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Monday 28 May 2018

Shorts and vest weather......

It's been almost as hot in Yorkshire as it was in Menorca, shorts and vest weather.  Maybe we should have stayed at home and saved money.  But then, the nightingales wouldn't have enchanted us, we'd have missed the amazing flowers, waves breaking on the shore under our window and all the wonderful runs through entirely new territory.
Grimwith millpond  (Click to enlarge pictures)
I'll confess to having run very little since our return, a mere 15 miles but, with well over 1,000ft of ascent, it's better than nothing and perhaps considerably more than most 86 year old folk have done..  
Bluebell trail
And TomTom still reckons I have a Fitness Age of 68.  So I'm happy, even if it has got the figures the wrong way round!
Getting the bird
Grimwith was like a mill pond as we ran round in early morning light.  Greylags bugled across the water, bluebells lighted the way round an empty trail, pewits flapped ahead noisily to lure us away from their chicks while a yellow carpet of cowslips lined the car park verge. Quite idyllic.
A flotilla of mallard
Trouble with my nether regions meant we'd to set off late in the morning for a six mile run round what we call the Appletreewick lollipop.  Lots of mallard ducklings swirled around in the river, staying close to their parents.
Greylags
Greylags have taken up residence on a pebbly bit of shoreline near Woodhouse farm but no sign of any chicks.   
Another greylag
They've become far more numerous since the demise of Canada geese in the area though we've noticed the latter could be making a comeback at Grimwith.
En route to Grassington Bridge

We'd a scorcher of a run to Grassington Bridge dodging the hordes of tourists walking, camping and picnicking along the riverbank. 
Geese and goslings
We chose a different way home specifically to avoid the crowds and were rewarded with sightings of geese and goslings with the same mind as us.
One I recognized - a grey wagtail

There were also mallard, lapwings and agitated curlews together with lots of little brown jobbies my deteriorating eyes couldn't recognize.
Shorts and vest weather

All in all, a good week was had by all and one can only hope this shorts and vest weather continues throughout a long, hot summer.

6 comments:

  1. Hot summer days would be nice...
    winter has arrived in Cape Town with rain most days last week and the same forecast for this week.
    So I will live my summer through you pictures.

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    Replies
    1. May has been exceptionally good in the UK. We're hoping the rest of summer will be the same.
      I'm having difficulty uploading pictures into my blog now. It's a long time consuming process and I'm beginning to lose patience. No pictures, no blog.

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  2. Sometimes technology can be silly , and I know that your pictures are indeed spectacular , but you Old Runningfox still could tell us about your running life with your super writing , it would be much better then no blog at all . Antonio .

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    Replies
    1. Google, in their wisdom, no longer allow folk to upload pictures from Picasa, my editing programme. And Google based blogs only accept Google pictures. I've found a way round it but get frustrated with various transfers involved.
      Pictures are most important to remind me where I've been and what I've done. At 86 my short term memory is almost non-existent. I'd struggle to tell you what I did two days ago. My online diary keeps the memories alive. It would be meaningless, to me, without the pictures.

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  3. Fair enough , you made a good point Gordon , I hope for the future you can manage the computer software without too much annoyance . Antonio.

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  4. Google is really a P.I.T.A. as it retires and 'improves' it's bits and pieces. Picasa was great: very easy to use and very good at what it did. Their replacement stuff is nowhere near as user friendly - they're not doing themselves any favours.

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