Lots of steps to old friends

I slept so well again last night, I dread going back to my bed at home.

We didn't get up until gone 9.30, then breakfast merged into coffee time!

It was bright again, not cold and windy but not warm and sunny either, just something in between. I threw onion, chicken and a jar of tikka masala sauce into the slow cooker and we headed out for the day.

A nice half hour walk up through the woods to the Courtyard cafe complex at Sandringham. There we bought sandwiches and sat to eat them in the sun, in the company of many visitors. After perhaps an hour, we continued down to Dersingham. This parade of young lime trees have recently been planted, and look impressive against the established copper beech behind. However Jon said the stakes are too long. I might email the King about it. He would want to know, I'm sure!

The cottages in Dersingham are all built with beautiful stonework. Not like anything we have seen before. Each house was full of character and quite unique. We went into the village, and found the bungalow of an old work friend Russell. I hadn't told him I was visiting, in case we didn't get there. I'm not sure how long it has been since I last saw Russell, may be 10 years, and mid 90s when we last worked together. When I said who I was, of course he recognised me. He is doing really well settled in the village where his son lives. He had lived in Histon for so many years before moving just 3 years ago to Dersingham. Now at 86, he is joining in the community and making friends which is good to hear. We always exchange Christmas cards, but I knew i had to make the effort to visit, so was glad of the time today. We chatted for an hour. I updated him on other old friends, and I met his new cat Abi. He has always had cats for company, but had been without one for a while. Then just 10 days ago he heard from the vet, that the owner of Abi was no longer able to look after her, and she needed a new home. Lucky Abi to find a lovely home with Russell.

We left Russell to watch his football and continued on our round trip, back through the village retracing our steps. Jon has downloaded the Merlin app, advised by some of my singing friends, and we walked back through the woods identifying the birds from their song. Quite clever! Thrush, blackbird, wren, blue tit and coal tit were some we heard. I'm going to download it myself!

We managed a little over 16,600 steps today and were pleased to get home to a very ready chicken tikka masala. Just popped some naan breads in the toaster and dinner was done. Finished off the bottle of red wine we bought Friday, and now getting ready to relax into our final evening away together.

Please go out and do the things you love, and enjoy. Whether that be digging in the garden, meeting friends in a pub, or laughing over a game of uno with your family. I'm doing what I love and it isn't costing me lots of money. And I'm going to continue doing things I love and not things I don't love, because you only get one go at life.