Croeso i Cymru

Both Christine and e-Christine are spending a bit of time in Wales, where I am (self-styled) "staff nurse in residence" and trying to train Jen to hammer on the bedroom floorboards when she needs something.

I'm on a mission to fill a toybox for Ava, so a 3-mile walk saw me scouring the charity shops in Wellfield, Albany and Whitchurch Roads - sadly with no success on that front, but I walked as far as Slunks hairdressers on Whitchurch Road, where Heloise curated her exhibition earlier this year.

Roath Park is just around the corner, and a 2- or 4-mile walk gets me around the recreation areas + rose garden, or right around the lake and back. I did the 4 miles and the lake looked beautiful.

Jen wants me to borrow her bike and ride the Taff Trail. I think I'll save that one for when she's recovered and we'll do it together and celebrate.

Tre Pol and Pen - and Jen

It's that time of year again, and Mum is spending three weeks in Cornwall in a caravan at Mother Ivey's Bay. Jen came too and we had a day and two halves to walk and talk, and to reflect on the belonging that we feel when we're in Cornwall - daughters of two "Cornishmen and true". In the short time available to us we added 12 miles to LeJog, revisiting Booby's, Constantine and Treyarnon Bays - all 'thin places' that connect with something deep within.

Here are the photos we took.


Jen is starting her own journey soon, and she is blogging it here. It comes with a (literal) health warning, and is not for the faint-hearted.


Jen - I know you want to be the first on the dance-floor at Anna's September wedding. In the meantime here's the promise:


you'll never walk alone

Enneagram, Mwnt, Bara Brith and Quiddler

Well, it's 'bogof' this week - two for the price of one.

Sat 14th May dawned with "Hindhead Tunnel Walk" crossed through in the diary (all tickets sold-out) and "Enneagram Day" re-inserted.
The Enneagram is all about an inner journey and Simon Parke introduced us to the subject at a Spirituality day in the Anglican Cathedral in Portsmouth. There was only time to 'dip a toe in the water' as the scope is huge and really requires individual sessions with a mentor, but we were given plenty of time to ask questions and to catch a glimpse of this fascinating self-awareness tool.  Click here to read more about Simon Parke and his new book.

The following day I joined the Chichester Walkers at the Red Lion in Chalton and walked somewhere-or-other (eyes down, chat chat chat). Christian assures me it was 7 miles and here we are, all neatly lined up!

And then it was off to Mwnt - West Wales's best-kept secret. I waved to the virtual walker as I crossed into Wales, having plotted her position pretty much on the Welsh border, halfway across the Severn Bridge.

When I reached Mwnt Valerie and June had already been for a walk on the beach and met someone who was (really) walking from Fishguard to John o'Groats. Annie eventually arrived after taking a detour via Lampeter.... On Saturday morning I saw a pod of dolphins crossing the bay and on Sunday morning there were seals just off the beach. We visited Cardigan to buy Welsh cakes and Bara Brith to celebrate the walker's arrival in Wales.
Quiddler was new to me - a word game played with cards - and as usual it brought out my competitive spirit.
Thanks once more to Islay for letting us use her caravan and 'drink deep' in this truly special place.

GPS and Galley Slaves

So, how are they doing?

Well, the walker is skirting around Bristol and heading for the Severn bridge. Miles were added this week when Peter and Margaret joined me after work for a saunter along the foreshore followed by soup and fruit at home.

I need to help LeJog along a bit so my challenge for the next week is to ensure that by the time I drive across the bridge into Wales on Thursday, the virtual walker will be there to meet me.

The cyclist is still north of Inverness and heading towards Dingwall.

Now that I've been in the new job for over a month I'm not feeling quite so wiped out in the evenings. The commute to the ship is 8 miles and I'm exploring all the available routes, trying to find the one with the least challenging hills on the way home.

Centre Manager Jon pestered Denise and me to pose for this photo -

as you can see, we're just a couple of shrinking violets really.....or are we galley slaves?

The full blog for the new ship can be found here:

Some time ago I came across Project 1p. At that point Luke had made the news by becoming a 'landowner' in Bulgaria just weeks after starting his swapping project (starting with 1p).Now it seems he has a wedding dress to swap. If Anna hadn't already got hers for September I might have been tempted to contact him. What do you think I could have offered in return?

oh - and RIP RB10. Can't win 'em all.

