For some years now I have been following the Hobbits' journey, as described in The Lord of the Rings. The web site Eowyn Challenge, which helpfully breaks the journey down and provides tables of mileage is, somewhat surprisingly, still running even though the original challenge ran in 2003.

It has taken me 12 years to accomplish what the Hobbits achieved in just one, but it's a handy way of recording mileage and ensuring that I don't become too sedentary. When I started out, I used to post my walks to LJ, but in recent years there were fewer special expeditions to build up the mileage and it became just a way of recording routine miles walked.

Anyway, when I came to update my spreadsheet, the miles walked during our trip to Cardiff (total 24) brought me to Rivendell*.

So now I am embarking on what was the final stage for some of the Hobbits, Rivendell to Bag End. After that there will just be Frodo's journey to the Grey Havens to complete before deciding where to "go" next. I don't think I'm going to start all over again. One trip to Mordor is enough! But there is the mileage for Bilbo's journey in the Hobbit, so that's a possibility.

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^[*] The couple of extra miles beyond what was needed to reach Rivendell can be regarded as wandering round exploring the elvish woodland settlement.

Further to the photos of the scarf I finished recently, I'm currently crocheting a net with the left over yarn that will be a hammock for the group of small soft toys that currently live on the top of the bookcase. If they could live in the hammock, then I can get another row of books on top of the bookcase and possibly get rid of one of the boxes from my study.

If the idea works, I'll post photos in due course.

I never have any problems about going to bed at a proper time, but sometimes sleeping well has been a problem. It's undoubtedly too much stress about politics.

I'm trying to work out how to cut down on Facebook and Twitter. I can't cut them out entirely, or I get worried and stressed that I don't know what's going on, but if I read for too long, I start getting obsessed and end up sleeping badly. Finding that balance isn't easy.

I used to rely on the BBC and ITV news, but the BBC is not trustworthy any more and seems to be obsessed with "balance". This sounds reasonable, but it means that if 99 economists say that Brexit will be disaster and one says it will be fine, the BBC decide there are two sides to the argument and they have to have an expert from each side and give them equal air time. The also seem obsessed with Farage, who has a more or less permanent slot on Question Time and is forever being interviewed and never held to account. He's just allowed to waffle on.

23/52 for the Flickr group 2019 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: W is for Water

Luckily we had a walk planned for yesterday up to Moel yr Ogof to see the disused copper mine and Owain Glyndŵr's cave. We passed this waterfall on the way up the valley.



I'll post more photos of the walk later.

22/52

I didn't get round to taking a photo for the theme this week, so this is an off-topic shot.

The yarn was not something I would have bought, but I found it while we were clearing my cousin's home after she died and I thought I'd use it up.

It was horrible to knit, but it's very soft and pretty when finished.



There was still half a ball of this colourway left, so I'm making a hammock for the small soft toys that currently live on the top of the bookcase. Unexpectedly, it turns out that it crochets more easily than it knitted.

There is also another ball in a different colour combination and, thanks to a tip from a friend from the Usenet writers' group who I still follow on Facebook, I'll try crocheting it along with a friendlier yarn to make a triangular scarf.

Over on Twitter, someone I follow posted a link to this video.

He said, "I’m stuck just on the beginning bit with the coins. You managed to balance them without rolling how?"

Well, I couldn't resist the challenge. It turned out to be far easier than I expected. You just need a level desk and a steady hand. Not that I'd have the time or patience to set up that many coins, not to mention the dominoes!

Current Mood: smug

21/52 for the Flickr group 2019 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: U is for Unexpected

It was my birthday last Friday and I'd expected to spend it quietly at home, as usual. But, unexpectedly, our daughter texted to say that she had wangled a day off and would we like to meet somewhere in Mid Wales. (She lives in Cardiff, we live in North Wales.)

So I had an unexpected day out having a nice walk around the Bwlch Nant yr Arian forest trails before having a light lunch in the cafe.

So today was my birthday and a very nice day it was. First our son phoned from Turkey, where he's currently on holiday with his family, so that my grandson and littlest granddaughter could sing Happy Birthday to me. Then at 10 a.m. we set off to meet our daughter at the Bwlch Nant yr Arian visitor centre in Mid Wales. She had texted yesterday to see if we were free and though my first instinct is always to decline an unexpected invite with some excuse, I thought, what happened to spontaneity? So I said "yes" and we had a lovely day out.

Though we spent some time in that area recently, we visited the nearby lead mines not the visitor centre in the forest, so it was new to us. Though the weather was slightly weird, being both warm and strangely misty, we had a very nice walk around some of the forest tracks, as far as a lake, (about 4 miles) and then had lunch in the cafe before driving back. My present of a miniature rose bush, wine and chocolates was delivered shortly afterwards. We're just having our usual Friday night pizzas tonight, but I'll cook a roast dinner tomorrow to extend my birthday celebration.

20/52 for the group 2019 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: T is for Touch

I still use this iPod Touch, though in computer years it's positively ancient, being at least 10 years old. I suppose I could listen to music on my phone, but I prefer to keep things separate and anyway this is smaller and fits in a pocket better when I'm out walking.

Current Mood: tired

19/52 for the Flickr group 2019 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: S is for Spotty

I do like using fountain pens whenever possible as I love the way they write. When the last bottle of ink ran out, I treated myself to some more expensive ink and the bottle comes in this nice black and gold spotty box.

It's rather a desperation shot but I hadn't found anything spotty all week, partly due to cold rainy weather keeping me indoors. The pen was £3 with free postage from China. It's rather heavy, so I don't put the cap on the end of the barrel when writing like I normally do, but it writes well and is just the thing for making To-Do lists.

Current Mood: accomplished