Blog Tracker
31-08-2023, 12:23
Visit the Paul Bailey's Beer Blog site (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/taking-stock.html)
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After five days off from work due to the August Bank Holiday,Tuesday morning came as something of a shock. It was only just getting light whenthe alarm clock sounded at 5:45 am, whereas at the beginning of last week I'msure it was a bit brighter. The main difference was the drop in temperature, whichbrought a real autumnal feel to the air that was noticeable, even before steppingoutside the house. September, which marks the end of meteorological summer, is justa few days away, so with autumn just around the corner, and summer almost over,it’s worth taking a quick look back over the past few months.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKdq5gXdBQjDHRpvv-i3w0Zelpd0hF5Zcc6xdx-K4HrqERjRJeeQ4T0G5LfEb3Jus-syw9n36KMik1K4VpQkO9K7nWndh9SULNjIxVU6lFHXrJ1-WOMxveXFz1hKM2xORjswpxTok7pMtEQNcdj7LjBNb4vQQzANDZ p2pETOE6KdI090GP9cjgqFtGO4/w400-h225/IMG_20220703_124447.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKdq5gXdBQjDHRpvv-i3w0Zelpd0hF5Zcc6xdx-K4HrqERjRJeeQ4T0G5LfEb3Jus-syw9n36KMik1K4VpQkO9K7nWndh9SULNjIxVU6lFHXrJ1-WOMxveXFz1hKM2xORjswpxTok7pMtEQNcdj7LjBNb4vQQzANDZ p2pETOE6KdI090GP9cjgqFtGO4/s4000/IMG_20220703_124447.jpg)
June was certainly a warm and dry month and saw our localwater company implementing a hosepipe ban. Shortly after the ban came intoforce, the weather turned, temperatures dropped and the heavens opened, puttingpaid to any plans I might have had for some serious hiking (see below).
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August hasbeen marginally better, although the weather has remained rather changeable. Apartfrom missed opportunities for walking, this hasn’t particularly bothered me, butthe main difference I've noticed is the nights have definitely drawn in. It happens every year of course and remains part and parcelof the changing of the seasons, but the dwindling light is the one things thatmakes these changes so noticeable. Back in June it would still be light enoughto do certain tasks out in the garden until gone 10:00 pm, but now it is noticeablydarker by 8:00 pm, a reminder, if one were needed, that it will soon be time tobatten down the hatches and retrieve those winter coats and garments.
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If truth be known I’ve only just finished getting over theunwanted bout of COVID, that came knocking at my door, and despite a quiet anduneventful Bank Holiday weekend, Monday saw me feeling tired and ratherlethargic, after not sleeping well the night before. There was a dull ache inthe pit of my stomach, which I attributed to me moving some heavy containers ofcompost, in the garden, but whatever the cause I didn’t exactly make the mostof the last Bank Holiday of 2023.
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Mrs PBT’s has also been left feeling washed out COVID, andit wasn't until Saturday just gone that she finally returned a negative LFT result.She claims to have still not forgiven me giving her COVID, but unfortunately,it’s just one of those things, and a case of luck of the draw. With a long-awaited,and eagerly anticipated holiday coming up, in just over 5 weeks’ time, we are bothtaking things a little easier than we might and have been avoiding crowdedsituations.
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I don't want to talk about Corona virus anymore, and insteadwant to take a look back at the rapidly fading summer and think what might havebeen. My biggest regret this year has been the absence of any proper, long-distancewalking. After finally completing the North Downs Way last September, the ideaof setting off on an eight-to-ten-mile cross country hike has been absent fromthis year's calendar, and it’s no exaggeration to say that I really missed themotivation and the challenge that went with completing such a walk.
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Looking back, I’d been walking the NDW for such a long time,that I found myself really missing those climbs up onto the hills, enjoying themagnificent views from the edge of the escarpment before making a partial descent throughcool, airy beech woodlands, and on to the next part of the trail. Each sectiontook me through a new and different part of the countryside, even though what Iwas walking through, was not that far away but also not quite on my doorstep. I also miss working out the logistics of getting to thevarious starting points and equally how to get home from the one at the end.There was often, but no always, the added bonus of finding a decent pub, eitheron the way or towards the end of the section. Most importantly, I completed the majority ofthe NDW alone, apart from three sections in East Kent, where I joined a smallgroup of friends at the point where one of them was close to finishing thislong-distance pathway.
