Special moments

Some of you will know that this is a fairly rare occurrence of me in front of the camera but, special moments deserve exceptions to the rule.

A few weeks ago, Rich did a Sportive ride which went exceptionally close to my auntie and uncle's and near to where my grandma used to live.  Given the ride was considerably flatter than over here, I thought it would be a good one to do and test out my leg, along with a small detour to surprise these two lovely people.  I took the van over last night and had a cosy night in an empty field before setting off this morning for what turned out to be a 100km ride which pleased me no end.

We couldn't remember when the last moment would have been shared together but when I got back on my bike after an hour of nattering in their cosy kitchen, I suddenly realised that it was probably at our wedding 16 years ago.  But, given my inability to chat in big groups, we certainly didn't talk there.  So, really, quality time was much longer ago than that.

Before I left their village, I headed on up the road to visit my grandma's old house.  Distances that seemed miles as a child were really only a couple of hundred yards up the road.  Funny how legs grow and distances shorten!  The cottages looked lovely (and smaller and I remembered more of them than there actually were) but what drew my attention was the downpipe meeting the floor.  

Where I'd found a toad.  
And took it proudly inside in my cupped hands, 
"Look what I've found!" 
[screeching from grandma]

I guess my love of nature was in the heart a long time ago.  

I'm glad I stopped by.