I don't know how to title this...

I have internet. I don't have housing issues (beyond a hole in my living room ceiling). I finally have a keyboard that works. So I can start blogging again! I am sure you're all so very excited.

I had a plan as to how this blog entry would go. But now my mind has gone completely blank. I could talk about what I've been up to since I was last blogging...but it's pretty much just been work (I got a full time job at the place I was doing my internship, which was brilliant.). I don't have much of a social life in Leicester any more. Which is ok, it allows me to save a fair bit, but does not make for a particularly interesting life to blog about. Although, I have bought myself a second hand canon, a new hobby, to go along with my knitting and crochet. I do love my new camera, though I definitely want another lens or two. I'd also like to take some lessons, but that will have to wait until I've saved up some money.

 

Picture of the family dog, taken on my new camera.

I've had a few chances to get used to the camera, although I need to learn to use more than just the auto and AF mode. Although AF mode does lead to some lovely portrait shots.

Case in point. This was taken after my little brothers Confirmation, and I just love what the camera did with this shot.

I also had an opportunity to use the camera for an entire day recently. Corey, who has recently done the Three Peaks challenge (climbing the three highest mountains in Great Britain in 24 hours or less). He suddenly got the hiking bug (ok, he's always had it, as have I...to a certain extent). No longer were wanders over hill and dale for a few hours good enough for him. No, he must now "do something challenging". He wanted to do the Three Peaks with myself and some friends of his, but that failed. He then wanted to go to the Lake District, or the Peak District and do some walks there. But the Lakes were too far, and there was no accommodation in the Peaks. I suggested that we perhaps go and do a nice, pretty circular route around the Chilterns, as we'd have accommodation nearby, plus it'll allow him to see how fit his friends are. But no....Corey decided we'd do a 25 mile walk from the Chilterns, back to St Albans.

Two of his friends didn't make the walk to the end. You can probably guess one of them. You're wrong about the other...

He lied about the length of the route. It was originally going to be closer to 30 miles. But due to me being the only female, and refusing to pee in the bushes (I'd do it if I was truly miles from anywhere, but I'd asked Corey to factor in a pub on his route, and he hadn't), he arranged a detour that cut about 5 miles off the journey. Which was a good thing, as it half killed us. His friends walked at a snails pace for the first two hours, which meant that, instead of it taking 6 hours, it took closer to 10. Which was not good for the feet, or the legs. Two guys dropped out five miles out of St Albans. They got a lift back by one of their mothers. The rest of us continued.

Yes, the friend who decided to walk in jeans dropped out. However, the least fit amongst us pushed to the end. I possibly discovered someone more stubborn than I am.

We got a lift the last bit of the way. Once we'd officially made it into St Albans, I think mentally none of us could bear to continue. Corey and one of his friends were perfectly fine. Apparently. Jasen, Corey's brother, had sore feet. I was grumpy as all hell (tiredness and pain = me acting like a bear with a thorn in its paw), my legs hurt and my feet were killing me.

What I learnt about myself that day was this: I absolutely love walking. I find the countryside to be stunning, I wish I lived closer to it so that I could spend many an hour whiling my way on the hills. But 10 hours of solid walking bores me and makes me grumpy as all hell. And 25 miles of walking is a form of torture. Oh, I will also not pee in the bushes when amongst a group of 6 guys. I'd probably have coped with Corey, Jasen and maybe a couple more. But there's just something about the female anatomy that makes it a bit more difficult to be discrete and render accidental peeing on the foot (or, at least, down the leg...) more likely. I don't know what it is, though...

Anyway, one final picture to finish off my rambling.

A nice picture of the guys walking into the distance, before two of them chickened out

Ok...so I went from an unstructured ramble, to a talk about a 25 mile walk...Blame that on the Olympics being a distraction. From now on I'll be trying to structure the blog a bit more. I'll be using the blog to spur on my various projects. I'm currently making an i-chord rug, and a crocheted pillow. At some point soon I'll probably talk about both. Oh, and my new found hair dressing skills....