Cullen Skink and Crannachan

Last week Valerie returned from New Zealand and Annie and I caught up with her for a walk along the foreshore at Langstone, followed by breakfast at the Sussex Arms in Emsworth. She gave us her first-hand account of life in Christchurch immediately post-earthquake - the regular hefty after-shocks, the damage to her daughter's house which has rendered it uninhabitable, the disruption to daily life (portaloos in the street) and the mutual support and generosity that is much in evidence.

 And so to Friday 29th April - the big day! Jen, Al and Heloise were in party mood in Cardiff, complete with tiaras and bunting -

I have decided that insanity is:
a) relative
b) possibly catching

Louise, June, Peach and I had arranged to meet for an afternoon walk followed by a Scottish Supper and film..........We enjoyed an amazing walk from Stoughton up to the top of Kingley Vale, fortified by the Scottish shortbread kindly supplied by Louise. The views were fabulous, and it was fairly quiet, because of The Wedding.
On our return we toasted the happy couple with Pimms on the (still sunny) porch and then came inside for Cullen Skink and Crannachan. All Scottish recipes on the web sound like something out of a Dickensian Workhouse - but the smoked haddock soup was actually quite tasty. Being a bit of a lightweight, the Pimms kicked in soon after the soup and I remember plonking the smoked salmon on the table without a great deal of finesse.....ah well! I also remember enjoying June's Crannachan - oatmeal, raspberries, cream and whisky. We washed everything down with Peach's Irn Bru and prepared ourselves for the film.
We took a vote over supper and Gregory's Girl won the day. June and Peach got into a bit of a pickle with the recliner chairs (I'm clearly not the only lightweight), unfortunately none of us had room for the popcorn and I (predictably) fell asleep before the closing credits.........!
I was disappointed to have missed the Dawn Chorus walk on Sunday morning at 430am with Peter, Margaret and On the Edge. I had wanted to share with them my DVD of Marcus Coates' installation "Dawn Chorus".

Amazing.

And finally - at the risk of this post becoming over-long - RB1 (see last week's post) has been joined by RB2-9 inclusive in the garden.

 I had almost given up hope for RB10 but it is showing signs of life and is now in intensive, if somewhat lonely, care on the kitchen windowsill.

oh, and I almost forgot. Insanity is also

c) fun

Ups and Downs

The good news is - they're off again!
(Anna worries a little about me referring to myself in the 3rd person, but I'm ok with that.)
They haven't travelled far, but four consecutive days off work has revitalised me a bit and spurred me on to get walking and cycling again.
The disappointing news is that, despite having created an action plan worthy of the SAS, we failed to get tickets to walk through the Hindhead tunnel on 14 May. With 20,000 hopefuls having registered an interest in the 6,000 available tickets we (7 of us) knew that our chances were fairly slim - but it felt flat all the same when the website (which had been struggling all day to cope with the internet traffic in much the same way that Hindhead itself was constantly overwhelmed by real traffic) finally closed. Thanks to everyone for their perseverance and patience. At least we can soon look forward to flooring it through the tunnel on our way to the M25 rather than creeping through Hindhead in first gear.

The theme of the week has been, of course, the bluebells - so I drove to West Stoke on Easter Saturday (arguably the prettiest bluebell woods in the area) and then cycled on to Bosham for a picnic, with ice cream to follow. I waved to the Resolute across the channel (my day off - yay!) and decided that you can never take enough photos of Bosham Church.

I tried really hard to keep my eyes open for this photo - 

and took this one of the beautiful wisteria just outside West Ashling.

On Easter Sunday I made two more trips to the bluebell woods - once with Mum and once with Annie.  Annie and I walked and talked - and talked - and talked......how lovely it is to share experiences, ideas and opinions. She had just been to hear Rob Bell speak about his new book "Love Wins" at Cheltenham. Rob is pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan and I listen to his podcasts regularly. You can too - here:

http://marshill.org/teaching/podcast-info/

and finally - this

is RB1 - my first EVER runner bean plant.

Watch this space.

April stats:
walker (sigh) 24 miles
cyclist (sob) 15.5 miles
BP (that's better...) 131/79

We are sailing....

but still not walking or cycling.

Unless you count Wednesday when I visited baby Maeve again and we all walked down to the shoreline with Bessie the dog. I'm glad we waited for the cows to move into the next field - especially when we spotted the bull in the midst of them!

