Deborah's Journal - Arctic Circle Charity Challenge

Another Finished Block

2007-08-03T23:44:00.000+01:00

With all this rainy weather the past month it has been a good enough excuse to get stuck into my stitching. I've just finished another crazy quilting block for the "Choose Your Own Theme" Round Robin and this one is for Laura P.

Laura didn't have a particular "named" theme but had chosen lovely, deep rich burgundy, wine coloured fabrics for her block.

A Little More "CQ"ing

2007-07-21T22:00:00.000+01:00

Lately, whenever I get the chance I have been spending my spare time stitching CQ blocks. I have recently completed two for an Egyptian theme swap and one for the Round Robin that I recently signed up for. This is all fairly new to me and my blocks are "plain and simple" at the moment while I'm learning the ins and outs of it all.

This block was done for the CYOT Round Robin. I stitched it for Judi who had chosen Christmas/Winter as her theme. The patch with the red mitten on is from Judi's focus fabric.

Crazy Quilting

2007-06-29T13:05:00.000+01:00

I've just completed another CQ (crazy quilt) block as part of the "choose your own theme" Round Robin. This block has been stitched for Nancy in Kansas who has chosen "Elvis" for her theme.

Finally An Update !!

2007-06-16T20:56:00.000+01:00

A big hello to everyone and apologies for taking so long in updating this blog - I think I've been suffering from a touch of "blogitis". I've been busy trying to do a backdated day-to-day account of the expedition and finally have uploaded the write ups and photos, so please check back to April or "The Challenge" tab and you'll see it all there. If you've been looking for it the past couple of weeks - thank you for your patience.

I still have some outstanding sponsor money at work that I'll be collecting and taking to our Appeals office at the hospital so hopefully will have the "grand total" to report some time later next week.

CQ (Crazy Quilting)

2007-05-17T22:26:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago whilst on my "surfing travels" I came across a superb site called CQ for Newbies. I love the old fashioned Victorian scrap quilts and always wanted to "have a go" but for one reason or another never actually got round to it. Stumbling onto this site and reading all the posts on the forum has triggered off my interest again and now I'm definitely hooked and can't read, or learn enough fast enough at the moment.

Through the friendly encouragement of the online "CQ Goddesses" I've signed up to my first Round Robin and picking up needle and thread have produced my first "crazy" block.

My first ever CQ Block on a Victorian style theme

It's All Over Now & Feeling Totally Pooped !!

2007-04-22T18:13:00.000+01:00

Did not sleep a wink last night as hands were extremely painful and throbbing, this was a result of Thursday when we'd had to do two day's of travelling because of the condition of the ice on the lakes. I also felt the house was too warm and want to keep the heating turned off as unable to bear the heat, of course hubby's freezing! My muscles still producing a lot of heat of their own, my OH commented that if he held his hand above my arms or legshe could actually feel the heat coming out of my body. Have been feeling a bit low today because of the pain in my hands, lack of sleep because of it and my lips are so sore, in fact you cannot actually see them as they're a mass of blisters and a mess. It's frustrating they are like this because I'd been so careful constantly applying lip block all day long up and wearing my balaclava when the temperatures plummeted. But all it took was that short time in the blizzard when I couldn't get my gloves off and get my balaclava pulled up. My hubby wanted to take me out for a meal today and have a family get together but as feeling out of sorts thought best to put it off for a few days.

Decided to take it easy and take my time unpacking my kit bag. Everything smells "doggy" and I feel sad it is all over, I want my own pack of huskies!! It's the first time I get chance to think about what we have all just done. Whilst we were away all thoughts had been taken up with what we need to do such as looking after the dogs, putting up/taking down the tents, making meals etc. Then when we were on the move we needed to concentrate on driving the sleds, which could be quite tricky at times and certainly was hard work most of the time (I'm sure the minute people took it for granted and didn't pay attention because they thought they were on easy stretches that was when a lot of the stupid mistakes occurred). Most of us had no experience of "wild camping" let alone in waist deep snow so thinking about things now at home, I do feel extremely proud of what we all did. There was about 10 months of preparation for this trip taking up nearly all my free time; at first concentrating on fund raising and then hours and hours worth of walking to make sure I'd be fit enough. Every minute spent over the past year leading up to the trip was 100% worth it. Words simply cannot do justice to the whole experience and emotions you go through on an expedition like this. So put very simply in the words of American teenage movies it was "Awesome Dude"!

2007-04-21T11:29:00.000+01:00

It was utter bliss last night getting into a lovely, comfy bed. Slept in fits and starts dreaming on and off all night. Kept waking up trying to get out of a deep hole but it wasn't snow at all only the white duvet !!!

Spent ages enjoying the hot water of the shower so come out of the shower looking like a lobster. Karen shows off all her bruises - she is black and blue, has some humongous ones at least 4 which are 8" long and 4" wide across her stomach and legs. I managed to get away with only having a big one across the back of my knee where a runaway sled ploughed into me and a small one across my hip bone.

We go down to the dining room and enjoyed a delicious continental breakfast. Everyone comments how strange it seems not going to see our dogs. We swapped stories with Alan, Peter, Jeremy and Laurie, they had stayed in the bar last night until the early hours and are all looking a little fragile. After breakfast we're able to go and take a quick walk around Tromso before we have to meet up again to be taken to the airport.

We stayed at the Clarion Collection Hotel (very nice) which was right on the waterfront

Walking around the habrour we came across a little square with the memorial statue of Roal Amundsen, famous Norwegian polar explorer

We really liked Tromso with its quaint little streets and mix of old and new buildings. I would love to go back some time with my hubby to explore the surrounding countryside, I know he would love it and it.

Tore drove us back to the airport in the centre minibus and just before we went inside he gave us all a little husky key ring as a memento!

The day ahead was flight from Tromso to Oslo, Oslo to London and 5 of us would then catch a flight from London to Manchester (the others would be driving, catching trains or a coach to their various destinations). There was a slight delay with the flight from Tromso but the rest of the day went fairly smoothly. We arrived at London extremely weary and once through customs and the baggage collection point we hurriedly said our goodbyes as some had to get away for their transfers. Andy, Brian, Jeremy, Lauri and myself had an hour and half wait before our connection, it was a relief when we finally touched down in Manchester and saw our members of our families waiting to give us big hugs!!!

2007-04-20T16:58:00.000+01:00

Up early again this morning despite having not gone to bed until 12.30 am. Due to the distance of the sleds from our tent and the depth of the snow it takes ages going backwards and forwards with all of our gear. Another beautiful morning, thank goodness.

Karen and Sue putting the world to rights

Anne looking very stylish

Tove & Tore

Tove and Tore fixing a sled - a common occurrence over the trip, quite a few had bits of twine holding things together !!!

Although we have a very short distance to go to this morning feel quite nervous as usual about setting off and a little low that this would be the last time. We arrived at the Ice hotel about 9.30 am where the transport vehicles were waiting to collect the dogs. As each sled pulled up Tore shook everyone's hand, gave them a hug and said well done. It felt strange as we' d only just left camp and I felt as though we were just getting going. We did some final posing for pictures before reluctantly saying cheerio to our dogs and headed over to pay the Ice hotel a visit.

