Sunday Run

Today I ran around some trails on a hill that we can see from our house (on the right of the image below). I couldn't get to the top ridge, despite trying a few different routes, as the clouds were thick and the incline was more than a pair of running shoes could hang on to. I had an ace time regardless

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/71203058

Pickleswim

Today Lucius tried out her new goggles and swimming cap. She had her head underwater as much as possible, and is fast becoming a fish

Chop Chop

Lucius started using chopsticks today!

Garden

Today the sun shone and temperatures rose enough for the ground to thaw and for us to garden happily without coats. We made the most of it and set about tidying some of the damage done by a couple of weeks of very cold weather, and a bit of snow. Lucius is next to our very healthy looking garlic on her left

The broccoli was a bit burned by the cold, but the sprouts were great and the beets were passing themselves off as purple parsnips

The garden is not yet bursting back to life, but that makes for lovely colors and textures (as with these cardoons)

Sunday Run

Far be it from us to allow this to become a dry running blog. However, we do want to share the views of a local mountain in our valley

The Port d'Aste is a small collection of farmer's cabins at about 1050meters

The route winds up a seemingly never-ending zig-zag of tracks

Only about half of the tracks on the way up were runnable, but it was all good fun

The dark line across the middle of the picture is the farmer's village. It's currently deserted, but cattle are kept cool here during the summer months

By this point the run had happily become a hike

Looking up...

And down. You can just make out the road where the Landy was waiting with coffee and chocolate

The run down was a very steep network of loose stone paths and snow, but it was much easier than going up

I saw this track, and our vote is a small bear(!) Any insight, anyone?

Views From The Trail

We have a great running trail close to the house which is lush and green in the summer, and muddy and challenging in the winter. It's a 9-10km very hilly loop. It is an ideal playground, and I've yet to see another person on it (The arrow in the picture marks our house)

The sights and sounds of running water...

...or ice are always close by

And the nearby mountains provide excellent views

Strangely, this trail is also home to a London bus

Last road-taxed in the UK in 1979, it sits in a spot far from any road, at a point that's completely inaccessible by anything other than foot or bike

It's slowly rotting into the landscape

And it always makes me smile when I run by

Twitcher Alert

During the past week we've noticed some new neighbours. It might be colder than usual weather driving them south, but for the first time we've scores of Northern Lapwings (or Peewits) taking up residence at Chez Nous. Very nice they are too

Working

Here is Lucius, hard at work on various birthday card masterpieces at her wonderful new Xmas easel. Note the double coffee cup holders for those long nights before a deadline