Ladies backpacking trip round Isle of Wight

 A couple of years ago, I started an annual ladies backpacking trip with 3 of my girlfriends here in the UK. We went up to the Knoydart peninsula in Scotland as our first trip in 2019, then had booked to go to Germany last June for a lower Alpine trek. But of course, that got canceled due to Covid, so we had simply postponed to this June. But then that got canceled too, with all the restrictions now on traveling across borders. Booo... We decided to not be defeated by this, so we found a route within England itself that would allow us to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight, which is just off the south coast of England a mere 2 hours drive from our village. So while Chris couldn't join us (since she is in Germany for a few years), we invited Naomi to come along as a 4th party member.

We left on Wed June 16th and got back home Sunday June 20th, in time for Father's Day dinnertime. Here are Anne-Marie, Heather, Naomi and me as we were setting out Thursday morning on our way to breakfast in a lovely cafe in Wootton Bridge.

We had quite a bit of rain over the 4 days, including every single night, including every single night as we were setting up the tents (which makes setting up tents extra difficult!). The first half of the journey from Ryde through Cowes over to Yarmouth, i.e. the north coast, was very residential and the "Coastal Path" ended up being really just the main road in some sections. Not very fun in pouring rain with cars going fast and splashing us! I don't have any photos from those moments...

But then the walking got better as the coastal path really turned into a proper coastal path along the clifftops.

For our final night, we camped at the Ventnor Botanical Garden, and they were having a special evening of live music and dinner at a very reasonable price! It was wonderful.

My feet were not very happy the whole walk, unfortunately. By Sunday midday, I really was having a hard time walking. I managed to get into the sea for a fabulous swim that seriously rejuvenated me, and after that my boots were not going to go back on. 

Anyway, it was a great trip and I'm so happy we made it happen!

A surprising Wednesday

Today was a beautiful clear day and Rhodri made the surprising and lovely suggestion that the two of us head out after work to go for a walk at Devil's Dyke and then out to dinner somewhere. 

It was really fun to be just us two out in the world, and the kids were happy to have a chance to be on their own for dinner, looking after themselves. Rhods and I chose the Half Moon Pub near Plumpton for our dinner, and it was lovely.

We should do this more often....

Cool morning by the sea

 Today was great, and it started with an indulgent long swim with a lot of the Larks at the beach. It was Sally's birthday today and she brought her cousin in law along, who is a free diver and shark-swimming expert. It was pretty cool to just lay on the beach and listen to her stories, enjoying the company and the sunshine. 

Prin friend in Brighton

 This morning I drove Rhiannon and her friend to Brighton, and then I met up with my long lost friend Amy! I went to high school with Amy, and she has been living in England even longer than me. I have been meaning to find a way to get together with her, and today was the day. We had a gorgeous brunch at a little cafe in Hove, and it was really cool to catch up in person after all these (30!) years.

Halfway to Cardiff in Hinton Parva

 Today we drove to a spot halfway to Cardiff and collected our girl. I took the day off work and we made a full day of it in the end.  It all went according to plan and we met in Hinton Parva to let Annie and Winnie meet each other and we could all go for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day and felt lovely to be out in the sunshine with family.

Lunch with friends

Today was a holiday (Memorial Day in the US, but a no-name holiday here in England), and Tryfan was doing the May Camp weekend with the TNT youth group. Rhods and I took Annie over to Iain and Angela's house for a very civilized lunch. It felt really indulgent to eat a proper lunch, with multiple courses, on a sunny bank holiday on this last day of May. Gorgeous.

Half term adventure for our girl

Yesterday Rhodri took Rhiannon over to a meeting spot halfway from here to Cardiff so that she could get handed over to Auntie Sioned. Looks like she got there alright and they are off to a good start!

Its really great that she can go and have a few days with Sions in the middle of Cardiff so they can have some girlie fun. It will be really strange without her here though!

Fence is complete

 It went up pretty quickly in the end, and today Steve came over to lend us his special tool for tightening the wire that attaches to the back of the fence. He is a wealth of knowledge and we are really grateful for his help.

Pub dinner

Out to dinner at a pub! What a novelty that is for us. Tryfan is spending the night at Orin's house, so we three went to the Hatch Inn in Coleman's Hatch for a nice meal.

Met a sheep

 Today one of our neighbors invited Rhodri and Annie round the back to meet some sheep.

Apparently Annie was super scared of the sheep and was desperate to get away from it.

Walk off the lead

I took a longish lunch break today and went with Rhodri and Annie to a different part of the forest to let her off the lead. It was a gorgeous day with impressive clouds.

The dog is getting bigger

She likes pulling the stuffing out of toys through their eyes, same that Bentley used to do. And she is really vocal, making funny noises and growl-talking.

The new gate

Finally the building materials arrived, so Rhodri and I spent most of the day putting in the gate! It is a beauty, isn't it?

Then tonight we watched a movie and then ended up watching Eurovision. We didn't stay up to find out the results, but we did see about just over half of the finalists. Our favorite was the Lithuanian entry, but there were several good ones!

Birthday at the beach

 It was Leigh's birthday today and she invited Rhiannon and I to join them at the beach for an evening swim and BBQ/ bonfire. It was a gorgeous evening and I loved sharing it with my girl. We had a good chat in the car on the way there and also on the way back. Although it was a chilly eve, the fire kept us warm enough.

The dog actually ate his homework

In this case it was Tryfan's French homework and he wasn't too impressed. I think Annie knew exactly what she was doing...

A walk and a haircut

 Rhodri took Annie on her first off-the-lead walk. They went to a quiet part of the Ashdown forest and had a lovely little scamper.

Meanwhile, Rhiannon went for a long-awaited haircut today with Kate.

Trainer in the da house

 Today Wendy the dog trainer came over and gave a session to all 5 of us. She worked magic on some of Annie's bad habits, instantly fixing her annoying behavior (barking at the hoover, trying to bite and attack the broom) by squirting her with water from a squeezy honey container.

Meanwhile, the bluebells

The bluebells are out and they are stunning. I went for a run today this morning with my running club and got to see some gorgeous swaths of these little beauties.

Such a cold May

What a contrast this spring has been to last year! Temperatures have stayed really chilly and nearly every day has had rain. But there have been some gorgeous clouds and very slow sequence of blooming plants.  At least we have more hours of daylight, so in theory the soil should be warm enough to welcome plants . Here is the beginning of the new season!

Tryfs and I took Annie on a walk out on the forest today, and then I scampered over to Lou's house to give her a late birthday present. Annie didn't like us separating, but she survived.

Kick off the weekend

 This has been a really long week, despite Monday being a public holiday. The short weeks are always somehow the longest weeks. At the last minute I decided to get a lift with Cat down to the beach and go for a swim to kick off the weekend.

The landscape was illuminated as we drove back home...