Random Acts of Wildness @30DaysWild

Wildlife Trust - day 18 of 30 days Wild

I'm a little bit late to the party, but better late than never. 'What party' you ask. Well, it's the Wildlife Trust 'My Wild Life' campaign, and you're all invited. The basic premise is to notice nature and do something different in your day to bring you closer to your local wildlife - a random act of wildness. This is every day in June, but I guess that if you get into the habit in June, you will do it every day forever.

A walk in the park

My random act of wildness today is to walk through Queens Park in Chesterfield in my lunch break with my camera. I noticed a couple of days ago how comically huge the canada geese babies are. Yes, I know they are goslings but canada geese goslings doesn't sound right. They are enormous compared to the ducks and moorhen(s) (how do you say the plural of these birds?). One of the funny moments was when a moorhen snatched a piece of bread and sprinted for the lake, dodging all the ducks and geese like a rugby player.

C25K Week 7

I know that I'm a better runner than I was at week 1 because I couldn't run at all before then without limping and puffing, but it all still seems such an effort. But......every run this week was 25 minutes and I did it. Whoop, Whoop. Whenever I'm heading into the wind and up a hill (read slight incline when I say hill), I force myself to look at and appreciate the buttercups and the way that grass flowers are making swathes of red across the yellow. It makes me smile and forget the pain. For a nano second.......but it helps.

When I finished my run I had a wander into the next field with my camera, partly to check out an extension to my running track and to well, nose around. As you can see, it's all very picturesque, with a sneaky view of our barns through the wood.

C25K Week 6

Back on home turf and week 6 is done. It was lovely to be back running around the field. Whenever I'm puffing and struggling, I make myself look around at the buttercups and the may blossom and the sheer loveliness of it all. It just makes me smile and forget the pain for a bit. I know, I'm gushing, but it is very pretty. I did find that the little hill felt like a big hill, especially on the second run when there was a howling head wind up the hill. How unfair, but probably character and fitness forming. I was glad when that one was finished. The last run of the week was a bit of a killer at 25 minutes, but I couldn't have done it a few weeks ago. 

C25K Week 3 Completed

Hoorah, week 3 is done. I had a bit of a break between weeks 2 and 3 because I had a touch of lurgy. I bravely tested my health and fitness by doing week 3. Every week 3 run was in glorious sunshine, if a little nippy in the wind so I could almost say that I enjoyed all the running. I could certainly say that I enjoyed completing all the runs and being out in the fresh air! Surprisingly, I found the runs a bit easier than I expected and I think that is because there are fewer but longer walk/jog sessions and not because I'm that much fitter!  

Peak District weekend

I've been away. Admittedly it was only for a weekend but I seem to be behind with everything now, including blogging, so this will be the first of a few catchup posts. 

During the May bank holiday weekend we went on a birthday bash with a big group of friends to the Peak District. Now this isn't very far from where we live, although it took about 50 or so minutes to get there, unlike some of our party who were travelling from Suffolk, Bristol, Leeds, Lincolnshire and so on. We ventured into the county of Staffordshire to stay at Hamps Hall in  the village of Waterfall which is not very far from Ashbourne - think of popular Peak District places like Dovedale, Tissington, and Ilam. The first day we walked along the Manifold Way which used to be a railway line and is now a walking and cycling track. Not ideal for walkers with all the bikes whizzing by, but the wild flowers and blossom are absolutely stunning at this time of year. It did start out as a bit of tea shop crawl as we stopped twice for tea, but then headed back over the hills to our accomodation. The rain held off (mostly), and our total distance was clocked at 10.4 miles. I was wearing a brand new pair of boots so it could have been at bit disastrous, not to mention painful (for me)  but the boots were super comfy.....phew. No photo's of the walk though - too busy chatting!

