20 miles in January

Do you remember this post Health: Walk! My plan was to cover 20 miles in the month. I knew that it wasn't going to be easy to find the time, what I wasn't expected was a month of floods! I didn't succeed but I'm not beating myself up about it either. I achieved almost 16 miles which I think wasn't bad considering how limited my options have been for getting out and about. The land is still saturated so I'm going to let this one fall by the wayside for now and consider another challenge for February.

Health: Walk!

I've got to lose weight. And get fit again. The easiest way to do this is to set myself a goal but not of weight to lose but of something I can more easily control.

This January I am going to walk 20 miles. I know, this doesn't sound like much and in the past I would have easily completed this in one week. But the problem with January is that, thanks to meeting up with lots of different people over Christmas, colds and bugs are continually passed around. I want to make my goal achieveable and if I go over it I won't be upset!

This year I have the bonus that I can be more flexible with my own time. I don't need to be constantly supervising the boys though I dare not leave them alone for too long either!

I hope that I succeed.

It's interesting to read over old posts from this time last year. This one seems quite apt and reminds me of how far I have come: January mission

Autumn is on it's way

This image was taken last week whilst walking through the local wood. I didn't expect it to turn out well as I was using my phone camera. A lucky quirk of fate, this out of focus image epitomises exactly how it felt to be exploring the paths at breakfast time. There was a mist in the air as I walked up to the woods that just started to lift on my way home giving promise to a glorious autumn day.

I love autumn.

Kinston Lacy inspiration

These blackboards make great, versatile signs.

Kingston Lacy is a National Trust property within comfortable driving distance for us. I must admit that I do find a lot of the house and garden pretty boring having been several times now but I do enjoy the grounds and I love the Kitchen garden/allotments area. It was here that I focused my attention the other day whilst looking for inspiration.

Lavender edged beds.

We were greeted by a volunteer offering us some of her freshly picked strawberries. They were absolutely delicious, hot from the sun and very, very sweet. I was amused by my son turning them down, apparently he's had too many of our own! Alas, ours are now over but I hope to increase our stock for next year.

Same view, but closer!

The Kitchen garden is stunning, the plants were all looking healthy and made me itch to increase the size of mine. But it wasn't too perfect, there were still a few weeds dotted around to prevent me from feeling hopelessly inadequate.

Sweet peas

I thought that these sweet pea wigwams were lovely. I can imagine recreating these with an opening to place a bench inside. Who am I trying to kid, the bench would never make it in there. My boys would fill it with junk and turn it into a den! Still, it is something I fancy trying and I must scout out a spot to place one in next year.

I also enjoyed an amble through the allotment area. I don't have an allotment so I'm not sure of the standard size but I did get the impression that these might be half size plots. They were far more everyday than the kitchen gardens but still had a beauty of their own, even those that were fighting the weeds for dominance. There is something very satisfying about seeing plots looked after by 'normal' people after the prettiness of the Kitchen garden, somehow they seemed to balance each other out nicely.

100th post! RSPB nature sanctuary, Arne.

Bay at Arne

A couple of days ago I was introduced to a lovely place, the RSPB bird sanctuary at Arne. It has some wonderful heathland and grassland walks but our main focus that day was the small, almost deserted beach. It was incredible being there with our families for several hours with just an occasional visitor wandering past. It felt very decadent having a sandy beach to ourselves!

My youngest was happy just to play in the sand though my eldest braved the mud to splash around in the water. This did concern me when he kept wading out to find a deeper patch, it is not a swimming beach and I have no idea of the nature of the mud here and how safe it is. Thankfully he listened(!) to me and came closer to the shore. Actually both boys behaved well, I was quite impressed. This is a definite lesson for me to push all of us out of our comfort zone more often.

Whilst waiting for our friends to arrive we also had a quick look in the nature/visitors centre where there were a few guides waiting, I believe that an organised walk was about to start. The guides were great, volunteering information about the reserve and talking my boys through each item on the nature table. It looks as if owl pellets are in my future, I'm not sure what to think of that.

I would love to revisit Arne when it is cooler and explore the other paths. When we finally left the beach and it's cooling breeze it took but a moment to find the more humid heat. The walk back to our vehicles felt like quite a slog thanks to the weather though it was really no great distance. All in all a fantastic day.

Can you believe that this is my 100th post? - I can't! Let's see if I will make it to 200...

Win Green Hill

We had a family walk on Win Green Hill. The boys were reluctant due to the cold, but us adults were determined. The boys were correct, it was cold. Very cold. So cold that it started snowing as soon as we were out of the car. Not to be easily knocked back we walked on. A bit. A little bit. It must have been our shortest walk ever. I'll be amazed if it was longer than half a mile.

Walking back to the car I was drawn to an odd little copse. The trees on it seemed to be raised above the surrounding countryside and they were calling me in. Leaving the rest of the family to walk on I lingered to absorb the feel of the place. It was restful, felt as if it was sleeping. I could have happily settled there for longer but the peace was broken by my son calling.

I'm always left wondering by barrows as to who built them, why and what were the emotions they felt when they were used. This one is very prominently placed on the hill top with no trees apart from those growing on the mound. I wonder who planted these and why, I assume that they are fairly young, especially compared to the age of the mound which is said to be bronze age. A lovely place to just be.