Three tales. One, Colonel Forrester’s expedition up the Wolverine River in 1880s Alaska, recently purchased by the United States of America, and his small group’s encounters with the native peoples. Two, his new wife Sophie’s experiences of pregnancy, friendship and the new science/art of photography in Vancouver Barracks. Three, the present day correspondence between a young museum curator in Alpine, Alaska, and the sole surviving member of the Forrester family.
Birds play an important role, and there’s a hint of the magical, mythical too.
Annual Family Treat at The Angel, Abergavenny. Storm Goretti non event. First GVWC walk of 2026. Cold snap turns warm and wet. Garage and path almost done…. Snowdrops and aconites emerging.
Dore Abbey from the Deer Field Stile
Good day on Tuesday. Caught up on lots of admin and ticked off lots of To Dos, had a short, sunny stroll with P and drove over to Winchester for tea, cake and sympathy (colds continued). Only glitch was missing the library opening hours by 5 mins which meant I couldn’t pick up my reservations. Oh well.
Army camp helicopters have resumed after the Festive Break.
Wednesday was Pippa’s (Witham) birthday, so obviously she’d been out celebrating last night as she was sick just after her morning LickyLix plus pill. B&R arrived to do a bit more work on the path while the weather’s warmer and P and I headed over to the gym. I managed DIY PT No. 2.
Walking home from Pontrilas doubled up as my Recce for most of Saturday’s GVWC walk: Ewyas Harold – Dulas – Cott Farm – Ewyas Harold Common – Deer Farm – Dore Abbey – River Dore & Abbey Dore Court – Home.
Strava Map & Graph: Walking home from Pontrilas
Distance: 6.25 miles
Moving Time: 1h 53m
Elevation Gain: 636 ft
Admin in the afternoon.
Thursday was D-Day for Storm Goretti – we’re on the edge of the amber weather warning for snow but spent the morning under light grey clouds.
Met Office Weather Forecast for Storm Goretti
A good day for admin, GVWC prep, starting the Photos & Notes blogpost for last year’s Nepal trip.
We woke on Friday to find that Storm Goretti had proven to be a bit of a damp squib in this part of Herefordshire – a bit of snow overnight but nothing to warrant an orange warning, not even a yellow one. About 1cm max settled but once we got to daylight everything started melting and it was pretty much all gone by the end of the day. Quite a disappointment!
Storm Goretti snowy-ish scenes
Quick trip to Belmont returning with two cold weather inspired library books I’d reserved, and settled in on the sofa to start the first of them, about William Barents of the Barents Sea fame. Did a bit of computer-y admin too but not feeling in the mood for flickring Nepal photos. Pizza by Phil for tea – not had one for ages.
Saturday was my first GVWC walk for the year – a 5 mile circular from Ewyas Harold taking in Dore Abbey and Dulas Court. I’m always a little apprehensive beforehand, and one point in the week I had 28 walkers and 5 dogs signed up… In the end it was 24 people and 4 dogs and a very sociable walk with beautiful blue skies and sunshine overhead, ice and mud at times underfoot, with drinks and food at The Temple Bar Inn afterwards.
I was glad we were out walking on the Saturday as it turned out to be the last day in the cold snap – Sunday was a miserable mizzly day, not nearly so nice. Not that that mattered as Saturday was our annual treat from dad of a family night at The Angel in Abergavenny. 12 of us this year starting off with double strength Gs & Ts and continuing in fine style. No hangover!
Home on Sunday after a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, Pips pleased to have us back to tend to her every need. I spent most of the rest of the day reading on the sofa.
Serious puss
Up early on Monday ready for B&R and their plumber to arrive at 7.15am to disconnect the LPG so that B&R could finish the cladding. We got the log stove going, glad it’s a wet, warm-ish day. Computed upstairs for a few hours then headed into Hereford with Phil and JG. Late lunch at The Courtyard.
Returned home in the dark, B just heading off after getting lots done: cladding completed, water butt set up, brushes added to the top and bottom of the garage door and path all done bar the final layer of slate bits.
We got the fire going again. FTs with M&K in N. Italy and S&S in Lancs, then settled down in the lounge with reading and the warmth of the log stove. Easy to read when you’ve got a good book on the go (currently Eowyn Ivey’s To the Bright Edge of the World).
In less good news, Pips was sick twice.
