A new friend

I have recently bought a new walking stick......well a trekking pole really. Following my test drive of a friend's Leki stick I took the online plunge and my purchase arrived this week. It came from headtothehills.com, is fully adjustable and with the option for using different tip attachments, including a snow 'basket'. Some Leki enthusiasts walk with two sticks as if training for the Winter Olympics. I have decided to stick to one! Holding the pole requires a new technique as the handle grip is totally different to my conventional walking stick. The pole has to be angled to optimise its effect; as a trekking pole then it will be useful when I take to the byways or head for the hills and a great addition as a walking friend.

Oxford has few hills so its maiden walk was on the level to the University Parks. I set off looking for signs of Spring. The bulbs outside our front door are up but flowering is still some weeks away. The snowdrops in Kew Gardens have been flowering for some time now, apparently the earliest sign of Spring ever and used by some as evidence of environmental change.

Last week's thaw meant the river Cherwell, which borders the Parks had begun to flood nearby fields.

A lonely coot, standing on a muddy patch of grass, looked bereft as it preened its feathers.

Whilst two noisy geese rushed towards us expecting titbits of food.

We walked further and finally, just as we thought Winter was keeping them hidden, we saw what we had come to find, a wonderful clump of snowdrops, protected by leaves. Spring can't be far away....

The new hip travels to Cambridge

The past week saw me in Cambridge spending time with A, (daughter no 2). I travelled there alone with my new hip and the continued icy conditions meant most of my stay was spent indoors. I was under strict instructions from all members of the family to BE CAREFUL! Honestly sometimes I think they don't trust me....but, like everyone, sooner or later self preservation kicks in. My hip would have a restful week and wait for better walking conditions.

It was a good time to be around as there was our son in law's **birthday to celebrate on Wednesday. A special meal was planned. The February edition of the BBC Good Food magazine provided inspiration for the main course; Mango chicken with spiced pilau. We decided that a birthday cake, which would double up as the dessert, would be made on Tuesday. A and I chose a Delia Smith recipe for a moist chocolate and almond cake. It appeared quite straight forward, on first reading...

but of course I am now a little rusty with my cake making and unfamiliar with A and N's kitchen so what should have taken about an hour took me a whole afternoon. It was the grating of the chocolate which really held me up...a job for the Magimix I thought. 15 minutes later, after a close encounter with a cheese grating blade and with the book of instructions covered in traces of blood, I concluded that there was no chocolate grating attachment. Luckily A's first aid kit contained plasters.

Hand grating the required amount of chocolate, beating the rock hard butter and sugar, whisking the egg whites, adding the remaining ingredients and finally assembling the cake ready for baking took quite some time.

But it was all worth it in the end.


and N celebrated his birthday in style!

Welcome to 2010?

So far 2010 has been demanding and challenging for everyone I know....but life goes on. It has certainly curtailed my walking schedule. My new pedometer, given to me as a Christmas present, has only had a few outings but, as you can see, I have achieved the necessary 10,000 daily steps on at least one occasion. The hip continues to improve and I am happy to report further progress; I can go up the stairs two at a time (but holding on to the banister), I can walk upstairs carrying something in each hand (and not holding on to the banister!), I can jump off the bottom step of the stairs with a spring in my step (it must be the high impact polyethylene!) and I can run (gently) downstairs. As you can tell most of my exercise recently has been centred on stair workouts, thanks to the snow and ice.


Enough of that I thought to myself this afternoon. After a little persuasion WPH decided I could take a calculated risk and walk in the soft snow along the canal towpath, so that I could test drive a Leki walking stick, on loan from a friend. Not to be outdone WPH took his walking stick too.

The canal community must have been working harder than most of us to keep warm recently . No one was about but the narrow boat chimneys were emitting smoke and fuel was evident on the tow path. There was a gentle hum coming from the generators. Wonderful cooking smells wafted out as we passed by one narrow boat. I wondered about the inevitable washing up and the syphoning of water on board from the frozen stand pipes. A warm cup of tea at teatime with a slice of swiss roll or a bun seemed to be on another owner's mind.

No wonder my friends, the swans, lingered nearby hopeful for a tasty titbit.

This poor snowman sat alone, frozen in time, waiting for the final drip.

and what was the spider hoping to ensnare here?

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan.

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone.

Snow had fallen, snow on snow. Snow on snow.

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.