I did Skype (is that really a verb?) with my parents, sister, brother in law and niece, as we’ve been doing every week now for a while. So that was good.

I did the washing. Including washing the shower curtain.

I cleaned the bathroom.

I set up a new monitor stand for the two monitors connected to my work laptop, which made a lot more space on the desk.

I setup Outlook on my phone, tablet and lounge PC with all of the email accounts I needed. I also imported all of my Gmail contacts, after much fiddling.

I didn’t have to “go to work”.

4. I’m still Scouting 3. I still have a full time job. 2. I’m still here & healthy. 1. My family are still here (or rather, there) & healthy.

Maybe it wasn’t such an unproductive day. Also, while those last four items in numerical order are true, does it really matter if it wasn’t?

Well, actually, yes it does. I have a great many things on my task list that I could have done more of. I didn’t do anything much to improve anyone else’s life, to help anyone else. When I think of how much some people do – in comparison, I’ve done nothing. Yes, a lot of other people will have done even less than I have today, but that’s no way to look at it.

Not bad, but could try harder. Tomorrow then.

The post Day 39 of however many first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

It has made me reflect on what’s important. What I believe to be important. Being kind. Being nice. No, just doing those things doesn’t pay the bills – certainly not in my job – one has to actually do productive work at the same time. But I don’t understand why one can’t be kind at the same time – be reasonable, understanding. Hell, just listen to what people are actually saying to you for a start.

Perhaps this doesn’t make much sense without the specifics of the situation. But I can’t provide specifics. It just made me realise how important, and unfortunately sometimes how rare, it is to be kind, generous, good humoured. It’s not until you start talking to someone who doesn’t have, or rather doesn’t exhibit those qualities, that you realise how important they are.

Anyway, it’s the end of the week. I have the luxury of a weekend. A weekend with good weather apparently. Am I going to go out and sit in the park or get in the car and go to take unlimited exercise somewhere? No. I’ll exercise (yes – I have actually been doing some of that during lock down – evidence on the left there), and I’ll enjoy the sunshine, but within the confines of my house and back garden.

The post Day 31 of however many first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

So, have I got anything to say today? Not a huge amount springs to mind. I could talk about a lot of things –

• The intelligence (or lack of) in suggesting people can freely go to the park as much as they want now, when a lot of people were apparently already ignoring the restrictions in the first place.
• How our Scouts, and Scouting is keeping me sane.
• Frustrations over transferring my websites from Plesk to cPanel because cPanel is so much easier to use.
• Where did the weekend go?
• How did it become the middle of May already?

No, I haven’t got a huge amount to talk about. In any case, I aught to get on with some work.

The post Day 29 of however many first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

What did matter was that the Scouts and their families were really engaged and threw themselves into it. It was really encouraging for future virtual camps – after all, it was really only a trial. Scout camps are normally for two nights, but because I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, we only ran it for one night this time.

The camp itself was really enjoyable, but it was some of the comments from the Scouts and parents afterwards that really made it great. I don’t think I’d realised just how valuable something like this could be, in lifting our Scouts spirits.

Now, onto the next one. We have another one-nighter on the 30th, taking part in the world record attempt, but then I intend to run a two night camp at home.

The post Day 5 of however many first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

All I’ve managed to do today is work. And be annoyed by work. That’s a lie. I was only annoyed by some people at work, not all of them. And that’s not the only thing I’ve managed to achieve today. I joined the online Cubs meeting, which was fun, and I applauded our underfunded and unappreciated key workers.

What else? That’s about it I’m afraid. We’ve got our first camp at home sleepover tomorrow night, which I hope will go well.

The post Day 2 of however many first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

Tonight I’ve had a bottle of wine. Is that the way forwards? Probably not. Especially considering the fact that the only currently reliable method of purchasing wine is via Beelivery, which is extortionate.

So, what?

What I could do with doing is achieving something during the day, and writing about it. That is what got me through PW20. I was reliving some of the moments earlier. And what I could do with doing is cutting back on the alcohol. I have already actually. Since this started, I have cut back a great deal. What’s more, I’ve actually started exercising. For the last, what, month or so, I’ve been on my exercise bike for about four miles every day. And I do mean every day.

