warm rock (and a video!)

so i was going to say that anyone who's been on twitter in the last few days will have noticed my unusual taciturnity and general miserable grumpiness when i was on.  but why would you, right? *blushes at own presumption*  but for anyone who was worried (bless you!) the tide of hormones has now retreated and i'm much more my usual chirpily irritating self. ;o)
so friday it was on the retreat, and i managed to drag my lazy arse out of the house to go climbing at Alter-Rock with hubby.  this was, frankly, a pathetic session.  i barely lasted two hours, climbed nothing above a 5+, and my hands weren't even sore when we came away.  bloody hell, my forearms were, though! (twanging tendons!).  headed to a pub in derby afterwards for dinner with some colleagues (remember the night out i forgot to go to? this was the rematch).  my mood took a total nosedive on the way there, though, as i had learned that my shiny new bike wouldn't be ready to pick up until maaaaybe monday, but probably tuesday, and various other little things had all crashed down at once.  however, once i got to the pub (i was early), liberal application of vodka, O...Saya by A R Rahman (from the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire), half an hour to myself, and sunshine had an astonishingly positive effect.  had a great night - even if it was two months late. ;o)
yesterday, the weather was beeeautiful, and hubby, astonishingly, managed to persuade me to go climbing outside for the first time in probably six months.  look, i am a*total* wuss when it comes to the cold.  i hate being out in it, and i hate climbing in it with a passion.  but i was persuaded that we should go here:

Harborough Rocks

it's a beautiful limestone outcrop near Wirksworth in Derbyshire.  it's very popular with climbers, and is particularly good for practicing trad climbing techniques, since the faces aren't huge, the terrain is friendly and easily accessible, and it's a particular kind of limestone that's pocked with lots of holes and pockets - easy handholds on lots of the routes.  it's used by a lot of groups - scouts, guides, etc.  there was a group there from Stafford yesterday.

it was so lovely.  the sun was warm, the breeze wasn't too cold, and the outcrop faces south, so it gets the sun virtually all day.  gods - i have missed the feel of warm rock far more than i realised.  maybe we should move to Spain?... 

we took all of the gear to climb trad, but ended up soloing instead (climbing without safety equipment - just shoes and a chalkbag). it was great for me.  i have virtually no confidence left after not climbing outside for so long, so i took baby steps soloing the easier routes with lots of juggy (big, easy-to-grip) holds, whilst hubby did the harder stuff.  the only trouble with Harborough is that it's so popular (also, people have been climbing there since the 1800's), many of the holds have been polished to glassy smoothness.  friction?  what's that?  had to be sooo careful!

and as we were soloing, we could please ourselves what we did.  so when i decided that i'd had enough, i just lay in the sun, or wrote a little more of my book, or wandered around on the hillside enjoying the gorgeous day.

i also spent some time admiring the perfectly blue sky - not a thing in it except for the local corvids (thank you, unpronounceable Icelandic volcano). utter, utter bliss!  i even caught the sun across my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose!  not quite enough to bring my freckles out, though - not quite yet.

but getting there... ^_^

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spring, new life and shooting stuff

good afternoon, dear reader.

wait...afternoon?...surely that can't be right?...isn't it tuesday?...

well, yes it is.  but i'm on holiday, so ner.

weeellll...i say holiday, but really it's just leave.  can't really go on holiday, since poor Isobel is STILL in the paint shop! *grumblegrumblegrumble*. 

oh, look - never mind that now - i'm in a bit of a fragile mood today (yup - hormones strike again - expect a four AM post any day now...), and very likely to get cross or burst into tears at the drop of a mouse, so i will stick to the happy stuff, shall i?  my keyboard is, after all, not waterproof.

soooo...happy stuff.

