Loving kindness

 A friend’s mum died unexpectedly earlier this week.  When I went to visit her today, knowing from experience that those first few days after a death are difficult, I took a carrot cake that I’d baked. I expect she’ll have plenty of visitors during the week and might appreciate something to offer them.  I still remember the thoughtful gestures shown to me when my parents died; home-made biscuits, a touching message on a card, a copy of a previously unseen photograph.  Such simple things in themselves but all sharing a powerful message of loving kindness during a time of sadness

Flowers by hand!

Last week at work I received a text from Nerea to say that a huge bouquet of beautiful flowers for me had been delivered to the door.  I “knew”, (somewhat sadly, in retrospect) that they couldn’t be mine so I asked Nerea for more details.  Amazingly, she said they were definitely for me as they were accompanied by a named card and the lady who delivered them knew that Nerea was my daughter. Once Nerea had opened the card, it wasn’t too difficult to realise that they were from a dear colleague.   They were a truly, delightful and undeserved surprise 

Cairnsmore of Carsphairn

Last Sunday, Andy and I achieved a geocaching goal by climbing Cairnsmore of Carsphairn.  It was on our “to do” list of Galloway hills. We parked at Knockgray Farm and headed towards Benloch Burn before the hard work began. We headed into some fine rough Scottish walking: tussocky ground, thigh high sieves, bracken, boggy bits, a working electric fence and stones hidden to trip the unwary...but we loved it. It was a hard pull upto the summit in the warm weather but occasional breathers with endless views to compensate more than made up for it. And we found the geocache!

Caching maintenance

There are various etiquettes about caching and cache ownership.  Some cachers do a bit of “in-caching” maintenance while others wait for the cache owner to do their part.  I tend towards the former as I like the idea of old caches being maintained by the community, especially when the CO is no longer active, but being a “cache and let cache” type, don’t have a problem with those who post a “needs maintenance” log.  Recently, I’ve replaced a couple of infrequently visited caches in a really beautiful part of the world and on balance, think it was the right decision

Hello Helmsley

I calculated it was 35 years since I’d last visited Helmsley, and despite a plethora of tea shops, it didn’t seem to have changed much.  I was on an overnight visit in North Yorkshire for work so as always, decided to make the most of my free time by finding a couple of geocaches.  I always enjoy a multi cache with an historical theme and there were certainly plenty of interesting locations to choose from. The castle ruins were particularly splendid in the early morning light and as there were few people about, I savoured my journey into the past  

Lovin' Summer

Mavis enjoying a cuppa in the garden

Where on earth has August gone?  It seems incredible that it’s almost over and September is round the corner.  But we’ve blessed with a good summer and that’s made such a difference; that injection of bright light and sunshine has certainly lifted the spirits and set us up for the winter ahead.  Having such good weather has meant that we’ve been able to benefit from some of the small pleasures that were denied us last year; drying sheets on the washing line, sitting out in the garden with a cuppa and harvesting our own cherry tomatoes . It’s been lovely 

A leisurely stroll around Newcastle

 Despite not arriving in Newcastle for an overnight stay until after 7pm, I decided to exploit theevening by walking a couple of geocaching trails.  I was able to combine both together (two being the maximum number I can concentrate on at a time!) and discover several of the city’s historical gems, including Amen Corner and the infamous Vampire rabbit that graces the portals of a local business.  Although Newcastle has its share of social problems, a relic from the brutal ruination of traditional manufacturing industries, it’s still a friendly and vibrant city and is always a  joy to explore