Lots more snowdrops out, and the glint of yellow from the aconites down by the small pond.
Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World – Andrea Pitzer
An alright, but not amazing, narrative of Dutch navigator William Barents‘s three attempts to find the “north east passage” around the top of Russia and to establish a trade route between the newly declared Dutch Republic and China.
The late 16th century is a busy period in the history of exploration under sail and in the political and economic histories of European nations. And so I found the earlier chapters, covering the emergence of the Dutch Republic as an international trading power, the motivations behind sponsoring Barents’ explorations north and east of Norway in seas uncharted by Europeans – they’re not yet “expeditions” – and in the various theories and thoughts about what would be found in the Arctic more interesting than the retelling of the final trip when his ship and crew were caught in the ice and had to survive the long Arctic winter on the island of Nova Zembla / Novaya Zemlya.
There are only so many times I can read about close shaves with polar bears before they become monotonous and predictable. And other than scavenging for wood and hauling small boats over ice, there’s not much else that happens!
At least I now know how the Barents Sea came to carry that name.
Goodbye 2025. Hello 2026. A cold snap and lots of lovely walks.
Blorenge from Llanfoist: Sugar LoafDragon’s Back & Waun Fach in the snow: white Black Mountains Panorama from Castell Dinas
To the gym on Tuesday for my last gym class of 2025 followed by my last PT of the year too. Speedy turn around at home then into Hereford to check on dad and Jean (the cold season is in full effect) and to get some more meal worms for those hungry birds. We’ve a cold spell on the way.
Up late on Wednesday but the fields were still covered in frost – a beautiful sunny New Year’s Eve day, cold and with clear blue skies. A quick trip into Hereford took up the rest of the morning and the blue skies were just right for an afternoon walk over the Common for a drink at The Temple.
Cat’s Back and Hatterrall Ridge from the footpath up onto EH Common
Home for some reading on the sofa (catching up on LRBs) followed by tea (leftovers still going strong!) and telly – the first few episodes of Los años nuevos were just the thing to watch while saying farewell to 2025 and hello to 2026.
Sunset over the Skirrid
On Thursday morning we welcomed in the first day of 2026 with croissants and extra coffee in the lounge. In less good news, the Kia’s overnight eco charging had failed again and drained the 12V battery. This time I did the jump start and Phil went out for the top up drive.
It’s so difficult trying to work out the root cause of the problem(s). Is the 12V battery? Is it the MyEnergi Charger? And/or the MyZappi software? And/or the fact we’re on Octopus’ Intelligent Go tariff for the eco option? And/or the Octopus App? And/or the Kia e-Niro main battery? And/or the Kia software?
We walked to Kerrys Gate and back to try to degrump.
After lunch I spent a couple of hours bonfiring the two miles of hedge cuttings in the Quarry. It took a while to get them going, but the kindling cardboard tray from the log shed (which was showing signs of historic nesting mice) did the trick. Occasional light showers of cold sleet prompted me to go back indoors once most of the bonfire was done. I – and my clothes – now smell of woodsmoke.
Another achievement for New Year’s Day was buying tickets for walks in this year’s Talgarth Walking Festival, which runs over the first May bank holiday weekend. JP and I are co-leading a walk on the Sunday so I bought tickets for walks on the Saturday and Monday. Thankfully they’ve sorted out whatever it was that made it so hard to complete the purchasing process last year. So, all being well, I’ll be walking on all three days and Steffi and Hazel are coming too:
Saturday 02 May: TWF2026-231 Cusop Christmas Tree Walk (3 Boot)
Sunday 03 May: TWF2026-341 Offa’s Dyke – Hay to Kington (4 Boot)
Monday 04 May: TWF2026-442 Cwm Crawnon Horseshoe (4 Boot)
Bit down on Friday. Perked up with Phil ditched the gym in favour of joining me on a walk: Blorenge from Llanfoist. Sunny but flipping freezing in the wind and nippy in the shade. Fab views from the top – Pen y Fan et al, Waun Fach and Hatterall Ridge were all dusted with snow.
