I was scheduled to be walking with Liselotte today at 8.45am but when I got up to get ready there was the biggest, blackest, meanest cloud overhead which was quickly joined by high winds and a tremendous downpour - deep joy the weather forecast had not been for rain this morning. At exactly the same time we text one another saying that it was looking a bit miserable and that we would make a decision at 8.30 as to whether the weather was improved enough to walk and actually at 8.30am the rain had stopped and there were some breaks in the cloud so we decided to go, go, go.
I met Liselotte at the crossroads by the Cheese Factory so she could follow me to the Bandstand (viewing point in Droushia) where we were to start our circular walk. It wasn't raining but the wind was whipping up from Lara and was bitter - for once I had multiple layers on including a nice fleecy body warmer and John's old snood to keep my neck warm. I wasn't too upset that we would be doing this walk at quite a pace - certainly faster than when I walk with the girlies - it was not a day to be hanging around!!!
So my newly Kamooted route took us straight down from the Bandstand heading towards the coastline of Lara. The skies were leadened and in front of us you could see grey and choppy seas. We walked down and down and down and all the time I kept reminding myself that however lovely this was we would at some point have to make the return leg and this would be up and up and up - in fact it was about 345m in fact and over a shortish journey meant that it was quite tough.
Tough but stunning and once again I had managed to find a path less trod - if fact never trod before by Liselotte and she likes hills so the steep incline back to the starting point was right up her street. As we continued on our journey the weather improved, enough for us to strip one layer and my snood!!! We realised that Kamoot was taking us on a long circuitous route around the Radar Station so at some point we would meet the road we had taken down to Lara but we weren't exactly sure where.
John and I had been talking earlier in the morning about walking when the restrictions were lifted and there was no requirement to be out and back within 3 hours and how nice it would be to go somewhere and take a little picnic and stop en route - the only trouble was that often there was a lovely spot but actually nowhere suitable to sit and so when I got to this watering hole with a park bench I took a photograph so that I could remember where it was should we ever be passing that way with a cheese and pickle sarnie!!
What I have learned over my past few months of walking is (a) the countryside in our neck of the woods is absolutely breath-taking and (b) I still don't like hills!!! Fortunately this walk did have some sideways movement which offered a bit of respite and the opportunity to take in the fresh air and survey the scenery.
As we rounded a corner it suddenly dawned on us where we were - we were meeting up with the road upon which there is a little white church which we pass on our right when we walk down to Lara. It was nice to get our bearings and we knew that we were approaching the highest part of our walk - the Radar Station and from there it would be more or less downhill to the Bandstand.
Shortly after the little church we encountered a large flock of sheep and goats coming up from the coast side and heading towards the Radar. We were greeted by a beautiful young black puppy who was quickly put in check by a larger dog which looked like a dark German Shepherd and next to the larger dog was a bridle coloured bitch which had obviously fairly recently had puppies or a pup. I couldn't be sure but I was absolutely certain that this bitch looked like the lovely little hunting dog that had been dumped at Andreas's and lived there for a couple of years and during that time she had had several sets of puppies - one set by a large dark German Shepherd looking dog. We had called that little dog Honey and had often called by and left food for her - in fact we always said that if the time had been right we would have taken her in ourselves. I quickly took a snap to ask John what he thought when I got home. I didn't say anything but the minute he saw the photo he said "That's Honey" and I think it is so hopefully the goatherd with the German Shepherd has taken her on too. All the dogs looked in pretty good health - particularly the little puppy who was a little stunner. We had not seen Honey for months and months and had feared the worst but fingers crossed we are right and that is her.
It was a shorter walk than we normally do but with the weather looking so unreliable I was happier to do that amount and not get caught in the middle of nowhere sheltering from a storm which thankfully we didn't have to do and I think Liselotte enjoyed it too. When I finally got back home I was parking up the car and realised that there were a load of goats in the estate. They were in the Green Area making the most of the lush green - I got quite a surprise when I saw a little goaty face looking out from the carport!!!
John's chili was fabulous. He lit the fire around 4pm to warm the house. We don't know why but one of the pieces of kindling burned with a purple-blue flame which was quite mesmeric to watch.
After a lovely meal which included some garlic bread which I had picked up from Cycleband on one of our forays we settled down to watch a new series - Finding Alice. We have only watched one episode so far but it is quite good so we will finish this over the weekend.
After the late night last night when John watched the Mighty Blades have an unlikely win over Manchester United and I could hear everything even though I had retired to bed we had an early night.
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