2 Weeks!

It has been two weeks since my last post! I'm just not a very diligent blogger. I'm sure many of you are following my wife's blog, so you should have decent idea of what is going on. Last weekend, we went hiking in the Peaks just outside the village of Hathersage. It was beautiful.

Walking around here is done on public footpaths. This is an interesting idea which I gather has been around for centuries. The land is private, but the footpaths are public access by law. This means that you can be walking right through a farmers field or someones garden. Coming from the states where property laws and trespassing are almost religion ("You damn kids, get off my lawn"), this is an interesting feeling. Who remembers when Madonna bought an estate over here about two years ago? She tried to get the public footpaths on her property shut down because the paparazzi were using them to photograph her. Parliament kept them intact. An Englishman's right to wander was the way they described it.

It also rained a bit. When we got to the top of the hill on the walk, Amanda and the kids were knackered, so they went off to, as Jim describes it, England's rudest cafe/pub to wait for Jim and I to go get the cars. As Jim and I worked our way back to the car via the footpaths, one took us through some grazing sheep and their lambs. One lamb thought it important to stand his ground and defend his field. About two feet tall and covered in soft wool, he stood firmly on the path baying as we approached. Once it was clear that we weren't going to leave, he trotted off to his mom and hid. Lambs are cute. Tasty and cute.

This weekend, the family went to see Peveril Castle, a Norman Castle built in the 11th century. I took dozens of photos and the family and I had a great time. Amanda says she is going to post a few of the photos so check out here site in the next couple of days.

Sunday (today) I went mountain biking. Holy crap that kicked my ass. We rode on a trail near Ladybower reservoir which had a section considered one of England's 10 best downhills. The elevation change was on the order of 1500 feet. At the top, the wind was cold and brisk. And it pressed my shirt against my gut in the photo. Damn, must drink less beer. Or maybe do like James and fold my arms in photos. Yes, that's it fold my arms.

You can see the reservoir (where we started) down in valley. We started on the far side and rode around it the long way before even starting the accent. I think the whole ride was about 10 miles.

Still waiting to move. Still working constantly. Enjoying every day.