Small celebration

I went out for my first run of any distance in about a month (due to a combination of visiting with Laurie, preparations for holidays, holidays themselves, and good old laziness!) and managed to get all the way to Begbroke and back (just under 6 miles). This called for a small celebration of tea and homemade (by me) gooseberry jam on homemade (by the boyfriend) toast.



The boyfriend put the bread maker on before going to bed last night and fresh bread in the morning more than makes up for being awoken around 6am by the sound of it whirring into action. At first I couldn't work out what the grating noise was and wondered why the workmen had turned up to scrape the road on a Sunday morning when they hadn't turned up during the week. Must remember to shut kitchen door next time.

I noticed a big change in the landscape between this run and my last run along the same route. All the wayside flowers have now gone and in their place the hedgerows are full of blackberries, elderberries, and even a few damsons! If I can get back there with a punnet I'll try to get the ingredients for a hedgerow jam.

I really like running on a Sunday morning. The roads are pretty quiet so I can listen to the birds and the wind in the fields and there are just a few walkers and cyclists out like me on their regular Sunday routine. There's one lady in a stripy top who I see every Sunday when I run out that way and it's nice to say "hello" and "hello again" when I meet her going both ways.

It's harder to make a connection with the Sunday morning drivers. I hate, hate, hate it when drivers pip their horns at me whilst running. Even if it's meant as a friendly gesture (and in many cases I'm sure it's not) it makes me jump right out of my skin and feel pretty vulnerable out there on the road. However, today I had one Eddie Stobart driver give me a flash of his lights and then a really friendly smile and wave and it put a smile on my face too for the next half kilometre or so. When you're out there on your own, whether cycling, running, or driving, it always feels great to connect with another person.