Sunday 17th February
Herefordshire awoke to lovely winter sun and I am not sure they have enough of that lately. On the train journey yesterday we saw a huge amount of flooding and almost every river seemed to have burst its bank. Today was all the more welcome for the good people of Hereford. I do love this part of the world and I have mentioned about my canal boat obsession before and I think this is where I will put it.
Max and Will are having the best time together and Paula and I love to see them so happy. The boys just click and the relationship is effortless. Today was all about the walking. The four us climbed a mountain. I do know that it was technically a hill but to me it felt like a mountain. I have to walk distances with a stick now and all would have been well if we had managed to stay on the forestry path. We obviously fancied a change and before we knew it we were picking our way through mud, brambles and fallen branches. It became quite the adventure and I am not sure I should have done it but no matter because I did do it and we reached the top which rewarded us with splendid views. We had, sensibly, packed a picnic which was very welcome at this stage of the adventure. Refreshed, we walked back down the hill this time on the right path.
Paula is working on a new business venture so we have spent a long time talking through her various options. I admire Paula more than most people alive. She is a single mum who has brought Will up to be the most beautiful young man. How she manages her life on her own I will never know. Currently working as an IT teacher Paula is the in the process of reinventing herself. A process that I undertook about 10 years ago. To remove your safety net of all you have known and a reasonably well paid teaching career takes some serious guts. When I did I had a husband supporting me every step of the way. Later in the year Paula will be doing me a guest blog so we can find out about her plans. She is a true inspiration for anyone out there that wants to pick their life up and give it a good shake.
We have also spent some time discussing one of my favourite topics 'grow your own'. Paula has just moved into her new house with a lovely long victorian garden. At the bottom of the garden is an area that she thinks she might like for a few chickens and that really sets the tone for future discussion. It is alright for me with my 10 acres but not everybody has 10 acres to work with. It is however, amazing what can be done in a much smaller space so I hope to be able to encourage Paula to give a few projects a go. Involving her son, Will, in the projects will be a rewarding thing for them both. My boys all love eating vegetables and I know exactly where that came from. Since they were very small all my children have grown some of their own food. When they have put that much effort into growing that courgette of course they are going to eat it. Paula asked Will what he would like to grow and fruit seemed to be high on his agenda so I may have another strawberry convert. Excellent!
I hope to keep in touch with their growing projects not least because I think it brings some perspective to my own ramblings on the subject. There are more people out there with gardens than a smallholding and I would do well to remember that.
Tomorrow we are off to the cathedral which is pure joy. Will loves his history and it was fabulous to hear Max telling him all about Richard III and for Will and his mother to express a desire to watch the channel 4 documentary. Passing stories about is such a pleasurable experience and I was very proud of Max's story telling skills. He left them needing to watch the documentary to see what all the fuss is about. Job done Max.
Until tomorrow. xx
I will have some photos of this lovely place tomorrow but picture today is of Max sitting at Glasgow station all ready for his adventure. xx
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