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By way of compensation, at the beginning of the year, I startedout on the Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk, even though I'd tackled certain sectionsof it previously. I’ve probablycompleted about 1/3 of it, but as I've probably written elsewhere the trail isnot as well signposted, or as well maintained as the better known LDPs likethe North and South Downs, which is why, and on three separate stages, I'veended up getting lost, after inadvertently deviating from the route due to lackof markings.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXynR_G4d22mkaSda_v-5Gpgbu_AqW-zTy32xydZSfAmZhua-bxyoYz6KT42oBHHP0i7-4lP1o54vDrYP2CguR5MP2pcRAcHRkJGI5jOhFrnOFbAJKoIG8h oP3lXBMcLwX15qN4WssDpMclQ-KRC34G0RReR_WsTzMFrHcyH4JbJr8jLYJmXk7ya_E7c/w400-h225/T%20Wells%20circular%20walk.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXynR_G4d22mkaSda_v-5Gpgbu_AqW-zTy32xydZSfAmZhua-bxyoYz6KT42oBHHP0i7-4lP1o54vDrYP2CguR5MP2pcRAcHRkJGI5jOhFrnOFbAJKoIG8h oP3lXBMcLwX15qN4WssDpMclQ-KRC34G0RReR_WsTzMFrHcyH4JbJr8jLYJmXk7ya_E7c/s4000/T%20Wells%20circular%20walk.jpg)
The official guidebook was often lacking in detail as well, especially in those instances where the path divided, or the way ahead seemed uncertain. I might try and knock off a couple of sections, either atthe end of this week or more probably the week after but being a circular routethe TWCW lacks that feeling of walking towards an end goal. On the plus side the walk has shown me parts of the local countryside that I’d been unaware of,despite these areas being just a short distance from my house.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kW1q5Ng-xSNLb_LyvSQRRkW0vhOOV2KOImnzloGgdEbdi0ofVdZiiZXTR0 ip2F-YjswJOr0mmFHqFaEGykMGhuIQVWJT6Asb6CK6Cuoy-__2PAjUvEFO6Be8JiwNvYh1RBnykY0O7SDU2kigcSTETDJ_Cs_ pLNsUtbOjfF6ZNYtY9Pds8Ixj5l_B-jo/w400-h210/Peveril%20Peak.%201.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kW1q5Ng-xSNLb_LyvSQRRkW0vhOOV2KOImnzloGgdEbdi0ofVdZiiZXTR0 ip2F-YjswJOr0mmFHqFaEGykMGhuIQVWJT6Asb6CK6Cuoy-__2PAjUvEFO6Be8JiwNvYh1RBnykY0O7SDU2kigcSTETDJ_Cs_ pLNsUtbOjfF6ZNYtY9Pds8Ixj5l_B-jo/s3809/Peveril%20Peak.%201.jpg)
The other thing I've done quite a bit of this year, has beendays out visiting towns and cities in the UK, that I either haven't been tobefore, or I'm revisiting after a long absence. So far in 2023, I have visited Henleyon Thames, Norwich, Birmingham, and Manchester, and I was due to spend a day inthe Black Country, visiting some of the areas classic pubs. Stafford Paul wasall set to accompany me and point me in the right direction, and my trainticket had also been booked, but because of COVID I had to cancel, just fourdays prior to departure.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pa6Vutov0orKiXZcHen50qk6WfqdcCGNqZYOn-i9l5gY3KBzZFVTnlskAekWukni13JLENEZ3h6QQaT7adrweHYT 137vhbQ-oIi_U_m_6qCWDZTIVymLMP17ckidBgddnthB_3LZfXwNkQdUmJ ZOyWGkJZPDg8jP2EhuDLXuCNuYB0wS5lUtEj2pAKw/w400-h225/Queen%20Mary%202.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6pa6Vutov0orKiXZcHen50qk6WfqdcCGNqZYOn-i9l5gY3KBzZFVTnlskAekWukni13JLENEZ3h6QQaT7adrweHYT 137vhbQ-oIi_U_m_6qCWDZTIVymLMP17ckidBgddnthB_3LZfXwNkQdUmJ ZOyWGkJZPDg8jP2EhuDLXuCNuYB0wS5lUtEj2pAKw/s4000/Queen%20Mary%202.jpg)
Having to do so was a major disappointment, but the trip isonly on hold, and Paul and I will reconvene at a later date, after Eileen and Ireturn from what will be the longest holiday we’ve undertaken together, and thelengthiest one for me since my student days, when a friend and I spent a wholemonth travelling round Western Europe by train, using an Inter-rail pass. Unlike 1975,the pair of us won't be slumming it, as we’ve booked a no-fly Mediterranean cruise,that’s just under three-week’s duration. "No-fly" means sailing from Southamptonand return there, at the end of the voyage.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnAT_z2HssbCvhAFNkYjN1qoRYA55PeMd5iVnxYCLMa RycM5ZbA_n_SuVCvLpwrC8VBMqMeXr0DBS5yZl6-EOqJS3tvFXGa7uSkkDhZLbreQ5pGMkp1O-S_1L7aw1RROyLKlWGkUPrX_7-cj0fJ0GsDDMg9J7szHbXCctI1IsOuGev-qolOI4SE5-ZeY/w400-h225/Boots%20-%20closeup.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnAT_z2HssbCvhAFNkYjN1qoRYA55PeMd5iVnxYCLMa RycM5ZbA_n_SuVCvLpwrC8VBMqMeXr0DBS5yZl6-EOqJS3tvFXGa7uSkkDhZLbreQ5pGMkp1O-S_1L7aw1RROyLKlWGkUPrX_7-cj0fJ0GsDDMg9J7szHbXCctI1IsOuGev-qolOI4SE5-ZeY/s1464/Boots%20-%20closeup.jpg)