End of the road - Kiruna, Sweden

Tom, Andy at the back, Sue & Dave

A final pat for my furry friends

Front doors of the Icehotel

Getting our glasses filled

Brian and myself - you can't go to the Ice Hotel without having a drink in an ice glass!!

We spent about an hour in the hotel. It was good to see although if I'm honest was not as good as I expected, perhaps that's because they are getting ready to close the season as its starting to melt. The Absolut bar was shut so we had our drinks in our ice glasses in the Reception area. After checking out quite a few rooms it was time to go back to the vehicles ready for our 6 hour drive back to Tromso.

We stopped on route at a huge Wallmart type supermarket to get goodies for eating on the journey. It was a first for me walking round a supermarket absolutely stinking of dogs, no make up, hair greasy as a spoon and cracking great blisters erupting everywhere on my lips. (One of the days where we had blizzards I'd pulled down my balaclava to shout instructions to my dogs but couldn't get it back up again because of my mittens. I'd been too scared to try taking them off as it would require using both hands and leaning on the sled which is ok in normal conditions but the weather had been far too crazy and required total concentration. I must have gone a good hour or two without any protection so I knew they'd got a good case of wind burn).

The journey passed quite quickly, a few chatted quietly and some caught up on their sleep. I sat with Anne and no doubt did more talking in that journey than all week. We arrived at the hotel much earlier than expected. Our rooms were gorgeous with huge comfy beds and pristine white sheets, piping hot shower - bliss. We had some time to ourselves, Karen went off for a sauna, I stayed in the room and sorted through all my stuff, repacking it so I wouldn't have to do it tomorrow. My hands felt very swollen and throbbed whilst my mouth was tingling like crazy with the cold sores. After showers we changed to our "normal" clothes although our muscles were so "pumped up" we thought we weren't going to get into them. We met up with the gang at the Flyt sports bar for a celebratory drink and meal. Tove and Tore handed out award certificates and a medal from "Global Adventures". Brian gave out little postcards of huskies with a different message on for each member of the group - mine was for the most supportive member. We all had to take it in turn to get up and recount both our most challenging and rewarding moments. The week had been pretty intense so being put on the spot it was hard for everyone quickly to separate events and make a decsion but one or two things seemed to stand out in everyone's mind as experiences they will never forget.

Unwinding in the Flyt Sports bar, Tromso

Tove & Brian handing out Medal & Certificate, Dave looking very seriously studying his.

2007-04-19T15:10:00.000+01:00

We woke up really early again to another beautiful morning. No one really out and about. We first spotted Peter taking photos and went for a chat. Sue came out to go and find a toilet spot and was dismayed at first to see us milling about so went headed off in the opposite direction away from the camp to a section of small trees a bit further away! One by one someone would come out and have a few minutes chat before making a stat on the daily routine. Everyone seemed very content this morning and looking forward to the day ahead.

Peter taking a stroll !!

This morning we had quite a stretch of moguls to travel through. Karen, my tent buddy suddenly starting having problems, she was falling off left, right and centre. She took some cracking falls and for what seemed like no reason. Tove knew there must be something wrong and kept looking the sled over and watching Karen but couldn't quite fathom it out at first. Then she realised that a rope had been attached incorrectly and it was warping the sled resulting in it pulling to one side. Tove refastened the sled and thankfully for Karen this sorted the problem. We followed a track through a forest for about 10 km and then came to our first lake which was quite tough as there was hardly any snow coverage at all. The dogs were slipping all over the place. We hoped no one ran into trouble here as it would be very difficult to stop as the brakes would be of no use on solid ice. We stopped briefly for lunch about 3.30 pm.

Simon & Andy during a quick lunch break

The next lake there was no snow coverage, pure ice. It was extremely bumpy and at times holding onto the sled felt like holding onto a pneumatic drill. The ice cracked and shattered, bits flying behind us everywhere, the dogs looked round at me every so often as if to say what was that. Although I knew the ice was extremely thick and there was no risk of falling in, it was still nerve racking trying to stop the sled from overturning on the huge uneven ice ridges that we were speeding across. Eventually we were on a lake with snow on it, I sang songs to my dogs so I wouldn't fall asleep but that wasn't because it was so easy it was boring. Far from it, it had taken an immense amount of concentration to get through today so far. Thinking we musn't have much longer to go the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse. Visibility was very poor as we travelled through biting almost blizzard conditions. Throughout the day I'd waved my arms about in turns doing exercises, trying to alleviate tensing the muscles up but now it was very difficult making myself let go and only keep one hand on the sled while the weather was so poor. It was extremely cold and I felt very tired as for what seemed like hours all I had been focusing on was the back of the person in front so I wouldn't lose sight of them. At this point the only other thoughts in my head was getting hot soup and into my sleeping bag. It eventually stopped snowing and things became much easier. Wasn't it supposed to have been an easy day from the start today - I had a vague recollection of it being said during team brief, were they talking about the same place, couldn't have been.

We eventually stop on the lake to make our camp. By the time we have staked out the dogs, fed them, and put up the tents it is extremely dark. At team brief we are told we've done 80 km!! This means we have done two days driving in one day, no wonder we were tired! Tove & Tore explained they knew it would be really tough but after weighing everything up felt we needed to keep pushing on as due to the condition of the ice it would not be safe to set off from any point on that stretch first thing in a morning with fresh excitable dogs. The good news of all this was that we had virtually arrived at our destination as the Ice hotel in Kiruna was only 5 minutes away.

A pretty spot for camping out

Drilling for water

After team brief everyone dispersed to unpack their sleds, sort out their gear and make a meal. It is gone midnight when we collapse on our sleeping bags to eat our tea - the longed for hot soup; we are so tired we don't feel like eating but know we should because we haven't really had much all day.

2007-04-18T22:53:00.000+01:00

It had been mentioned we didn't have to get up until about 7 am today but Karen and myself seemed to naturally stir about 4.30/5 am. The sunlight came flooding through the cabin and feeling very refreshed after our cosy comforts we happily donned our suits and boots to potter outside, taking photos, and simply enjoying the stillness of it all and feeling great satisfaction in just being there.

Because we were up so early it meant we could have a leisurely breakfast, not that we needed to take a while to eat breakfast, in comparison to the others we probably ate too little. We would simply have our little pot of porridge oats with a big dollop of jam in and a drink, as we really couldn't face eating most mornings and made ourselves have something. But this morning it was nice to be able to linger at the table and just chat. After breakfast it was time to get all our things together and straighten up the cabin to leave it as spick and span as we went into it. We found a guest book in a drawer, it was filled with entries in every language - Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian you name it, but not English! Karen wrote a long entry and we both added our names and addresses, no doubt some bemused fisherman will think crazy English people. Sue and her husband Dave were chatting to, I think the manager/caretaker of the place, and said they couldn't thank anyone enough for letting us stay, telling him we were spending our nights in our tents, he looked at her incredulously, making the crazy sign and laughed shaking his head.

After vacating the cabin, it was time to say a "mental fond farewell" to our little oasis. We met up with a couple of the guys and we all walked down to where we had left the dogs staked out for the next part of our morning routine of feeding the dogs, and shovelling up lots and lots of doggie poop!!

