Holiday #1: The Walk

As usual I should be revising, but if I don't take some time out to write about the holiday then I'll have forgotten the best bits, which were mostly on New Year's Eve. That's because I spent most of the rest of the holiday working, and nearly everybody went home before the end of the week. Quitters.

I did go out with everyone for a walk on New Year's Eve. It was a great day, and a fabulous walk, and I'd like to put it on record that the book said to generally follow the fence, and Lola II didn't get it wrong. It was the word 'generally' that meant we walked through a bog and climbed over two fences, to get to the bridge that we could have found just by following the fence more generally and a little less specifically. Rainer took over the map reading after that - it helped that he also had a map.

It was probably the coldest week of the year - most days the temperature didn't rise above freezing, and there was frost forming on top of previous days' frost, which made for some lovely effects on leaves and spiders' webs and sheep's wool caught on fences. There was quite a heavy mist at breakfast time and the forecast said it would persist, so we decided not to do the long walk along the top of the hill. The forecast turned out to be less than accurate - there were some lovely sunny patches, but quite a lot of fog too.

Lola II sustained the worst injury of the day when she speared herself on some barbed wire. Luckily, she worked out a full plan of action in case she were to succumb to lockjaw, involving lines of communication, transport plans to hospital, and the use of Jim's iPhone to find the number for Interflora (these things can get overlooked in the excitement, she said). Some of us were hoping that lockjaw would set in sooner rather than later... The wound has almost healed up now, although when I spoke to her yesterday she'd looked up tetanus and the symptoms may not appear for a week or more, so there's still a chance.

The second worst injury of the day was sustained by Nick. Rather than opening a gate between fields, he and others decided to climb over. Rainer, however, thought he would open the gate instead, and after opening it wide, he let it go. I managed to take a photo at the exact moment when it slammed shut against the gatepost.

I've got to get back to work now, but over the next few days you may get further instalments. I've still got plenty of good pictures to post.