Litter picking in Woodlands - challenge 21

This was an easy one to tick off in most respects, given I just had to go out and start picking up litter from the local neighbourhood. However, it was part of a day when I did over 24000 steps following dog walks, a walk in the woods with the children and a run of 6 3/4 miles, so keeping motivated to get on with it was not as straightforward as it might have been.

However, I also wanted to listen to the History of England podcast and it was a good excuse to do so, wandering along the roadside, litter picker in one hand and refuse bag in the other. Even the collection bag was recycled having been full of fat balls delivered last week.

I headed uphill and made my way to the Verwood road junction before turning back and collecting from the other side of the road on the return. I had a full bag by then, although early on it was hard work simply because of the gusty wind which kept threatening to empty the bag as quickly as I tried to put any rubbish inside. The heavier it became, the easier it got.

Nothing of any great excitement in the collection. It was a collection of bits of plastic from goodness knows where to the things thrown from car windows. There are very few people who would be walking this road and so it is obvious most of the rubbish is discarded by drivers and passengers, lots of crisp wrappers, empty cans, a mixture of lager and cider, the odd red bull thrown in for good measure, small wine bottles, fast food cartons and packaging and cigarette packets. You might argue that the lifestyle which has been linked with Western illnesses e.g. diabetes, heart disease, cancer and so on through a diet of too much alcohol, junk food and sugar is not only harming those who consume it but also the wider environment.

We know that the burgers from the fast food chains are linked to the destruction of valuable habitats and environments, cattle ranching which is a major contributor to global warming and that anti-social behaviour is exacerbated by alcohol, excess sugar (behaviours seen in schools for example) and puts severe strain on the health service. There is then the final indignity of our lives being cheapened and diminshed in the prevalence of these items in our local environments, degrading the aesthetic pleasure of walking to enjoy the natural world, causing us to consider our fellows with disdain, damning them for being so much less considerate than ourselves when it is the case that for most people, throwing litter would be unthinkable.

You can probably tell I had plenty of time to consider this as I was picking litter. I guess it was even more to the fore of my mind following last week's stories and images from Bournemouth beach, Sandbanks and Durdle Door where tonnes of rubbish had been left following chaotic scenes on crowded beaches. Who on earth would behave in ways which illustrated this kind of contempt for the world in which we live?

I am also making good progress with reading 'Dubliners' by James Joyce. It is proving as 'easy' read, a collection of short stories which, so far, appear to be sad and rather downbeat, revealing characters trapped in their circumstances, unable to stride beyond the confines within which they find themselves, slightly haunted.

At the same time I am reading 'Eat and Run' by Scott Jurek, an ultrarunner. I'm not sure who gave me the book - it must be from my birthday or Christmas, but it is surprisingly readable and is enhanced by a number of interesting recipes. I'll have to try some of them.

Vegan fruit cake challenge number 20

The challenges are being ticked off one by one but it didn't work out quite the way I'd planned today. My intention had been to get the cycle ride done but the forecast rain and strong wind with gusty conditions meant I shelved the idea for now. I am going to get 100km done as it is a nice round number rather than 57 miles which is about 8km shorter but I am not going to kill myself doing it. I would much rather set out and cycle round the New Forest in the sunshine and keep my strnegth for the distance not the battle against the wind.

At 57 years of age, I must have earned the right to delay, surely?

Instead I got to work on a fruit cake having found a vegan recipe online. It seems the recipes are nearly all linked to a Christmas cake and this was no exception but it is a fruit cake. Having soaked the fruit overnight in some Tia Maria, I mixed the various ingredients together in the morning and popped it into the oven for 2 1/2 hours. I am looking forward to trying it on Sunday when we have more family visiting for Sunday dinner.

It looks ok with the main visible error being the inconsistent distribution of the fruit. You will probably see that in the photo. Otherwise it looks ok. I look forward to tasting it.

At the same time I had soaked chickpeas, kidney beans and butter beans overnight and got to work preparing vegan chilli, hummus and bean burgers. The chilli was delicious and there was enough to freeze. I put miso in the hummus in the absence of tahini and it tastes very good too.

That got a rainy morning out the way and I was able to get out in the afternoon, starting with a comprehensive re-packing of the motorhome. We have all kinds of things stored on board and I found more efficient ways of using the spaces which means we have a good deal of room for our trip in a few weeks time. I can't believe how much storage space there is on board. I also gave my car a good clean as it was full of sand following our trip to Sandbanks on Wednesday.

In lieu of the ride I went for a run and managed 7 miles again, the same distance as a week ago but a whole 2 seconds a mile quicker! I listened to podcasts and a playlist to keep me going and got lost in the zone so completely, a car had to sound the horn to wake me from my reverie as I headed straight for it, as it had pulled over to the side of the road to allow a car travelling in the opposite direction to pass. Jeez, did I jump!

I then got in the car for a drive to the allotment where I used the new cordless strimmer to tackle the grass paths round the various beds. Best of all, I picked raspberries, radish and spinach leaves to bring home and enjoy, our first produce of the season from the allotment. Plenty going on still with healthy crop of potatoes likely, good onions, spinach, beetroot, chard and raspberries.

By the time I got home I was pretty shattered and spent the evening flicking through various performances from Glastonbury.

I did also get reading 'Dubliners' by James Joyce, another of the challenges.

Dutch oven bread

What a gorgeous day again, very hot and very long. We aren't much beyond the longest day which means it was lovely being out till late celebrating Liverpool's title win thanks to the defeat Man City suffered away to Chelsea.

We got the fire pit lit and did jacket potatoes and sausages, the sausages cooked on the upturned pot lid. Best of all I had prepared the dough for an attempt at bread cooked in the dutch over. It was a success and tasted great, as well as looking appetising.

Putting the lit sticks on the lid meant the heat was more evenly spread through the pot, creating an oven effect. I believe it is easier using briquettes but I think I'd eat bread cooked anyhow when it is warm. Always smells so inviting. Now I've done it once, I can experiement with it when we're camping out in the motorhome. It will be something special to be able to provide fresh bread for everyone.

Sandbanks

On Wednesday I took the two children to the beach leaving it till later in the afternoon to set  out. I was hoping to avoid the traffic of earlier in the day and to take advantage of visitors leaving and freeing up the parking spaces.

The journey to Alum Chine was good and I expected to be able to park fairly easily. How wrong I was. The roads leading to to the car park were crowded with vehicles being given tickets and the prospect of parking seemed a distant one. As a result, we went on to West Cliff but found that equally busy. The next step was deciding to go on to Sandbanks where I knew there was a larger car park and the chance of more spaces being left as people left for the evening.

It was even worse! The traffic to Sandbanks was slow moving and the car park full. People were not going home but had hunkered down for the day, a long day, in the blasting heat. The children were brilliant and didn't moan at all and we got lucky. A woman told us she was just leaving and we followed her to her car where we waited while she and family got packed up. We were in!

The busy car park was not reflected on the beach where there was plenty of space between groups. We had a good few hours enjoying the sand and sea. I had a swim and Maria and Joseph loved playing with the boards in the warm water.

However, when we left, so did lots of other people. It took 45 minutes to get out of the car park but once out on the road it wasn't too bad. Again, the children were brilliant despite the delays and I was happy to hear Liverpool were leading against Palace.

The headlines the following day told the story of chaos and rubbish at Bournemouth so it is worth mentioning that our experience was very different. The beach was peaceful and respectful, there wasn't litter where we were located and people were patient and calm in the traffic. It was a nice visit even though incredibly busy.

Burley Amethyst Autosleeper

We are starting to get some proper use out of the motorhome and had a big picnic party at Burley after collecting Evie and Amelia and joining Bridie, Joseph and Joy who had got there slightly earlier.

The children took their bikes and were happy to run off and play and they took great pleasure in inventing a game about fairies and searching for fairy eggs and fairy homes. It was lovely to see them using their imaginations and relying on one another for the game rather than seeking adult input or supervision.

It was a very hot day but Joy managed the walk down into Burley for an ice cream and back. Quite some going for 86 years old.

Mountain bike ride and another busy day

Back to school again this morning with Maths and Science, double English and double PE. PE was straightforward because the two children wanted to carry on with their dance practice and they did very well. Maths for Maria was all about pie charts and Science related to reproduction again. English was all about the context within which Dickens was writing in the 19th Century. Mast week Maria got 90/100 for her letter writing and 100/100 in Maths. Terrific effort.

After a butternut squash pasta recipe proved pretty tasty for lunch and a walk into the woods to collect some firewood with Maisy, I got the bike out for an off road ride down Slough Lane and over the Holt before heading west to Chalbury and on to Pidlington, a place I'd never heard of despite passing the sign for it plenty of times on the journey to Wimborne. Wow. Only a couple of properties but they were stunning and to set it all off, the river Allen flows through and it had formed a lake with an island where a swan family was enjoying a successful breeding season.

On the ride home I stopped off for a kick about with Glen and two of his friends which was great fun. Love to be able to play football still.

Bit of hedge cutting next, another dog walk and then preparing the motorhome for tomorrow's trip to Burley, filling up the water a little and the water for the chemical toilet too, along with the appropriate chemicals. All set to go. Well over 20000 steps again today. Keeping busy!

57 challenges are actually 62 but I've completed a few more

It was a busy Saturday and a long one, in keeping with it being the longest day. For the children, the highlight was going on the midnight ramble, one of the challenges for the year, and they were excited about it throughout the day making plans about how they would fill the hours until we went out.

Midnight ramble - we set off at just after 11.45 and as we went along the street towards the track round Martins Farm, the torches were already on with lots of excited chatter. It took a little while to convince everyone that we would get more out of the experience without the aid of the torches and by being as quiet as possible. It was about trying to immerse ourselves in the surroundings, enclosed in the darkness instead of fighting against it, trying to be aware of how our senses were compensating for the lack of sight. That was the theory and I am pleased it worked out like that.

We soon heard a fox calling to our left and the children were surprised how quickly they adjusted to low light levels. In all honesty, it was easy to pick out the path, the hedges, trees and fields. We also noted a number of artificial lights including, sadly but I imagine, necessarily, security lights. These weren't the straightforward floodlights triggered by movement but the surreptitious burning of surveilance systems, CCTV indicated by red pinpricks of light in several locations. The best bits were when we found the trees closing around us, excluding the light from the sky, the darkness more confident in examining our resolve, unused to visitations without the armour of technology.

I found I was more aware of where I was treading, the nature of the surfaces, gravel, tarmac, mud, earth, the inclines and falls.

As we crested the hill and were flanked by open fields, we turned the torches on to check for rabbits. Sure enough there were stars of eyes focused on us from near the hedgelines, a lovely sight for the children to understand how the light is reflected from eyes, furhter demonstrated by the eyes of a roe deer calmly watching us from the right until it loped away casually into the gloom.

This all followed the final round of the family quiz which we managed to win on the night and overall but it has been a tight affair and a nice weekly distraction from lockdown, especially early on. Maria and I had done our dance to Stomp by Steps beforehand, another challenge successfully completed.

I had a lovely ride to the allotment in the morning, extending the ride by going to Verwood first and to Stewarts Nursery for some carrot seed. 23 miles done in all, with a few hours of weeding, grass trimming and seed planting on the allotment with my new friend, the male blackbird which is still feeding young judging by the amount of food it was collecting and disappearing with every few minutes.

57 challenges update

So far I have completed the following:


Plant a tree - completed
Make a wooden wine bottle holder - completed
Make a log planter Saturday 23rd May - completed
Make a log seat - completed
Take part in a school activity - completed
Make chutney - kimchi,
Complete 50 successful keepie uppies in a row - completed
Plant a hedge - completed

I have also begun the following, many of which are going to be continued over the year:

Cycle 57 miles in a day - in training with a 39 mile ride completed this week
Write blog - ongoing
Learn a dance routine - underway with performance planned for tomorrow!
Learn Spanish and Gaelic - ongoing and with French added to the mix
Run/walk/crawl a marathon - in training
Turn off the tap when brushing my teeth - ongoing
Buy an extra item of food each shop for food bank - ongoing
Walk av. of 15000 steps a day - underway and close to 20000
Listen to a new album once a week - underway Strokes, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Perfume Genius, Enter Shikari, Sleaford Mods, Hot Chip, Lady Gaga,
Collect firewood once a week - ongoing

That's 18 either done or well underway, leaving 39 to be tackled. Of course, circumstances right now mean tackling a number of them is impossible due to restrictions e.g. no Parkrun due to the ban on gatherings.

What is left to start?

Motorhoming in Cornwall - booked for August in Newquay
Swimming at Tinside - summer trip to Plymouth when pools have reopened
Thai cooking
Take part in a charity bike ride - depends on events such as this resuming
Take part in at least 10 Saturday parkruns - depends on events such as this resumingnds
Have a picnic on Dartmoor - summer trip to Plymouth
Hike from Princetown to Plymouth - summer trip to Plymouth
Swim a mile
Go paddle boarding -depends on events such as this resuming
Bake cakes for a giveaway 'sale'
Woodlands litter pick
Watch a ballet
Make a child's wooden tool box
Go paddling in a stream
Visit the Russell Cotes Museum
Visit the National Gallery in London
Read a book by James Joyce
Watch a meteor shower
Visit an RSPB reserve
Do a beach clean up
Make a bird table
Give children materials for making their own reindeer decorations
Decorate the front room
Do a night's wild camping
Do Junior Parkrun in at least 4 different locations - depends on events such as this resuming
Watch Plymouth Argyle home and away -depends on events such as this resuming
Visit an Island
Play Hide and Seek in a castle
Have a snowball fight
Go on Go Ape
Bake a fruit cake
Make blackberry jam
Share a Sunday afternoon cream tea
See the Red Arrows
Bake using the Dutch Oven
Play boule on a beach in the rain
See an osprey
Have a yes day- say yes to everything
Make my way way home - Dropped off in the middle of somewhere I don’t know and left to get home
A day with no phone
Fast for one day
Sing a song of someone else’s choice to be shared on social media
Spend a day in fancy dress for no reason
Take the children for a midnight ramble

I thought I would count the remaining challenges and found the numbers don't add up. There aren't 57, there are 62! How did I manage that? Does it mean I should ditch 5 I don't fancy or the ones that end up being the last 5? Or should I just get on with it? How am I going to have a snowball fight if it doesn't snow? Am I going to have to make a special trip to find snow?

Burley in the Amethyst Autosleeper 17th June

We took advantage of the good weather in taking the motorhome out into the New Forset again, just for the day in light of the ongoing restrictions owing to Covid-19.

It was great to be able to spread out over the field and into the surrounding trees, as well as complete a circular walk/cycle. The decision to ask the people who sold us the sleeper to fit a bike carrier to the rear of the MH was a good one, enabling us to take the bikes belonging Maria and Joseph, so much easier than having to fit the carrier to the car and then strap everything into place. Just loaded them onto the mount, which has a strap to lock in each wheel, and then a couple of lines to add some extra support and security.

We'd had Evie and Amelia over the previous day and they had enjoyed playing in the mud kitchen and the new paddling pool. Lovely to be busy with the family.

New Forest cycle ride

Bike ride round the New Forest starting from home and taking me to Haythorne, Three Cross, Ringwood, Blashford, Fritham, Godshill, Fordingbridge, Cranborne and home again, a journey of just under 39 miles. I was pleased at the average speed which was 14.23 mph - getting quicker despite it being further. There were stretches where you could just pedal in a rhythm, undisrupted by ups and downs.

I started by taking the road to Haythorne and onto Three Legged Cross because there is less traffic at the moment, due to the lockdown, albeit a relaxed lockdown. It is a road I would usually avoid due to the nature of the traffic, fast through narrow lanes with a number of bends and poor lines of sight. The bit which was busy was the section to St Ives and Ringwood itself was fairly busy, a few more shops being able to open after three months.

The ride became a good deal more relaxed from that point onwards as I got into the New Forest. The ford near the Alice Lisle was as busy as ever with paddlers in the ford, families picnicking and checking out the ponies. It was here I made the decision to go for the longer ride and headed to Fritham which took me along some inclines but afforded long stretches where you could just pedal. It was very quiet and the cloud had cleared, so perfect for enjoying the solitude of the New Forest.

There was a place near Fritham which was choc a bloc with motorhomes. They were parked up with families spread over the wide open spaces. Beautiful to be out at this stage and there were so many photo opportunities e.g. 3 foals in a line queuing for the attention of a mare.

By Godshill I was beginning to feel the ride but a quick drink and snack got me home feeling good. I could have gone further and look forward to attempting the 57 mile ride soon.

Burley in the Motorhome

This was the first real trip we have taken in the Amthyst Autosleeper, although not yet a night away or anything like. This is due to the lockdown which has curtailed our adventures and there are still barely 60 miles on the clock since purchase in February.

Having said that, it was lovely. The van started without worry, despite not being used for some time and we got underway intending to drive to Burley and have some lunch there before going on a walk in the New Forset. There was heavy rain but we were lucky as by the time we'd eaten and played a few games, it was drier and we did a short two and a half mile circuit.

The photo shows the chilli I'd prepared the day before being heated up which was after I'd cooked the falafels, also put together the day before. There was plenty of rice and Mexican extras. The cooker is easy to use and allows the cook to control the heat more quickly than using the electric hob we have at home.

It really was a great trip and one which provides a glimpse of the possibilities ahead. There were at least 4 other motorhomes in the car parks either side of the road in Burley, near the cricket pitch. There was space to sit and play, store the wet weather gear and so on. It didn't feel cramped at any stage, there were five of us, although that might not feel the same when off for a few days. However, I would expect to have the gazebo up outside if we were staying on a site overnight. With the four sides, it would give us a change of scene and fresh air, should we be in need. All being well, it wouldn't be raining all the time!

Stomp - 57 challenges - learn a dance routine

I am a little embarrassed by the video as I have never given in to the urge to dance and am therefore completely hopeless. No false modesty, just the truth, and I feel so self-conscious, clumsy, all at sea with any semblance of rhythm and lacking any grace whatsoever. Which is why I need to challenge myself to give it a go, even when the results are going to be awful.

This was the outcome of session 1 and we've moved onto the 2nd since. Maria is teaching me well and it is a lovely thing to do together, worthwhile in itself.

We had Evie and Amelia over yesterday and did a long walk in the woods following the trail the girls left last time.

Round the Tarrants

Following the home schooling session in the morning, I took to the Cannondale bike and got myself over to the allotment, taking a scenic route to extend the distance as I prepare for the 60 mile round trip to Swanage. In total I rode 30 miles with an hour at the allotment in between the first 21 miles and final 9 miles home.

The pleasing aspect was that I managed it reasonably well, enjoying the ride itself and finding I had got home at a faster pace than the outward journey, suggesting there are reserves of energy there to be tapped?

The route took me through Witchampton and up to Tarrant Rushton, site of an old airfield. That section was probably the most hilly of the whole journey but coming early on, it didn't feel too bad at all. Great open views in places and leading me to the valley through which the Tarrant runs, home to numerous iterations of the Tarrant villages. The church in the photo is at Tarrant Keynston and was worth a quick stop for. I turned to Shapwick, a more familiar place as we have walked by the Stour from there.

Most of my time at the allotment was spent watering the plot but I earthed up some spuds and got the hoe out to weed out a few unwanted plants. It is coming on.

The return ride was along the usually busy Wimborne to Cranborne road which is busier than during the early days of lcokdown but not quite at the same level as previously.

Highlight of the ride was cycling behind a jay for a length of country lane, the bird unable to veer off for a while. Spectacular bird with the white rump and short wings, full of pulsing power.

