splat

I'm very lucky that I have a phone with a calendar that will ring an alarm to remind me of everything that is meant to be happening in my life. I'm very sensible in that I (usually) record important events in that calendar. Because without it I would remember to do very little, apparently.

On a number of occasions over the holidays my alarm-ing calendar saved me from social disgrace by warning me of a forgotten event in good time to get there. One such event was driving to Bristol to collect Keksi who has come to stay for a little holiday and, in due course, to be scanned for evidence of pregnancy.

Monday morning I was lazing in bed nursing my head cold & feeling miserable when beep went the phone. What now? I thought. Oh. Yes. Another forgotten urgent thing I needed to do. I had just enough time to wash & dress & get my aching bones to Leigh Woods.

I did try to contact some people who live within spitting distance of the area to see if they wanted to meet for a walk, but in my haste I was only partially successful. I did manage to catch Jane & Mark with Mika who live only about 10 minutes from there. By now they may regret that I did catch them just as they were leaving the house for their walk - or at least Jane might.

Leigh Woods is a good place for dog walks and, being conveniently located, we often meet there with various friends & their dogs. I think I'm safe in stating that I have never, ever seen it quite so muddy there.

The weather was not helping.

Daniel & Jim couldn't stop for long, but while we stood under a tree & chatted briefly we were subjected to torrential rain, gale force wind, hail, thunder & lightning and wet snow. Nice. Not. They very sensibly carried on their way and the rest of us set off for a walk.

We soldiered rather valiantly but didn't exactly have a marathon before retiring to Jane & Mark's to warm up over coffee and cake before heading back home. As we slopped, skid and slipped up one path, Jane suggested we take a bet on who would be the first to fall into the mud. She barely had the words out of her mouth when she landed - splat!

And to think that Jane had been concerned that she had not had time to put on lipstick before leaving the house.

There are no photos of the dogs or us or even Jane's event. I did bring the camera with me, but in that weather it remained safely tucked up in the car. I did, however, manage to get a quick phone pic of Kuura on the snowy day I collected Keksi on the way to Shropshire last month.

Kuura 12 months