Oh dear. Dear, dear, dear. Auntie Trish will be texting to tell me off after she reads about this one. We went too far on Sunday, and it's taken me until today to recover enough to write about it. I am exaggerating a little bit – I've been working evenings, so I haven't had time to blog.
On Sunday, it was sunny and warm and I had a strong urge to visit the Favourite Place. What I should've done was check my Strava entries to see how far this walk was previously. What I did was guess that it was about a mile each way. I was wrong, and we accidentally walked four miles, which is quite a long way with a slipped disc. Idiot. FOUR MILES!
But, it was still very pleasant because being outside is wonderful.
Look! Someone's been and cut the seedy grass. This made me a bit sad because it was only a couple of weeks ago that I was peeling those seeds and scattering them about with wild abandon, having a wonderful time. It's all gone now and probably won't ever look like that again. Unless they let it go to seed every year, in which case, yay!
And look! Cricket. I was not expecting that. I mean, since the pubs opened, I supposed I should've expected this because cricket is must be one of the most socially distanced sports there is. Apart from maybe skydiving? But only once you've jumped out of the plane. Which is not a thing I will ever, ever do. I always thought I would when I was younger, but I absolutely know that if I jump out of a plane I will die. So no, thanks all the same.
I know it's only a road and a couple of road signs and some lens flares, but it's been raining and cloudy for a while now so sights like this are a bit precious. Also, when you look down a lane, do you sometimes think that that special dolly zoom effect might happen where the background rushes in to meet you really fast while the foreground stays where it is, and you'll see a Black Rider stalking you? I do. (Dolly zoom – 3:00 mins is the bit I imagine.)
Such a shame that this tree in the Favourite Place has no lower branches because it's got lots of perfect sitting branches high up. The only way I'd be able to get up there is with a ladder, and I can't really bring one with me. I'll have to think of a different plan. Not for now though – for when my back's better, obvs. I'm not completely crackers.
The pond. It really is. I know you'll never believe me until I get in it. One day – one day I will do it!
Jack Sparrow Lane, I think I called this? Something like that. If I didn't, I'm calling it that now. Henceforth, this gravelly path shall be known as Jack Sparrow Lane. Jude, are you writing this all down for the list when you come to visit? Put this on the list. You'll be astonished at the ordinariness of this lane.
It was around this time that I realised that I was walking like a sharp shooter at high noon. Apologies if I've mixed my metaphors there – I really don't know anything about guns and such. But I do know that I was at least walking like an inexperienced rider who'd ridden a horse for several hours on a hot day. See?
It took us aaaaaaages to get to the other end of Jack Sparrow Lane. It took so long that a man in a wheelchair got so fed up of waiting (he was trying to stay socially distanced by letting us pass first) that he risked coming within two metres of us. I tried to stumble off the path a bit to let him by, but he was faster than me so the two-metre rule was breached today. He was very nice, the man in the wheelchair, and suggested that perhaps I should get one too.
We saw crops when we got to the other side. You know I love me some crops. Looks like corn to me. My dad says it's corn as well, and he knows these things better than I do, so I'm sticking with corn. Do you remember my photos from just a few weeks ago when these were just little shoots? Awesome.
Folly Lane. Ah, this might have been our street if we'd bought that dilapidated house. I'm so glad we didn't because the big new road was built immediately next to it. It would've been nice to be able to get to the Favourite Place in seconds, but the constant noise from the road wouldn't be worth it. A great shame because it was a wonderful house and it had a barn. I'd have loved a barn. I could have turned it into a Viking longhouse, with a fire pit in the middle and a spit for roasting wild boar, and I could've had ale-quaffing parties and friends could've gathered from miles around for brawling and archery. Ah, fun times would've been had.
This was the first sitting place we came to – that flattish stone. Muchos pain, so we sat for a good ten minutes. Matthew didn't want to because the rock had snails on it, but I didn't care. It wasn't as if they were going all rush up and bite me.
Then there was a hill to get up. You'll be wondering why, since I was in pain, I didn't just go home. But we'd agreed to go to the bench on the new road, and that's at the top of this little hill and we always stick to our plans. Stumble, stumble, trip, trip, but we made it eventually.
There's the bench! Right in the middle of the shot. I have taken this dramatic photo to show you how far away the bench seemed in my pained state. At least twenty miles. It took my seven days to reach the bench, going at a snail's pace, but I'm very stubborn and I refused to give up.
Ahhhhhh, and we finally sat down for a proper rest. So good. There's the Hundred Acre Wood. I stared at the wood for a while, and Matthew and I argued about whether it would be quicker to go home through the wood or back the way we'd come. Matthew insisted the wood way was longer; I insisted it was not. We were both wrong because the distance is exactly the same.
And then we spotted a kestrel. We deduced it was a kestrel eventually by its shape and also the colour of its underside when it dived. It dived lots of times and I took lots of pictures, none of which came out very well because it was too far away. But I can absolutely definitely assure you that it was a kestrel. At first I thought it was too big for a kestrel, but really it wasn't.
Here it was just going into its last dive. It must have caught something (or been caught) because it didn't come back up.
Time to go home, and we opted for the woods because it's pretty, even though I knew I should be walking on flat and even surfaces, and because I'm naughty like that.
We saw lots of mushrooms today. And of course, I don't know anything about mushrooms. But why would I want to, since they're evil, disgusting, can't even believe they're considered to be a food. Why anyone would ever want to put a mushroom in their mouth and chew is utterly beyond me. Disgusting. Madness. But I think they look quite pretty in their natural habitat. Also, chopping and/or slicing them is quite satisfying, even though I don't eat them myself.
The last and most amazing thing we saw was a fox. It trotted across the path right in front of us, stopped for about six seconds, looked right into our eyes, and then when it was satisfied that I'd got my phone ready to take a photo, it buggered off really fast. It was there literally 0.003 seconds before I took this. So close! Aren't they handsome? I've never seen one this close.
There was still half a mile to go after this, but I was in no fit state to take pictures or talk or really do anything much because everything was hurting by now. Much too far. I'm annoyed because our seven miles the other week didn't hurt anywhere near as much.
I am working more evenings this week, so I might not manage to do any walks. This is all very frustrating because my challenge has been completely interrupted and spoiled. But once I do get this week out of the way and get fit and well again, I will be walking daily. Matthew has also noticed that he's feeling more tired because we're not walking and he wants to get outside too to get some energy back. So that's actually a very positive thing.
Until tomorrow, or one of the days after that.
WQ
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