A warm winter walk

The weather this week is somewhat mad; the sunshine, blue skies and mild temperatures are whispering about spring, but the wild winds are refusing to let thoughts of winter disappear just yet and when it rains it does so with gusto. We are also on an orange alert for high winds this evening, but so far this winter our little Poitou-Charentes microclimate seems to be doing it’s thing and compared with many other places in France, the UK and the US we really can’t complain. It would really make my winter if we escaped with no snow.

This morning was my first yoga session of the year and it feels good to have given my body a real stretch and enjoy the sense of calm that washes over the mind after the meditation and relaxation. But this afternoon has been anything but relaxing.

After a coffee, the dog and the weather were taunting us to get out, despite the fact we got soaked to the skin yesterday and as today is a hunt day, there is a real risk of being shot!  We didn’t regret it. It was the sort of walk where you start off wrapped up with hat, coat, scarves and gloves, but the further you walk the warmer you get, off come the gloves, down goes the zip on the coat and off comes the scarves and hats. It was a real mind blowing walk – the wind was so strong it blew into every corner of my mind uprooting thoughts long forgotten. It was lovely to feel the sun on our faces, see the vibrant green fields and watch the deer in the distance dash away before the wind carried their scent to Mini’s super sensitive nose. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Having blown the proverbial cobwebs away we lunched on courgette soup, the first tasting of our homemade pork terrine (very yummy, recipe coming soon) and plum cake before kitting up in the lycra and taking the bikes out. Despite the wind we managed to complete our 21km triangle route in an hour. It was the perfect day to road test our new wind block cycle tops and as they worked in the gusts today, normal wind will be a breeze.

Our dog walk lane

Winter ploughed fields

Can you see the deer?

Run!