Strava Map & Graph: Blorenge from Llanfoist
Distance: 8½ miles
Elevation Gain: 1,923 ft / 585m
Moving Time: 3 hours
Elapsed time: 3h 30m
Mary walking up Blorenge (Phil’s Photo)Mary at Blorenge trig point (Phil’s Photo)Blorenge from Llanfoist: Sugar Loaf, Skirrid and Abergavenny
Back home via Waitrose (foody treats) and Toolstation (to collect 4 x 2134mm long Stormguard Heavy Duty Large Brush Strips for the garage doors) for a late lunch (4pm). Treats for tea watching the lovely Flow on the telly.
Clear skies and a super sunny day, coffee and croissants – and the Kia having charged overnight without any problem – provided a good start to a frosty Saturday. The cars had either a light dusting of snow or a thick frost, and the bird bath was frozen solid.
Spent the rest of the morning at the gym (it has been another late start!). CH is away for a fortnight so I’m aiming to go to the gym when Phil does and do my PT sessions on a DIY basis. So far, so good. Phil’s sessions last longer than mine so I’m adding some stretches to fill in the time. Hopefully they’ll also help make my hip flexors, hamstrings, calves and ankles longer and happier.
Back for lunch then computer admin, in spite of the glorious sunshine. I did venture outside to defrost the bird bath and to make some holes in the ice of the big pond, but decided it would be too nippy in the increasing shade, and I’ve a lot of admin to work through including needing to download the 18 photobooks I’d made with Blurb’s BookSmart over the years and import them into BookWright. Blurb is shutting down BookSmart at the end of the month but thankfully they’ve put in place a very straightforward identify-download-import process. Big tick.
Set the alarm for Sunday morning to make sure I was up and out by 9am to meet up with JP, J&C to walk the Llathony Loop (South) from Llanthony Priory: Llanthony – Hatterall Ridge – Hatterall Hill – Cwmyoy – across the valley floor to the other Ridge – Murder Stone (Revenge Stone) – Beehive Cairn – Bal Bach – Llanthony.
Strava Map & Graph: Llanthony Loop (South)
Distance: 10½ miles
Elevation Gain: 2,302 ft
Moving Time: 4h 12m
Elapsed Time: 5h 37m
We set off under blue skies and bright sunshine but had horizontal snow for most of the second half the route. A hot chocolate in the Cellar Bar back at Llanthony Priory provided a lovely end to a lovely day’s walking.
Herefordshire from Hatterall RidgeSnowing at the Murder Stone (Revenge Stone), Hatterall Hill behindBack in Llanthony and heading for the Cellar Bar!
Out again for another walk on Monday. This time over to Pengenffordd to meet up with Sonia, Sara and Grace to do the Dragon’s Back – Waun Fach Circular. Blue skies again and sunny too plus fresh snow overnight made for beautiful walking conditions. But we had a biting wind from Waun Fach down to Pen Trumau and the Col.
Strava Map & Graph: Dragon’s Back & Waun Fach in the snow
Route: Pengenffordd – Castell Dinas / Dinas Castle (450m) – Y Grib / Dragon’s Back – Waun Fach (809m) – Pen Trumau (707m) – Col – Cwmfforest – Pengenffordd
Distance: 7½ miles
Elevation Gain: 2,210 ft / 674m
Moving Time: 3h 39m
Elapsed Time: 4h 36m
Just made it to Latte Da for tea and cake before they closed. Home via Waitrose.
Dragon’s Back & Waun Fach in the snow: Me on the Dragon’s BackDragon’s Back & Waun Fach in the snow: Pen y Fan & CribynDragon’s Back & Waun Fach in the snow: Sheep
Snowdrops are out down by the small pond.
Shoots – snowdrops and daffodils – are appearing in and around the paving slabs of the rose garden, below the camellia, by the hedge by the conservatory, by the septic tank and all around the pear tree and bird bath. So we’re treading carefully…
Long tailed tits seem to be coming to the peanut bird feeder most days. Perhaps it’s just because of the cold.
B & R finished up for the festive season, after spending a cold and gloomy Tuesday outside laying down the brick edging for the path around the west side of the house.
Path in progress
Early afternoon we headed over to Charnwood to see JG and to residents, family and friends in the jam packed lounge for Chrismas Carols. Very festive and accompanied by very tasty mince pies made by the ktchen team!
On Wednesday morning, Phil and I headed out to deliver the local Christmas cards.
Strava Map & Stats: Delivering the Christmas Cards
Nice to be outside on a nice day even though it was cold, and as sociable as usual so it was early afternoon by the time we got back.
