Le Tour 2013

“Le Tour” begins in just over a week.  We’re actually going to be in France during part of it as we drive to Spain to collect Nerea, but typically, the peloton will be pedalling on the other side of the country!  But as cycling is the national sport of France, no doubt the country will be alive with enthusiasm, even when the tour is many miles away.  However, we’ll have access to technology so we’ll still be able to follow the race.  One day we’ll get things right and will actually be in the right place at the right time!

Summer!

Sunny weather definitely improves the spirits of most people, if the happy smiles I’ve seen on the faces of passers-by in the street over the last few days are a measure of that.  For my own part, the intensity of the colours around me seems to increase, their vibrancy echoing my perceptible feeling of improved well-being. It isn’t difficult to be cheerful when gaudy pink roses showily toss their heads against the bright, blue backdrop of a cloudless sky. Or when children play and dance in the afternoon sunshine, their vivid clothes a carousel of colour, a kaleidoscope of summer.

A man's best friend

Although Molly has some affection for me, clearly it’s Mr Glis. who’s captured her heart. When he’s away, it’s evident she misses him and feels sad.  Generally it’s Mr Glis who feeds and walks her in a morning but I walk her at other times so it’s disappointing when she strains to go after him should he and I go in different directions.  To cap it all, there is no rapturous, squirming, yelping reception on my return from a stay away.  An extra tail wag is all that she bestows on me at best.  Mr Glis, on the other hand…..

Ralfland

The legend of Ralf and his life in the Wet Sleddle area is known to but a few inducted into the secret band of geocachers.  But the setting of his story; of his life and loves, is one that is worth exploring as it’s a remote and barren area with a strange, haunting beauty.  Ralfland, once a hunting ground of kings, receives very few visitors so those who venture there have every opportunity to listen beyond the call of the skylark and curlew in the hope of hearing the faint whispers of Ralf and his jilted lovers’ spirits calling out

Ettrick Marshes

Let it not be said that we are fair weather cachers. We proved our resilience earlier this month when we went to Ettrick Marshes on a wet Whit Bank Holiday,.  The title “marshes” was something of a clue as to the likely conditions underfoot, but the rain was particularly persistent, and very reminiscent of Irish soft rain of the “wetting” variety.  Walking routes took us high up the valley sides and down to the flooded valley floor where we spotted delightful clusters of delicate yellow primroses and carpets of pale pink wood anemones with scattered bluebells among the woodland debris

Peterborough

Two nights in Peterborough gave me ample time to explore this unfamiliar city via a couple of excellent geocaching trails.  Despite the weather being dull and overcast with intermittent showers,  I was surprised to see a lot of people making an evening promenade around the cathedral square, presumably a reflection of life in other countries, as it was evident from the different languages spoken, that the city is now populated with a rich mix of diverse cultures.  I left feeling satisfied that I’d discovered something about the history of another of our ancient cathedral cities...and found the odd geocache too

'Enery VIII

The Cloisters

How far?

What time is it?

The Guildhall

The Cathedral

Washed out at The Wash

Well it has to be said that my visit to The Wash was something of a damp squib.  Not in a disappointing way; it was just that it poured down. And it was so grey, heavy, gunmetal grey.  The rain inevitably had an impact on the views but it was still possible to experience the desolation, the sense of endless horizons, of being in a timeless landscape.  The salt marshes had limited accessibility but I spotted sea lavender and sea purslane, their green grey foliage evidence bathed by tidal waters as they struggle to exist in the hostile, saline environment