Life on sick leave

After months of very hard work I suddenly wasn't working at all. So what was I doing? Well, there wasn't that much I could do; a lot of the things I could theoretically do involved using my hands too much, so that was off-limits. So much time now to do chores, and no hands to do them with! So I was basically left with reading, walking, and running. And that's what I did! I had more to read than I could shake a stick at; I could brush up my Welsh, my math, and my proofreading. I could even read for pleasure, but that didn't happen an awful lot.

My runs have become a bit longer, as I now have time, and it’s good on my arms. I have been exploring some new routes, and variations on old routes. I have to time it rather sharply now though, as the days are so short.

I also have been going on a few walks; once I went into Nant Ffrancon to explore one of the hanging valleys there I hadn’t been in yet. That wasn't such a good idea; I biked to the start, which was OK as it was uphill, but on the way back I had to squeeze my brakes a bit too much. So I decided to always go from home.

The hanging valley I visited; notice the landslide scar

One day I decided to chase my view; I can see a mast and a hill from my house, and I had been to both several times, but I had never managed to spot my house from there. It has to be possible if I can see them from my window! This time I brought binoculars, and now I have actually seen my own house from these landmarks. On the way back I just tried a few public footpaths I had never got around to.

My house is somewhere in this picture: honest!

Another mission was to see to what extend I could follow the old slate railroad out of town. The answer is: not very much! The route is blocked in very many places. And some just about accessible bits were clearly used for fly-tipping. There was one stretch where there was quite a nice path on the old rail track, but it just ended in a fence with a meadow on the other side. But now I know!

Where it was easy to follow the old railroad; at Felin Fawr

I later also chased up a lot of local public footpaths I had never explored before. Quite a lot of them have rather arbitrary starts or ends. But now I have the time to chase them up anyway!

A distant and soggy public footpath I hadn't tried before