Gritstone and Pine

I've not had too many evenings out recently so it was rather wonderful to get back in the wee hours of the morning and find a whole tranche of comments and a number of hearts for yesterday's Ghost House. Thanks so much to you all. I had a bit of a blip crisis for a while because the few pictures I had taken first thing were uninspiring to say the least and the incessant rain stopped me from getting anything else. It's amazing what you can salvage with a bit of ingenuity!

It was great to catch up with the guys last night. They had picked up (through these blips) that I clearly needed to be rescued from the computer for an evening. Recounting the tales of this summer soon turned to laying plans for next. Lots of options were discussed and it was great to know that they are all up for doing something similar again. This time around we seemed to strike up a perfect balance of beer, good food and hard climbing so it was agreed to try to seek the same kind of combination once more. I'm already excited at the prospect. I just need to make sure that I'm a little fitter than I was this summer. That will be the incentive I need to help kick-start the bike training after Christmas.

There was a lot to do at work today so it was another early start, although I did sneak out on the moor for a few minutes before catching the train in to the office. It was another perfectly exquisite morning, a little cooler than Wednesday, but just as beautiful. Getting that little bit of morning sun certainly helped me get through the day. We're training the users on the new software on Monday, so lots of last minute fine-tuning and preparation. It's now almost 10pm, having only just got home (leaving the team still at it!), and I've still dinner to cook for me and the lads. Yes, they are completely hopeless, but No.2 son seems to have come down with a cold so I'm trying not to be too grumpy! It means, though, that my comment deficit is going to grow even deeper tonight. Normality is not far away though. Next week should see me living a more balanced life. It better had. I'm not sure I can keep this intensity up much longer!

Have a really great weekend.