I had mentioned to Chris that it would be good to get some sailing in this summer - so when he realised that he had the afternoon off on Thursday and that I had an early finish........we canoed out to the Wayfarer and tacked up and down the channel for an hour. There was practically no wind so I helmed for a bit - which was ok until we needed to go about. Chris demonstrated his training skills admirably. I like to think he gets his patience from me....!

On Saturday Anna and I drove to Chatham to the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation day at Greenwich University. It was a brilliantly organised day with talks which ranged from interesting and educational (diet, nordic walking, tai chi) to intensely moving (the lady who had had islet cell transplants and is currently living injection-free) and frankly hilarious (Oliver Double, stand-up comedian and father of 2 diabetic sons). This is a national charity with its registered office on Hayling Island...!

http://www.drwf.org.uk/

Today I really was intending to walk with the Chichester Walkers. But I was so tired that I just joined them for lunch at the Greyfriars Pub in Chawton.

How the mighty have fallen...!

Today is Ben's birthday. Happy Birthday Ben!

Null Points

I'm trying to be kind to myself. Starting a new job is always somewhat stressful and if it's one where you're on your feet all day, then it's also going to be physically tiring. So the walker and the cyclist haven't budged this week - but my flapjacks are the BEST - according to Jake.

Instead of working in the middle of a traffic island in the centre of Portsmouth I now work on a converted Dutch Barge called Resolute

for an organisation called Christian Youth Enterprises. Check out the work they do on

http://www.cye.org.uk/

Jake works there too and the view from the galley where I bake the flapjacks looks like this:

After a week finding my sea-legs (actually the ship does move and it's a very odd sensation) Anna and I drove to Cardiff for the weekend to visit the RHS show in Bute Park. We had wonderful sunshine and enjoyed the planted wheelbarrows - and of course, the daffodils.

This was Rapunzel - who was actually a little scary

but cleverly provides a link to my niece Heloise... On Friday evening Anna and I arrived just in time for a gallery opening night at Slunks Hair Salon on Whitchurch Road in Cardiff. Heloise had put a huge amount of time and effort into curating the collection of artworks by young local artists and the evening was a great success.

Cheeeeese Grommit?

Another wall-painting, Maeve-sitting week punctuated by a lovely walk in Surrey with (cycling) Valerie and the wine and cheese event to celebrate my arrival in Cheddar. (Actually, that's a bit of a wild guess as without access to the internet I can't really be sure...) Now that the laptop is out of intensive care I can try the mapometer site again. Ed says I need more memory (if only......) and probably a new adaptor, but I can use the laptop for the time being on battery only.

Valerie and I walked up Leith Hill. We were going to cycle this time, but her own bike was only just back from the repair man, and her spare one still with him. I can't find a cycle rack that fits a 2004 Clio as the wretched Renault badge on the boot interferes with every rack I can find. A towbar is the answer of course - but that comes at a price.
The weather wasn't great but we ate well at the pub in Forest Green and I actually saw my first bluebell of the year.

Valerie and I always discuss projects, plans and holidays - spurring each other on to more and more adventurous ideas (which she then puts into practice!). Always an inspiration.

And so to Cheddar. I wasn't sure how to arrange the wine and cheese evening, as it's notoriously difficult to find a convenient date for everyone. Then I hit on the idea of hijacking the reading group evening that was already in the diary - albeit at Cathy's house. She kindly agreed to be 'used' and we discussed One Day (which most of us had thoroughly enjoyed reading) whilst quaffing wine and nibbling cheese and olives.

Those stuffed peppers are so good and Cathy thoroughly deserved that last one for being such a delightful hostess!

Sorry Cathy - it's not a very flattering photo and will be removed on request!

Sadly Martha and Lesley couldn't join us - but 8 out of 10 was pretty good for us - and was about the average score we gave the book as well!

My blood pressure is unaccountably higher this month and I'm trying to work out why. I've been busy, that's for sure, and I'm just about to start a new job (tomorrow). I've probably been drinking too much coffee as well - so I'm reigning it all in a bit this month and we'll see where we are at the end of April.

Crash!

Technology! - it'll never catch on...