The next day we went to Sudbury Hall, a National Trust house south of Derby. It is a beautiful house and also has the Museum of Childhood. The museum had toys of yesteryear - we were all saying "Did you have one of those?" "Can you remember this?" The house itself was impressive, as much for it's age and the condition of the interior. I thought the mouldings on the ceiling in the main hall were brilliant - I'd love to try making something like this in textile form. Hmmmm, must tuck this thought away for a time when I have more time.

Our last morning we went for another walk, this time on the Tissington trail. This is another cycle/walking trail and was far too busy with the bikes so we escaped the trail and headed back over the fields through Tissington village.  I loved the boot planters - a bit past their best for walking!

Couch to 5k and baking

You wouldn't normally expect to have baking and jogging in the same post, but that is how I've been spending my spare time, although not baking and jogging simultaneously in an 'extreme jogging' sort of way. A more accurate description of my jogging would be 'shuffling', but everyone has to start somewhere and I've been persuaded to try the NHS 'couch to 5k' podcast program with my daughter and her friends (though she said it was the 'couch potato to 5k' scheme and I believed her).   I survived week one, and that is not an exaggeration as I only managed 2 out of the 3 runs for week, and I can categorically confirm that it is not a good idea to miss any. DO THEM ALL......or be VERY sorry. This week I'm determined to do them all which meant doing a run on my own today. I went up to the barns because it was so beautifully sunny and it is such a lovely area to shuffle in. I went down one of the footpaths and then around the big field to pick up another footpath, going round 3 times in total. I then went round another time with my camera so that you can see how lovely it is, but without any of the pain and panting. Oh, and I saw a helicopter landing at Ripley International Airfield (the grassy landing strip below the barns).

The starting point

View down the fields

Looking back to the stile and the barns

Helicopter coming in to land at Ripley International Airfield

Landing safely

Hilltop Mink Farm and Barns

Back up the hill to the barns

I love the way the clouds are lit up by the sun and are set in the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky

Cherry blossom with the hope of many cherries in the summer!!!

Onto the baking. Last week I  (possibly) somewhat foolishly suggested that the kids could choose the cake for family tea. The choice for last week was white chocolate brownies, otherwise known as 'blondies'. I found a great recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, which can be found here. I didn't add the cardamon pods, but everything else went in and they were pretty delicious. I also made a few cheese scones for the week, which were eaten on an impromptu picnic at the barns one evening.

This weeks cake of choice was a chocolate cake, as it happens for my birthday....and it was not made by me, but my partner in crime! It was really delicious though, and this is all that is left......

Cromford Canal Walk

Beautiful sunshine and the need for some fresh air took us to Cromford Canal; one of our favourite places since the children were small. Cromford is a world heritage site and it still surprises me that the canal at Cromford was once joined up with the underground canal tunnel in the valley overlooked by our barns, even though I've grown up in the area. Anyway, Cromford is a lovely place to visit as there are tea rooms and shops in the old Arkwright mills and nice gentle walk along the canal suitable for anyone. We opted to walk along the canal and then cross over and head up the High Peak Trail towards Black Rocks. The walk was originally a steam pump driven railway used for transporting millstone from the quarries to the barges on the canal. It's a steep walk that really gets your heart pumping. There are fewer people on this stretch as well although there is always someone who runs past you when you are huffing and puffing just walking. We stopped at the top for a picnic of cheese scones and fruit, taking in the glorious view. You can see for miles across the valley. The weather closed in a bit after lunch so we hot footed down through the fields and into Cromford village and back to the car park. A nice brisk walk to clear away the cobwebs. 

Let it snow

let it snow, let it snow. It didn't quite make it in time for Christmas, but here in Derbyshire we had lovely covering of snow. This is the view from our flat this morning.

It's great to have snow in the holidays with no worrying about how to get to work. Today we met friends and walked from the village of South Wingfield over fields and past Wingfield Manor, now a ruin and famous for having imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots. It was all so pretty with sunshine and snow and the perfect walk ended with the perfect pint. Well, actually, we tried a couple of the pubs in South Wingfield before heading back to a welcoming fire and late lunch at Sue's.