The post Day 1 of however many first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

Anyway. It’s been a while since I last wrote in here. What am I telling you that for? You can quite clearly see that for yourself. Is that a problem? Not neccessarily. I’ve evidently not had anything of note to share via this medium. So why now? Why not?

Also, I have my brain to unscramble. Two weeks (or is it three now?) into lockdown things have started to go slightly south. By that I mean wrong. Not that the south is wrong. It’s just a phrase. Perhaps the fact that I felt the need to explain what it meant indicates that it’s not a phrase in popular use. I don’t know. Okay, I just looked it up. It seems it is a known phrase. Where was I? Brain, unscramble, gone south. Right.

I like living on my own. I do. It suits me. I like the idea of living with other people, as a concept, but it really isn’t something I’m suited to. At least, not full time. Sometimes though, I think it would be good for me to have someone around to, quite frankly, slap me in the face and tell me to stop being an idiot. I’m reminded of an episode of Red Dwarf where Kryten designs a Rimmer style theme park with the intention of keeping Lister sane. I sometimes need something like that. Have you seen Red Dwarf? It was very good. The latter series have gone a bit south though.

So yes, sometimes I could do with a slap in the face. I have a tendency to dwell on things and amplify negative thoughts. I don’t need someone to tell me to cheer up – that would just be annoying. For that matter, having someone who slapped me in the face would be annoying as well. I don’t know. Perhaps that’s it – having someone to annoy me would keep me sane. What’s so great about sanity though? I think it could be over-rated.

Perhaps what I need is to take a step back, look at things objectively, and talk to you. As I have done. Sorted. Thank-you for listening.

The post It’s Been A While first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

First of all some words about the Forest View Walkers Inn. It’s a fantastic place, really brilliant. Sorry, hyperbole again. But it really is. It’s the ideal stopping point for walkers in Byrness, and it’s ideally situated to help with splitting that murderous final day. We stayed the first night, after hiking from Bellingham, we hiked to the halfway point at Windy Gyle the next day, they collected us from nearby (2 miles nearby), we stayed the second night, then they bussed us back out to 2 miles below Windy Gyle to finish the walk. And when I say they bussed us – it took about half an hour along single track military roads, so not for the faint hearted, and taking a sizeable chunk out of their very busy schedules.

Unfortunately Adam has sustained an ankle injury, and, after persuasion, relented to retiring from the hike before the end (if you’ve seen the photo of his ankle on Facebook you’ll understand why). We agreed early on that it was a team effort though – I covered Adam as he covered me. So I started the final day, after the rollercoaster ride along the military roads. The climb up from the drop-off point at Trows Farm was, frankly, rude. Two miles almost straight up along a farm track to Windy Gyle, in the same kind of heat and sunshine we’d “enjoyed” during the first couple of days.

Then, apart from meeting two national park wardens who were mending a fence, I didn’t see anyone until near Auchope Cairn. On the climb to said cairn I met a lady who we’d encountered at the Forest View. She’s walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats in aid of pancreatic cancer research. She’s taking it a little more steadily than us, but is mainly camping or sleeping in mountain refuge huts (as was her stopping point for today, just down from Auchope).

It was at Auchope that I lunched, looking down into the valleys and over the summits that I had yet to climb for the day. Although it looked frightening from where I sat – the amount of metres to climb, miles to walk – I was soon at the summit of The Schil.

From there I elected to take the lower route down to Kirk Yetholm – a gentle descent, followed by a sharp descent, and then some road walking into the village. Followed by a sharp ascent, then descent into the village.

So that’s it for now, for PW20. As the next couple of days pass I may share more thoughts. For now, we’re off to bed.

