It's great up North — my funny eye

OMG, that heat wave we’ve just had was quite something! Have you guys also had it? It was insane here. Luckily we were away during most of it in the Cotswolds (and yes, pics to come from that little trip away too!), but our house was like a sauna when we got back on Tuesday afternoon, and it was only yesterday, after Thursday night’s thunderstorm and heavy rain, that I felt fully functioning. Let me tell you as a lady of a certain age that heatwaves and hot flushes combined is no joke. Much respect to my menopausal sistas living in hotter climes!

Anyway anyway anyway. Still have some Yorkshire pics to share with you. On our second day there we went to Dalby Forest for a walk, and this section of the walk reminded me so much of our summer hikes in the Alps, but it was like someone had just photoshopped out the mountains. You can also mountain bike your way around, but it wasn’t possible to rent any bikes, because, you know, Covid.

Everyone loves a walk in the woods, whether you’re young or old, whether it be your local one or a new one. This Carl Jung quote I read at Swiss Miss the other day really resonated with me: “Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilisation take a walk in the woods, or a bath in the sea. Entering the unconscious, entering yourself through dreams, is touching nature from the inside, and this is the same thing, things are put right again.”

This brook looked so tempting to dip my feet in, but I didn’t.

In one section of the path we had to step carefully so we didn’t crush tiny little frogs to death.

Using tree roots to get up.

L waiting - and seeing what wearing a face mask upside down was like while he did.

On the way back to our friend’s house we took a detour so we could drive through the North York Moors. They didn’t disappoint. That vast expanse really felt planetary, if that makes sense. I also really loved the colours; the purple of the heather against the browns and greens looked amazing. All the colours below the sky in this picture would make such an opulent colour scheme for a room don’t you think?