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We had a lovely long weekend with Ros in Yorkshire last weekend – a perfect mix of food, wine and lots of dog walking, to offset the calorie intake, we travelled on Friday, possibly the warmest day of the year so far, and managed to fit in two dog walks between meals, the first a stroll along the valley below Ros’s house, through woods carpeted with wood anemones and occasional isolated early bluebells, with lush deep green wild garlic leaves descending from the path down to the river. The path also eventually dropped back down to the river, crossing it via stepping stones at a point that has always been a favourite family spot, where at least two generations of dogs have splashed in the shallows, and Simon and Matthew have had their photo taken on a particular low branch every time that we visit, a visual record of their early years.
The evening walk was at dusk, still mild, with bats flying around us catching insects, the first that we have seen this season.
On Saturday afternoon we went to Bess’s 4th birthday party in a church hall in Farsley, less than half an hour from Ros’s, where about 20 (or at least that’s what it felt like…) children enjoyed a bouncy castle, food, pass the parcel, and party bags, and we did what we could to assist. Afterwards we went back to Claire’s for a cup of tea and cake and a chat while two tired granddaughters slept. We returned to Ros’s for a dog walk, and then what has become a sort of tradition when we visit – a meal at an Indian restaurant in the village.
The weather forecast for Sunday was not good – hours of wind and rain, and so we planned an early pre-rain dog walk, and a day of just “chilling”, reading the Sunday paper, Ros and Chantal doing photographic stuff, and me trying to work out how to produce an editable word document on my i-pad, despite all the obstacles placed in my way by Apple. In the event the rain only lasted a couple of hours, but we stuck with our plan for a relaxed day anyway, and the sun had emerged by the time by the time that we took the dogs for an evening walk
Ros’s ex, Pete, who we haven’t seen for ages, joined us all for Monday morning’s dog walk, again through the woods, and afterwards Pete and I managed to find a few minutes for a bit of gardening in Ros’s garden, removing a few shrubs. Later we took the dogs for a windy moorland walk near Shipley Glen, followed by a pub meal before Chantal and I had to pack before driving home.
Weekends with Ros are always relaxed affairs, and this was no exception.
Technically we live in Oaktree House, but sadly the tree had to go.
We now have a thriving Oakstump at the front of the house.