My laptop wobbled and wobbled - and finally crashed this week. Enter Ed - technician extraordinaire and the 4th emergency service in our house, ever since Ben took to randomly deleting what we later discovered to be vital components of the family PC in order to make room for his latest game....! So here, at last, is the blog that should have appeared a couple of weeks ago.

It's been a varied week - painting the spare room in readiness for a lodger later in the year, babysitting 5-week old Maeve (arguably the cutest baby ever) and attending the commissioning of Resolute (more about that in a couple of weeks) - whilst also adding to Jogle and LeJog.

Helen was here visiting Chris and Rachel for a few days, so she joined me for a walk to Stansted on Monday and a ride to Idsworth on Tuesday. Here we are relaxing at St Huberts. The funny bit was setting the auto-timer - I'm sure you can imagine the antics.

 Then Jill and I squeezed in another ride - this time to Buriton. She showed me how to relax using a helmet and a glove -

and - surely not! - is that -

me wearing Lycra??!

Highlight of the week has to have been the walk to Chilgrove with Pam, Roy and Adrian to see the wild daffodils. The weather was lovely and we caught the daffodils while they were still at their best.

We finished with tea at my house - lemon meringue pie was my attempt at a daffodil coloured offering. I found out though that Roy's pet hate is cultivated daffs:

It's the end of the month, so the stats for March are:

walker     57 miles
cyclist      103 miles
BP           148/90

Whatever happened to my cunning plan?

Oh dear......not only is the blog the latest it's ever been - but....

I've only walked 5 miles this week! However - I've cycled 35, including a major expedition to Chichester with Jill. I seem to be incapable of either remembering to take my camera or (worse) remembering to take photos when I DO remember the camera, so when I've worked out how to transfer the pictures from my Blackberry to my laptop I'll add them to this post.

and here they are - this is Jill at West Ashling pond

and me reviving myself with a smoothie on the return journey -

The rest of life sort of took over this week - and I'm really glad it did! Jen and Heloise visited from Cardiff (Heloise taking time out from an extremely punishing schedule of finals, workshops, care work and projects) and we drove Mum off to Epsom to hear a performance by Libera at the Playhouse. Mum first heard the choir on a Waitrose advert and Jen has been 'on the case' ever since. They were just about to go on tour in the USA and the playhouse was packed. The audience included a considerable number of Germans and Japanese, so word must be spreading. We all really enjoyed the concert.

http://www.libera.org.uk/index.htm

The weekend was spent up north - at a 60th birthday party in York, and visiting Ava in Leeds.

no - Ava hasn't got her numbers mixed up. She is calculating how many more miles her grandmother has to walk and cycle in 2011!

Moving Forward

At last! I have completed a week where the cyclist has cycled more miles than the walker has walked  (more than twice as far in fact) - and this really needs to be the case from now on, as the cycling started later than the walking, the distance is the same, and who knows whether or not we'll get snow again this winter!

The boost to the cycling came via Jill, who suggested we ride out to Compton together, take a break in the lovely village shop and tearoom and return via Walderton. It was a 14 mile round trip, at the end of which Ian kindly sprayed my chain and gears as Jill had noticed that I was "clanking a bit". I certainly felt a trifle 'clanky' for the rest of the day, but have happily agreed to another (longer) ride at the end of this week. 

Walking has just been the standard village trail, but when I repeated the cycling trip to Compton this week I picked up a leaflet in the tearoom produced by the SE Hants Ramblers. More about that if I decide to join them for some walks.

I've tried to map where I am on mapometer.com but the site has been unbelievably slow this week - so I'm not sure of my exact location(s). I have every hope though that the cyclist has turned south and that the walker is now heading north (rather than west and east respectively up til now) - I'll feel as if they will actually meet some day if this is the case!

Plans are underway to organise the first film evening for the cyclist - and I really need to work out when I will arrive in Cheddar, so that I can set a date for the Wine and Cheese evening.

So - "moving forward" on all fronts as per this week's title. On Sunday I was in London for Z-Day 2011 (Zeitgeist, Moving Forward) - an event, streamed online, at which Ben was speaking, as well as (amongst others) his good friend Will Dixon. I sat with Ben's friends Kirsty, Wiggy and Jan as we listened to the vision of these activists for a radically different future. They all speak with the passion of true evangelists about a future structured around a resource-based economy, fairness for all, mental and physical well-being and the (advancing) technology on which this vision relies. I have many questions about the movement, and don't grasp all of the concepts, but I applaud the vision, passion and goals that drive those active in the movement.

From a personal standpoint I believe that, regardless of the structures we put in place, it is the human heart that has to change - and that the teaching of Jesus and other great spiritual leaders is about precisely that. Jesus (and this is what angered the Jews of his day) didn't advocate the overthrow of the Roman Empire. He talked instead about a new Kingdom, here on earth (not after death), where attitudes are changed and lives are transformed.

What do you think?

http://www.zeitgeistmovingforward.com/

A couple of Valeries and a (private) View

Funny isn't it - I lose my job, and suddenly there's no time to write the blog!

Wednesday found me in Surrey, visiting Valerie (known affectionately in our house as "cycling Valerie" because we met on a cycling holiday in Germany) and delighting in the blue sky and other signs of Spring. We were debating which walk to do - and I commented that it didn't really matter, as the last few times we had been walking in this area I hadn't been able to see a thing because of the mist, fog, rain - you name it, we had it. So we climbed up to Leith Tower, only to find that the view was once again obscured by mist and haze in the valley, despite the warm sun and blue sky above......

Valerie had recently returned from a walking holiday in Spain and regaled me as we walked with tales of scrambling, tunnels, flowers and almond blossom - all arranged and accompanied by her ex-pat hosts. Inspirational!

I spent a couple of hours with the other Valerie on Thursday, helping her while she prepared to fly out to Christchurch to visit her daughter - and to meet her granddaughter, born just a few days before the recent earthquake. All are, mercifully, safe. We parted after enjoying a bike ride together, now named "Valerie Loop" on mapometer.com.

The lack of a view in Surrey on Wednesday was more than compensated for by a visit with my artist sister, Jen, to Churchill College Cambridge on Saturday and to a private view of paintings by Graham Crowley.

http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=graham+crowley

I've been tinkering a bit with earlier posts and have added a "stats" paragraph to the final post for each  month - tallying up the miles walked and cycled - and the best of 2 blood pressure results - just to prove a point.

The Road Ahead

What if this Road

What if this road, that has held no surprises

these many years, decided not to go

home after all; what if it could turn

left or right with no more ado

than a kite-tail? What if its tarry skin

were like a long supple bolt of cloth,

that is shaken and rolled out, and takes

a new shape from the contours beneath?

And if it chose to lay itself down

in a new way, around a blind corner,

across hills you must climb without knowing

what’s on the other side, who would not hanker

to be going, at all risks? Who wants to know

a story’s end, or where a road will go?

by Sheenagh Pugh

This week's blog is dedicated to all my colleagues at Portsmouth Land Registry. I'm posting it as the office closes and we face redundancy and a somewhat uncertain future. The road has indeed taken an unexpected turn, hidden itself around that blind corner - and we don't know what is on the other side of the hill we are about to climb.

My desk was near the kitchen area on the second floor of the office and over the past 15 months, ever since we were put at risk of redundancy, I have listened to the dreams and aspirations of my colleagues as they have taken time out to get a coffee or just rest their eyes from the relentless glare of the computer screen. One wants to write a book, another to become a teacher, others want to set up their own business - dressmaking, cake baking; someone else dreams of travelling to far-off places, buying a smallholding, studying for a degree - and others simply want to pay off debts with the redundancy package.

It's been good sharing the past 11 years with all of you. I would like to offer this gaelic blessing as we go our separate ways, and hopefully realise those dreams:

"May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of his hand."

February Stats:

Walker:                    56 miles

Cyclist:                     11 miles

Blood Pressure:        125/80

Snowdrops and Third Space

I've covered plenty of miles this week - but unfortunately most of them were in the car...... I have to admit that the cyclist hasn't moved (she's probably snow-bound and frozen solid way up there in Scotland) and the walker hasn't done much better. I'm struggling to cross Dartmoor - perhaps because I am carrying slightly more weight after eating all those scones!

The motorist, on the other hand, has had a great time. Annie and I drove up to Derbyshire for the start of half term where Steve, Wendy, Kitty, Harry and Inca nobly supported the project with a walk amongst the snowdrops at Hopton Hall -

and then on to Carsington Water for a very draughty stride out along the shoreline.

On Sunday morning we joined Third Space at the bandstand in Matlock for "church without......" and pondered how the faith communities we belong to might offer "church with....". The group I attend - On the Edge - models "church with"......."listening"........"silence"........"sofas" - and much more.

http://third-space.org.uk/

This time last year we were all together in Pembrokeshire celebrating Steve's 50th birthday. The photo for my blog profile was taken then - and this year, shivering and yearning for the open fire that Harry eventually stoked to volcanic heat, we were grateful all over again that the weather had been so kind to us in 2010.

We may not have covered much ground this weekend in terms of miles, but friendships are forged and rooted in these shared experiences; in travelling together along life's path; in sharing laughter, frustrations and tears; in offering and receiving hospitality; in sharing bread - the true meaning of 'companion'.

Ouch! and Phew!

Yes, you’ve guessed. Cycling Christine has set off at last from John o’Groats – and is now 5 miles nearer Land’s End! It was such beautiful weather last Tuesday afternoon - but the tide was in so I couldn’t do my favourite walk along the shore at Langstone. There was clearly nothing for it but to put some air in the tyres and launch the other half of the project. I made it to St Hubert's at Idsworth - the scene of many a reflective moment over the years, and probably the cycling equivalent of my 'round the village' walk.

The next day saw me nursing the obvious parts of my anatomy – but also my left wrist and arm. The physio signed me off last week though, so the tiredness and ache are clearly nothing out of the ordinary and the cycling is bound to help with both strength and mobility. It felt good (for a while) and it will be great to have some variety and choice now that the evenings are getting lighter.

Phew! I made it into Devon just in time for the walk and cream tea on Saturday - and what a day we had! The weather was simply glorious – bright, sunny and just fresh enough for a brisk walk without actually being cold. I decided to repeat the Chalton-Finchdean-Chalton route as it is local and the right length to fill a couple of hours. We were a colourful bunch – June striding effortlessly up the hills with the rest of us panting behind, Margaret flowing along with her Nordic Walking poles, me nattering as usual and not concentrating on the route….. Anyway, we made it back (with just a couple of gentle course-corrections from Valerie and Graham) in time to pick up Gwen (who had been cycling) and Steph (who had been quilting) and we were 8 for Devon Cream Tea at home. I had spent the morning baking and found this recipe for Devonshire Apple Scones:

http://www.essentially-england.com/apple-scones.html

I have consigned both MapMyRun and MapMyWalk to Room 101 and switched to Mapometer.com. I think I have enabled my readers to see the route. Try the link and see.

http://gb.mapometer.com/en/walking/route_1031266.html

I think I have also now worked out how to enable anyone to post comments on this blog – again, have a go if you feel like it.

The joy of this project is seeing it unfold as it progresses and listening to what other people have to offer. I have been wondering how to mark the progress of the cyclist as I thought it needed to be different from the invitations to tea, supper etc which are accompanying the walker. Chris, Rachel and I were chatting about it and they suggested film nights with links to the locations. So – it could be Braveheart soon, or Mrs Brown or Local Hero – or indeed all of them at the current rate of progress! The thought that if I hang around in Scotland for too long we might have to watch the one about the Loch Ness Monster will be enough to spur me on my way...... I can’t wait for Miss Potter (Lake District) and Ladies in Lavender (Cornwall) but still need plenty of help filling in the remainder of the route.

And finally – I’m feeling so inspired that I’m leaping ahead to Dec 31^st when the cyclist reaches Land’s End and the walker reaches John o’Groats – and I think I might actually keep going.

That’s when the swimming starts......

I’m still in Cornwall – get me out of here!

I passed Dobwalls the other day and was saddened to see online that the adventure park is now closed. When we first visited it in the early 80s it was still very much a family affair and a lovely day out with first 2, then 3 children in tow. We all enjoyed sitting astride the miniature steam trains (models of the Union Pacific and Rio Grande lines) and trundling through the tunnels. We were staying at some self-catering farm cottages at Lanreath run by Janet and Richard Pugh. 

http://www.trecanfarmcottages.co.uk/

I still have their address and contacted them again a few years ago and found that  they are still there and, happily, the business is thriving. As so often happens they had just been leafing through their photo albums and had come across the snaps we took of Richard and their son Danny attempting to play Adrian’s French horn!

So then it was on to Liskeard and memories of August 2009 when June and I spent a weekend with BTCV 

http://www2.btcv.org.uk/ 

repairing some Cornish Hedging on a sustainable farm there. Once June had persuaded me that it was safe to stay and that we would not soon be featured on Crimewatch we slept in pop-up tents, washed in cold water, placed nesting boxes for dormice - complete with GPS locations for follow-up purposes – wondered if we would catch Orf from the local sheep and laboured merrily. The other volunteers were great company and in the evenings (too grubby and tired to go to the local pub) we supped beer and shared stories of other volunteering holidays. 

So – I’ve arrived at St Germans – visit this website to see details of the fab Port Eliot festival my sister Jen volunteered at last year. It’s in my diary for this year too, just in case I’m not working by the end of July.

http://www.porteliotfestival.com/ 

Well – the Devon Cream Tea is booked for next weekend! I joined the Chichester Walkers for a lovely 5 mile walk up on the Staunton Way today and I’m all set to cross into my second county any day now.

Peaches and Cream (and pasties of course)

In 1936 the US steamer Bessemer City was wrecked in fog under cliffs to the west of Clodgy Point, St Ives. No lives were lost but the wreck broke in two and the cargo of tinned salmon and tinned fruit was cast into the sea and washed up on beaches all over Cornwall.  The cargo was said to have fed the locals for months – but the labels on the tins were washed away so no one knew what they were having for tea until they opened the tin. 

My father was 8 years old and living in St Ives when the shipwreck occurred, and my grandparents were amongst those eagerly collecting tins off the beach. There was great anticipation as each successive tin was opened – will it be salmon for tea today? It never was – every last tin contained peaches - and they have been known in my family as “Bessemer Cities” ever since. As a child I presumed the name was “bessamasities” and that everyone referred to tinned peaches this way. It was literally years before I heard the story of the shipwreck and understood the origins of the name.

Cornish Pasties:

Shortcrust pastry

Beef Skirt

Onion

Potato

Swede

Salt and pepper to taste

Jusrol do a great line in frozen pastry – you can buy it in rounds that are a perfect size for a pasty. All the ingredients should be diced really small or shredded or flaked – no big chunks of anything!

Lay the ingredients in layers in the middle of the round of pastry, starting with potato. Season each layer with salt and pepper.

Dampen the outer rim of the pastry round with warm water and carefully draw up the pastry around the filling. Press the sides together and crimp to seal. You’ll have to ask my mother how to do the crimping but it looks something like this......

Start in a hot oven (200) and reduce the heat to 180 after 30 minutes. They should take about an hour and a quarter in all.

We waved Cornish flags, ate the pasties, and had Bessemer Cities with Cornish Clotted Cream for dessert.

At the moment I’m blogging and cooking more than walking and cycling – and I'm having such fun! 

January Stats:

Walker:                      69 miles
Cyclist:                      0 miles
Blood Pressure:         132/86

Somewhere north of Eden....

Phew – it’s been a hard week fitting in the walks, but I’ve made it to St Austell. My peptic ulcer has been playing up just a little due to the fickle nature of the MapMyRun website. I’ve decided to carry on logging the walk via MapMyWalk (a more logical choice, some might say) as it appears easier to use and doesn’t constantly freeze my screen.

It’s been great doing the “bread and butter” walks around the village – Ian now rewards me with the biggest of grins when he spots me striding out cheerfully early in the morning. (He is always on his bike, of course!)

The week was rounded off today with another walk in the company of the Chichester Walkers. We managed 7 miles, starting at Fernhurst, just north of Midhurst and finishing back where we started with Sunday lunch at the Red Lion. There were about 20 of us again, and although I had resolved to chat less and take more notice of the actual route this time – it didn’t happen. Much of the time was spent “eyes down” anyway as we had to contend with very wet and muddy conditions underfoot. We had splendid views from Telegraph Hill and it was chilly, but just right for a brisk walk.

I was delighted to hear from Sarah that she has caught the “project bug” after hearing me enthusing about this, and has decided to walk around the Isle of Wight this year in 12 x 6 mile sections. I’m really excited as she has invited me to join her for some of it!

So – focus of the coming week will be:

to practise those Cornish pasties for Saturday

to make sure I average 3 miles per day and get out of Cornwall on time 

and I really need to get that cyclist on her way.......

White Rabbit Syndrome

“I’m late! I’m late!”

Pretty pathetic for January 18^th I know – but the New Forest calendar in my kitchen, where I catalogue all the walks, is still looking rather impressive!

I’m having problems with the ‘new look’ MapMyRun site -

http://www.mapmyrun.com/

 – it’s really sticky and keeps seizing up on me when I try to update the route. Anyway – I’ve included the link and will share the route once I’ve worked it all out.  So you’ll just have to believe me when I say I’m between Manhay and Camebone (yes!) - but should be in Truro by now......

The cyclist is still limbering up at John o’Groats, but if the weather stays like this (not slippery) she will be setting off very soon. The physio at QA is really pleased with my progress and I think the cycling will be beneficial for strength (braking etc) and flexibility.

The ‘not alone’ part of the project is taking shape. I am celebrating each county I travel through with a supper or tea or other (related) activity – suggestions on a postcard please. Invitations have been sent for a Cornish Pasty Supper this month – I’ve chickened out and invited family first as I’m not so sure about cooking these, despite my Cornish ancestry! Recipe to follow after the event.

I have also done my first walk with the Chichester Walkers – a meetup group I joined to ensure that I really don’t make this a solo activity. We had a lovely sunny morning  for the walk around Emsworth/Prinsted/Nutbourne – the trouble was I was so busy chatting that I couldn’t remember the route when I got home! It was lovely to meet other walkers and the group was friendly and welcoming. 

http://www.meetup.com/cities/gb/f2/portsmouth/

I hadn’t come across these groups before – but they seem to be a great way to meet people with shared interests. There is also a Chichester Cyclists – cycling Christine hasn’t joined that one yet – it sort of depends on how much lycra is involved......

Well – I can’t just sit here. It’s sunny, I’m not at work – 

and I’m late!

Including other People

The danger with being an Enneagram “5” and a Myers-Briggs “Introvert” is that I could easily complete this project entirely on my own - so finding a way to involve other people is going to be an important feature. When I contacted Jill and Ian they insisted that it was their turn to invite me to supper. I’m not so sure it was, but I didn’t put up much of a fight! I was a bit worried about how to break the news to them that I wasn’t actually travelling end-to-end, but after a fleeting moment of mystification (reminiscent of that day in the kitchen with my kids) they took it in their stride and kindly dug out the routes, photos and journals from their two previous rides. 

It was lovely to travel with them down “memory lane” - with Jill commenting on how young she thought she was looking on the first trip. (I recalled that we had all been in awe of her, as she had celebrated her

50^th birthday whilst on the ride). Ian, meanwhile, was warning me about various stretches of the route and waxing lyrical about other sections, to a chorus of “she’s not really going Ian..........” from Jill.

The two routes Jill and Ian took lean north or south in Cornwall and west or east for the remainder of the route - and at first I considered walking up the more south Cornwall/westerly route and cycling down the more easterly/North Cornwall. However, I had already decided that (whenever it happens) I will really travel to the point where the ‘walking north Christine’ meets the ‘cycling south Christine’. If they were to take different routes then this would be impossible, and I realised that I was going to have to choose between them. This was much more difficult than I had anticipated but, deciding that I’m essentially a west-coast-girl, Jill and Ian’s original route won the day – weighing in at a hefty 1113 miles........

The supper Jill produced was amazing and she has kindly agreed to share it here to launch the culinary aspect of the project (more about that later).

California Pork chops

6 loin or pork chops                                                     

 ¼ pt chicken stock, white wine or water

1 oz flour                                                                            

½ pt orange juice

Oil                                                                                          

½ tsp dried marjoram or 1 ½ tsp fresh, chopped

2 oranges peeled and sliced                                       

2 medium onions sliced

2 tablespoons brown sugar                                        

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tsp cornflour

Season chops, roll lightly in flour and brown well in oil.  Arrange browned chops in a large shallow casserole, preferably one that will enable you to crowd them in one layer.

Sprinkle orange slices with 3 tablespoons of the brown sugar and let them stand.

Blend cornflour with the stock or wine, the orange juice, marjoram and rest of brown sugar.  Pour this mixture over the chops in the casserole and arrange the onions on top.

Sprinkle the onions with parsley, cover and bake 1 hour (1 hour 20?) in a 350 oven.

Arrange the orange slices on top and bake 15 minutes more, uncovered.  Serves 6

So while you are all trying that out –

2011 has dawned - let the project begin!