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Gorge-ous

Pic of the week 25/10/20

Its not been Barcelona, but ….

This week we should have been in Barcelona but, of course, due to Covid-19 that hasn’t happened. (Flights got cancelled at the start of September, got the money back this week.)

So, dodging between the dodgy weather, we’ve hit the hills, and its been great fun. Today we went to Ebbor Gorge (pic above and below) and I really enjoyed it, particularly the scramble up through the middle of the gorge, it certainly wasn’t just a Sunday stroll in the park. And it was lovely to have lunch in the solitude and sunshine at the top of the gorge, with the Tor in distance.

On Thursday, we went to Cheddar Gorge. Another quite demanding – but rewarding – walk. Becky particularly enjoyed the first section as she found, and photographed, many fungi. It was quite an ascent, followed by a difficult descent and then another ascent, before a more gentle walk across the top and steady decline back into town.

And on Friday we donned the walking boots again, this time as we met up with Steve and Nicky and reminisced and chatted as we walked to the weir and along the canal.

So not the warmth, bustle and culture of Barcelona, we will make it there one day, but in the meantime Covid-19 has expanded our local horizons and life is the better for that.

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‘Shrooming

Pic of the week 18/10/20

Saturday saw the start of half-term and Becky and I headed up to Stockhill Woods, Priddy, to do some “‘shrooming”. There was quite an impressive array of colours and shapes to discover and it was a really pleasant way to spend the morning, ferreting around in the woods. We did also emerge from the trees to head over to Priddy Pool – I must admit I like being out in the open – but the pool itself, and surrounding landscape, did seem somewhat devoid of life, making it a little bleak. But I did like the first opportunity to try my technical trousers and walking boots. Given that C-19 has forced us all to change how we use our leisure time (we should have been jetting off to Barcelona on Tuesday) I’m glad I’ve bought this specialist clothing – now just got to get outside and use it.

Harvested my five pumpkins this weekend. I don’t know why, but I do take pride in growing these. They are not that big, the two biggest being self-seeders from my compost heap, the other three were all from plants that we bought from the garden centre on the roundabout during lock down.

Today, I changed the oil in the Micra, although I couldn’t remove the old filter (seized in) so that’s a job still to be done.  Did enjoy doing though.

 

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Poorly

Pic of the week 11/10/20

I’ve been a little bit poorly this week.

Not Covid – I have checked the symptons carefully, I had a sore throat that then became a bit “sinusy”, leaving me feeling tired and with the occasional headache. My temperature has remained normal, I’ve only coughed on occasion (certainly not a new or persistent cough) and my sense of taste and smell has remained undimmed. Just a seasonal bug, probably due to tiredness (and dehydration? Ran on Sunday, spun on Monday, sore throat began on Monday night)

Feel a lot better now, although I did curtail this morning’s run at 7Km, my legs ached, it was hard work (despite lovely weather), I was slow, and I wasn’t really enjoying it.

Have then spent much of the rest of the day pottering in the garden – mowing the lawn, removing the runner beans and their support and planting some daffodils in their place, and general tidying. The sun has shone, and it has been a pleasant temperature – I fell I’ve had a really peaceful day today, which is probably just what I needed.

And the pic of the week?

Well that’s Farrington Gurney Church were we got married nearly 25 years ago. Becky met her sister at the farm shop there (FG) yesterday for coffee and took this pic.

 

 

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Wet, wet, wet

Pic of the week 4/10/20

It feels like it hasn’t stopped raining since Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon I refereed at school (1st XI v Filton College, good game) and I got soaked, Saturday I ref-ed another school game (3rd XI v Taunton, a bit agricultural) and got soaked, this morning I ran, and got soaked …

The rain has been relentless, with some localised flooding, but does, at least for now, seem to have stopped.

The picture above was a (double) rainbow on Wednesday evening, shortly before my Spanish lesson, and gave me the opportunity to find out from Daniel that a rainbow is “un acroiris” and I took the chance to practice my colours:
roja, naranja, amarillo, verde,  azul, violeta.

He was less sure about indigo – can’t find it in my dictionary and google translate merely offers “indigo” as a translation, perhaps its not really a spanish word? Maybe azul profundo  (deep blue) might be  a better translation?

El cielo estaba gris oscuro, pero el arcoiris estaba muy bonito, muy linda.