Day 42 - February 11th

Starting to think about making some Easter cards.

Day 41 - February 10th

Another Valentine doughnut! 😆

Day 40 - February 9th

This afternoon we joined our monthly walking group to walk from Letchworth to Meppershall.

Much of the walk was across fields and there were several wet and muddy patches. But, it was a good walk, with good company and we enjoyed the afternoon. It's never easy to take photos when out in a large group. but I did manage to get a few snaps.

Day 39 - February 8th

Deciding where to go for a walk at this time of year is tricky. We try to avoid muddy routes, which means that a lot of the field walks are a no-no. We are always drawn to waterside walks so this morning we repeated a walk we last did in March last year. We parked at Rye House and walked to Broxbourne, a 6.6 mile circular walk along the River Lee Navigation and New River Path.

We parked at the Rye House Gatehouse and headed alongside the River Lee Navigation towards Broxbourne.

Several times whilst out walking we have noticed these orange objects on the water and wondered what they were. Today we discovered that they are disused Oil Rig Lifeboats. Sometimes the disused lifeboats are repurposed as tiny floating homes. It wasn't clear whether this one had been converted into a useable space.

We followed the water and came across two swans who instantly swam over to us in the hope that we would feed them. They weren't in luck as we had nothing to give them.

Soon we passed by the Fish & Eels pub and then arrived at Dobbs Weir.

We continued following the water and whilst most of the paths were fairly dry and mud-free, some where a little challenging.

We passed the Carthagena Lock which was originally built to mark the defeat of the British Navy when they retired from the siege of Cartagena in Spanish Columbia on April 1741. 

Eventually we reached Broxbourne and retired to the Old Mill Retreat Café for a bite to eat and a hot drink.

We then headed back towards Hoddesdon along the New River Path.

We saw several Little Egrets along this stretch of water. They were once quite a rare sight in the UK but now are quite often seen.

We also spotted some Tufted Ducks which we've not seen before on our walks.

I also spotted the first Crocus flower this year.

Our walk took us through an underpass and past the beautiful murals we had seen previously. Unfortunately since last seeing them they have been the spoiled with graffiti.

Day 38 - February 7th

I'm a sucker for the Krispy Kreme seasonal doughnuts so when I saw this Valentine's Day themed doughnut yesterday I had to buy it.

Day 37 - February 6th

I spotted this ceramic pumpkin in a charity shop today and couldn't resist it although it will now be packed away until the autumn.

Day 36 - February 5th

It was a cold wet day today and when I woke there were strings of water droplets hung on spider's webs in the garden.

Day 35 - February 4th

Scrapbooking time.

Day 34 - February 3rd

I have a beautiful vase of pink roses on the dining table this week. So pretty.

Day 33 - February 2nd

This morning was bright and sunny and we walked one of our favourite routes - Priory Park Bedford to Danish Camp near Willington.

The water level in the river is still very high.

Reaching Danish Camp we stopped for a quick drink and cake whilst overlooking the water.

We were joined briefly by a robin who observed us from the top of a bird feeder.

We then continued our walk and decided to walk onto Willington Lock and Weir.

We then retraced our steps back to Priory Park and noticed a few snowdrops growing alongside the footpath.