A good walk........

The weather was beautiful this morning when I got up. I was unaccountably in a good mood and not even dropping one of the two poached eggs on the floor derailed my glide into the day. I'd completely forgotten the Rugby World Cup was on - I'll watch if it's on when I turn the telly on, but it's not 'appointment viewing for me'. Sport's OK but it rarely gets my real interest unless my tribe is competing, whichever tribe that happens to be. I have to be engaged to really appreciate watching. And I usually have more than enough emotional turmoil with one particular band of unpredictable black and white striped heroes, to be able to cope with, oh, let's say England getting beaten at something as well. So I was chuffed to turn the telly on and see that well into the first half England had a healthy lead over the Aussies. Bar a scare before just before half-time, the lead just got bigger and bigger, in what looked to be a fabulous all round performance.

When that was over, the sun was still shining, and my wife and I went to Richmond Park (one of the reasons we were delighted to move back over this way four years ago). We walked at a comfortable pace from (for those who know it) Ladderstile Gate to Pembroke Lodge having a bit of a detour on the way. A nice pot of Earl Grey on the terrace overlooking the Thames valley and a lovely cherry scone (scon, scone, or even scoon?)  added to the sense of well-being. On the walk there we stopped by the hollowed out tree stump below, which looks like, well many different things.

Probably about 5 foot six high and maybe 5 foot broad

Inside it were fern leaves (put there by humans or animals or did they grow there?) and an array of interesting looking mushrooms.

Because of its greying, the stump look more like rock than wood. More coastal cliff than inland park.

On the walk back we went in the direction of Pen Ponds stopping short of there by a fenced off plantation where a group of volunteers were burning chopped down rhodedendrons as part of a scheme to re-plant the area with native species.

The scheme cleverly marketed as a way of burning calories! Hmm, food for thought.

You can probably make out the trunks of birch trees in the picture above, some of which had been cut down. Here's a shot without the fence obstructing it.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Is it a wargamer's thing?

We walked on and came across this chap. I heard no bellowing, but it's around this time of year when they get a bit boisterous.

Unfortunately I only had a phone and I'm not the best at this photography lark.

Further along we spoke to a woman who we'd spotted earlier near Pembroke Lodge. In her hands she was holding a plastic bag containing old drinks cans and a litter grabber. Yes, another volunteer scheme. The park is not so obviously strewn with litter, especially away from the car parks, but anything is bad.

All in all we had a wonderful walk. It's great to hold the head uprights and look at something more than a few feet away for a change. And it's been weeks since we've done this. Due to her job requiring alternate weekends at work, my language lessons and our daugther's dance lessons, we don't get as much opportunity as we'd like. And since the evenings have got darker, weekdays after work are a non-starter until Spring. So we made the most of today and thoroughly enjoyed it.

A good start to the day. Just don't mention the football. La la la, I'm not listening.