The alarm pinged off at just before 6. We were off to Kent for a few days. A much needed break away from the usual day to day routine . In the darkness I tore off the calendar thought for the day. I had been stuck with a run of repeats thoughts from previous years but today gave me a much needed boost . " Today is your own" " Tomorrow perchance may never come" A bit morbid for a thought but extremely true . We have kept putting off trips since selling Gabby but today was one the first we forced ourselves to organise . Organising had not been easy . We had to choose days that fitted in between football matches . Places to visit had to be open. Car parking had to be ... read more

"If you miss the present moment you miss your appointment with life " Thich Nhat Hanh . That was the thought for this morning . The sun was shining . It was a lovely Spring Day . Very unlike a February day . Global warming was causing a mini heatwave in some parts of the world . Our little part of the world was having temperatures up in the 18's . Unheard of this time of year . The spring flowers are being fooled by the warmer weather . It was though a good day to be out and about . The sort of day you think let's go out and do something . The biggest problem as always was where to go. The plan - a trip out in the car with no name to ... read more

If you are going to go anywhere you might as well try to build in a few things to the trip to make it worthwhile . We drove back down the narrow toll road arriving back at the parking near to the toll booth. The rather large young lad was out again. In between catching motorists and charging them to drive the toll road he was talking to what must have been locals . I did not envy his job sitting on a cold day in a shed . It could be miserable, wet and lonely . He would need to see three cars an hour to make up his hourly wage . I doubted he would see many through the day in the middle of winter . We parked up and headed for the medieval ... read more

Sion work early this morning as he had a plan and I was invited along . He probably should have realised that he needed to invite me as I was the driver . Without me he was going nowhere. He had a plan. He had received a message about meeting his friend Woolly Mammoth and his carer Jo for a walk, a chat and lunch out. Well even if Sion had decided not to meet up I was going . Sion got ready and found his way to my bag where he would sit for the journey to Ellesmere. Woolly had been doing his research and found the Sculpture Park which surrounds the mere at Ellesmere . A 15 minute drive away from home . We had been before but there was still a large part ... read more

A friend said that this time of year of year is melancholy and without a doubt that is true. The weather looks sad with the sky various shades of grey. The grass looks silvery with its early morning frost . The leafless trees just look bare. The dark nights and short days are always invited. The places to visit seem to go into hibernation. In the run up to Christmas all the local National Trust houses close to clean/stock take/conserve or get ready for Christmas opening. The staff and volunteers dig up trees from the estate , place them around the hall and decorate them in readiness for the Winter visitors . Christmas tree trails appear and disappear just as quickly once January arrives . I wondered how much of a job it is to put ... read more