well, spring is here.  definitely, this time.  thank the gods.  the wind is still chilly, but the flowers are coming out, there's a haze of acid green over half of the deciduous trees, the rest are budding, and some even have blossom on them. *sighs with relief*  sad bugger that i am, i was playing "Spring I-Spy" from the car on Sunday - vegetation (particularly of the flowering kind) only.  here's some of what i saw:

blackthorn blossom
cherry blossom
broom in bloom
daffodils
big, fat magnolia buds
heather
tulips
budding and blooming willow trees (of various kinds)
acid green hawthorn leaves
gorse
flowering currant
laurel buds
almond blossom
dandelions
and, most excitingly for me - daisies. my favourite flower.  i don't know what it is about these tiny, perfect little things, but i absolutely adore them.  they gladden my heart every day.  the common Day's Eye is a tiny little personification of bliss for me.  each and every one of them, no matter where they are.  i can't even make daisy chains, any more - haven't been able to for years, in fact.  i just can't bear to see them wither.  in fact i have, for about seven or eight years, worn a tiny little silver daisy on a hoop in my ear.  it's kind of a part of me....

anyway - the reason i was playing Spring I-Spy in the car is because it was a beaitifully dry, sunny day, and we were off to visit my shiny new step-grandson.

yup, you heard right, dear reader. i am a grandma.  at thirty-three years old.  sheesh!  thanks, guys - way to go! *headsmack*

i should, perhaps, explain.  hubby is 11 years older than me, and his eldest son is 20.  which, whilst it seems a ridiculously young and stupid age to me to have children...well...look - this is another of those things i'm not going to get into.  rant-avoidance techniques activated.

but...oh, he's soooo sweet! look!...

This is Finley.

look, i know - all right?  i tried to get them to spell it properly, but they wouldn't have it.... *eyeroll*

aaanyway - here we have three generations:

Stepson, Hubby, and Stepgrandson.

actually, to give him credit, stepson does seem utterly in love with the little 'un (as well as slightly zombified by lack of sleep - cue evil laughter and cries of "Revenge, at last!!!" from his parents...  hee hee hee!).  his girlfriend was just too tired to do or say anything much.  she seemed to be coping ok, though...

and that was most of Sunday taken care of.

exciting, huh?  wait till we get to Monday!!! (actually, you'll have to...)

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teamaking intermission

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actually, not a great deal happened on monday.  well - not outwardly, anyway.

inwardly, i appear to have a novel growing...  now how the bloody hell did that happen?!  i asked for a short story, goddamnit!!!  *sigh*  actually, i'm not complaining.  not really.  i know i said not long ago that i was going to write short stories for a bit, and that was how this one started off, actually.  but then it grew.  and grew.  and then it grew a bit more.  it seems to be generic romantic fantasy-flavoured, but i don't really care.  i like that stuff!  and i'm not ashamed to admit it! *stands tall and proud*  at the moment, in my head, it tastes a bit like one of my very favourite books, called "Spirit Fox".  it's by...noooo...not Neil Gaiman, (for a change!) two ladies.  one of whos name i can't remember.  the other is Mickey Zucker Reichert.  and i confess i only remember that lady's name because it's soooo...well...interesting.  but i love this book.  it's generic, yes.  but it's a perfectly shining gem of a book, too - the story is beautifully told, and the romance is romantic without making me want to cringe/throw up (allllways a bonus!)

of course, mine won't be nearly up to that standard, but at least i have a high water mark to aim for.  i'm beginning to think ouroburos was a fluke...

and, once i've got this one out of my system, maybe i can go for comedy? or horror?  or both?  yeah!!!

...ahem...sorry...quite excited... *blush*

and so to today.

today, we did archery, for the first time since...um...probably early october (gets a bit cold after that to be standing around twanging stuff).  we were supposed to do climbing, but since i spent the first hour or so of today sobbing my eyes out for no good reason other than i was sad and hormonal and tired, hubby suggested we go shoot some arrows, or take a walk in the woods.  between us, we couldn't make our minds up, so we decided to combine the two and shoot some arrows in the woods.  a splendid idea, as it turned out.  it's beautiful in Shining Cliff Woods.  peaceful, spacious, and just lovely.  and there's a little lake in the middle beside which we got handfasted.

