Other soft fruits are available!

The weather has been very mixed this week, rain from light dusting to torrential, temperatures from mid teens to mid twenties, overcast to blue skies - well that was just this morning! Anyhow, lets get on.

After Sunday's ride, Monday was to be a walking day, more specifically, a blackberrying day! The morning was spent doing the usual chores, laundry, some gardening etc, it was dry, warm even when I set off fully armed, walking stick, boots, bush hat, trousers and some pots to put my largesse into. To cut two hours down to size, there were berries to be had, maybe not as many as I'd expected but I returned with @ a kilo of fruit, some of which, after a restorative cuppa, formed the basis for a blackberry crumble. The season has only just started, I can foresee many more punnets of fruit being picked in the coming weeks!

Yesterday, Tuesday that is, the forecast was a bit showery, I had originally planned quite a long trans Wiltshire ride but my ambitions, when i departed, were reduced to a ride down to Aqua Sulis. Of course, by the time I got there it was looking much better which tempted me further eastwards, eventually to Lacock, my lunch stop where of course it started to rain. Grr. It was a short stop and the Law of Sod was in full operation, five minutes along the road and the sun was back out, it staying dry then most of the way back.

I say most, I stopped for an ice cream less than ten minutes from journeys end but no sooner had I started the final leg than the rain started, at least it was warm and it wasn't too unpleasant. So my short ride ended up over 100km with 1000m of up thrown in, I'm still some 800km down on this years target distance but to be honest, I've not had the same enthusiasm for riding that prevailed last year.

Next up, some important news. Tomorrow I head up to Yorkshire again, a much shorter trip than last time, I return south on Tuesday but it does mean that there may be disruption to the usual posting schedule. There isn't any specific event, well other than continuing to rebuild relationships disrupted by Covid restrictions.

Today, now I've done my duty here, done the laundry and watched the wet, I'll be tidying up the veg plots after the rain, going for a short snack buying walk and of course packing for my early am departure tomorrow.

Oh todays post. Well its another emotional episode for the Bonds in the run up to Christmas - without Mum. In this penultimate chapter of The Visitors, there's bike racing, shopping and lots of eating for Drew and co, but its just not the same is it? read Another Strange Christmas to find out for yourselves.

Well that's about it for today, enjoy the rest of the week and weekend and I'll catch up with you again in August,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid