NORTH YORKSHIRE WALK

My friend, Sue, does powerwalking but I’m afraid that’s not my style so this morning I walked gently along a beautiful country lane near to where she lives, listening to the birds trilling and singing, the odd pheasant calling and pigeons cooing.

It was so lovely to be out in the countryside, taking in the sights and sounds. There are plenty of bluebells, cowslips, forget-me-nots, dandelions and many other wildflowers and I also noticed that although the trees aren’t as far advanced as they are down in Wiltshire, they still look beautiful.

It was misty first thing this morning and as Sue lives on a tiny lane with only six houses you could see the mist rolling over the field opposite, but now the sun is out, which makes everything look so different.

I was going to post a picture of the lane I was walking along but then I came across this man who passed me going one way and then when he rode back, he stopped to ask if I was taking photographs of the birds. I egxplained about Blip and asked if I could take a shot of him and he was happy for me to do so! I found out his name is John; he told me his carbon steel bike cost £9000 and that he’s going off to Majorca cycling in a couple of weeks but not taking his bike - he and his friend will hire them out there. He said his bike was “top of the range” and that he rides over 7000 miles a year - I told him we don’t do that many in our car! What a lovely encounter - John told me his wife used to live in Swindon and that he knew the “Magic Roundabout” very well - what a coincidence - I told him I used to drive miles when I first passed my driving test, to avoid our now-famous roundabout!

Thank you for all your kind comments yesterday – as I said the signal here is not good at all so I won’t be commenting much because it’s so frustrating when you can’t actually get online and having been told I really shouldn’t climb onto the top of sheds to get a better signal I think I will take your advice!

I decided a collage might be a good idea and in the middle at the bottom you will see Sue “striding out” - she was coming back just after I started my walk.

Sue is having her hair done so she has dropped me in Darlington so that I can have a wander round the market so I’m posting this whilst watching the world go by!

“There's nothing like
the peace of the countryside,
the quiet and the
lack of distraction.
It helps you
to focus your mind.“
Jenny Nimmo