an inordinate amount of time staring into nothingness

The view from my window isn't that exciting, barely 25m away is an industrial estate and closer in the view is dominated by the house extensions which are pretty much de rigeur with all the properties hereabouts. Between the two though i get a slice of green, compared to Sheffield, Bristol is a tree free zone but there are a few within sight along the bottom of the properties, rampant wild thorn trees, pear, apple, cherry, some of those horrible leylandii as well as laurel and other decorative stuff. This in turn attracts a flock of small birds who, like me presently, call this home. So i sit here watching the birds, looking at the few spots of colour and trying to marshall my thoughts to write.

So, whats been going on this week so far? Well Monday i finally got down to some writing after a morning of spent in aimless window staring, the chapter has turned out better than i was hoping so thats a plus - my Patreon supporters can read the results of those labours now.

Part of my malais was caused by an 'attack' of hay fever, its very distracting when your schnozzle is constantly dripping and you can't focus properly. I've not suffered greatly of late but that doesn't make it any less annoying when it does strike. To make matters worse, after my DVT i was advised not to use hay fever treatments amongst a range of other stuff that may have contributed to that, for example, i can take paracetomol which doesn't work very well for me but not ibuprofen that does - go figure. Not that i take any medication very often, i'm the very opposite of a hypochondriac!

Tuesday is of course bike day, the HF was starting early and i wasn't envisioning being out too long when i set off mid morning towards the Severn Bridge. The weather was fairly bright and dry but a northerly wind stripped any heat from the day, okay for bare legs but not bare arms. By the ride over the Severn i was still unsure of where i was headed but by the time i reached Wales i had the kernel of an idea.

As an aside, the original Severn Bridge is actually all in England although there is no exit on the west side. The border is actually as you cross the Wye on the Wye suspension bridge, an altogether less impressive affair, the border only apparent by a tiny marker post on the bike/foot paths.

Back to the ride, after transiting Chepstow i crossed back over the Wye to England before taking a laney route to my 'regular' burger bar stop at Woolaston. There are other stop options in the area but this guy was open throughout the lockdowns so i like to support him, besides there is seating and toilets and you are away from the A48 without making a huge diversion. I still wasn't feeling like expending too much energy so after my mucky burger and tea i set off to do a loop up into the Dean hills then down to the Wye once more.

After returning to Wales i had a bit of wind assistance down through Tintern before climbing out to Chepstow and back to the bridges. The direct route to east Bristol was unappealing so i headed along the coast down to Avonmouth - not exactly pretty but its level, then inland following the Avon back to the city. I managed to miss most of the city traffic finally pulling up with just under 102km on the clock, the Dean excursions adding in over 1000m of climbing. I'm a long way behind recent years at this point, i've had something of a riding lethargy since the New Year, i really have had to force myself out some days and distances have been less too.

And so to today, a brighter and warmer day than Tuesday which always seems to happen when i need to be writing! The laundry is done and i'll get a walk in later, after a spot of lunch i really do need to get down to writing.

I will of course be back at the weekend with another Gaby chapter free here on BC. Its heading towards month end, wouldn't it be nice if the BC crew didn't have to beg for funds just once? I know we can't all give as much as we'd like but every little helps, a fixed amount each month through paypal or Patreon offers them some security and a regular income lets them plan better too.

Thats it for today, i'll be back at the weekend
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid