Well, this is pretty rubbish isn't it! I'd had plans all week to get out Friday night and into Saturday for a bit of walking, but the great British weather seems to have put pay to that idea. Friday night in my own bed it had to be then, and to be honest, when I heard the rain lashing against the windows in the night I was glad to be there! There was a brief break in the monsoon Saturday morning that I managed to take advantage of, with a cheeky 10 Mile walk around some of the local footpaths, getting back home just before the rain returned with a vengeance. It was a funny old morning though, with a strong wind blowing, but still really warm, the thermometer on the van was reading 14°C when I went out first thing and I can quite happily believe that to be correct. The wind has bought down plenty of Chestnuts and I stopped along the way to pick up a hat full (it was too warm to wear it and I didn't have a bag), we just need it to cool down enough now to light the fire so I can get the Chestnut roaster out. Lighting the fire when it's this warm just leads to having to spend the evening sitting in your pants, as it soon gets too hot, and no one should have to put up with that. There's not much else to report from the mornings jaunt though, the puddles are getting deeper and the paths muddier by the day, best stand by for a hosepipe ban next summer! With rain having stopped "playing out" on Saturday afternoon I needed something else to occupy my time and this bad boy caught my eye. This is the first year I've grown Squashes on the allotment instead of traditional pumpkins. I like pumpkins, but the only thing my limited cooking skills seem to lend them too is curried pumpkin soup, and they don't seem to keep very well either. So what to do with it? Not having any idea what it was going to be like, or even what was inside, soup seemed like the best option. The beauty of soup is that you can hide any disasters with the liberal application of curry powder or Tabasco sauce. Winner! Simply chop it into bits, that's easier to say than do, bit of oil, salt, pepper, a few chilli's and peppers that need using up from the greenhouse and an onion, bung it in the oven for 40 minutes and hey presto, one ruined oven tray! Chuck it all into a litre of boiling vegetable stock, make loads of mess whizzing it up and as if by magic, lunch is served. Yummy it was Too! And if you've got the oven on to roast some veg, then you might as well take advantage of the hot oven and make a cake. Sultana tray bake anyone? No? Just me then, don't mind if I do! Sunday morning things were looking better, not only was the sun shining when I got up, but, the clocks had gone back. For the normal people putting the clocks back is a chance for an extra hour in bed, in my case, it's an extra free hour of playtime. If I get up at 06:00 as per usual it's now 05:00, result, the only downside is trying to convince my stomach that it's not lunchtime at 10:00! Oh, and the minor issue of having to go to bed in the middle of the evening as I still think it's bed time when it's now only 21:00. Anyhow, with the sun shining it seemed rude not to take advantage and get out for a little pootle around one of my favorite local routes. So, brews drunk, breakfast 1 scoffed, breakfast 2 made (Thermos full of porridge with sultanas) and a brew in my flask, I was out of the house by 07:30 leaving the lovely Emma snoring her head off in bed. It's a lovely little ride this one, it's pretty much 15 miles downhill to Alresford, then 30 miles of rolling terrain through the Western edge of the Southdowns national Park and the Meon valley, crossing the South Downs way twice en-route, finished off with a 15 mile uphill slog back home. Apart from the bit too and from Alresford it's all lovely quiet little lanes (and even the bit too Alresford's alright) with some lovely views and very little traffic. There was loads of wildlife out and about, probably making up for being stuck in their nests, holes, or wherever they hide when it's raining, with lots of squirrels beavering away making hay whilst the sun shone and a surprisingly large number of horse riders out and about, all lovely to see and helps to pass the time.
And that pretty much was my morning, apart from a brief stop to admire the view above, whilst supping my brew and eating breakfast number 2, it was just a morning of plodding along, soaking up the late Autumn sunshine and generally enjoying being out and about. As always 60 miles on the bike passes for faster and is immeasurably more enjoyable that the same distance stuck in the car, but like all good things, must come to an end, and, as per my original plan I was back home again in plenty of time to sit down for lunch, lovingly made by "The Emma". It may only have been a sandwich, but when it's made by someone else (someone who doesn't just fold a bit of bread around a lump of cheese and call it done) and you've worked up an appetite it's so much better.
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
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