Saturday, 21 December 2013

Home sweet home

Daughter High Horse teaches. I am told pupils start winding down weeks before major school holidays making constructive lessons increasingly difficult.

Our recent Thursday walks seem to have caught something of that ethos. We have kidded ourselves about weather and reduced our six milers to a measly four. Until last Thursday we would actually not have encountered anything unpleasant with a longer walk.  Not so this last Thursday. (Ian Fleming said that "actually" was a word not in Bond's vocabulary). 

We were foiled on two geocache attempts. The first where we could see the container, but an elderly woman was parked in the lay-by  smoking out of her car window, and within fifteen feet of the hiding place. On the second, although I am six feet tall, we were still sufficiently vertically challenged to reach the damn thing. People were approaching and Pete was reluctant for us to appear like a couple of drunken idiots by getting on my shoulders.

Within a hundred yards of regaining the car heavy rain started and continued with fiendish intensity for over two hours. If we had been on a six miler we would have had another three quarters of an hour of misery, and worst of all, probably not been in a fit state to visit our favourite café. 

As it turned out that would not have been a problem, Café Ambio hadn’t a table available. Neither had our upmarket garden centre café. We went to Booths, bought a de-luxe Lathoms apple pie and repaired to chez moi for debriefing and another lesson for Pete on his new smartphone. Having entered a couple of destinations into the pseudo satnav app we found it impossible to delete them despite consulting various internet forums where the same problem was being aired. The only consolation is, that unless Pete decides to remove, he will now always be able to find his way "home".

A fine stand of Yew trees

Farleton Fell


My commenter Gimmer recently faced part of his abode with shingles. I thought he may like to see this fine example

Looking south down the West Coast Mainline half an hour before the vicious rain onslaught which no doubt  enhanced the already visible flooding

6 comments:

  1. I remain unconvinced about geocaching. Other adjectives come to mind but I'll settle for esoteric (understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest - more typically, nutters). I am disappointed you are not following this practice to its (il)logical conclusion. Standing on each other's shoulders should only be a first step. Arriving in a collapsible car should be the next.

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  2. Rock clamoring, crevice squirreling mega hikers shy from elderly woman smoker. Very considerate, possibly timid. Did you suppose she was going to smoke a whole pack, and so did not linger for a few minutes? Are shelf stocking tongs illegal in the geocaching game? If not I'm sure some foldable carbon fiber version has been developed. Basic rules of the game would be interesting to know. For example, in placing a geocache is it acceptable to use a tool? To double team in the original placement?

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  3. RR...you didn't settle for esoteric for very long...HA!

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  4. Letter boxing (geocaching without the gadgetry) like many of Devon's rivers, started on Dartmoor. I have tried both (in fact, the Two Blondes have their own letterbox) and failed due to the fact that I hate sticking my hands/fingers into dark holes.

    That said, RR, you should not (excuse the vernacular) diss this digital treasure hunt until you have tried it. Anything that gets people out and enjoying a challenge is to be recommended.

    Sir Hugh: Next time, do the shoulder stand thing. I would love to see that on one of my outings.

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  5. RR - A main attribute of geocaching is giving you a focus to WALK so I am considering a pair of stilts. I don't like the sound of a collapsible car whether it is engineered for the purpose or achieves that state through misfortune.
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    Mike M - two factors: I tend to feel a bit daft poking around in strange places with somebody watching. Part of geocaching etiquette is to avoid letting non partakers, or competitor geocachers seeing where the cache is hidden, partly to avoid the cache getting trashed and also to to avoid spoiling the thrill of the chase for others.
    Anybody wishing to set up a cache has to submit all the details to an administrator online. Due notice is paid to private property and hiding in dry stone walls is forbidden for obvious reasons, but there seems to be a refreshing, almost cavaslier attitude to "health and safety" which has got out of hand in other spheres over the last few years.
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    Blonde Two - I've heard about Letterboxing on Dartmoor but not partaken - a bit like Beetamax and VHS, or Mac and IBM.

    Thanks for your support against my nit picking brother. I think he's just jealous.

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  6. Well Sir Hugh - should you ever find yourself in the area, the Two Blondes would be happy to introduce you to the tradition of letter boxing. We have plenty of geocaches on Dartmoor too and some lovely pubs!

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