Home school during lockdown

Our morning starts at 9.00 with 2 25 minute lessons taking us to a 10 minute break, a pattern repeated three times over the morning giving us 3 x 50 minute chunks in which we follow Maria's existing school timetable. That means for today it is 25 minutes of Maths, 25 minutes of Science, 50 minutes of English and 50 minutes of PE.

For sake of ease, Joseph follows the same timetable despite being in Year 3 rather than Year 7. They do undertake different work though. Maria has been working through tasks provided by the school on angles, the second week on this topic. The teachers have been exemplary in setting work and marking it, providing feedback and support where required. Well done to them! Jospeh has been working on a variety of tasks linked to his times tables.

Right now they are both on Science, Maria looking at human reproduction and Joseph looking at forest habitats. They require little intervention and appear very focused at present. Much of it depends on making sure they have an interest in what they are doing. For example, the work on writing a mystery story really gripped them last week and they have been making great progress in developing characters, clues and red herrings.

For PE, Maria will be teaching Joseph and I one of her dance routines from troupers. This will also help me complete one of the 57 challenges I am working through this year, to learn a dance routine. Going to be fun.

We finish at 11.50. It will be lunch followed by a dog walk before I get the bike out for a 30 mile ride to the allotment and back. I'm going a different, longer way home as I need to get ready for the 60 mile ride later this summer. It's part of the training.

Weekend

It's been a lovely weekend despite the strong wind on Saturday which made things feel a lot cooler than they have for several weeks. I spent the morning in the kitchen, where it was warm, and got some bread done in the bread maker and also made a loaf by hand. Nice that everyone enjoyed the hand made one more than the other. The naan bread I did all got eaten too as we had a tasty curry and lentil dahl for lunch.

The afternoon gave me the chance to go for a run and I managed to get to 7 miles, a long run for me these days, and one I throroughly enjoyed, litening to The Mirror and the Light and then musicfor the 67 minutes it took.

Plenty of time out walking with the dog too which means I have been averaging something over 20000 steps a day this month. Feeling good for it.

I took the bike to Farnham this morning, a ride of just under 22 miles by the time I got home for Sunday dinner. A beautiful morning and one with little wind. This time I was listening to Jessie Ware's podcast on cooking with guests Joe Wicks and Florence Pugh, followed by some more of Cromwell tackling the Pilgrimage of Grace. Fascinating to bring all of this together with the History of England podcast, Shardlake books and my knowldege of the history of the time. I feel I am getting to understand something of the times and realise how much more there is to know about everything! I wish I had the time!!!

In the meantime, I am trying to broaden my knowledge reading poetry every day from the BBC collection 'Poetry Please' and completing a duolingo lesson Spanish, French and Gaelic each day, as well as reading.

After a super pie for dinner which Alison made, I took the children to the woods where they had a lovely game with their dolls.

It has felt like an old fashioned Sunday, something of a recurring theme in the last months with lockdown.

School tomorrow and a visit to Sandra a possibility.

Allotment update

After a mornng of school which saw both the children continue to focus on their work to good effect; they are enjoying writing their detective stories; we took a drive to the allotment where I planted more seeds including peas, beetroot, leaf beet and parsnips.

We'd had a little rain the previous day but you wouldn't know really, it had barely penetrated the surface and so there were a few trips back and forth to the water pump to water the emerging plants. Alison planted a few plants from home too, transferring a courgette plant to the water tank we'd taken down previously and putting in some borage and forget me nots in the plot.

There were a number of wire cloches near the compost bin which I have placed over the shooting plants and the hope is they offer a little protection to the delicate shoots which seem to be the main target for the rabbits.

I took the MTB for a ride to Edmondsham and listened to Hilary Mantel's story whilst pedalling which is a great way to listen. It was a 7 mile trip so I did a 2.4 mile run later in the day too without running in to a low hanging branch this time.

Alison and I are loving Normal People which we had both read previously.

Lockdown - what lockdown

It looks like life is starting to get back to normal judging by the numerous pictures and reports coming from the coast around Dorset. The crowds flocking to beaches are reported as having dumped tonnes of litter, gone to the toilet just about anywhere and been abusive to anyone seeking to modify their risky behaviours. I'm not sure I buy that completely as the photos make little attempt to reduce the natural effect of reducing distances between people making it appear social distancing isn't taking place.

However, there are more instances of the actions associated with reducing the spread of the virus fading into memory such as more people out and about, increased road traffic and meeting up with others outside their immediate household. That is true for us with the family network more or less back to normal. We had Evie and Amelia over yesterday again and I saw Joy too, just after Sandra had left her.

A real plus has been the number of cyclists. It is amazing to see and the great weather has played a major part in that, I would guess. For me, yesterday was a running day with just over 4 miles in the heat of midday. Waking this morning, the rain has drifted in and is going to perk the allotment up considerably.

We had a lovely walk in the woods yesterday and laid a trail using bits of wool tied to trees. That gave the girls a boost in completing a long walk without complaint, giving them a focus for the adventure. School went well too with both Maria and Joseph into their murder mysteries. More to follow this morning I am sure.

Allotment

After the home schooling in the morning, I took the children on a bike ride which was fun once Joseph got the confidence to pedal properly. We got a couple of miles done over the gravel tracks and enjoyed it in the fantastic sunshine.

It was then time for some more major hedge trimming - taking down the height of the hedge, having first established there are no nesting birds.

After that I rode to the allotment, 18 miles done in total, where I got the skateboard.trolley hybrid out and used in to ferry water back and forth from the hand pump, the only source of water on the allotment. I also weeded the plots and found we have more growing than I'd thought. Perhaps the rabbits haven't had everything.

The potatoes look good and the onion sets are coming on nicely. There is a good deal of chard and spinach besides a number of runner beans which have survived. Fingers crossed they can keep going despite the nibbling neighbours.

June 1st

It's the start of a new month taking us into week 9, I think, of lockdown, though restrictions have been eased to a large degree in light of the improved figures showing a decline in deaths, rate of infections and hospitalisation. However, there is huge disquiet amongst large sections of the population due to the fact that the R remains close to one, the number of infections and deaths, in decline, remain high and well above the numbers for other countries including Italy and Spain and social distancing appears to have broken down.

That could reflect the Dominic Cummings debacle as people see him flouting the rules, or at the very least, the spirit of those rules. His laughable defence about the drive to check his eyesight will go down in history as the moment people lost faith in the government which is reflected in the polling figures. I think there was a growing lack of compliance already, in part due to the incompetent manner in which the initial restrictions were handled. That was another massively confused failure of messaging and one can't help but feel the talents of the government are being cruelly exposed. They are in post for their beliefs rather than their abilities.

We have enjoyed half term but return to home schooling today. I'll post photos from last week below. It's been fantastic weather and I've ended up cycling almost 200 miles in May and running 90 miles. Feeling healthy apart from hitting my head on a low hanging branch and scratching my legs to bits walking through some woods and fields trying to make my way to Edmonsham in an off road ride. I had to turn back.

Plenty of time at the allotment and in the garden, watering, sowing and making things out of logs.

We have been out on the bikes as a family too and enjoyed having Evie and Amelia over. We have been having lots of fires too and the children have been throwing sawdust down the chimnea to spectacluar effect. Supervised of course.

Heatwave

One thing we will remember alongside the lockdown is how fantastic the weather has been. The early spring was awful with storm after storm and widespread flooding but that was followed by weeks and weeks of dry weather, frequently hot and sunny too. This week has been the best of the lot so far.

We've been out in the garden a good deal, especially in the evening with fires lit on three of the previous four evenings. Jospeh has loved that, as have the other children because they get to run around waving lit sticks around. A little risky but great fun and under supervision.

Evie and Amelia have stayed for the past two nights, along with Joe and Kate, as a result of his promotion to a leading managerial post at 111. Glen started working for them this week and was amazed at how big a boss Joe is.