In the evening we squeezed three onto the sofa in the telly room and watched Challengers on iPlayer while scoffing a lot of tortilla chips n dips, with occasional disapproving visits from Pippa.
Christmas Day on Thursday and a lovely sunny day. Leisurely coffee and toast and calls with T&J and Dad and Jean. Then it was time for Phil to put the Christmas songs on shuffle to accompany our veg chopping and stuffing and gravy making while SG headed over to Charnwood to collect JG and Pippa soaked up some of that sun.
Christmas Cat
Presents were opened accompanied by drinks and nibbles before sitting down to Christmas Dinner at 2pm – bang on schedule.
Happy Christmas!
In less good news, when he went to take JG home Phil discovered that the Kia 12V battery was dead again. At least we’re learning lots of the “emergency” work arounds – charging cable connector manual release (it was plugged in to charge the main battery, having failed the past few nights ever since the battery failed on Monday – I wonder if there’s a connection), variousways to jump start the 12V battery so that you can start the car. We’ll be buying a power bank jump starter ASAP.
Slow start to Friday. Cloudy and cold outside, but late morning, as P and I headed out for a stroll down to Dore Abbey, the clouds started to clear and we walked back under blue skies and sunshine. Lovely.
Forty Acres from Thistly Field
Big hit of the blues on Saturday. Headed out for a walk to try to shift them: Kerrys Gate – Bacton – Tremorithic – Abbey Dore. No joy.
Woodland thinned by Bacton Stud
In the afternoon we had an hour or so at Charnwood with JG before dropping off SG at the station and coming home via Sainsbury’s – mainly to buy a Ring Automotive portable jump starter power pack from Argos (and for a reup of the Pigs in Blankets supply). By the time we were home it was too dark to try reviving the Kia 12V battery so I settled in the lounge with one of my Christmas List books – Stone & Sky. It’s not out in paperback until late March, and having it as a hardback males it a real Christmas treat.
Dad and Jean were meant to come for leftovers / top up lunch on Sunday but Festive Season Colds got in the way. On the plus side we had more time to troubleshoot the dead 12V battery in the Kia.
Phil connected the Ring jump starter … and the car’s anti theft alarm went off, so he disconnected the starter cables. Holding the key fob to the power on button inside the car didn’t help initially but thankfully after three or four rounds of the alarm going off the 12V battery had enough charge for the car to recognise the key and the alarm stopped. There was lots of flickering on the screens – very different from the Panda jump start. Once the car did start Phil disconnected the power bank cables for the final time and I took the car for a drive.
Back home, we plugged in the MyZappi and started charging the main car battery. Still some glitching. One to investigate later. In the meantime I tackled a range of anxiety relieving activities:
Hauled weed out from the big pond.
Raked out some leaves from the small pond which is still leaking albeit slowly.
Restocked kindling and logs in the lounge.
Tipped out the ash from the log stove.
Early afternoon we got on with preparing the leftovers lunch:
Peeled and chopped more veg – carrots, ‘snips, pots ‘n’ sprouts.
Prepped two packets of stuffing – 1 x sage & onion, 1 x apple & herb
Settled the Sainsbury’s Taste the Diff Pigs in Blankets on a baking tray
Phil made another pyrex jug of gravy using a second of his pots of home made vegetable stock.
And not long after 2pm we scoffed a plateful each, P’s with turkey slices, mine with extra stuffing. YUM.
Round Two – Ding Ding!!
And enough leftovers to last us through to 2026.
Then we adjourned to the sofa / comfy chair to read.
Back to the gym on Monday for PT, home to finish off Stone & Sky and to make a bit of progress through the LRB backlog before a post Christmas Zoom with C&H.
First snowdrops are out in the garden.
First snowdrop
There are buds on the camellia.
Camellia buds
We’ve spotted long tailed tits on the bird feeder a few times, and two goldfinches on the footpath round the back of Abbey Dore Court.
In the garden and on the bird feeders we’ve got red woodpeckers, great tits, blue tits, coal tits, sparrows, robins, chaffinches, mistle thrushes, blackbirds, starlings, jays and ravens. Overhead, kites, and buzzards and the occasional hovering hawk.
Video: Challengers (OK but not sure we were the target audience), Home Alone (for the first time for all three of us, and at Christmas too), Pluribus (wrapped up season 1), Platonic (started season 1), Down Cemetery Road (started series 1).