More details to follow, nearer the time, but at the moment I'vegot a few home and garden improvement projects on the go. The main one is gettingthe hall, landing, and stairwell repainted. This was put on hold partially dueto COVID but also because the decorators I was using were engaged on a longer,and potentially more lucrative project, but there’s plenty of other things todo to keep, to keep me out of mischief. Rain is forecast for later today, and also for tomorrow, butafter that we’ve allegedly got a week or more of fine weather. Time perhaps todust off those walking boots?
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After five days off from work due to the August Bank Holiday,Tuesday morning came as something of a shock. It was only just getting light whenthe alarm clock sounded at 5:45 am, whereas at the beginning of last week I'msure it was a bit brighter. The main difference was the drop in temperature, whichbrought a real autumnal feel to the air that was noticeable, even before steppingoutside the house. September, which marks the end of meteorological summer, is justa few days away, so with autumn just around the corner, and summer almost over,it’s worth taking a quick look back over the past few months.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKdq5gXdBQjDHRpvv-i3w0Zelpd0hF5Zcc6xdx-K4HrqERjRJeeQ4T0G5LfEb3Jus-syw9n36KMik1K4VpQkO9K7nWndh9SULNjIxVU6lFHXrJ1-WOMxveXFz1hKM2xORjswpxTok7pMtEQNcdj7LjBNb4vQQzANDZ p2pETOE6KdI090GP9cjgqFtGO4/w400-h225/IMG_20220703_124447.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKdq5gXdBQjDHRpvv-i3w0Zelpd0hF5Zcc6xdx-K4HrqERjRJeeQ4T0G5LfEb3Jus-syw9n36KMik1K4VpQkO9K7nWndh9SULNjIxVU6lFHXrJ1-WOMxveXFz1hKM2xORjswpxTok7pMtEQNcdj7LjBNb4vQQzANDZ p2pETOE6KdI090GP9cjgqFtGO4/s4000/IMG_20220703_124447.jpg)
June was certainly a warm and dry month and saw our localwater company implementing a hosepipe ban. Shortly after the ban came intoforce, the weather turned, temperatures dropped and the heavens opened, puttingpaid to any plans I might have had for some serious hiking (see below).
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_Kjk4j1fteTMKiyrnixeCWryG4OO8-_1x7zjGIPxjcjw3BgMX8Tb6xqLhj5Sgd8GMw_Ai2z9vxvgChaq 5cJyqtbGj42mY2aDJyrHRJg67y1ICgmFHcAHxTeczClJ-h8rfFt1rj-jQ6Ql4vCwtZRtcAnxDuy9Kdc7mvfIticdYsa-YcooUSy6vefgo5A/w400-h225/IMG_20230811_170225.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_Kjk4j1fteTMKiyrnixeCWryG4OO8-_1x7zjGIPxjcjw3BgMX8Tb6xqLhj5Sgd8GMw_Ai2z9vxvgChaq 5cJyqtbGj42mY2aDJyrHRJg67y1ICgmFHcAHxTeczClJ-h8rfFt1rj-jQ6Ql4vCwtZRtcAnxDuy9Kdc7mvfIticdYsa-YcooUSy6vefgo5A/s4000/IMG_20230811_170225.jpg)
August hasbeen marginally better, although the weather has remained rather changeable. Apartfrom missed opportunities for walking, this hasn’t particularly bothered me, butthe main difference I've noticed is the nights have definitely drawn in. It happens every year of course and remains part and parcelof the changing of the seasons, but the dwindling light is the one things thatmakes these changes so noticeable. Back in June it would still be light enoughto do certain tasks out in the garden until gone 10:00 pm, but now it is noticeablydarker by 8:00 pm, a reminder, if one were needed, that it will soon be time tobatten down the hatches and retrieve those winter coats and garments.
