Meanwhile in the other Bellingham....

It looks as though this is the last fine day for a while, so I drove up to Bellingham to check a section of the route for the Flash Fiction walk I'll be leading in the walking festival.

It was a glorious morning, although the clouds presaged storms to come.

I had to pass the allotments. The gardeners here have won awards in the past and the  gardens looked wonderful today. You can see a wall of sweet peas in the background of this shot.

I met a resident who told me about a good walk on the fells south of Bellingham so I must check that out.

In the hardware store, I heard a customer talking about getting her boots dirty on a walk. Quick as a flash I whipped out a brochure for her. Turns out she lives in Ashington (on the coast) and is trying to get back into walking. She may yet come to the festival. (My fellow Haltwhistle walkers would have been laughing at my enterprise. I'd gone in to buy mould remover for the shower!)

Back home for lunch, then Michael came. His wife Margaret was my cousin. She had a very long battle against breast cancer and Michael is now coping with life alone. He supports his children and four grandchildren wonderfully. They all live in Sunderland. It's tough though when your childhood sweetheart dies young.

I need an early night and then to start more work in the house while it rains tomorrow.