white_hart

I didn't think I'd get a chance to walk this weekend, as T was out quizzing yesterday and today we were having lunch with my parents, after which T was heading off to Wantage to watch the Superb Owl with his Best Friend. It was a lovely sunny day, though, and the countryside looked so pretty when I drove a ridiculously long way round to Sainsbury's yesterday in the interests of charging up the car battery a bit, and I realised when I was on the bus home from town just after three o'clock that the afternoons have drawn out enough that there would still be a bit more than an hour of proper daylight left when I got home, so I dashed in, changed into walking clothes, grabbed my walking poles for extra stability on icy bits and set off down the canal.

I was planning to walk down the canal to the bridge for the Stratfield Brake nature reserve, go round the reserve and back up the canal, but the towpath was icy enough that the going was a bit slower than normal (I was very glad of the poles) and by the time I'd got to the lake in the reserve I realised that it was only about a quarter of an hour to sunset and I didn't want to risk being still on the icy towpath when it got dark. I could have walked home via the road, but that seemed a bit boring, so I just walked through the birchwoods and out to the bus stop to catch the bus home. It wasn't a very long walk - only about three miles - but it was good to get outside and have some fresh air and sunshine.