It’s that time of the year again*. The sun is beating down, the afternoons are long and lazy, bees dip in and out of the honeysuckle flowers and, in the Wartnaby household, thoughts turn to…
Climbing up mountains.
No, I don’t know why either. For myself, I suspect some other member of the family has been
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| Things usually get off to a rocky start |
whispering subliminal messages in my ear.
Feeling as though I’ve been acting of my own volition, I have begun to make preparations. I started by buying a navy hoodie from Fat Face with ‘Life is Out There’ written on it. No matter that my usual response to that statement would be “and that’s where it can stay…”
Then I took to watching Julia Bradbury, scampering up and down the Lakeland fells. This meant I could anticipate and tackle many dangers in advance. (Sharp edge? Not going near it. Striding edge? I don’t think so, matey…)
I’ve also begun to modify my rucksack, which, in its original state, gives me bruising to the lower back after half an hour’s wear. To remedy this, I’ve been padding the mad metal bar it has across its back using washing-up sponges and Duck tape. I’ve discovered that this is a slow and irritating process not best completed when it is 27 degrees C and you are trying to cook supper at the same time.
But in spite of the weird rucksack and the scary edges, I am still feeling hugely excited at the prospect of getting out into the open air, and away from it all.
Of course, we do get Snickers bars when we walk up mountains. And crisps. And quite often pizza when we come back down again. I usually opt for a nice glass of Rioja to go with that. And then there’s pudding to consider…
Ah, fresh and air and exercise; I maintain that there’s an awful lot to be said for it.
Next job is to tidy house for the kind people who are sitting it. Should have started that about six months ago…
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| Derwentwater – managing to hold the camera and a Snickers bar at the same time… |
* OK. Not really again. We haven’t had a summer like this for eons.
Clare Chase 