Short Interlude

We have some very big bridges to cross so it is unlikely that I will be posting anything new for the foreseeable future, so here's a couple of pics from a short dog walk on morning last week

Skiving

Seeing people whinging about all their little problems on something like a blog does nothing for me so I am not about to join in. We all have difficult times, that's life. Just believe me when I tell you that at the moment, we feel we have the right to do just what the heck we like.

Wednesday morning is normally pilates with our friend and instructor Fi. It has done us both no end of good for a number of years now and we do our best not to miss any sessions. Today was different.

We walk in this valley all the time, rarely taking pictures. Today I took just a few whilst we had a quick coffee in the sheepfold which we made the turning point on our walk. An hour out and an hour back.

Through the square window

erm, excuse me?

A spaniel with a wiggly bottom admiring the view

Our cafe as we set off back the way we came

Driving home after a very therapeutic couple of hours in one of our favourite places

So Fi, we are really sorry we missed class this week, but we know you understand and we'll see you next week ;-)

Knott Rigg and Ard Crags and a Birthday

It's Husband's Birthday today. I doubt he's had many on such a glorious day.

Off we head to Newlands for a shortish walk. We really are not fell fit at the moment so we are picking our walks with that in mind!

We start out up Rigg Beck. It is immediately obvious this is our kind of valley

Quiet and isolated. The only sound is the beck tumbling down alongside us. That's Ard Crags ahead. We will be up there later and although at this point this wasn't the plan, we will walk back along the tree line you can see on the ridge

Gradually it gets steeper so we pause to admire the view, The Eastern fells are showing signs of the snowfall we had yesterday

It's warm and Breeze finds a nice watering hole

It starts to get quite a bit steeper as we approach the watershed between Ard Crags and Sail

Looking back at The Dodds

When we reach the water shed we find a nice sunny spot for lunch! The High Stile Ridge on the far side of Buttermere is the predominant view to the west

Our original plan was to head straight up onto Ard crags and then walk along to Knot Rigg before dropping down to Keskadale and following the road back to the car at Birkrigg. Somewhere round here we decided to change that a bit.

We made our way up the steep slope but instead of going straight to Ard Crags, we went off piste and cut over onto Knott Rigg first

Some of us go up and down hill easier than others!

Once we arrive on Knott Rigg, we do something we normally never do - Turn around! 

Now we head over Ard Crags

And then over Aiken Knott

Time to put the lead on as we get down to the road

And return to the car at the Purple House

A really stunning day. The route up was idyllic. we saw just one fell runner until we reached the ridge between Ard Craggs and Knott Rigg, and then only saw another two couples.
We had only walked a little over 5 miles but that left plenty of time to get ready for this evenings Birthday celebrations - meeting up with a crowd of pals for an Indian. We know how to live you know ;-)

It's Tour Time

We've been looking forward to today for months! As avid road cycling (armchair) fans we got excited when the route for this years Tour of Britain was first released. It looked suspiciously like it might be coming past our door. Then finally several weeks ago the detailed route was published and guess what? It DOES go past our door. So the planning began. Yellow marigolds were bought and planted into a load of plastic troughs we inherited from a neighbour (and don't use!) and placed on the porch roof. An old bike was sourced along with some yellow paint and my curtain fabric leftover stash was raided for some yellow lining fabric I knew I still had. 

While Mum was here we had a wet day and I had saved this job for just such a day - 30 metres of yellow bunting began to take shape.

Sunday afternoon saw a hive of activity. Lifting the bike onto the roof and putting bunting up, along with organising food and drink for a crowd. Monday turned out nice and as the first friends arrived at about 11:30am (all the way from Holland!) the party started.

Waiting in anticipation as 12:30 comes and goes - any minute now

After a few casual cyclists (who all got a very rowdy cheer), numerous marshals on motorbikes and a multitude of police motorbikes...................

The 'frenzy whipper upper' came past and announced over the loud speaker where the breakaway was and the fact that they were 3 minutes ahead of the peleton

Then The Commissar appeared 

And to huge cheers the breakaway came into view

The next part of the race seemed to be the team cars, who managed to navigate our corner upsides, when normal motorists seem to struggle to pass each other in opposing directions any other day of the week

A few minutes later, as expected the peleton appeared

Followed by an awful lot more team cars, police bikes, marshals, ambulances, fire teams, you name it! By the time they had all gone past we had made our way through the house, piled our plates, charged our glasses and spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the weather in the back garden.

Somehow I think it is unlikely The Tour will come through our little backwater another year so I'm glad we made the effort to acknowledge it this year. There always seems to be a carnival atmosphere watching them pass through - but a fine warm day made such a big difference - somehow I don't think we'd have had such a great time in the rain!

Is this Independance day?

So, the out vote won and apparently the world is about to end. Let's hope that before too long everyone will stop bickering and blaming each other for everything.
We received some really very, very sad news today and by God does it put this all into perpective. Life is short, live it to the full, try to find the positive in every situation and cherish the ones you love, you never know what is round the corner.

EU referendum

We are so sick of hearing all the bickering about the EU Referendum. Politicians slagging each other off left right and centre. Random people (many of whom are good friends) spouting on social media, to your face or on the phone that we must STAY IN/GET OUT. Did I actually ask for their opinion? Everyone has suddenly become an expert and it is really very boring. So here is my opinion for what it is worth, oh and a few pics that I took on our way down to the village to cast our votes.

In? or Out?

 Whatever we decide, the wildlife in our garden really couldn't care less

Neither could the cattle in the park

Time to pop down to the village to pick up the paper and cast our votes. It's a beautiful day, so lets take a walk. I don't think I've ever taken my camera on a local road walk, but it is such a nice day it seems a shame not to take the opportunity to show you what a wonderful area we live in.

Back home for a cool down