A rebel without a clue.

Early breakfast before 7. Want to adjust our walks prior to Tuesday, when I have to leave early to catch the bus back to Leeds as I think I need to change the backpack? Exchanging it for a lighter one and taking out waterproofs, etc, (as it's looking like I will arrive in Northern France in a heatwave, again, second one of the summer). At this point I really wish I still had the KarrimorSF Sabre 35 litre day pack, which had been a reliable companion, and not given it away when I upgraded to a faulty 45 litre KarrimorSF Sabre - which went back after only 2 weeks due to tue stitching around the neck. On Tuesday I will go without breakfast until I reach Leeds. Coffee is really adequate. This morning we're heading up the river to Collingham and probably back through the Golf Course in Linton. Ruby was outside for quite a while just now so I guarantee she's found something dodgy to eat? And she's such a sensitive bowels that you'd think she'd have learned not to snuf...

Just chimed 7pm on the lounge clock bringing to an end a pretty tiring day. Just about to hit the sack on this warm evening. Last night was a similar heat and I left the patio door and the first floor balcony door open to allow a breeze to follow Ruby and I into the rooms upstairs. Finished off a lovely pork meatball sweet and sour which I ate with so slightly over steamed Charlotte potatoes. Still it went down well for lunch and the small portion for dinner. Took me a while to realise but Maureen has a shelf in the freezer for me... It's the one next to Ruby's! Before this sitting I hadn't thought she meant it exactly. But I get the feeling I've been blind... Ruby and I managed a two hour walk from 3. I took water with me and we clung to the shade or shadows as often as was possible. She's away now. After her sprat and meat dinner... There is a breeze: the one ruffling the leaves on the sycamore at the bottom of their garden, on the Old Railway lines, and making th...

I didn't have much time to write anything yesterday as I set off with Lola early to collect Ruby, catch the number 7 bus the Rudding Lane and walk into Harrogate via the showground, Hornbeam and Hookstone. Once on the Stray we stopped a moment to relax then headed along to the Prince of Wales roundabout and West Park. Catching the bus back without any 'distractions' and getting back to Ruby's just as Maureen and Tony had left for Kilburn. Some kind of fundamental falling out with mother occurred yesterday and I realise I have forgotten all the miracles of the previous ten years so I am facing the same individual I left in 2013. The new miracle is seeing it. As I lay on the grass beneath the blue sky, as the clouds drifted by, I listened to a couple of songs, relaxed and went to bed. In the wee hours some noises woke me and I had to locate a high frequency sound so I could return to another two hours slumber. And I returned to the breath, as I'd switched off the culp...

Yesterday morning I booked a flight to Beauvais, again, with the intention of walking the Chemin Saint Jacques from there for a few days before I have to return and be in Wetherby almost everyday from the 23rd until the 3rd September. There is a Gîtes d'Etape in Beauvais and the town is very close to the airport so I should walk to the accommodation and depart as usual on the following day. I could walk to Amiens and the coast or from Beauvais to Paris and Oreleans/Chartres again. Whichever route I choose to depart from on Wednesday I will need to return on or before the 23rd, at the latest, as Emma (sister) flies to Ibiza on Saturday, very early (I assumed she'd be getting going at a reasonable time, but Emma's not reasonable)! On the way south from Carlisle I looked at the desolation around Settle, where all the hills stand barren and unloved, and decided I couldn't walk the Pennine Way - who cut down all the trees? Times have changed and the forests need reseeding!

When did flan become quiche? Anyway I ate one on the train back to Leeds from the day trip to Carlisle. Interesting city and possibly a place I'd visit again, but passing through the Eden valley and then the Ribble coming south the views were 'stunning' and it made me think about next week and the week afterwards... I definitely need to walk and forget the drink. Because that is all I am otherwise? And I am definitely putting on some weight. Yesterday, in Carlisle, prior to walking along the Eden eastwards, crossing the Victorian footbridge and coming back through Stanwix and down Scotland Road, I had eaten a pork pie and a sausage roll from an established butcher opposite the Market Hall on Fisher Street, but it's the wrong food! What's happening Daniel? Why are you managing that fine line less and less well. The road to hell is littered with good intentions! It was a day out. But the trip on the train was quite tiring in itself. And I couldn't just come straig...

6 am on this Tuesday morning. With an earned day off from Wetherby I am heading off for a day somewhere I've never been. Leeds station towards Carlisle along the Settle branch of the way. A day out on my own in England. This hasn't happened at all since COVID and lockdown in 2020. What a relief. Random. Something unexpected and it has got me thinking of next weeks freedom... There is an Independent Hostel in Carlisle. And I could stay overnight... And I was lacking inspiration. One day of meditation and care and I am enthused again! Wetherby... But suddenly tired as the train rattles onwards to Settle and the famous section of track between it and Carlisle.

Strong coffee this morning. I forgot what French roast was like! There is no comparison between Illy and Aldi! Aldi is rough? Perhaps two heaped table spoons is too many in a cafetière? I recall Carte Noir being a more mellow French Roast. Back payment of Carer's Allowance hit my account this morning: mother and her knee! And I've managed to clear two debts that I wasn't going to clear until the end of summer, through dog sitting duties. Lola is by my side again.  From 4 she was in my bed, from 6 in her seat and at 6:35 crawling all over me for her breakfast. Now she's in her post breakfast snooze around 7. There was a breeze blowing this morning, but it appears to be dropping? We'll have a nice hour and then I will head back to Leeds to touch base with it. Maureen thought I looked a little distracted when she arrived and perhaps I was? Even in the short space of time I was in my mum's company on Sunday morning there was the usual conflict about something and no...