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The post Day 19 – Trows Farm – Kirk Yetholm first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

I’ve decided this is going to be the last time I do any kind of long distance walking. I know I shouldn’t be talking about last times for things in my early forties, but my body is telling me it’s at its limit, and it’s not overly happy with it. Am I glad I’ve done the Pennine Way again? Ask me that in a different way. Am I glad to have had the challenge of doing the Pennine Way again? Yes. Have I enjoyed it? It’s odd – many people have said “enjoy the walk” or “enjoy your day” when we’ve departed our accommodation in the morning, or when we’ve met people along the Way. But I’ve said to myself that the only time I’ve really enjoyed a day’s walk is when it’s over. It’s the sense of satisfaction after the event that’s the enjoyable part. The scenery along the Way is of course stunning, and there are many occasions where you can only fully appreciate the landscape by walking through it. Maybe, as I look down at my battered boots, I’m still looking at things through the eyes of the punch-drunk boxer – given a few more days to recuperate, I dare say I’ll be able to answer the question of enjoyment with a little more positivity.

Today then. Last time, we did these two days in one – thirty miles from Byrness to Kirk Yetholm, up at 4am, getting into Kirk Yetholm at 6pm. Madness. Sheer madness. This time, we set off from Byrness with only fifteen miles to go to the halfway point at Windy Gyle.

Straight out of Byrness, one has the very rude climb up Byrness Hill. It’s rather an unforgiving climb through the hot closeness of the pine forest that encompasses Byrness.

Once you’re up on the ridge, overlooking Byrness it’s fine, and it’s a wonderful 360 degree view. It sets one up for what to expect from the next ten miles or so. The day consists of rising from the ridge to a summit, then dropping back down a little, rising a little more to a higher summit, dropping back down again. We elected to skip over the Roman Chew Green, cutting out half a mile, and removing the need to drop down and then climb back up from it. Our lift back to Byrness was kind enough to stop and give us a better view of Chew Green anyway.

Lunch was taken outside the mountain refuge, just after a group of squaddies had departed it. Another group of squaddies walked past after them. The day’s walk did run alongside a military training area / artillery range, so I dare say they were on some form of exercise. But, apart from those, the only other people along the walk were right at the end – two Geordie hikers at Windy Gyle.

Tomorrow then. The final day. I’ll say it again just to savour the sounds of the words – the final day. Trows Farm to Kirk Yetholm.

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The post Day 18 – Byrness – Trows Farm first appeared on Ceri's Blog.

Our first challenge for the morning was obtaining breakfast and lunch, as our Youth Hostel was self-catering. We’d established that the cafe across from the pub did breakfast, but had foolishly made an assumption about the time that they would open. Half past eight, we discovered, was the time of opening when we arrived on their doorstep at half past seven. So the Co-op had to oblige for breakfast as well as lunch.

As we set out for the day we came across a sad sight – the youth hostel we’d stayed at twenty years ago. It was a shadow of its former self, surrounded by undergrowth.  was nearly a mile out of the town, up a hill. Twenty years ago we had to walk up to the hostel, walk down into town for tea, walk back up to the hostel, walk down into town for breakfast, then walk back up the hill to start the day’s walking. So in actual fact, it wasn’t sad at all – it was fantastic being in the centre of town this time around.

Anyway. It was looking like a day of two halves again – half on the moorland, half in the forest. But it didn’t quite turn out like that. The moorland was pretty much as expected, and we took a couple of wrong turnings over the right to roam area. There was a clearly walked path to begin with, and it continued, but, when I double checked, we were walking several hundred yards off the path, following the trodden path of a randomer who had also clearly lost the path. With the use of Adam’s nose and GPS, we were reaquainted with the true path just in time for lunch at Whitley Pike.

After a couple of low level climbs, we then saw the forest ahead of us. Or rather, to begin with, a huge climb down into a valley, and sharp climb up the other side of the valley, just before the forest.

When we did get to said forest, it seemed the foresters had been rather trigger happy with their chainsaws. Acres of tree stumps and pulverised earth was laid before us. Obviously that part of the plantation had matured and had been felled, and there were plenty more plantations to walk through. And I do mean plenty more. Around six miles of nothing but forestry road and pine trees, the only variation being the gradient of the road.

At the end of all that is the small village of Byrness. Most of the village was built by the Forestry Commission to house it’s workers in the 1930s. Lots of other facts and figures exist, but all that we’re concerned with tonight is the Forest View Walkers Inn, our home for the next two nights.

Tomorrow we enter the final two days, over the Cheviots, into Scotland, and the day after tomorrow into Kirk Yetholm.

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The post Day 17 – Bellingham – Byrness first appeared on Ceri's Blog.