Sunny Sunday

You can see her preggers belly in this one. She's getting heavy too!

Me and Shelagh on a rock (you'd never have worked that out!!).

Sunbathing Highland cattle - they look a bit warm in those shaggy coats.

The marshy footpath across Birchen Moor

I fully intended to go for a long run this morning (honest!) but (and here come the excuses) Diarmuid called from Korea and we chatted for ages on Skype; then the computer crashed so I spent an age fixing it and then it was so sunny and gorgeous that I wanted to spend time with the dog! If I went for a run, she couldn't come as she's too pregnant to go running with me now.

So - as a compromise, I picked a long and hilly walk and promised that I'd do it at a brisk pace! Am I let off?

I've been working my way through a little book of circular walks in the Peak District and trying to go to places I've not been before. Today was a 5 miler at Birchen Edge above Baslow and Chatsworth. It was another lovely day and the walk took me up steep hillsides, along gritstones edges, through birch and sessile oak woods and past a couple of very strange monuments to Nelson and Wellington set on rocks in the middle of nowhere on oppostie sides of a big valley. I also passed a herd of Highland cattle sunbathing which is a very strange sight. It was fascinating and breathtaking in places. Pretty busy with walkers being a sunny Sunday after all but everyone was friendly and the dog acquired a blue checked hanky to make her look jaunty!

I've eaten well so far and have avoided calling into the petrol station as I had a suspicion that I would end up buying a bit of chocolate, so so far so good. I want to do half an hour of gardening just to tidy up a patch of the front garden and then maybe some paperwork if I can be bothered.

Tonight our lovely managers from the local pub are leaving. Once again the Brewery is making an incredibly stupid decision based on blinkered short termism and getting rid of a fantastic young couple who can cook and really know how to run a pub. We'll have yet another run of pathetic temporary managers running the place into the ground and then the cycle will start again. No wonder we're leaving this country when we can't even look after our national heritage in the form of village pubs. Grrrr - makes me very angry. So, after the inter-village pub quiz (yes, I appear to be THAT sad!) I'll be going up there to say goodbye and wish them all the best. they would love to stay but can't afford to take the pay cut the Brewery was forcing on them.

Anyway - I'm blathering on a bit. I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and that the weight is dropping off you!!