Sunsets and walking

Just want to say a big Hi to Paul Browne a new follower!! 

I was up early this morning - early enough to see the sun begin to rise which happens at about 6.30.  Both John and I were due to be walking today, weather permitting, and it was indeed going to permit!!!  That was good because we had had to cancel on Tuesday so I had gone five days without exercise and I worried my muscles might have a bit of a hissy fit - I was glad that I was going on a walk which I had done before so there would be no nasty surprises.

Nicky and I were doing the same walk from Kathikas to Theletra and back to Kathikas that I had done with Rachel on Saturday.  As it turned out we came back on a slightly different route but that was fine - I didn't mind the change.  It was bright and cold when we set off - cold enough that I actually wore a fleece for some of the walk and my hands were freezing!!!  We parked at the little picnic site and then walked across the road and through the fields until we hit the road to Theletra - traveling cross country so we were not on the road for long and cutting out a nasty bend into the bargain.

After the short downhill stretch at upper Theletra we turn off onto a roughish bit of road and along a stretch where it is completely in the shade and therefore really quite chilly although having begun to work up a bit of a sweat it was quite welcome and this is about the halfway point so a good one to have a water break.  After this there is a sharp rough ascent up a track which was quite cut up by the recent bad weather with the added obstacle of a small tree which has been uprooted!

At the end of the uphill we reach the main road from Stroumbi to Kathikas and cross over and then walk back through the vineyards to our starting point - the land here is on a slope and therefore ideal for vines and then down in the valley there are fruit trees taking advantage of the fact that this are must be very fertile and therefore has been farmed for years so there is a patchwork of fields before us and an amazing network of tracks and paths all suitable for walking.  It is truly beautiful - you can look for miles and miles without seeing a house or a pylon and although the main road is only just behind us you can hear and see birds all around.  It was a great way to spend a morning and Nicky, like Rachel, loved the walk - I think it is because you get a bit of everything and the terrain is not too exacting.  We were back home well within our 3 hour pass and John returned shortly afterwards having been on a walk which Liselotte which she adapted from a walk I did with her a couple of weeks' ago.  Everyone was happy and our little girlies walking group have moved a step closer to our goal of John o'Groats!!!

We had a text message from Argy with a lovely photograph of the flowers which we sent her recently as she has been a bit poorly.  Good old Bunches - they have never let me down with their flowers and this bunch of Singapore Orchids were bright and cheerful and she loved them which is great.  Hopefully they should last a good period of time - I had toyed with the idea of sending tulips but sadly they never seem to last very long.

We decided to have a takeaway tonight - partly because it will last us two nights and I wont have to do any cooking and partly because we love the Thai food that we can get from the Farmyard in Kathikas.  We ordered it early tonight which meant that we had eaten, cleared up and sat down for some TV by 7pm which is the time when I generally give Mum a quick call to catch up on her afternoon.

I will finish with the Komoot video of all the photographs I took this morning - I am loving this APP as it has transformed my life!!!