Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019

Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019
On the Archduke's Path in Mallorca

Thursday 10 May 2018

Still Summer in Timperley

1001Canal

I’m not getting out much. It feels a bit odd to be staying at home when all the TGO Challengers are flocking up to their starting points on the west coast of Scotland. Good luck to all our friends who are on this year’s Challenge. I’ve been in touch with one of the Timperley contingent this evening – JJ, who seems to have overshot his official start point and landed in Tobermory. An excellent choice.

Living conveniently close to the airport gave us the pleasure of providing a light lunch today to two of the Austrian TGO contingent, Markus and Silke, en route from Vienna to Strathcarron, via a brief pause in Manchester. It was good to see them looking all kitted out and in good form. It was quite important for us to meet up with them as the maps I sent to Austria got lost in the post, so their maps were printed yesterday and handed over today. Phew!

We also have the company of ‘Family Swift’, who arrived on 8 May, as they did last year, and probably on the same day for many years before that. They are initially quiet, perhaps resting from a long journey, laying, and incubating, before getting noisier in July and August. They live less than two metres away from us when we are in our study, where currently we just hear rustling sounds, presumably from their spring cleaning and getting comfortable.

In other news, we had an enjoyable visit to Dot, my mum, who is fit and well apart from an eye problem, but was somewhat distressed to be beaten at cards (nomination whist) by Sue, who had to admit that she had been secretly practicing in Mallorca.

Our local LEJOGger, Cary, who has been blogging brilliantly from his Lizard Point to Dunnet Head walk, see ‘From the Bottom to the Top’, turned up earlier this week with a damaged foot, so having managed to get as far as Marsden he has decided on a pause. At least that will give readers a chance to catch up with reading his first 40 instalments of this long walk, and it gives me another crocked person with whom to commiserate.

That’s all for now, Sue and I are both reading Matthew Walker’s book – ‘Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams’, and apparently we all need to get eight hours sleep a night. So it’s bedtime.

Goodnight

4 comments:

Sir Hugh said...

Had you planned to do the TGO this time? Presume you're still waiting for the oop - you have my sympathy.

Phreerunner said...

No Conrad, I wasn't going to be doing it this year after volunteering long before the hernia problem to help at 'Control', but we were going up to Affric this weekend to bag a few Munros. That trip, and other plans for the summer, is in abeyance pending my op, which hopefully should be soon - the NHS target timing has not been met.
There are plenty of people more in need of sympathy than me - I don't actually feel in need at all. In 'Other News' I should have mentioned that Sue and I spent a lovely few hours yesterday with four year old Jessica (granddaughter), who was able to produce a whole string of games that she could beat us at - her short term memory is much better than ours.

Sir Hugh said...

That granddaughter stuff sounds familiar. I phoned the waiting list after my surgeon had put me onto it and asked if they had any cancellations and I was offered a date very shortly after that. Maybe worth a try if you want to speed things up?

Phreerunner said...

I've tried that. And I will again after getting back from TGOC Control.
Not in any pain, but I'm sticking to short outings to avoid that...