Facing adversity with courage

Just recently, several friends have found themselves facing life changing events including close family bereavements or serious illness. And despite the inevitable shock that any bad news generates, they have all shown remarkable resilience.  I know it’s very British to adopt a “stiff upper lip” but I think it’s more than that: these friends are courageous, selfless and supportive. Maybe some people develop, albeit subconsciously, coping strategies that they can draw on when times are tough. And that doesn’t mean being unemotional or in denial but using inner strength and bravery to face the situations before them. And that’s impressive.

London...

I had a meeting in London last week involving a horribly early start. But by early afternoon I was finished, a little bit sooner than anticipated. As I had several hours to wait before my low-cost ticket train departed, I decided to take a couple of hours off and complete a multi-stage geocache I had started some years earlier (yes, really). I love walking round London as there is so much to see (and lots of caches to find en- route) so it took me a while to reach my final destination. Happily, I enjoyed success at the final stage!

Work Life Balance

Mr Glis and I endeavour to maintain a reasonable work life balance although sometimes, work just has to take priority. But at the moment, we both feel that the pointer really has tipped the wrong way and so far, the scales don’t seem to be in any danger of re-balancing. Sometimes it feels like a novelty to spend an evening together. With jobs in the house and garden that need two of us screaming for attention, the dark nights and dreadful weekend weather haven’t helped either, although I’m ahead of schedule for making Christmas Cards.  So that’s all good then!

Wellies!

I need a new pair of wellies (again) as I ended up with a very wet foot at the weekend as I paddled across a rain sodden park with Molly and Monty. I must have a particular way of removing my boots as it always the left heel that cracks leaving me with a perfectly serviceable but redundant right boot. And the “quality” of the boot doesn’t seem to make much difference, because over the years, I’ve owned boots in a range of prices but they have all succumbed to the same fate. Maybe a boot remover is the solution

Night Geocaching!

Last week I stayed overnight in York, one of my favourite cities. Travelling after work and meeting colleagues for dinner meant I’d a limited window to find any  geocaches. But throwing caution to the wind after I’d said farewell to my colleagues, I decided to re-visit a cache in a residential area that had given me some grief in the past. With hostile residents behind closed curtains, I furtled about in several wrong places for a short time before following the GPS and finding the cache in a very obvious but public place. Despite my denials, I am obviously addicted!

Night caching!

Nature's Bounty!

Following the recent storms, the last few mornings have seen us taking very soggy doggy walks in Rickerby Park. The River Eden regularly floods the park and usually, the debris left is made up of small logs, dead green matter and plastic waste, such as feed sacks from agricultural land up stream. But this week some absolutely huge tree trunks have been beached way above the normal bank line of the river. Some of them must weigh hundreds, if not thousands of pounds and yet the flood water has effortlessly moved them as if they were matchsticks. Nature is awesome

Don't forget to celebrate the small things

Current challenges at work mean that the minute anyone is back at their desk, any holiday benefits are almost immediately forgotten.  Factor in bad weather, dark nights and some sad news from a couple of friends and mid-November has suddenly felt very gloomy. So, it was a much appreciated moment yesterday, when, as I was wheeling my bike out of the shed, I was tapped on the helmet by a rose in bloom. Just taking a moment to stop and admire the fragile flower that had withstood all the recent storms was a timely reminder to celebrate the small things.

Foel Fras!

Despite visiting North Wales annually for over 20 years, almost by accident, we  discovered a new walking route from one of our favourite places, the Roman road high above Rowen in the Conwy Valley.  Because we’ve climbed many famous hills from multiple directions, it’s easy to overlook some of the more obvious routes. We’d done that in this case. Although the weather in the valley was extremely misty, we were confident of a cloud sea and so it proved to be once we reached the rocky summit of Foel Fras, with superb views to the Carneddau and the Glyderau

Wonderful Wales

Our week at Bryn Dowsi was as happy as ever.  We discovered Penmon and the summit of Foel Fras as well as revisiting old favourite haunts of Newborough and the Sychnant Pass. We also fitted in the new Bond movie on a damp afternoon when we weren’t inclined to enjoy the great outdoors.  Although the week began with stunning weather it slowly deteriorated as the week progressed. As it wouldn’t be Wales without at least one walk in torrential rain and howling winds, we chose to enjoy the full wet and windy Welsh experience above Capel Curig. Until next year......