I thought I would 'ramble on' about my daily routine - if you can call it that!
Sam, the puppy, is my first concern in the morning ... mainly because he makes sure he is. He starts barking at about 6:30 and so I roll out of bed sometime around then and come down to let him out of his pen. He HATES the pen and lets us know. However, the alternative of finding a huge mess motivates us (me, at least) to keep him contained for now. Also, if we ever take him with us to stay at someone else's house, he'll have his own sleeping space. Both he and Gill are sceptical about the value of the crate.
So, I get up (most days) at around 6:45, let the dog out, and then have a cup of tea or coffee. Then there's breakfast, a long dog walk in and around Somerton, coffee at about 11, lunch at about 1, tea at around 4, dinner at around 7. Between all these meals and breaks, I try to go to the library, to the shops, on another long walk. catch up with e-mails and correspondence. The day goes so quickly that I wonder how I ever had time to do any of those things when I was working!
I seem to be at the post office quite a bit. Sounds like I keep up with my correspondence, eh? Wrong. But I do try to write a note here and there in reply to letters and cards I've received.
It's about a 7-minute walk into the centre of town from Gill's - such a pleasant walk too as most of the buildings are very old (and very beautiful). The sidewalk is normal in places, extremely narrow in others, and non-existent in a couple of spots. There are cars parked on both sides of the road which itself is very narrow. How they don't get smashed is beyond me. But they don't. It's like they're double parked because the road is so very narrow. I wish I had lived here before the time of cars. It must have been so quaint.
Gill and I just finished watching Part 1, volumes 1 and 2 (12 hours' worth) of a romantic saga called Poldark. It was excellent and we have more to look forward to. I have to order them in at the library and will wait now until I return from London before ordering the next part. The process takes about two weeks.
I guess I had better go and get dressed as it's breakfast time and time to walk Sam. Have a nice day!

Dear's Brownies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.
Ice with chocolate icing when cool.
Yum, yum!

What the hell is a stile? It's steps or a gate or a ladder that's placed along a right-of-way across farmers' fields (or into farmers' fields) to allow the general public access to the field.
Yesterday, I was walking along a road and saw a sign for a public footpath, just along the side of someone's house. I climbed a stile and was in a field and was very tempted to take the puppy off his lead but (rightly!) decided I had better become more familiar with the field ... there was a herd of cattle at the top of the hill I had to climb to go from one end of the field to the other! I don't know what Sam would be like with cattle (didn't even see if they were male or female - and I was wearing a red jacket), so I'm glad I erred on the side of caution.
I can't rave highly enough about these footpaths (rights-of-way) - they're wonderful and allow for very interesting walks.
My plan is to soon walk over to Pitney (about 2 miles away), meet Gill there (she travels on her scooter), and have lunch at The Halfway House Pub. That should be fun - and the dog will probably be welcome.

Today, I went with my Walking Group on a 4 1/2 mile (note, not km!) walk, ending up at The Riverside Tavern in a village called Creech St. Michael (I had ploughman's lunch - yum, yum). We began with a tour of the 13th century church in the middle of the village (you can see the spire jutting out in the photo - click on the photo and you should obtain an enlargement of it) and then walked along rights-of-way, over stiles, and followed pathways across fields. Actually, there were herds of cows and flocks of sheep in a couple of fields we sauntered across. Fortunately for us, yesterday's heavy rain was spent so that the sun could shine brightly on us while we rambled around in the countryside.
The puppy is persona non grata on these walks so far. Maybe he will be allowed to go sometime in the future.
Yesterday, since it was raining, Gill and I watched a British romantic saga set in Cornwall (on DVD), called 'Poldark'. It was excellent. There were two DVDs - that means several hours of viewing ... and that was only series one. Now, I have to order the second series. I can't wait to see what happens next.
On Saturday night, we had seven dinner guests. It was loads of work but also loads of fun. They were mostly neighbours of Gill's and I had met them all previously a few times.

Who has Richard Prefontaine's e-mail address, for pete's sake???!!! He's the only one missing from my contacts and I would love to include him in my messages. Can anyone help???

Ooooh, I'm in love ... with Wells! What a beautiful medieval market/cathedral town. It's actually a city - England's smallest city. The cathedral there is magnificent. In fact, it's overwhelming in its majesty and architecture. I think Wells will be seeing a lot of me in the future as, not unlike the City of Bath, it's very easy to get around in the core areas.
While in Wells, I bought a lovely red berret (haven't owned one of those in years) and saw quite a few things I wouldn't mind getting at a future date - unfortunately, not a pony (sad :-( ).
I checked on the Internet this morning. Our weather is similar and we're both at -2C. So there we are, both headed toward spring. Woop-te-dooh and tra-la-la.
Gill and I watched Billy Elliot last night. Although we had both seen it before, it was just as pleasant again. Now the idea is to get to see it on stage in London. Anyone interested????
We're planning to have six people in for dinner on Saturday evening and so will be preparing over the next few days. In fact, right after breakfast, I'll trot over to the butcher's and buy a couple of chickens, bring them home, Dr. Gill will slit their throats with her surgical knife, and then we'll both remove the feathers. The entire process will take a mere 15 minutes. Do you believe me? Or would you rather think of me buying chickens that have already been plucked and that are ready to be cooked? We're going to start preparing in advance as it's hard to get everything done on the day itself, as some of you well know.
I've been making my mother's brownies and dreamcake lately. They're so easy to do and never fail to be tasty. If anyone wants the recipes, please let me know.
Oops - time for breakfast. Eat hearty, me lads.

As I was walking around the fields tonight with Sam, I thought it would be nice to introduce you to Somerton. They have a Website at

http://www.somerton.co.uk/history/virtualtour/menu/index.htm

which you may visit. There are some nice shots of the place and you'll have a better idea of the picturesque place in which I am nicely ensconced. I walk by so many of the houses and buildings you will see on the virtual tour. Judi Beaman, Judy Murphy, Joy, and Judi Ryan (all J's!) will recognize some familiar sights.

A bientot tout le monde.