Walking the Paths

When I ended we were in a bit of a dither because our bag with Andromeda was lost. Well, we spent and anxious Sunday - actually we (or I ) put the worry aside and enjoyed my walk, I think Roy was fretting. Monday morning first thing we were up and at the mobile as soon as the clock struck nine. No answer. It was busy, we kept calling as advised by Kath. Kath is a lovely, helpful person, good to have around when you are dithering. She offered to call during the day as she wasn't walking. Roy managed to leave a message and we decided to go walking.
We had a great walk. The first day was great too but we encountered lots and lots of mud. It was a bit of an eye opener. We knew that the national walkways go through farm yards and fields but I didn't grasp that it was right through the bloody middle of the field, through muddy ploughed fields. It has been very wet here this summer, very wet indeed. The walk was interesting. We saw churches and homes to die for. I'd love to live Upper Slaughter or Lower Slaughter. Straight out of the pages of a book, complete with working water wheels.
We got back at the end of the day, muddy but happy. That was day one. Day two was again a very nice day.
We walked with Ian as our guide and Marion and Alan from Austrailia. A great moment when the mobile rang - our bag is at Paddington Station. Just like the bear! We were pretty excited. The days walking was better after that. We learned all about the trees, and what to call collective groups of animals and trees, most interesting. The high point of the day came for me not when we waded across a flooded field and my shoe took on water but much later when we crossed a stream. Thankfully, there were rocks forming a water fall. We used the rocks and all was well. Tea cakes and tea at a tea shop in Burford at the end of the day. We had a good day