Because by now we'd had hours of driving the dogs and we had this huge expanse of flat, open land, setting off and leaving the camp should have been a breeze. Previously I'd been really apprehensive at this point and this was quite a stressful part of the day but today I thought great everyone will be ok and for once we'll have a stress free start to the morning. When it was time to go Tore and Tove walked the lines and the dogs went into a frenzy, clamouring to be on the run. With the dogs all suitably fired up Tore set off at the lead. We had been moving for literally about 2 minutes when there was the signal to stop. On glancing behind it was hard to see what was going on but it looked like chaos with what appeared some runaway sleds. This was not a good at all. Problem sorted we got going again, only to recur what seemed like ten minutes later. In fits and starts we eventually got underway.

In spite of the early mishaps, we ended up having a great day, the weather was beautiful and we were able to take in the surrounding scenery. We stopped for lunch today which was very pleasant. The guys decided to be all macho and pose bare chested for a group photo, needless to say the girls declined the offer to do likewise.

My tent buddy, Karen enjoying the lunch stop

Dog Tired - Taking a quick lunchtime nap !!!

The guys striking a pose !!

Tore produced his map to show us where we had travelled. While we gathered round we heard a low rumbling sound and a crack and the snow collapsed in with our weight, it was just a foot down but it made us all jump. We repositioned ourselves, choosing what looked like sturdier ground but as we started poring over the map the snow started creaking again and at this point Tove decided it would be good fun to jump on it for the vibrations to collapse the snow in again. It was so funny we couldn't help but laugh especially as one or two of the guys shrieked like girls.

Eventually everyone settled down enough for Tore to get to serious business of telling us about a tricky manoeuvre we would come to later where the track turned 90° through a narrow gap in a fence. To get through we would have to leave off braking as we approached the turn so that the speed of the dogs could carry the following sled around and not through the fence post.

Our travels would take us across some fairly steep downhill sections, icefields followed by a rollercoaster ride over snow moguls. After an extremely exhilarating day we arrived a our camp for the night, a really lovely spot with lots of little trees dotted about. Despite the abundance of trees we couldn't get a suitable one to tie our stake out to without getting to near anyone else's dogs so there was nothing for it but to dig a big hole again to secure one end of the line. The ground was particularly hard and it took ages to get deep enough, the others had their tents up before we even managed to get all our dogs out of their harnesses. After the dogs were fed, we had our team briefing and we were told we had managed 55 km today. Tore tells us that tomorrow we have long stretches on the ice fields and that it is so easy we will be falling asleep with boredom on the sled.

Everyone goes back to their tents to prepare their tea feeling quite happy. Around 9.30/10 pm we sit down to have our evening meal. As it felt really warm, Karen and myself decided to eat sitting on the floor outside the tent instead of in our sleeping bags. We must have become acclimatised as Sue noted that it was minus 10 at this point. We chuckled at Tove's earlier remark this afternoon - it's just like being in Spain !!

Cue the Blizzards !

2007-04-17T20:02:00.000+01:00

Sunrise brought a much calmer, brighter and very mild morning promising a good day. Looking at the position of our sleds balanced precariously on slopes with deep, soft snow all round hinted at the fun and games to be had trying to get the dogs to the sleds and then again when setting off from camp.

Brian having been to collect water - it takes a while getting anywhere when the snow's this deep.

I think everyone felt very apprehensive about today's start and it would take a miracle to be able to get going without any hitches whatsoever. Sure enough people started having problems very early on. We made very slow progress, far to slow and for what seemed like no reason at all. Tove and Tore were not happy with the group's performance and made it quite clear people were going to have to work a lot harder and totally concentrate 100% of the time. Chastisement seemed to have done the trick and there seemed to be less problems later in the day. Once up on the plateau the scenery was superb - we were surrounded by "Toblerone" peaks of nearby mountains, everything seemed very peaceful and the morning's tension melted away. This was to be one of the highlights of the trip; one of those "special moments" beyond words.

These pics taken by Brian our Exped Leader

Before we knew it the weather changed again. Rapidly the wind came sweeping across the plateau stirring up the snow with a vengence. Visibility was limited to the point were the feint outline of the person in front could just be made out. You couldn't tell the difference between land and sky at this point. We tried to keep as close as possible so we wouldn't become separated. This was one of the "hairy" moments - I didn't want to blink in case I lost sight of the person in front of me. This seemed to last for hours. It was extremely cold; we were told later that it was -25°today.

Due to the weather Tove and Tore decided it was best to keep on the move. Going all day without a stop meant snacking on what we'd stuffed in our pockets at breakfast time; in my case nuts and raisins and mini Jaffa cakes as I'd forgotten to put my sandwiches in my pocket today and they'd been sitting in the flap on top of the sled - needless to say at today's cold temperatures they were rock solid. Despite or perhaps because of the bad weather, I think everyone was concentrating 200% and there were no mishaps and we managed to get to our base for setting up camp quite early.

Looking around we've stopped at what looks like middle of nowhere, a flat plain as far as the eye can see with a little hill like bump to one side. Amongst our "kit" we had been issued with 2 planks of wood and now it was time to use them! We had to dig a hole about 3 ft deep, tie our stakeout chains to them before dropping them in the hole, refill, stomp like mad to compact it all and hopefully when it was all frozen over it would be nice and secure and all the dogs would still be there in the morning!!!

Karen busy digging the hole for our stakeout line

This is me checking out Karen's handiwork - think its deep enough but dare I tell her the planks are a bit longer than the size of the hole !!

Feeding the dogs went like clockwork this evening and seemed to be over in no time at all. We were told to line up our sleds side by side and gather all our kit together and put it in a big heap, this seemed very strange and we weren't sure why. Next minute a huge skidoo arrived pulling a trailer took away all our stuff and 5 minutes later came back and we all piled onto it and had a quick ride - still didn't know what was going on but it was great fun. In minutes we were the other side of the "hill" and at a little cluster of cabins by a frozen lake.

Quick chat before distributing the dog food

Preparing the dog's food

Totally unexpectedly we are told we are be allowed to use the cabins for the night although Tove and Tore and Brian would be staying in their tents. This had not been part of our itinerary and we all are totally stunned, amazed, grateful beyond words as it had been a bit of a nightmare 2 days for some.

When Karen and I went inside our little cabin we could have done cartwheels. We had bunk beds, a kitchen area with stove to cook our meal, a little table and bench where we could eat our meal and most importantly HEATING to dry out our clothes - we couldn't have been happier even if we were staying at the Ritz!!!

The Ritz !!!

I love this picture taken by one of the guys it really sums up the beautiful evening (a total contrast to last night)

The Team !!

2007-04-16T23:58:00.000+01:00

Back Row:- Andy, Ann, Peter, Alan, Dave, Therese, Jeremy

Seated:- Lauri, Me, Karen, Sue, Simon, Tom

Brian doing the obligatory "team leader" pose on the floor

2007-04-16T22:58:00.000+01:00

I'd been awake on and off during the night and it was incredibly light from about 3 am, the night time darkness didn't seemed to have lasted long before it was time to get up. Mind you I think it's from next month when they have the midnight sun up here. After last night's "loo" performance we decided to get up about 5 am and get it out of the way before anyone started stirring. As I reached to get our boots noticed the laces frozen and they were full of snow - we'd forgotten about "snowing" inside the tent due to condensation. Our inner boots were soaking and I was really worried about this as we'd have to spend the whole day in these until we finished about 9.30 pm. We didn't want to put our socks straight into soaking wet boots so Karen found some spare plastic bags which we tied onto our feet so we could nip outside for 5 minutes. Once outside the tent, our dogs must have thought great - time to get up and started to howl, lots of frantic Shusshing noises and patting followed to try and get them to settle so we could at least go in peace without waking the whole of the camp up. Mission accomplished it was time to get breakfast on the go (we had little pots of oats with apple and cinnamon, that we just added boiling water to) and then try and dry off our liners as much as possible over the stove.

Collecting water for cooking porridge & drinks

After breakfast we pottered around outside the tent, still not much movement around the camp. We chat to Jeremy briefly and then to Sue before making a start on what is to become our morning routine, packing away our stuff, putting down the tent, loading the sleds, harnessing the dogs, taking them off the stake out line and hitching them to the sleds. This doesn't sound much but it always seems to take at least 2 hours. It's a lovely morning; very sunny and we feel extremely warm doing our jobs, we are expecting it to be a beautiful day again.

Time to hitch up - walking my dog to the sled

Time is inconsequential, we go when everything has been done and we are ready, we will stop only if the weather permits and we arrive at our next camp area when the weather and the day's events permit. Tore and Tove have about three possible camp locations in mind at any time; a long distance one if everything goes ok, a mid distance one if the weather looks a bit doubtful and a shorter distance one if the weather doesn't look good at all. Today the weather looks as though its going to be really good and the plan is to maybe travel to the long distance camp.

Laurie, Anne & Therese

Alan and Peter (My dogs sitting nice and quiet for a while)

Whilst putting our tents down a chap came by on his skidoo; he was huge, and looked like something out of a Mad Max film with his long coat flying and very irate expression on his face. We later learned that he was part of a group of Sami reindeer herders who were moving a huge herd of reindeer to different feeding grounds. The reindeer were just the other side of the hill and racing down and due to be crashing through this little wooded area in as little as 15 minutes. Apparently a member of his team had been down and spoke to Tove and Tore earlier but he had said as long as we moved all the sleds to one side and kept hold of the dogs it would be ok, but this chap, most likely the "main man" was going bolistic saying (more or less) that was not possible and we all had to get out of there immediately unless we wanted to be crushed in a stampede.

Get the hell out of dodge - Mad Max with Tove and Tore

Lined up and ready to leave

Fortunately most people had done the bulk of their packing up at this point but it meant things were hurriedly getting thrown into sledges and the line up for setting off was a bit haphazard. It was rather a rush job getting the group out of the camp and what originally promised good terrain for a smooth morning start somehow ended up being the opposite with pandemonium ensuing. I was right at the front so it was difficult to know what exactly went on but looking back it seemed to involve two runaway sleds and a loose dog. This was the only thing I hated about the trip, seeing runaway sleds plowing into others with dogs getting all tangled or a loose dog on the run, your heart just sinks.

Today there were lots of mishaps amongst the group, sleds seemed to be overturning every 10 minutes - I'm not sure why, it was difficult to tell, this was supposed to be an relatively straight forward stretch. After the easy stretch there was quite a bit where we had to help by running uphill to help the dogs out, this was particularly difficult where the snow was extremely soft and deep. We got nowhere fast and embarrasingly did about 1 km in 1 hour!! Fortunately I only came a cropper once and this was due to a runaway sled ploughing into the back of me when I was going downhill. It turned out to be a beautiful, warm day and yet again the scenery was superb set against a lovely blue sky. We stopped for lunch break for 1/2 hour at the border point where Norway, Finland and Sweden meet. We saw some cross country skiers and took their photo and they took photos of us.

Border Point - Finland, Norway, Sweden

Quick 1/2 hour lunch stop at the border point

What a difference a few hours makes - the weather takes a sudden turn for the worst. There are some hair raising parts to this afternoon as we had icy blasts across the mountain tops and lots of steep downhill sections (sleds constantly overturning and resulting pandemonium). Due to our poor speed and the rapid change in weather Tore and Tove decide we can't make any of the usual camps and Tore felt the best option was to try a new route that they hadn't done before. In total disarray we finally stop. We are spread out all over the place. The wind has picked up and is howling more than the dogs. Dave & Sue's thermometer records minus 15 degrees.

There seems no good place to set up the tent. Although Karen and myself didn't have much choice where to put our tent, simply where out sleds ground to a halt, it turned out to be an ok spot after all. It was a bit of a pain setting up - the snow was extremely soft at this point and everytime you moved you sunk a good two to three feet. This meant a lot and I mean a lot of hard work stomping the ground trying to compact the snow before we could even think of setting our tent down. It took a good hour to do this and by the time we'd finished compacting the ground it started snowing quite heavily and the wind had really whipped up which didn't help when trying to peg the tent down with our "twigs". On more than one occasion we thought it was transforming into a kite!! Routine went a bit out of the window this evening, the dogs were given dry food by a few volunteers and they struggling to get to some of the dogs which were staked out high up on steep slopes due to the impossible deep snow. Dave got stuck in the snow and Tove spent 15 minutes trying to dig him out.

Team briefing lasted all of 5 minutes as by now it was getting near blizzard conditions. Mood extremely low, most people feeling pretty unhappy with the afternoon's turn of events, very quiet with tired and frustrated faces all round.

After an eternity went by setting up camp and all chores out of the way, we were ready to clamber into our sleeping bags and eat our evening meal - tonight another fish type stew, creamier than last nights but equally tasty. Wind is howling, tent is shaking vigorously, bit worried tent might blow away but as we'd managed to rig it up to the sleds thought it should be pretty secure. Feel human now snuggled up in our bags and having eaten a good meal. We have socks and boot inners strung all over the tent, looks like a Chinese laundry. We have plenty of fuel so keep our stove going so that we can dry all our things. We look across at all the other tents and they are in darkness, we think we are the only ones still up. After the little lesson last night of snowing inside the tent, I put my inner boots, laces in the bottom of my sleeping bag along with my camera, batteries, chocolate for tomorrow's snacks, wet wipes and umpteen other little things I don't want rock solid by morning. Around 11 pm we finally settle down to sleep.

Time to get mushing!

2007-04-15T23:27:00.000+01:00

Another 4 am wake up call, this time it was the sound of 200 huskies howling !!! Now that is some experience, just to have heard that was worth the flight over - what an amazing sound, it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Of course this was a sound we were going to become very familiar with as 95 huskies were going on the expedition with us and of course when one starts they all have to join in!!

After the dogs had finished their morning howl and quietened down we managed to nod off again for another hour before it was time to get up. No shower facilities so it was time to practice the wet wipe wash but at least there were decent loos for this morning. Breakfast was held in the shop/kit room; selection of cereals, ham, cheese, bacon, eggs etc all lovely and fresh. The leftover bacon & sausages we made into sandwiches to take for our lunch. After breakfast we made our way over to the kennels where our furry friends were collected and we were shown how to "walk" them to the vehicles ready for travel. Holding onto the collar and making the dogs hop along on their hind legs (the only way you would have total control) looked very simple when the pros did it but it required all our concentration to keep these excitable and extremely boisterous dogs on their hind legs as we walked gingerly across the ice trying not to fall flat on our derrieres!

The trick is to make the dogs hop along on their hind legs and not let them get their front paws on the ground - these may look like tiny dogs but they are extremely strong

One of the trailers for the sleds & dogs

An hour or so later the dog teams were loaded onto the transport vehicles and all the kit onto the vans then we finally hit the road. We were a rather subdued group, some quietly chatted, some slept and others just gazed at the lovely scenery flashing by; frozen lakes, towering hills and "Toblerone" looking peaks with turquoise ice flows glittering in the sunshine. After travelling for 2 hours or so we arrived at the start of our route at the foot of the mountains. There had been quite a bit of rain recently and the ground was quite slushy. The first job was to unload all our gear, and distribute shared items such as dog food, fuel, tents etc.

Getting all our stuff together ready for loading onto the sleds

With my "tent buddy" Karen - that tiny orange bundle on the floor is our new home for the trip !!

In my sled went the two large boxes of food supplies for both Karen and myself, my bolster kit bag, fuel, cooking pans and stove, the tent and the stakeout chains. The sacks containing the dogs' food were distributed across the group, Karen had a sack which weighed an absolute ton.

Once all the kit was checked yet again, the sleds were positioned into two long lines ready for "take off". The dogs, refreshed from their nap and all clamouring to get going, were brought out, harnessed and hitched up to the sleds.

At the front - Frutti, Sekki, middle - Likdag, at the back - Saft and Te

My dog team consisted of 2 females and 3 males; Frutti & Sekki my boisterous and inquisitive female lead dogs, Likdag my middle dog and Saft and Te my gentle giants at the rear. All the dogs belonged to Tove, joint owner of the Villmarkscenter and guide (along with her partner Tove ) for the trip. Frutti & Sekki are two of the dogs that Tove took with her when she raced in the Iditarod last year.

Getting bored with all the waiting Frutti & Sekki roll around in the snow playing

Saft and Te

After a last final check of all the harnesses and dog lines, Tore took position on his sled and the first line set off - the dogs went bananas, the noise was absolutely deafening, you could almost feel the energy in the air. The switch from frantic barking to silence seemed instantaneous. Now the dogs were settled all that could be heard was the gentle sound of the dog's panting and paws on snow as we glided along.

For a short while things seemed to be going ok, we were following a narrow path winding its way up hill through pine trees with a steep bank to our left with the river running below, very pretty. But we'd no sooner got going when we started running into problems. It had been raining a few days previously and the snow was extremely soft, which meant the moment you stepped off the sled to try and help push it up hill in some parts you were sinking thigh deep, once off the sled all you could do in this instance was hold on and hope it didn't over turn. The breaks (which we didn't know how to use properly yet) were not taking a good grip which meant sleds were not being stopped in time resulting some getting too close and either knocking the sled in front down the side of the hill and go crashing into a tree or the dogs getting too close and ended up getting in a tangled pickle. I'm pleased to say I only came off once today and that was because I'd stepped off the sled to "help my flagging dogs" by pushing the sled uphill; I ended up stepping into a covered pot hole and once I was stuck in this thigh deep hole my dogs suddenly had an energy boost hundred fold and pulled me for what seemed like forever up the hill before coming to a standstill. Of course the moment you try to climb out of the snowhole and get your foot on a runner they're off like a shot again for another 100 yards or so. Throughout the day all of these things seemed to happen over and over again and each time it took a while before we got going. When we were stopped for long periods of time we put down our snow anchor a big claw grappling type hook, the rest of the time we kept our feet on a metal bar which was the break. However when my dogs decided they were bored of standing around more than 2 minutes they were able to drag me along as if I didn't have a break on my sled at all. Tore checked my sled and decided I was too light and my sled was too light for my strong team. She felt I needed more weight in the sled but for the time being a slight change in my team would help so she took one of my male dogs Likdag (who looked more like a St Bernard than a husky) and replaced him with Gypsy, a beautiful white female.

Frutti & Sekki

Weather wise it ended up being a really beautiful day, the going uphill meant our bodies were working quite hard and we felt very warm and thirsty most of the time. It was good to finally stop at our camp which we arrived at around 8 pm. There were quite a few scattered trees for shelter and which we could "stake" our dogs to and there was a little stream nearby where we could get fresh water. Our first job was to tie the stake out chains to the trees, take the harnesses off the dogs and attach them to the stake out. Tents were put up while the water for the dog's food was put on to boil. Then the dogs (95 altogether) were fed.

We had a quick 10 minute team brief by Brian and then Tore gave a brief on what to expect of the following day's terrain and how we should prepare in the morning. We're told we only did 22 km today - not very good at all, far too many stops and starts. Following this we all went back to our tents to unload our stuff and put on our own stoves to make our evening meal. All of this took a surprisingly long time, I think it was about 10 pm when we clambered into our sleeping bags and started to eat our evening meal which consisted of boil in the bag Baccalo (a reddish looking fish stew). The meal was delicious - restaurant quality. All the meals we had been supplied with were home made and then vacuum packed, not what we had been expecting at all!! After our meal, we set up our stove and breakfast things in readiness for the morning. After a quick discussion we confirmed that neither of us had done so much as a quick wee since early morning. We were really cosy tucked up in our sleeping bags and really didn't want the hassle of getting suited and booted to go outside but as we knew there would be no way we could make it through the night without going we really had to get this over with. We strained our eyes and ears to make sure the "coast was clear" and none of the guys were lurking about with cameras. Taking our "Shee Wees" with us, specially bought for the trip so we could go like the guys we each chose our spot somewhere relatively discreet but within easy sight of each other just in case either fell into a hole. But nothing happened!! We tried and tried and waited and waited but nothing, as soon as the chilly air had hit our nether regions we just couldn't go. Despite having practised at home before we came, being out in the snow with all our bulky gear was not quite the same. We just walked around a bit, fell all over the place laughing and decided to forget about our gadgets and give it another go. Eureka, finally we managed it and happily trudged back to our tent to clamber into our sleeping bags to try and get some sleep for our long day tomorrow.

Our "home" during the trip - our tea cooking in the kitchen area and our sleds positioned as wind breakers and screen in case we need to go to the "loo" during the night

Gypsy curled up for the night

2007-04-14T21:19:00.000+01:00

After tea last night I met up with some of the others going on the expedition, needless to say the plan of an early night went right out of the window when we retired to the bar to have a chat and get to know each other. As the evening wore on the time of our departure from the hotel kept getting changed - the original plan was to be at the check in desk at the Terminal no later than 4.15 am which would have meant getting up about 3 am but every so often an extra 15 mins kept getting added so we ended up getting a 1/2 hour lie in and not leaving the hotel until 4.15. The guys had stayed in the bar till quite early on this morning (no surprises there) and came down looking extremely blurry eyed and red faced. At the airport we met up with the other 6 and found out at the check in desk that they were short staffed so the desk wouldn't be opening up until gone 5 am, typical !! When we were finally rid of of our bags and boarding tickets in hand things went quite smoothly and our flights to Oslo and then on to Tromso "flew by" (pardon the pun).

Descent to Tromso, Norway.

As the plane descends we get our first glimpse of Tromso; pretty little houses nestled in the hillside, very picturesque. At the airport we are met by Tore, owner of the Villmarkscentre and also our guide for the oncoming week. On arrival at the centre we are taken to where we were to spend the night as a group.- a Lavvo which is a large Sami tent with an open fire. The warmth inside the Lavvo was amazing very cosy.

The Lavvo

First we sorted through our kit into what would be going on the trip and what would stay behind at the centre. Following this we were taken to get kitted out in thermal suits & boots; although everyone had brought their own thermal snow pants and jackets it was thought prudent to take the centre's thermal suit as well to have as a back up just in case our own got wet.

All Kitted Out

Following our kitting out session Tore gave us lessons on putting up our tents, using the stoves and of course how to go about harnessing the dogs, of course making everything look so easy, hah hah !!! Lots of rules to remember - most important, numero uno - Don't Let Go !!!! We were shown our food rations for the trip and everyone was pleasantly surprised - our evening meals would consist of home made dishes put into boilable bags(mostly fish including Salmon and reindeer stew which we would be sampling this evening). Once lessons were over we pottered around petting the dogs and taking lots of pictures of them in their kennels until it was time to go back to the Lavvo for our evening meal. We were certainly ready for something to eat by this time as large trays of 2" thick, vegetable omelette and tureens of piping hot reindeer soup with chunks of bread were brought in, all extremely tasty.

Very Cosy Inside the Lavvo

One of over 200 dogs !!!

Although the dogs are working dogs they are incredibly friendly and attention seeking

Our sleds all labelled up with our names and dog teams ready for tomorrow

After our meal everyone just made small talk for a while, I think everyone was just so preoccupied with what lay ahead and throughout the evening most of the group checked their kit once, twice and yet again to be certain they weren't taking too much or too little, constantly referring to each other what they had decided to leave or take!! We get a final briefing from Brian our expedition leader mostly top tips for keeping warm and healthy. Of particular note we are told to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration – wee should be like champagne, not lager, not bitter and definitely not Guinness!!! You can imagine what the conversation was like after that!

A fair few yawns from around the tent signalled it was time to finally put down the reindeer skins on the floor and our sleeping bags on the ground and finally try to get some sleep.

It's Time To Go - No Backing Out Now !

2007-04-13T19:08:00.000+01:00

Well, this is it. Finally the time has come to set off on my travels!!! What a day to start the first leg of my journey - Friday 13th !!

I left home early this morning to spend the night here in London. Despite not having done anything apart from travelling here I feel pretty tired as I didn't sleep a wink last night. Hopefully I'll get a decent sleep tonight, its off to bed early about 8.30 pm as I have to leave the hotel at about 3.30 am. Had a quiet afternoon, pottered about the hotel, just had my evening meal (although I'm pretty sure all the goodness was grilled out of the chicken and boiled out of the vegetables - I'd have been better off eating cake for all the nutrition left in it!!) Never mind, it will stop me feeling hungry later and I won't feel as though I'm missing anything while I'm away whilst I'm dining on boil in the bag stew !!

It's strange I still don't feel as though I'm going, may be that's a good sign or maybe the nerves will sneak up later!!!

All Packed Up & Waiting To Go !!

2007-04-11T21:29:00.000+01:00

I had the day off work today to stay at home and wait for the courier to come with my sleeping bag & thermal mat from Trek Hire. I took the opportunity to sort through all my kit, making sure I had everything and weeding out a few things that I'd got "just in case" but looked like I wasn't going to have room for anyway. It doesn't look much for 8 days away and the only things not in the photo are my sleeping bag and my outer jacket. What you can see is mostly socks and gloves !! I've got 2 sets of thermal underlayers (ie long johns), 2 fleeces tops, my black snow pants, furry hat with ear flaps and balaclava. On the back row is thermos flask, thermo mug, water bottle, & thermal mat for sleeping on. On the front row next to the mini first aid kit are lots and lots of batteries for torches & my camera.

Late on this afternoon I nipped out to the supermarket to get my snacks for the trip and also make sure my DH has plenty of supplies in while I'm away otherwise he'd be phoning the take- away every night of the week.

At our pre-expedition training weekend we were told to get lots & lots of high energy snacks to keep us going, as we'll be burning up huge amounts of calories each day. Nuts & chocolate being high priority on the list. Of course, I don't need telling twice! How great it was to throw family size packets of chocolate raisins & aero bubbles in the trolley without even feeling the slightest twinge of guilt.

Again this doesn't look much in the photo- but in fact it's a carrier bag full !!

So that's it now I'm all packed. I have one more day in work tomorrow then I fly from Manchester to London on Friday for an overnight stay before leaving for Norway on Saturday. I'm getting decidely nervous now but probably tomorrow at work will be a hectic day so that will help take my mind off things and keep the jitters at bay.

2007-04-10T23:29:00.000+01:00

I just have to show off this card which has been made by my mum

Thanks Mum, I love it !!

Walk to Coombes Rocks & Robin Hood Picking Rods

2007-04-08T22:54:00.000+01:00

Hope Everyone Enjoyed Their Easter Break !!!

This Bank Holiday weekend firstly I needed a shopping day to get all the last "bits and pieces" for taking on my Charity Challenge trip on Friday (exciting things like an extra pair of thermal Long Johns!!) then the last day's walk before I actually go away.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, very unexpected as I'd not been following the weather forecast. I'd decided to take a walk up to Coombes Rocks, going through Charlesworth up Slack Edge and on to Far Coombes and then Robin Hood's Picking Rods. The walk wasn't exactly taxing which was just as well as I'd whacked my knee on a cupboard at work and there's probably a bit of deep bruising which has been giving me a bit of trouble. So at least it gave me a reasonable walk to keep the exercise up without over straining.

Coombes Rocks - A popular spot for flying model aeroplanes

Robin Hood Picking Rods

Extract on the rods taken from TrekkingBritain.com ...........

Robin Hood's Picking Rods have fascinated archaeologists and historians for centuries and the man made rocks are so old that no one has ever found the truth behind there existence. There are many theories on Robin Hood's Picking Rods but its modern name actually comes from the a local legend that claims that Robin Hood himself shot an arrow at the Picking Rods to win freedom for a fair maid. The mark left by the arrow is said to still be visible on the stones today. This is of course hard to believe. The theory favoured by archaeologists is that the columns were carved in the 9th century AD, by Anglo-Saxons. They believe that the two columns were originally one tall column and that after being broken in two were mounted in a new base to remain due to there importance. Cheshire and Derbyshire contains a few Saxon crosses that are basically huge stone columns made to almost the exact same size as the Picking Rods, this is why archeologists believe this to be the true theory and if you see pictures of those found else where its hard to dismiss. The stones could later have been used as a way marker for an ancient pass or as a boundary marker for the huge forests that once covered most of this region.

