Ready for new beginnings

I woke up rather morose: another rainy, windy day, not good for fair-weather walkers like me, and a lot of jobs to catch up. However, between a series of frustrations with the slowly progressing animation, two new beginnings cheered me up. 

Firstly, by mid-morning my first batch of Bulgarian yoghurt had set and was ready to cool and put in the fridge. It tasted creamy, sweet and very mild - perhaps a little too mild for me, I like my yoghurt a bit tangier, but J will like it. I've made yoghurt for years, in a food flask in my student years and subsequently in a yoghurt maker which makes a litre in a large tub, but over the past year I've had decreasing success. I've started with a couple of spoonsful from a tub of supermarket yoghurt, and it works fine, but even the second batch often separates and by the third it's rather sour and prone to mould, so I suspect my starters are not as live and active as they need to be. The sachet of culture I ordered online makes a litre of yoghurt, and if I take a couple of spoons from it to start a new batch every five days, it's an heirloom culture which should continue indefinitely. It will also be much higher in live probiotic bacteria than the supermarket ones, a good thing after our  recent antibiotics.

Secondly, my new walking boots arrived. Over the past few weeks I've returned to wearing my 1975 hiking boots, chosen by my dad for my first school youth hostelling trip to Snowdonia. He said they would last a long time! They had been little used for many years, as I've had few opportunities to get out for serious hikes in the past three decades, and they are still sound and waterproof. It's felt quite liberating to wear them for local walks, as they are robust, supportive, and cope easily with muddy paths. However, the cushioned lining has squashed and turned hard and there's a nasty crease which rubs the side of my foot and can't be flattened, so they are really not very comfortable. I browsed the Boxing Day sales online, and found a wide selection of lighter weight waterproof boots at much more reasonable prices than I had expected. I was anxious about ordering shoes online and resigned to the possibility of returning them, but they arrived more quickly than expected and seem a good fit. I don't expect them to last as long as their predecessors - and won't need them to! - but they should be more than adequate for our Downs paths and hillsides, and although my opportunities are still limited, I'm hoping to fit in some longer and more varied walks in the coming year.