Miserden Park Estate

GG and I went on a long walk through Miserden/Misarden Park this morning. This is a vast country estate nearish Cirencester, owned by the Wills family (H&O Wills, Wills Woodbines, etc. A  family who made their fortune until relatively recently  from tobacco). Fortunately there are some lovely footpaths, bridleways and 'permissive paths' for the public.

We'd intended to walk to the lake, but I decided to go the long way round, and at some point enlisted the help of Google Maps. GG had her own ideas, and at one point tried to pull herself over a walk using only her upper body strength (she is almost eighty) while an adjacent gate was already unlocked, and right at the end, when we had only two hundred yards to go, she decided to walk along a path by the riverbank rather than on a paved surface, and had to be rescued by a couple who pushed her up a hill....or something. I confess I was worried when she peeled off on her own, but I let her because she is one of those people that  always knows better than the navigation system. 

When were reunited at the lake, we had a picnic, and walked back  the shorter way, before venturing to the coffee shop at the village end of the estate. Unfortunately we were mobbed by wasps and GG got stung on the hand while I was looking for the loos. She removed her rings rapidly, and we drove back to mine to dole out a selection of antihistamine creams and tablets. She checked her phone and pronounced that we'd walked 14,000 steps. 

She left, I got in the hammock, then V came round and we drove off to her flat so I could try to connect up the TV. This I managed, because it turns out it has a built- in Freeview tuner, and a socket for a coaxial cable Not bad for £15!

I couldn't get my spare phone (a 'burner phone' I bought at a yard sale last week) SIM working, and her washing machine's LED panel wouldn't light up so there were no washing possibilities, so to ease the disappointment we went to the convenience store to buy a TV guide and an ice cream, then because it was a lovely evening we walked up to the railway, across the bridge, and up a road that leads to the start of a walk up the local hill, Doverow. We didn't go up the hill: it was more to show her the possibilities. 

After she'd driven me home, I did a bit of reading in the cabin, and watched the sun set, then came in and had another go at the burner phone SIM. This time I got it sorted, so V can borrow it while her normal phone is temporarily out of action. 

By the time I'd done a bit of home admin it was bedtime. We are back to using the 'heatwave duvet'. Long may the good weather last!