Walking in the Borders

The day after we drove back from Wales, we led the walk that we did the recce for a week or two ago. 

I should rephrase this, really. Mr L drove back. Mr L led the walk (no one would want to depend on me for a sense of direction). And Mr L had done the recce; I had just wandered along with him examining the wild flowers and admiring the view. 

We've often noticed the phenomenon that a walk can seem quite long and tiring when it's just the two of us, but with the group of friends, catching up with the gossip, the miles just melt away. It also helped that on the proper walk we cut out a detour that we'd done on the recce, up a very steep path to a loch and back again. The group walk was six and a quarter miles, so the recce must have been nearer eight, which is another reason why it might have seemed more tiring...

There was a lot of upping, and the main downing was through this very steep field. As you can see, it was steep in two directions - down and sideways - which added to the pressure on the elderly knees. However, this was fairly near the end.

This week's decluttering haul: two (more) books; three wine glasses that don't match the ones we use; a big mixing bowl and flan dish, neither of which I really use (mainly because they were at the back of the cupboard and others were more easily reachable); a cheese grater (I have another); a Wedgwood ash tray (we've never smoked, and our smoking friends gave up years ago); a plastic cup; a set of mirrors for putting things on that I think we used once, at an offspring's wedding 20 years ago; a purse that's too bulky for my handbag and was barely used; and my mother-in-law's crystal dessert bowls. She died in 1992, and I kept them, thinking at that stage that one of our children might like them. But our children don't really have the sort of dinner parties where crystal bowls would feature. And I don't think I've ever used them. So I'm being hard-hearted. Someone will love them.