Lune walk (and Mathilda!)

I have a couple of friends coming to visit next week, which, during non-pandemic times,  they do once or twice a year. We have a nice little routine, which involves a walk in the afternoon.

I want to take them on a new walk, this time, which will involved me dropping my car off at the far end beforehand, but I also needed to reacquaint myself with the route.

Happily, Milly was in Kirkby Lonsdale, this morning, for reasons relating to a friend getting a new puppy, so we had breakfast together at Botanica, continued our catch-up back at the house, and then, when it was time for her to leave, she kindly dropped me off a few miles up the Lune Valley.

The section in the photo is quite near the start, where a stream crosses the path: you can just make out the small bridge to cross it, as well as a curious cow.

The walk is a route that Dan and I walked during lockdown, last year, and it was every bit as good as I remembered it. I can't wait for Friday now!

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I finished reading 'Meet Mathilda, Rocket Builder' by Dom Conlon. From my blips, it looks like this took weeks to read. In fact, I read it in a couple of sittings. I just don't pick books up the way I used to.
The book is excellent. It's aimed at, I don't know, maybe ten year olds, but I think everyone should read it, just to understand how amazing it was that we got to the moon with the (relatively) basic technology available at the time.
It also illustrates what I think is a great way of teaching: pick an interesting topic and then 'smuggle in' the learning. There's an awful lot of interesting maths, physics, chemistry, and biology in this story!
I can remember when Dom first talked to me about this book, just as a basic idea. It's amazing to see the result. It was a good idea, sure, but it would have come to nothing without his hard work - he has studied a lot! - and, of course, his wonderful writing.