quite a day

1. How not to get lost in County Durham: (a) ask for directions; (b) retrace your steps. Today, since there was nobody around, and because it was less than two hours until the start of Mass, I chose option (b). Of course, I only resorted to option (b) after I had tried the public footpath that went through the stream and then in a direction I was pretty sure was wrong. Back through the stream, up the hill (squish, squish, squish) and onto the road, then back along the bike path, down the hill and up again to the picnic tables I ran (and walked some), and then noticed the sign telling me that the path I had wrongly chosen almost three-quarters of an hour earlier headed to Bishop Auckland. Oh, well. I suppose trial and error isn't necessarily a bad way to get to know a place. I saw a peacock and what appeared to be his mate, and ran past a farm that must have had a bull, judging from the sounds coming from the barn. All in all, not a bad morning. And we weren't even late for church.

2. After church, Anna had her own walkabout through the streets of Durham. Although everyone thought she had headed upstairs, continuing her exploration of the residence at St Cuthbert's, she had taken herself for a walk. Even Fr Tony got involved in the search. Fortunately Anna's guardian angel is really on the ball, and she was fine. Even found a new playground we'll try--together!!--some Sunday after church.

3. Not surprisingly, the search and rescue mission threw our lunch plans into a bit of a tailspin. Since the weather was nice (still! it's amazing!), we decided to try out the picnic area. After all the fuss, it was nice to spread out the blanket in the shade and have a bite to eat together. The kids actually sat (well, Iain wasn't stationary for long) and enjoyed the experience; then they climbed the tree. Lewis and I had a brief conversation, even. Imagine that! So the day ended beautifully despite my wrong turns and Anna's worrying, if brief, disappearance.

Just 8.00 and they're all asleep. We really did have quite a day.