Walking by the Book

Hello Lovelies,

this week my sister in law was off work and was keen to go for a walk. I had found a walk in this book (which mum bought secondhand for me) that looked promising.

I do like walking by water as long as I have a circular route to follow. This walk started by the canal in the small Leicestershire village of Zouch.

We soon came to the river Soar. Here my sister in law spotted a bird. I would have missed him on top of the tall tree stump.

A Cormorant. Always lovely to see.

We followed the sweeping curve of the river. It was a cold day, but here the trees sheltered us from the wind and we could feel a little heat in the winter sun.

This is not a remote area, we could here the distant traffic and power lines detracted from the view a little but it was still a very pleasant spot to stroll.

the Cormorant flew over us.

and we approached a pub that was impossible to reach due to the lack of a bridge :0)

 Never mind we were not looking for a break yet anyway. Hello Mr Swan.

There were lots of interesting boats to look at here. I wonder if they are in the pub?

Our guidebook directed us away from the water now. We crossed fields. The book (published in 1995) informed us there were many stiles to climb, but they had now all been replaced by kissing gates. It made a flat walk even easier :0)

We soon arrived in the village of Sutton Bonnington. I loved the old cottages.

A little further down the road this sign caught our eye.

Ooooh, a cafe. Should we? Yes, of course :0)



Toasted tea cakes and a warm fire were more appealing than ice cream on a day where temperatures barely climbed above freezing.

 At the side of this lovely cafe we noticed this garden railway with a train chugging around the track.

Wait......you have forgotten to pick up Paddington Bear :0)

  There is more information on this fun place HERE

We carried on our walk, passing a grand house.

 and grazing sheep.

 It's not a village that I am familiar with, I liked it a lot.

Our route was now to head down this track. What lovely light it was.

Back at Zouch we couldn't resist exploring the waterways a little further. I was delighted to spot Grey Wagtails 

Such a pretty bird. I've only seen them in the Peak District before.

 This looked like a pleasant way to get some fresh air when you live by the river.

We wondered how long that narrow boat had been on the bank here.

Soon the light was fading. Time to leave the river.

 And the canal.

This was a 4 mile walk that had so much to see. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the other routes in the book now. I do hope you enjoyed it too.
Jacquie x

Simply Seasonal ....21st of January

Hello Lovelies,

how was your week? My work days were busy and quiet stressful, but my days off had many happy moments and simple but special treats.

Here is my round up of simply seasonal joy for the third week of January.

1 ♥ A feast with friends. My walking group have their annual lunch in January. I think it's great that they don't try and have it in December when everywhere and everyone is so busy. The company was great...lots of book talk which gave me some titles to look out for. I'm not much of a novel reader but occasionally I do like to loose myself in a book. Last year I read THIS book on holiday and loved it.

The roses on the table made me smile

and there were any courses to enjoy. I liked the carvery main course the best as I do love this sort of meal and it tastes much nicer when you have not had to cook it yourself :0)

2 ♥ Baking It's still chilly outside and it was very windy on occasion this week. When it's wild weather I love to turn on the oven and bake in a cosy kitchen.

I made an army of gingerbread men

3 ♥ Walking by water. On Thursday I was relived the wind had gone and the sun was even shining. Myself and a friend were  the leaders on this weeks walking group outing. It was an  unusually flat walk for us to choose but the watery views were beautiful and it avoided too much mud :0)

We went HERE.

It was great to be able to distribute some home baking too.

4 ♥ Getting outdoors with Eldest. More walking....this time locally. No water but lots of chat and fresh air.

I introduced him to my Robin friend too. Can you spot him?

Her's getting braver and we both loved watching him enjoy the seed I left.

My favourite church was looking pretty in the sunshine.

and I smiled when I noticed the snowdrops are getting bigger.

The very "Free Range" chickens were wandering around enjoying the sunshine a little further down the road.

and we said hello to these two, who seemed to smile back.

5 ♥ Wintry Shadows. As you can see our shed project is finally looking better. It's not complete but we are getting there. I had to smile when eldest did a bit styling with a pot and the little pig I've had in the garden for ages, but I took this photo mainly for the tree shadows.  I love their shapes and the way I could see the shadows of the birds hopping in the branches too.

6 ♥ Making Soup. I do love home made soup. It's so cheap and easy to make. Not to mention good for you.

On this occasion I used THIS recipe.

7 ♥ Adventuring with mum. This week we went in search of a new tea room. It's becoming a habit :0)
 It was a bit tricky to find and I nearly baulked when we came to this steep, single track bridge. Time to sound your horn to warn others who might be coming in the opposite direction.

We made it over safely and I had to admit it was a pretty sight from the canal bank.

As you can see this is a quiet lane. We like a tea room with pretty surroundings.

The sun even shone for us and things looked promising.

we went HERE.

Inside was delightful. More table flowers. Such a lovely touch

and when you have had healthy soup for lunch you have an excuse for a sweet treat, right?

There were other customers despite the relative remoteness of this spot. I love the quick sketch mum did of this couple.

Mum also had old photos in her handbag that made me smile. This is my younger brother and I at Hardcastle Crags in the 80's. I think we would have been 18 and 14. I see we loved stepping stones back then too...oh and we were both wearing our Nanna's knitting  :0)

It was a lovely atmosphere in the Tea shop and even better...there is also a charity shop there. I picked up a brand new high quality walking top for a bargain price.

And mum got a new handbag...her weakness :0)   It was a lovely afternoon discovering somewhere new and supporting a deserving charity too. In mum's words it "turned out better than like"

I hope your week turns out well too.
Jacquie x