up a hill

We ventured slightly further today and got up on Bleaklow. My husband loves being up there - it feels wild and unspoilt as Heather grows thick and fast, preventing any footpaths being established. He feels like an adventurer, totally lost (but with compass to hand) and is happy as a sandfly. What’s more, bouncy peat makes it feel as though you might be moon walking (but with the full force of gravity on your ankles).

Meanwhile, I finally feel brave enough, after a cool 15 years of endurance, to admit that it’s not for me. One minute that flipping heather is above your head, thick with spider webs and insects galore and at some points entirely impenetrable, then suddenly it’s ankle height and you feel like a bit of a tit for spending so long in a gulley of horror.

We spotted plenty of hares and nesting birds which delighted Antony. I was just thinking that we were probably trampling on incubating eggs and warrens - oh the guilt!

Back home to a Mamma Mia party with Auntie Vic - there has never been a better use of FaceTime!

Gratefuls:

1. Wine after that hike;
2. Antony says the ability to be lost on our doorstep - not entirely convinced on that but I enjoy his love of wilderness;
3. Singing the kids to sleep. My voice is seriously questionable but sometimes they ask and there’s a magic to children dropping to sleep to such a simple, ancient thing.