I was lazy this Saturday and instead of getting up early and heading for the Lake District to do a lengthy walk as planned, I didn’t leave Leeds until midday and ended up watching the FA Cup Final in a pub at Braithwaite near Keswick! So when I got to Coniston, my base for the night, I decided I’d do something worthwhile with the evening and set off on a stroll. I set out towards the top of the village heading for the Coniston Fells that form a dramatic backdrop to the location. The path I hoped to find was mainly level with a few minor undulations, but there was the option of a slight detour along a trail that branched off and climbed steeply up the fell side. When a small cairn of stones appeared to signal the start I took it and fought my way up through some gorse and over a fairly eroded route towards a rocky outcrop known as Long Crag. Once at about the 200m contour I decided enough was enough and settled down for a breather to enjoy the view. This is it below…
It was incredibly peaceful up there away from any human interaction. All I could hear was the sound of the distant rushing water of Church Beck, ewes with their lambs bleating in the pastures below, and out towards the direction of Tarn Hows the call of a solitary cuckoo. I soaked up the view of Coniston Water for 10 minutes watching the steam gondola make its ultimate trip of the day. Finally forcing myself up from my rocky perch, and I headed back down to rejoin the main path as I had about another three miles to complete before dark.
The lower path soon entered a wood carpeted with bluebells. The light wasn’t the best for photography but I attempted a few shots largely in vain but here’s one of the better ones…
The stroll through the wood was beautiful, I had it to myself or so I thought until a jogger came from behind me and half scared me to death! Now a bit jumpy I was startled again by rustling in the undergrowth about five minutes later, but this time it turned out to be a small deer. I froze quickly enough not to scare the doe completely and for a couple of minutes she kept a wary distance but allowed me to watch in delight. The trees prevented a good clear photo, and my attempts to slowly creep nearer to get a better view tested the doe’s patience and she was away.
Once out of the wood my route doubled back along the Cumbrian Way through fields of black lambs and on the descent into the village I passed three or four rabbits which fled as I tried to get a better vantage point to snap Coniston Water from the wrong side of a dry stone wall. I got back to the B&B farmhouse at 9:30pm still in the fading evening light. It was then that it struck me it was actually Saturday night and most people across Britain would be out now sinking a few lagers around their favourite boozers. I’m probably in a very small minority but they are welcome to it. I enjoyed my alternative Saturday night entertainment and feel better for doing it. I wonder how many of the drinking classes would say that the next day when nursing hangovers and trying to piece together scant memories of the night before?!
Finally tonight I’m getting this site moving towards how I want it to look. I have to offer thanks to Scott at work who has been kind and patient enough to give me tips and shared his expertise. I’ve also started to make sense of the CSS style sheets that help make up the format of these pages. I’m slowly learning how to read the code and making changes. I’ve got the sidebar headers green and bold, but can’t work out how to sort the text colour below them yet! The blue must go! It looks like the Conservative Party logo colours! I had intended on an early night, but my determination not to leave this dangling for another night, and get some major changes done before bedtime, now sees me entering the early hours of the next morning again! The washing up remains in the sink, the work shirt remains unironed. That can all wait for later this morning when I’ve had my 7 hours zzzzzzzz!
But now I can put Tina out of her misery and reveal my “secret project” she’s been dying to know about haha! Does that fulfill my side of the bargain? 
It’s only just gone 7pm over in Florida so she should see it before her bedtime! Orlando Cat is curled up on her plastic bag again and I’ll be off to bed shortly.
Orlando came to me nearly 18 months ago, lodging at my house with her owner (a good friend of mine) for a couple of months. For one reason or another Orlando is still with me. In the main Orlando is an affectionate cat that likes human company, so I was happy to have her stay with me, especially as talking to the cat is better than talking to one’s self!
While very affectionate and so lovely when she is, Orlando has an aristocratic air. “Her Ladyship” as she is also known clearly thinks she owns the place, and that everybody’s life revolves around her. Her affections are on her terms, and she can be at times prone to bad temper and the bloody-mindedness that befits an old lass of 15 years. She has been spoilt and is used to getting her way, having her favourite spots and getting irritated if anyone dares sit in HER chair. Recently she refused to come back in the house and spent all day outside while I was at work refusing to come in at lunchtime too after a special visit to retrieve her. Instead she sulked in a flower box! (see below)
However as well as the airs and graces Orlando is quite capable of slumming it too. For some reason lately she has decided to shun all of the comfortable places in my house if favour of a plastic bag on my attic floor! It’s one I’ve been meaning to recycle but lazily left it lying around. Now Orlando has adopted it and it has become her favourite bed. We sit together in the attic, me typing, Orlando rustling, and while away the hours. Speaking of beds, it’s now time for mine but it won’t be a Morrison’s carrier bag!
This has been a relaxed yet productive weekend. Much of it has been spent catching up on the chores neglected during the previous whirlwind weeks of gallivanting around the world. My house is now tidy again, my hedge is trim, the car is clean and the large mountain of clothes are put away. While I sat in the sun today with Orlando the cat uncharacteristically curled up nearby, I finally produced an updated CV on the laptop. I’ve been meaning to do this for weeks as it’s all part of a cunning plan, but I’ve lacked the time and inclination to do it thanks to more entertaining diversions. This was the first weekend at home for ages and I think justifies my staying in and doing nothing special. After all recent past weekends have seen me:
* walking in Scotland and discovering my football club was now Premier League!
* drinking, watching football, and meeting a former Dutch Stoke City manager in Brussels
* having a stay in Coniston in the Lake District
* in Florida for 17 days with the beloved
* having my parents to visit and making trips to York and Richmond
This weekend is a calm before the storm. I’m away again in Coniston next weekend, spending the Bank Holiday weekend staying in Exeter with my friend Jen walking somewhere in Devon, then after that I’m away across the Pond enjoying the company of “mar lady” as they say in Stoke. Hopefully this blog will help chronicle the adventures and save me the trouble of writing it up in the old fashioned way, something I attempted in Florida previously but ground to a sorry halt after starting gamely.
Thankfully I also got my hair chopped off this weekend, the mini-heatwave we’ve been enjoying recently has had me sweating bricks and the removal of the thick mop has helped considerably. I look respectable again and hopefully will not incur suspicious glances from the US Immigration Control when I return in June. I’ve spend a fair amount of the weekend faffing around with this website and blog settings, struggling to install the Gallery2 program which has seen me up into the early hours cursing and scratching my head. Simple installation my arse. It’s riddled with errors and meaningless messages. It better be worth it when I finally get the swine working. I found a nice simple gallery program that works beautifully but will not allow the functionality I need if I’m to advertise my wares as is the plan. Well one of the plans, but not the cunning plan. More of that another time.
Finally this weekend saw the arrival in the post of “It cracks like breaking skin”, a collection of short stories set in Stoke-on-Trent written and sent to me by fellow Stoke City fan and member of the Brussels Nine, Stephen Foster. Another book to add to the growing backlog of reading but a welcome addition, I’d been after it for some time. Nice then to get a signed copy. Worthy of online thanks and a link to Stephen’s blog