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If truth be known I’ve only just finished getting over theunwanted bout of COVID, that came knocking at my door, and despite a quiet anduneventful Bank Holiday weekend, Monday saw me feeling tired and ratherlethargic, after not sleeping well the night before. There was a dull ache inthe pit of my stomach, which I attributed to me moving some heavy containers ofcompost, in the garden, but whatever the cause I didn’t exactly make the mostof the last Bank Holiday of 2023.
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Mrs PBT’s has also been left feeling washed out COVID, andit wasn't until Saturday just gone that she finally returned a negative LFT result.She claims to have still not forgiven me giving her COVID, but unfortunately,it’s just one of those things, and a case of luck of the draw. With a long-awaited,and eagerly anticipated holiday coming up, in just over 5 weeks’ time, we are bothtaking things a little easier than we might and have been avoiding crowdedsituations.
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I don't want to talk about Corona virus anymore, and insteadwant to take a look back at the rapidly fading summer and think what might havebeen. My biggest regret this year has been the absence of any proper, long-distancewalking. After finally completing the North Downs Way last September, the ideaof setting off on an eight-to-ten-mile cross country hike has been absent fromthis year's calendar, and it’s no exaggeration to say that I really missed themotivation and the challenge that went with completing such a walk.
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Looking back, I’d been walking the NDW for such a long time,that I found myself really missing those climbs up onto the hills, enjoying themagnificent views from the edge of the escarpment before making a partial descent throughcool, airy beech woodlands, and on to the next part of the trail. Each sectiontook me through a new and different part of the countryside, even though what Iwas walking through, was not that far away but also not quite on my doorstep. I also miss working out the logistics of getting to thevarious starting points and equally how to get home from the one at the end.There was often, but no always, the added bonus of finding a decent pub, eitheron the way or towards the end of the section. Most importantly, I completed the majority ofthe NDW alone, apart from three sections in East Kent, where I joined a smallgroup of friends at the point where one of them was close to finishing thislong-distance pathway.
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By way of compensation, at the beginning of the year, I startedout on the Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk, even though I'd tackled certain sectionsof it previously. I’ve probablycompleted about 1/3 of it, but as I've probably written elsewhere the trail isnot as well signposted, or as well maintained as the better known LDPs likethe North and South Downs, which is why, and on three separate stages, I'veended up getting lost, after inadvertently deviating from the route due to lackof markings.
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The official guidebook was often lacking in detail as well, especially in those instances where the path divided, or the way ahead seemed uncertain. I might try and knock off a couple of sections, either atthe end of this week or more probably the week after but being a circular routethe TWCW lacks that feeling of walking towards an end goal. On the plus side the walk has shown me parts of the local countryside that I’d been unaware of,despite these areas being just a short distance from my house.
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The other thing I've done quite a bit of this year, has beendays out visiting towns and cities in the UK, that I either haven't been tobefore, or I'm revisiting after a long absence. So far in 2023, I have visited Henleyon Thames, Norwich, Birmingham, and Manchester, and I was due to spend a day inthe Black Country, visiting some of the areas classic pubs. Stafford Paul wasall set to accompany me and point me in the right direction, and my trainticket had also been booked, but because of COVID I had to cancel, just fourdays prior to departure.
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Having to do so was a major disappointment, but the trip isonly on hold, and Paul and I will reconvene at a later date, after Eileen and Ireturn from what will be the longest holiday we’ve undertaken together, and thelengthiest one for me since my student days, when a friend and I spent a wholemonth travelling round Western Europe by train, using an Inter-rail pass. Unlike 1975,the pair of us won't be slumming it, as we’ve booked a no-fly Mediterranean cruise,that’s just under three-week’s duration. "No-fly" means sailing from Southamptonand return there, at the end of the voyage.
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More details to follow, nearer the time, but at the moment I'vegot a few home and garden improvement projects on the go. The main one is gettingthe hall, landing, and stairwell repainted. This was put on hold partially dueto COVID but also because the decorators I was using were engaged on a longer,and potentially more lucrative project, but there’s plenty of other things todo to keep, to keep me out of mischief. Rain is forecast for later today, and also for tomorrow, butafter that we’ve allegedly got a week or more of fine weather. Time perhaps todust off those walking boots?
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