June round-up
Following our sunshine and other Coddiwomples
Hello Coddiwomplers!
How are you doing? Can you believe it’s July already? I certainly can’t!
Welcome to this month’s coddiwomple through life and a round-up of what’s been happening in June (we won’t mention the painful football or the endless Election waffle!)
I have mostly been exploring the Highlands and NC500 in Scotland, riding a tandem in Cambridgeshire, writing, painting and working my shifts at Pashley Manor Gardens.
Let’s get started!
Tim and I began June by tootling off on our longtime-in-the-making trip to Scotland to explore some of the NC500 and the Highlands. It was an epic trip and I’ve been having fun composing blogs about it. I’m happy to say I’ve completed part 1 and would love you to come with us to Whitby and up to Pitlochry here.
We were back for about a week or so when the Sun Gods decided to put in an appearance, so we booked a lastminute camping trip to Ely and the Fens in the east of England.
Ely has been on my UK Bucket List for a while now and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a small medieval city with an imposing, impressive cathedral and lots of small narrow streets to explore. We had downloaded a map to follow which took us all the way around the city, picking out the must-see sites such as Oliver Cromwell’s house, down to the river and back into the centre. These guided walks are a great way to understand the history and background of a place (but we do get lost and go off piste quite often!)
We had a great day exploring Wicken Fen and the surrounding areas by tandem the folliowing day. Neither of us have ridden a tandem before and had no idea what to expect, but what should’ve been 2 hours turned into 3 because we got lost a couple of times! It was baking hot and we cycled through some chocolate-box villages like Swaffham Prior and Lode, stopped for a drink at Anglesey Abbey and meandered our way back.
I’m making it sound very serene and easy, but the fact is I haven’t cycled since lockdown and the bike had very hard tyres and no suspension, and to be honest, it was effing uncomfortable after a while! Tim very kindly donated his t-shirt to give me some extra padding, such a Gentleman! However, it is the perfect way to see the flat Fens, we saw deer, Kestrels, heard a cuckoo and various Warblers and Buntings.
After a well earned lunch and a comfortable (ish!) sit down we took a boat trip through the reeds and were treated to a guided tour about the local wildlife. We saw tons of dragon flies, damsel flies, a Marsh Harrier and Moorhens. We also heard a Grasshopper Warbler (so named because its song sounds like a grasshopper - I never knew that before!)
The trip was just over an hour long, very hot but also very calming. We ended our day with a quick trip to the supermarket for some supplies, Tim cooked a barbecue and we enjoyed the evening sunshine with a well-deserved libation or two! It was so refreshing to be outside with no TV, no radio, virtually no internet and just Be. Do you ever do that? I recommend it!
In other News, arty moments have been few and far between, but I was inspired to play around with some watercolours and recreate a Scottish mountain view and doodle with my coloured pencils and draw a Red Deer stag in my sketchbooks.
And finally, you may remember a few months ago I mentioned I was going to publish a series of blogs about what it’s been like for me to grow up as an “only child”, my decision to be childfree and what that's like after losing both parents. Well, I’m now excited (and a little nervous) to share part 1 of “Following My Sunshine, choosing the path less travelled.” here This is an introduction to what will follow in future posts and why I’ve decided to write them. It’s real “heart on the sleeve” writing and is proving a very cathartic, scary, healing journey for me. If this resonates with you or someone you know, please have a read and share. If it doesn’t then please just scroll on by.
On a lighter note, coming up next month, I’m hoping to have Part 2 of our Northern Adventure ready, some art to show you, Part 2 of Following My Sunshine and other random nonsense!
In the meantime, I wish you all a very Juicy July and once again I’m so grateful for you all being here.
Lots of love,
Wxx
Loved seeing your trip north to all the places I knew as a very young child.