our surroundings looked like this:

today we were up on the top of the shining cliffs themselves (and they really do sparkle in the sunlight, by the way - it's just magical to see), since it's nice and flat, and not too many people go up there.  the arrows are real, and can really kill.  i know, because not only did i kill the target, i killed a tree - at least twice - and a rock.  i'm not kidding - i took a chunk out of a rock with an arrow! 0.o

when hubby and i shoot arrows, we make it a competition.  otherwise, what's the point? (other than the incredibly satisfying sound of a well-shot arrow going "thwap" or "thud" as it hits the butt, that is...)

so, the rules are:

1 point per ring, starting at 1 for the outer white ring, and 10 for the last gold ring, 15 for the bullseye.

six arrows per person per turn.

flip a coin for the choice of first or second to shoot on the first round, winner goes first thereafter.

first one to five wins the round

best of three rounds wins the match.

and, in pictures:

Robin Hubby 

hubby searching for the first of today's lost arrows.  we lost four in the end, but managed to retrieve two, so not tooo bad... :oS

 

Robina In Da (campervan) Hoody

the scores were:

5 -0 to me

5 - 3 to me

2 - 5 to hubby.

i won!!! *triumphant happydance* this has only happened once before.  but best of all, my shooting was better and more consistent than when we started last summer.

here is my winning score:

check out the two together! *pride*

needless to say, i felt a little better after that.

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a spring walk, with pictures.

today, i went for a walk. 

the original plan for today was to go climbing.  that didn't happen.

dear reader, if you are female, i'm sure you are aware of what an exhausting experience it can be to ride the menstrual cycle (emotionally and physically).  friday and saturday were particularly bad, but i thought i'd be ok today.  i wasn't.  my emotions had more-or-less settled, but physically, i was still tired and bleary.  definitely not up to sport climbing. 

btw, there are several different types of climbing, which i may explain in another post, if i ever get around to it...

aaaanyway. 

the weather was absolutely beautiful, today, and i wanted to be out in it, but not climbing.  so i suggested to hubby that we take a walk, instead.  he wasn't keen on the idea since, as he pointed out, he spends 8 hours a day walking when he's at work (he works in a warehouse).  so he got the bike going for me (yay!!!! riding to work tomorrow for the first time since october!), and i went for a walk in the beautiful breezy sunshine.  frankly, i'm still knackered, though recovering, from my hormones' assault on my body and mind, but i wanted to share the fields around the town i grew up in with you.

so...

in pictures...

this is the view just ten minutes' walk from my front door.  how lucky am i?

check out the curious little guy at the base of te tree... sweeeet! ^_^

this is Street Lane, not far from where i live.  i am told its name used to be Straight Lane, and that it is a remnant of a roman road.  the A38 continues along the same line, a little further on...

this bough was at the perfect height to lay my cheek against.  so i did. 

i am not ashamed to admit to hugging trees.  it was a small moment of bliss.

i came across this willow tree in bloom.  it made me cry, with the palpable proof of spring.  when i got closer, i cried a little more when i saw the small battallion of large black bumblebees, busily collecting nectar and pollinating the tree.  sadly, i got no pictures of them.  they were too quick for me, and too busy to pose for photos.  i did ask, but they ignored me.  apart from one that hummed up to check me out.  but she was too fast for me, too.

i sat by this dyke for quite some time, the sun warm on my face and my back, just...being. 

it was beautiful.  and peaceful.  and blissful.

it occurred to me, as i walked along, that what i was actually walking through was the remains of an opencast mine, that had been here when i was a child.  all of the trees were small and new, and the terrain was flattish, and easy to walk along.  and all around me, i could feel the earth waking up and vibrating with new life.

and the sky was...just...huge.

bliss.

it was time to turn back, by now, as i was reaching the boundary of how far i wanted to walk (there was a main road not too far ahead).  on the way, though, i made some new friends...

who just loooved having their ears scratched...

and, were, well...

...kinda nosey...

i hope you enjoyed our walk through the fields around my home town, dear reader.

i certainly did.  it made my soul feel good.