Still within the boundaries of The City of Sheffield, Shirley and I were up on the moors on the morning of Easter Sunday. We walked along an ancient track called Houndkirk Road, passing an eighteenth century milestone before visiting the site of what was once a moorland farm. Little is left of it - just some gateposts, field boundaries and a foot-worn stone that showed where the farmhouse's doorway would once have been.
Then we walked beside a long estate boundary wall that took us up to The Ox Stones on Burbage Moor. You can see them in the top photograph. They have stood there for thousands of years - long before human beings appeared on the scene.
When we got home we enjoyed a beautiful blue sky afternoon - pottering around in the garden. I put a few seed potatoes in the vegetable plot and dug a trench for peas which I enriched with homemade compost and chicken manure pellets. The grey clouds of the morning - seen in the accompanying pictures - were swept away and under the baby blue sky we were wishing we had taken our walk a little later in the day.
Since I retired I have cooked nearly all the main meals in our house so it made a pleasant change when Shirley said she would prepare the Sunday dinner. We had topside beef, roasted potatoes, spring cabbage, roasted carrots, Yorkshire puddings and gravy. This was followed by slices of the bramble pie I baked on Saturday - with cream. Later, we watched the Elton John biopic - "Rocket Man" and enjoyed it. I am still fascinated by Elton's fifty year songwriting relationship with Bernie Taupin.
Exercise is great but keeping outside is also very important.
ReplyDeleteI would go mad if I couldn't get outside, well, more mad!
DeleteI know you are not a fan of grey moody skies, but I am - and I'm so glad you do take some photos like that and share them here.
ReplyDeleteI am a grey moody guy Jenny so I prefer my photos to be blessed with light and colour.
DeleteI agree with Jenny about these pictures. They are all just wonderful but I especially love the first one. Have you ever had any books printed up of your photos? You know, the kind you set up yourself online and then pay the company to print. My brother's hobby is photography and he does a lot of those books just for his own enjoyment. It's like a much nicer version of a scrapebook.
ReplyDeleteI have made two photo books Bonnie. I should make more but I am a lazy miser. They are great though.
DeleteIt sounds like a wonderful Easter Sunday for the two of you - a walk in beautiful countryside, a sunny afternoon in the garden, a tasty meal. What more could one wish for on such a day!
ReplyDeleteHow about a vaccine for COVID 19?
DeleteThat's definitely at the top of most wish lists!
DeletePS: I added something to my comment on your previous post, YP.
DeleteYour pictures make me yearn to go further afield into the countryside. It's very flat here.
ReplyDeleteI believe you are in Lincolnshire MQ. I would love to go back to The Lincolnshire Wolds and follow more paths. It is a beautiful area.
DeleteNorth Lincolnshire, nearest town Scunny. Walking in the Wolds is lovely, I go there sometimes.
DeleteReader of blog: "Eerrgh! I wish he wouldn't call it manure. It's disgusting."
ReplyDeleteShirley: "Well, maybe, yes, but it took me 40 years to get him to call it manure."
Yorkshire Pudding "This is a family friendly blog. One has to rein in one's language as it is visited by sensitive souls and eight year olds."
DeleteHopefully although the sky was cloudy it may have put off too many people from going out and crowding the footpaths over the moor? These days I am more and more conscious of cyclists and runners passing by too close when I am out walking.
ReplyDeleteI am conscious of that too. Some cyclists and runners (e.g. Peregrine?) don't seem to give a monkey's...but on Sunday our two metre circles were never invaded.
DeleteDid you see Dick Turpin and Black Bess up on moors? Was he wearing his mask? Some things don't change then. Smashing photos YP.
ReplyDeleteAye Father Northsider, Turpin rode out o' mist wi' pistols in his hands and said, "Stand and Deliver!" So I said, "You are mistaken sir. We are not from Deliveroo! Did you order a kebab?"
DeleteHello YP, I thought I would share this article from Australia with you. I thought it was an interesting read. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-14/inside-australias-race-to-prepare-for-the-worst-of-coronavirus/12140878 Our statistics to date are 61 deaths for our population of 25 Million. Cruise ships seem to be our biggest problem here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that Carol. It certainly gives the impression that Australia is doing its very best to be "ready" but with just two deaths per million perhaps your people will not experience the worst of COVID 19. Here the death rate is 167 in a million. I hope that you and your son are keeping well and staying safe.
DeleteYour meal sounds delicious! Now be honest, who's the better cook, you or Shirley? :) Also, what is bramble pie? Is it the same as blackberry? I wish I had a piece of pie right now to go with my morning coffee!
ReplyDeleteI am by far the best cook Jennifer but Shirley is a very good baker. I cook main meals with passion but she is often disinterested - as if it was a chore.
DeleteI think the monoliths are awesome, but I am a little confused abut your rambling. I just watched a podcast from Ireland last night, where they said they were only permitted to walk 2km from home.
ReplyDeleteGuidance about exercise remains hazy in Great Britain. The head of the College of Policing said recently that it is acceptable to travel a "reasonable distance" from home before taking exercise. Lord knows what "reasonable distance" means. This walk was undertaken two miles from home but still within our city limits.
DeleteI always enjoy your photos and ramblings. Our countries are so different. I look at the old pathways in your photos and see a country that has had humans living there for a very long time. In contrast North America has only been populated for about 15,000 years.
ReplyDeleteBoth countries are so beautiful and so different.
Your Sunday sounds like a lovely day. I can't remember the last time I had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, must have been when mum was alive.
Stay safe my friend.
If you lived over here you could have Yorkshire Pudding any time you wanted Lily!
DeleteAnd that looks and sounds like a good day in the strange days of Coronavirus. What a beautiful place you live in!
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed a good day in this strange new world.
DeleteLove the photos. You're so fortunate to have such interesting places to explore within your city limits! Bravo on the cooking. You made a bramble pie already?! I liked "Rocket Man," but I didn't love it. The scene with the singing kid at the bottom of the pool was an eye-roller. Taron Egerton did a great job, though!
ReplyDeleteI had some qualms about that film too but there were some moments that really grabbed me. The brambles were from our freezer!
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