Yep, winter doesn't want to loose its grip so easily!

Its been cold and windy all week, mostly dry but we've had more wintry showers down here, wet hail or is it hard snow yesterday and temperatures have struggled to reach double figures. Its been quite bright at times though, blossom is, er blossoming, early woodland flowers are out - i saw bluebells yesterday and our veggie seeds are nearly ready for picking out.

My grandson is now three - where has the time gone? I vowed when he was born that i'd be there, in his life, doing stuff, I rarely saw my own GP's and my relationship with #1 daughter has often been a little bumpy, this then was my chance to make amends. But of course, my turns in life and Covid have each thrown spanners into my 'plans', first moving me away and then effectively preventing contact even when restrictions have been lighter with travel and accommodation restrictions. Hopefully we are past the worst and we can get reacquainted soon.

Thursday's forecast was bright but breezy and with that breeze from the west I set off on a chip ride to Weston. By the time I arrived at the coast, my late start ensured I missed the lunchtime rush for fried food although the resort was fairly busy with day trippers thanks to the school Easter holidays. I didn't feel up to a super long ride but I didn't want to go straight back either so i came up with a compromise, a small loop into Sedgemoor before a meander across to the Avon valley.

My initial plan was thwarted by a closed trail but I adapted the route and soon had a sort of tailwind as i moved away from the coast. So often the wheels take me along 'main' routes but on this occasion I used some of the singletrack lanes, you can't go very quickly and as a result they can get a bit more 'physical' to ride, heaving on the brakes then crawling up the climbs. Eventually I reached the west of Englands largest city having covered @ 120km with 1000m of uphill.

Friday was - well quite chilly, after a bit of a food shop I provided a bit of assistance for Bev's latest construction project - anti pigeon frames for the brassicas. There aren't a lot of the flying vermin but they are quite destructive, the early sprouts took quite a bashing so serious action was needed before caulis and cabbage are put out.

The forecast suggested Saturday would be marginally better than today so I set off into the now north easterly wind with the intention of stopping at Cirencester. It was quite bright but the nagging wind was cold as it swept over the Cotswolds, even with a wobbly route to avoid meeting it head on it was pretty tiresome. But it was otherwise a nice day, I stopped to admire a bank of colourful wild flowers, a counterpoint to the lines of de-engined Jumbo jets awaiting scrappage at Kemble airport, a sad sight in the Gloucestershire countryside.

My stop in Cirencester was cut short by weather - in this instance wet hail, so I started my hopefully easier route back, it did look brighter where I was headed. It was almost inevitable that I changed my route plan from fairly direct without much up to a more wobbly way that included more up than is good for you! I did eventually reach the western edge of the Cotswolds and started my descent to the Severn vale which of course is when a 'ping' announced a bike issue - by the time I could safely stop the issue was pretty obvious, a broken spoke in the front wheel.

Dang, nothing I could do about it other than adapt the onward route to avoid over stressing the remaining spokes over the remaining 20 odd miles. By the time I got back I had 140km in the legs, over 1250m had been clawed up and over 6 hours spent on the saddle - I was fairly bushed to say the least.

And so to today, I'll be cooking dinner later, before that I'll go for a short walk, it is after all a sunny April day!

Todays Gaby chapter is unusually long, Back to Normal covers the final days of the exchange visit, days when 'Gaby' makes fare more appearances than Drew would like! But what's this, a late night confession? Hmm, duped again eh Bond?

Lastly today, I'd once again like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported my scribblings with a purchase (or several), they really are my lifeblood. It has now been 5 years since I made the decision to try to support myself independently, 5 years which have seen both highs and lows but for the most part i've just about kept my head above water. So thank you for allowing me to pursue this line of 'career', I'll never be rich (well I ride bikes and have a grandson!) but my aspirations that way have never been high anyhow.

Writing is still a hobby to me, when it becomes a full time need my muse tends to bgr off so, as I've intimated recently, I intend to pursue other income channels in the coming months alongside the writing, if things go to plan (they never do) I'll take delivery of a 3d printer next month as the first step in this process.

That's all for today,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid