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