Birthdays! Sunshine!
On Tuesday morning I finally found the time to put my photos from our CWF 2022 walks up onto Flickr. Then a busy few days at work. It’s becoming The Norm. Didn’t make VWW but managed a brief Family Zoom on Thursday.
Friday and Saturday featured two lovely lunches out at posh pubs. Glorious sunshine, more early summer than the start of Spring.
On Friday, after presents, Phil and I walked to Kilpeck for a very fine lunch and a pint at The Kilpeck Inn, to celebrate Phil’s birthday. The first non-lockdown one since we moved.
We returned home, at a slightly slower pace, via Kilpeck’s 12th century church and muddy footpaths from Wormbridge to Duffryn and lanes to Cockyard and home.
Early evening a large stag materialised in the front garden, and stood there for ages before wandering down to the pond and up swing slope. Not sure where he got in or how he got out. Bigger than previous visitors. Quite amazing.
J&T came for a cheese and wine supper to round off the day – and it was a smashing end to a lovely day.
Saturday saw us drive Dad and Jean to Skenfrith for another March birthday lunch, this time at The Bell. Another delicious meal – very colourful – and a very happy day.
On the way home we popped into Hereford to stock up on peanuts and a new bird feeder from General Dogsbody, and our onwards route just happened to take us past the new Wren Kitchen showroom that opened on Friday…. so we headed in for a browse. Plenty of ideas; no purchases. Asda food shop was the third and final stop, then home.
Bacton Square on Sunday morning, then cleared the gutters and hung up the new bird feeder before lunching out on the patio.
Then a couple of hours doing jobs in the garden: repotted the sweet peas, weedkillered a bit of the drive and the drainage ditch on the west side of the house (pressure spray didn’t work, so it wasn’t much of a success) and hacked back a bit more of the green shrub, focusing on the areas where the leaves had gone brown.
Another beautiful day to be outside – loads of small fish in the pond, daffodils are out, primroses too and lots and lots of birdsong.
Between tea and scone and dinner, I reorganised my office. Both desks are now lined up along the west-facing wall. I’m aiming for better lighting, and it makes the room feel bigger too.
Pizza for dinner, courtesy of Phil’s birthday stone and taking-out-of-oven paddle.
Bit low on Monday, but got some good jobs done in the morning including booking the Panda in for a service, and in the afternoon I took a meandering walk to Ewyas Harold to visit the post office.
Canns Hill Footpaths, cute lambs down by the Dore, Deer Field, EH Common, west to Cott Farm and down to Dulas to see the wild daffodils in the old Church, a bit of lane then footpaths through sheep (and lamb) fields and into the village via the Rec; a more direct route back over the Common and Dore Abbey with a very sociable section from Dore Abbey to Abbey Dore Court.
Spotted the first cowslip on our verge, and wild sweet pea shoots along the lane too.
FaceTime with DF, then weeknotes.
The Forty Acres Footpaths Map is up in the kitchen. Perfect for pondering while the kettle boils….
TV: Friday Night Lights (season 4).
Podcasts: The Allusionist, History Extra.
Photos: Herefordshire week 116 on Flickr.
Phil: w/e 2022-03-20.