Phew – luckily we were already away in Dorset for a very long weekend when London was put into Tier 2 status so we made the very easy choice to stay there and make the most of it, before heading back home today.
And how lucky were we? 5 days of gorgeous October sunshine, not a drop of rain – and only a very punishing physical regimen to slightly cloud the blue skies!
Starting with a 5 mile walk for me & Mr H in Cranleigh, on our way down. Which would have been my first 'quite long for me' walk in many years and a good milestone to achieve had I not buggered my chances of a glory-filled moment the day before by rubbing up a huge heel blister in my old walking shoes (current ones having fallen apart and new ones not yet arrived). The first 3 miles slipped by and then the blister got very rubbed up, the shoes seemed to tighten on my toes and by the end of it I limped rather grumpily into the pub, where luckily, a tuna jacket potato was on hand to boost my sorry frame of mind..
And it didn't stop there – we got down to Jules' parents' place (they are away in Portugal) and I was certainly put through my paces by the fittoes – starting with another 5 mile walk on the Friday around Portland, this time in Jules' six 8 shoes which actually were like walking on air by comparison!
At least we also managed to get some good feeding in, to offset the vast amounts of walking that I am very un-used to – here a fantastic scoff outside in the warm sun at the Crab House Cafe – yum, yum, yum. Chinese crab, who knew that was a winner? And Mr H, face down in a large plate of oysters, always the makings of a happy boy.
Saturday was then our 'bike day' – thank god for the invention of electric bikes as I was lured round a 30 mile loop of the New Forest and its environs, squealing like a pig every time they took me off the trail through tree roots, sludgy sections and eye-raising scary bits. Why on earth was I out with the Lycra Mamil Hawksey and the 2 friends who cycled from the tip of Argentina to Vancouver???
And then somehow two more 5 mile yomps were also scheduled on the Sunday and Monday – what happened to the day of rest?? So maybe I slightly threw my teddies out of the pram yesterday as having been promised a '3 mile walk with a bit of a hill' I was dragged round a 5.2 mile course up a never ending monster of a mountain-cum-hill near Old Harry Rocks in Studland, in very blustery winds. It is definitely a much better plan to walk first then have lunch, as we'd just had our treaty feed at The Pig on the Beach and I was then winkled out for the mega trek – nooooooooooo.
Which – to add insult to injury – ended with us having to cross a massive field with about 40 cows at the bottom of it. In my mind, all of them eyeing us and Scrumpy, and all waiting till we were in the middle with nowhere to run to, before they made their evil move.. Luckily we were just mooed at with only a few padding towards the sight of me, actually breaking into a trot to try and get out of there unscathed. Our bad cow experience up in Harrogate is not yet forgotten!
But it was a very nice few days together, before returning to reality back here in London. I'm already sitting in Parkside for the next round of gubbins, having returned home to a house stinking of cat nasties – Miss Mojo has apparently perfected her 'protest peeing & pooing' performance when we go away, and I've had to scrub the front mat with several products AND put candles on to overpower the niff downstairs. She does like to express her displeasure at being left, even when people are obviously coming in to feed her. I guess it's nice to be missed?? Now I just need to apologise to the neighbours who've been in to feed her – smells like a bloody abattoir in our hallway.
Hey ho – Tier 2 here we now are. Sigh x