Being in the Lake District we were quite lucky to escape any rain when we were out during the day. We did get rain some mornings and one stubbornly overcast day we opted to go for a walk under the tree cover of Whinlatter forest. Having walked and cycled in the forests in The Lakes, we’ve always found them to be child (and dog) friendly. Whinlatter, which has a Gruffalo spotter trail to follow, had several groups of school children on visits. There was also plenty of interest from visitors watching the Osprey live feed projected in the visitor centre. We did a fairly easy circular walk through the forest. While walking we came across several clearings in which the ground was draped with moss. In one particular clearing the undulating moss covered ground looked like waves and cast a green light all around. These waves of green under the pine trees brought H. D.’s ‘Oread’ to mind! As we walked on (and up) the sun had started to shine, and we could see patchy mists of water evaporating from the paths. We stopped for a picnic at one of the viewing points. Distracted by the view, and our lunch, we didn’t notice until later that we’d all developed red spots in response to being bitten by one of the many insects flying and crawling around. My family laugh that I still pack a first aid kit including antihistamine cream and tablets! Spotty but not itchy! we drove down to Keswick to visit the book shops. In one second-hand bookshop (wonderful smell of old books!) my son and I overheard a conversation about a first edition stitched copy of ‘Little Gidding’ that the bookseller had sourced and had priced at £50. I’d just bought a much less glamorous copy of Eliot’s Collected Poems for £1.95! I love visiting the bookshops in Keswick to scan the shelves for reading treasures that I can tick off my wish list and to make random book purchases. Our oldest dog can suffer with cracked paws when we do lots of walking. We’ve tried to get her to wear boots but she promptly flicks them off! We let her walk off the lead as much as we could this time, and looked for grassy paths, and we noticed her paws stayed in good shape. However, in Keswick’s Podgy Paws pet shop we did spot disposable rubber dog shoes that I haven’t seen before. We would have tried them if her paws had become sore but I'm not sure how she would have taken to wearing bright red rubber shoes! Before we left Keswick we sourced a couple of divine slices of vegan chocolate cake and gluten free carrot cake which we’ll definitely return for when we make a day trip (weather permitting) for my birthday in August!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
LinksGeraldine Monk Archives
October 2017
|