridge here used to be wooden, but the youths kept chopping it up and making bonfires with it. So now it has been replaced with a new aluminium one. They also had to replace all the wooden sign posts as well, for the same reason.

I never tire of this view even though I have seen it many times before.

A bit further along I came to lots of parked vehicles, vans and cars with trailers, then I realised what they were doing. The local scrambling club were out in force, there must have been about fifty of them. The noise of reving engines is not something I want to hear in the countryside, so I quickly marched on and left them behind.

As you come into Alkborough there is a good view of the flood plains. The plaque on the plinth shows a map of all the places you can see from this viewpoint.

Alkborough Church is well cared for, with immaculately cut lawns.

Pressing on, I only stopped for short food and drink breaks. The weather was ok, sunny with a few clouds. I passed through Whitton and arrived at Winteringham Haven at the Humberside Yacht Club. Everyone looked busy getting their boats ready for sailing.

The footpaths are very well maintained in this quiet corner of North Lincolnshire, but they do tend to plough over those that pass through the middle of a field. Here the farmer has kindly marked the way with two sticks. Sometimes it seems natural to follow the tractor marks across but this doesn't always apply when the path goes diagonally from one corner to another.

This one seems pretty clear which way to go, but half way across the path veers off to the right, away from the tracks. You need to look for the sign post or a stile in the distance to give you some idea of the direction.

Here the farmer has planted the whole field up, then put the marker sticks in, and flattened the plants where the path should be. Seems a bit sad to destroy plants that are already growing.

I had to put my waterproofs on before I got back as the weather turned very windy and wet. I arrived back home at 6.15pm, it really shouldn't have taken that long, but it was my fault, I will stop and chat to people. Never mind, the main purpose was to do the distance, it wasn't a race. Phew, I'm off to bed now, I'm a little bit tired.

On the road again!

I've come over all excited, something amazing has happened, I've been offered a job. I took my car in for a service this morning and as I walked across the road to spend some time in the library while I waited for it, I saw that the fair has come to town. Now fairground people favour old British lorries for their workhorses rather than the posher foreign types. There are still a lot of Foden's and ERF's about even though they haven't built any new ones for years in this country. The old ones just refuse to give up, and with a lot of love and attention they will give many years of service, going round the clock several times.

Lucky I had my camera with me as I found these three beauties. I've had many a love affair with an ERF. I remember driving one just like this, for British Road Services on the Crompton Cable contract. It was a beast, twin splitter gear box, couldn't find the gears, like stirring a rice pudding, I played some lovely tunes on it. Brings back memories.

I was positively drooling when a guy who was hitching up his trailer came over to speak to me. Well, I'm in my element when I find someone who talks trucks. I was rabbiting on about all the jobs I had done with ERF's, Leicester Heavy Haulage being my favourite. Lo and behold, he comes from Leicester. I mentioned that I had recently reached retirement age, and I was beginning to miss the life on the road. How I would love to get back into a cab again.

A broad smile crept across his face, 'We need some drivers', he said. I couldn't believe my ears, I said, 'What, really.' The next thing, I was sitting in his posh living trailer, with his wife making us a cup of tea, and talking about what the job entailed. He explained that I wouldn't have to do any of the heavy manual work of erecting and dismantling the rides, but I would have to work on the rides when the fair was open. Taking money in the pay booths, or collecting money from the punters when they are already sitting in their seats.

He said I would have to have a trial on the Waltzers to see how my balance was on a moving platform, as it could be a bit tricky to start with. They usually find lots of coins underneath the ride after it has been taken down due to the attendant stumbling and missing his pocket. They even had one guy knocked off his feet by one of the cars because he wasn't paying attention. I told him I have a very good sense of balance because I am a very good ice skater, he seemed to like that.

Anyway, I have got to go back tonight for a trial run. The man, Jim, said come at 7 o clock, then we can see how you cope in the dark as well, and you can meet the rest of the gang. He said if you are happy with it you can come for six months. It seems a tight schedule, with a fair few miles between the bookings.

Wow, this is all a bit quick, I'd better get onto Sue to take my cats for me. Then I'll have to get some steel toecap boots. Not sure where I am going to live, he did say they had a small trailer for me. I'll let you know how I get on at the trial ;0)