A Date

 Dorothy was ok this morning. I took her back to the dyserth Walkway and she trotted to heel as always, bright and excited and as bouncy as usual 

I had a date today

A bona fide date! 

Now the last time I dated anyone,  way back before the start of the first lockdown,  “the date”  became a very good friend and nothing more.

Which is a sort of lose/win situation .

Today was a bust

Three hours I’m never going to get back again.

The date in question was a guy I met several months ago in the weekly Big Gay Quiz .

He was in my small group one Friday and in the weeks that followed, he messaged me privately during subsequent quiz nights to say hi , and to swap chit chat.

He is a little younger than me, broad and built like a lumberjack

I was intrigued 

Eventually I gave him my telephone number and we swapped friendly texts.

Since the constraints of lockdown had been lifted, he has texted me a few times asking for a date

So today I met him for lunch in Chester

Gawd help me, the man never stopped talking about himself .

The first hour, I let it go because I thought he could have been nervous, but as we entered the second hour and he still hadn’t asked me one question about myself, I thought it could be  time to call things a day.

As hour three came, and when I was sipping my second cold coffee elbows on the table , he stopped telling me a story about one of his luxury holidays and suddenly asked me if he could as me a personal question.

I told him that he could and he pointed to a tiny patch of skin on my right elbow.

“Is that psoriasis ?” he asked 

“ Yes I’m covered in it “ I replied 

( I’m not btw)

A few minutes later he reminded himself and me that he had to get home for a work’s phone call.

I walked down to the River Dee and bought myself an ice cream 

I sat and ate it on a bench in the sun 

And enjoyed the silence

from Going Gently https://ift.tt/3imuYBO

Body and soul

 Stretch

Your body

Your soul

Might 

Thank you

For giving

Love to something

You’ve neglected

For too long

Chin up 

Child

It isn’t 

The end

But a 

New beginning

from R's rue https://ift.tt/2VlQWME

Waterfall

"The Red Lion" pub and a passing tractor in Waterfall

There is a village in the very south of The Peak District National Park called Waterfall. However, there is no waterfall there. It is believed that the name refers to the disappearance or "falling" of water in nearby streams and rivers in  summertime. In limestone country  water commonly goes underground in dry spells.

Yesterday, my silver steed, Sir Clint took just over an hour to transport me to Waterfall via Bakewell, Hartington, Warslow and Onecote. It is situated in an area of the national park where my boots had never previously trodden.

A corner of the parish church in Waterfall

Soon I was off, pausing to visit the beautiful parish church which dates from about 1100 and is dedicated to St James and St Bartholomew. I guess the early villagers couldn't pick between the two.

Then I headed through unruly meadows, following a dry stream to the dried up bed of The River Hamps. Down there I encountered several leisure cyclists following the paved track  that leads for two miles up to The River Manifold which was also devoid of water. The river valleys are deep here and the summer vegetation was often head high - protected for hundreds of years from the worst of wind and storm.

The ruins of Throwley Hall

I plodded away from the Manifold Valley up the hillside to Throwley Hall - a ruined manor house in a spectacular setting. The village of Throwley was abandoned in medieval times.

Then on to Calton where I became a little disorientated in relation to my map and lost twenty minutes of precious time. You see I had a dental appointment near home at 5.40pm. Discovering my mistake, I had to march like a soldier on a mission to cover the last mile and a half of the walk.

Old field barn near Calton

I jumped in Clint's cockpit and drove home as quickly as I could - though along the way I was stalled and tormented by three or four very slow vehicles which drew vulgar terminology from my inner library of expletives. Fortunately, the drivers could not hear this Anglo-Saxon language but Clint giggled and said "Calm down old chap!"

Securing dental appointments in these COVID days is problematic so I was delighted when the receptionist said I was okay even though I had arrived at her desk three minutes late. I mean who would want to miss out on the opportunity to have dentist in a visor poking around inside your open mouth?

Caravan in The Manifold Valley

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/3xlTaZu