********

Hope You Enjoyed Your Bank Holiday . Best Wishes, Deborah

Crowden-Laddow Rocks-Dun Hill-Black Hill

2007-04-01T22:18:00.000+01:00

After having abandoned the walk to Black Hill a fortnight ago I decided to give it a go again as the weather looked quite promising. The snow previously threatened came to nothing and sunshine was on the horizon again. I'd no sooner left home and set out along the Longdendale trail when I "bumped" into my sister, Beverley. I don't know who was more surpised. I talked her into letting me take her picture although she gave me a hard time about it because she said she was in her "scruffs", but no one in their right mind would go out all "made up and fully coiffered"!!

Fancy Meeting You Here!!! My sister, Beverley on the Longdendale Trail

Looking Back to Crowden, Crowden Brook Below

Trig Point at Soldier's Lump, Black Hill (1909 metres)

So Which Way Is North Then ???

2007-03-25T23:25:00.000+01:00

This weekend's walks were a bit of a mixture. Saturday's was a "navigation" day run by the Peak District National Park service. We all met up at Glossop where we were taken out by a group of park rangers who went over map & compass work with us and how not to get lost!! It was a superb day, we all had a great time despite the howling wind at times drowning out everyone's voices. I would have liked to take a few pics but was far too busy concentrating to even think about getting the camera out !!!

Sunday's Walk

These are a few pics from Sunday's walk. After a fairly chilly start to the day, It turned out to be quite nice. I took the train into Glossop, walked up Whitfield & Moorfield across Black Moor to meet up with the Pennine Way, going all the way on up to Bleaklow Head and back home to Hadfield via Torside Clough. The section across Pennine Way up to the Snake Pass is all paved so it seemed very much like a lovely "sunday stroll". Even the section from the Snake Pass all the way up to Bleaklow Head from this side has a nice easy route to follow.

These particular photos are a bit boring, there are no great views coming across Black Moor and the sky being quite hazy meant the hilltops were fairly indistinguishable. By the time the sunshine came out properly I was already up at Bleaklow Head

This makes a pleasant change - a stretch of the Pennine Way with easy peasy walking, much better than struggling over ankle breaking tussocks and wiry heather !!!

Where the Pennine way crosses the Snake Pass

No great views here - just lots and lots of this stuff !!

Weathered Stones Not Far From Bleaklow Head

I love this stretch - heading for Torside on my way home now

Black Hill 1st Time Round

2007-03-20T21:56:00.000Z

As there was hardly any snow at home after getting back from the couple of days in Snowdon, I decided to go up to Black Hill yesterday. The weather started off quite pleasant with sunshine and a slight breeze but about a mile or so from the Trig point it started to snow again and the wind was tremendous so in the end thought it best to be on the safe side and turn back round.

The snow didn't really come to much but at least I'd managed to get past Laddow Rocks before Leo ended up being blown half way across Derbyshire !! Despite having to turn back I still managed to do about 10 miles so I was quite pleased.

Pre-Expedition Training Weekend

2007-03-19T20:58:00.000Z

This weekend it was a trip to Wales for a pre-expedition training weekend organised by Brian Jackson who runs/owns "Expedition Wise" and will be the Exped Leader on my challenge next month. I travelled up on Friday which didn't take too long, about 3 hours and that was mainly due to a lorry having broken down which had caused tail back for quite a distance. I'd used the AA route finder which got me all the way to the Pen-y-Pass hostel with no problems. When I booked in I was given the key to my room - which of course was a shared 4 man bunk room and luckily being the first to arrive meant I got first pick of the bunks.

Pen-y-Pass Hostel

My new home for the next few days

View out of the bedroom window

As I had quite a bit of time before everyone would meet up I stowed my stuff away and decided to go back to Betws-y-Coed and check out the sales in the outdoor specialist shops. I got side tracked on the way and I stopped off at "Swallow Falls", somewhere I'd not been since I was about 10 years old !

After a quick wander round Betws-y-Coed and managing to bag myself a bargain - a North Face down parka which hopefully will be perfect for next month (at a superb saving), it was time to head back to the hostel and meet up with all the others. I think most of us were a bit apprehensive as to what to expect but it was very easy going and relaxed. We chatted about our various challenges and what we'd been doing (or not doing) as we tucked into a realy lovely meal ! Over the weekend Claire, our trainer/leader gave a presentation on the various challenges that everyone was undertaking, talks on typical kit that would be needed, how to keep healthy etc.

Saturday we spent on a walk to the summit of Snowdon via one of the popular routes - the Pyg track. We all met up for a hearty breakfast and then suitably kitted up left the hostel at 9 am for our walk. It was a bit windy and a little bit misty and we wondered how long it would be before it poured down and if we would actually get to see anything from the summit.

The start of our walk to Snowden Summit via the Pyg track

Claire (3rd from left) our trainer/group leader from Expedition Wise

Looking up at those on their "hands and knees" clinging on to Crib Goch

(We're taking the well trodden day tripper's / children's route )

Glaslyn & Llyn Llydaw

Lunch break a bit higher up, getting quite misty now !

Our "drink stop" with, apparently, a lovely view of the lake !!!!

Pat and Myself doing the "obligatory pose" at the Summit

Martin & Evelyn at the Summit

Going back down via the Miner's track (The track was built during the 1800's to serve Britannia Copper Mines which were abandoned in 1917)

Getting a pep talk from Claire in front of the old Copper mine buildings

Web links for background information on Mount Snowdon:- http://www.hightrek.co.uk/snowdon1.html
http://www.mountainwalk.co.uk/snowdonfacts.html

Kit Inspection !!
Having given a talk on the different types of kit useful for the different challenge events, Claire (looking very thoughtful) gives her opinion on one of the group member's kit

Sunday

On Sunday morning the weather bulletin posted in the hostel reception ???." rain, mist, fog, gales, snow, blizzards" .... I kid you not!! Needless to say the planned walk up Tryfan had to be changed to a more low level walk and the weekend cut a bit short as people were worried about getting snowed in and not getting back home /back to work (they had a fair bit of travelling to do up to Newcastle and down to Oxford). The wind had been battering the hostel during the night and everything seemed to be banging and creaking keeping quite a few awake all night. At breakfast we found out that John's car window had been smashed during the night, the winds must have picked up some debris and shattered his back windows. Unfortunately, he had to stay behind and wait by the pay phone (no mobile reception) for a few hours just to see if Autoglass could get hold of glass suitable for his type of car which didn't sound too promising on a Sunday morning.

Rebecca, one of my "room mates", who is going to be doing the Great Wall of China trek in June.

Looking across to Tryfan which was our intended walk but due to the bleak weather bulletin this had to be switched to a more low level walk instead.

A bit higher up on our low level walk !!!!!!

My other "room mate" Evelyn who is on the Dalai Lama trek to the Himalayas next month

Coming back down a scree slope

Despite having to cut our weekend short because of the weather we had a great time. Everyone was very nice and we got on really well together. We all felt the weekend had been extremely worthwhile and having picked up lots of useful info feel a bit happier about coping with what we're about to take on. Hopefully a few of us will get the chance to meet up again and go on some more walks together and catch up on each other's challenges which are staggered over the next few months.

2007-03-11T21:57:00.000Z

Kinder Scout Walk From Hayfield

(An article on Kinder Scout can be found at Wikipedia:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Scout )

Instead of going off for a walk on my own today, I went on a group walk organised by the Peak District Ranger's Service. Ian Milne, Asst Park Ranger and our group leader for the day met us at Bowden Bridge Car Park and gave us a brief outline of the day's itinerary and a handout on the history of what we would come across on our walk.

Our route from Bowden Bridge quarry car park, Hayfield;- Mount Famine, South Head, Brown Knoll, Swine's Back, Edale Rocks, Kinder Low, Red Brook Gorge, Kinder Downfall, Sandy Heys, White Brook. Approx 10 1/2 miles.

Plaque of Mass Trespass 1932

"Guardian News" report on the Mass Trespass can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,689869,00.html

Our route takes us up and across 'Mount Famine' & 'South Head'

Looking back at the gentle slopes of Mount Famine

Ian, our walk leader (in Red) recounting a bit of local history

Checking out the memorial plate at South Head

Another Lovely View !! - Trig Point at Brown Knoll

Lunch Stop - Sitting With Ishi, Manchester Uni Student from Taiwan

Our view whilst eating lunch ...

Edale Vale - Edale village in the green area in the distance

Zooming in on Pym's Chair (central saddle shaped rock)

Kinder Low Trig Point (633 m)

Eroded stones at Kinder Low

You can just make out Mermaid's Pool down below

Another group looking down at Kinder Downfall

Just a trickle today though with no blow back so nothing much going on.

An extract taken from Ian's "Winter Wonderland" guided walk handout, on the Kinder Downfall:-

'This is, without doubt the most famous landmark in the Kinder area so much so that the phrase is often stated "All roads lead to the Downfall." The name goes back to Celtic language times initially as Cindwr Scud then Kinder Scut, a Saxon name meaning "water over the edge". The Downfall is a large cleft cut into the rock face and made up of a jumble of rocks which have over the centuries broken away from the face to lie strewn about the base of the waterfall. The river normally quite small at this stage cascades over the edge to drop about 30 m into the valley below then on to feed the Kinder reservoir. The most spectacular time to see the Kinder Downfall is when a strong SW wind is blowing directly into the cleft and forcing the waterfall back up the cleft and creating a huge fountain of spray at times up to 15 m high over a considerable area of the plateau. The spectacle can be seen on a clear day for several miles around ....'

Looking down to Kinder Reservoir

A quick stop and time for reflection.

Looking across to Mount Famine & South Head in the distance

where we had walked earlier this morning

Stepping back in history - Booth Sheepwash

Today was a superb day, I enjoyed it immensely. Ian, of course was very knowledgeable about the area and made it extremely interesting and everyone was such great company. Before the day was through I'd made up my mind to find out the dates for some more, hopefully equally interesting, walks in a week or two. Next weekend I'm off to Wales which is a pre-expedition training weekend before my Challenge next month - that seems so strange saying "next month" it's really crept up and getting scarily close now !

Past Project

2007-03-09T22:39:00.000Z

Embroidered Pillows

The two printed panels were bought as "Di Van Niekerk" kits from, I think, a South African based company. The idea behind them being you buy the printed picture then use bits and pieces of leftover stranded cottons to embroider as much or as little as you want. Spare chintz fabric was used to finish them off by making them into little pillows.

The design area measures approx 18cm x 15cm. Stitches used: Stem/straight/satin stitch, french knots, bullion knots.

2007-03-04T18:43:00.000Z

Today was a miserable day on all counts. It was mostly my own fault though - I'd forgotten to pack my waterproof trousers and realised it 1/2 hour or so after setting off. I suppose I could have gone back for them at that point but as it looked fairly reasonable thought I might as well carry on and if it got too bad I'd just turn back and come home. Of course after a while it started to pour down. The wind was relentless with the rain was coming full pelt sideways.

Quite pleasant at the start, but as always the weather changes ever so quickly

There was a Fell Runner's competition on which I'd not realised and they seemed to be popping up like March Hares. I take my hat off to all of them, they've probably run three times the distance I've walked! My once lovely, comfortable, stout shoes started to let water in big time and I felt quite jealous as they went whizzing by, while I felt lead weights were attached to my feet as my shoes were so water logged.

Leaving the mist behind me

Heading back down towards Crowden

Crowden Great Brook

5 hours and 12 miles later I was more than pleased to arrive home, get a steaming hot shower and put on some dry clothes. I must admit listening to the wind howl outside while I'm all cosy inside doing a bit of my embroidery is much more satisfying tonight.

2007-03-03T23:30:00.000Z

Past Project - Blackwork

"The Embroideress"

This is a Blackwork project which I bought from Holbein Embroideries and completed ages and ages ago.

It's worked on 18 count Aida and the design area measures approx 18cm x 21cm (7" x 8 1/2").

******

2007-02-25T23:00:00.000Z

Although only 13.5 miles today's walk was much more tiring than yesterday's. Starting off crossing sections of deep bushy heather, then a rocky strewn incline followed by expanse of deep peat groughs certainly gives the calf muscles a good work out. I really noticed the difference of not having been to the gym this past fortnight and on the way back resolved to make sure no more excuses conjured for not going next week.

I'd previously decided to head over to Chew Reservoir and having reached the edge of Arnfield Moor stopped to take a bearing. Whilst perched on a stone, map in hand, I noticed a sheep edging forwards - aww cute I thought, sheep being skittish things that usually bolt at the slightest thing. Next moment another one, then another - then quite a few too many looking rather expectantly.

The Hills Have Eyes !!

Maybe Farmer Giles was a bit late with their food but they'd got a bit too close for comfort now. Waving my map and shouting "Shoo" didn't seem to be of much help only made them break out in a trot in my direction, not quite the effect I had in mind. Before I knew it there were twenty or so three feet away staring me out big time. Up off my rock like Jack Flash, fastening my bag while on the move I felt like the Pied Piper (except he wanted to be followed).

These lot seemed to have got their own ring leader - a mean looking one with rather large pointy horns and although I know they don't butt like goats I wasn't taking any chances when they found they weren't getting any food from me. Nothing for it but to to use the sheepfold as an escape route!

All that expanse of moorland what are they up to following me?

Dish Stone Rocks

Chew Reservoir

Chew reservoir - built in 1912. At 1600 ft above sea level is claimed to be the highest constructed reservoir in England.

By the water's edge - a peaceful spot to stop for lunch

Trig Point - Featherbed Moss

View from Trig Point - Don't you just wish you were there !!

Well at least its stopped raining

Hadfield to Winscar Reservoir - 22 Miles

2007-02-24T23:45:00.000Z

The aim of today's walk was a) to stay out of the black messy stuff and b) come rain or shine stay out for about 8 hours. My 9 year old nephew, Joseph, was also going to be doing a 12 mile fund raising bike ride to Woodhead Tunnel with his cub & scout group, so I wanted to set off along the Longdendale to hopefully see him at some point.

The weather wasn't the greatest, although mild it drizzled with rain on and off and the hill tops were virtually invisible due to the mist. Fortunately it picked up later in the day so shouldn't have spoiled their cycle challenge. Half an hour after setting off I came across a very mud splattered Joseph and his scout group who were taking a "pit stop".

Joseph (first on the left) with Fellow Cubs

Not a great morning for taking photographs.
This is St James' Church, Longdendale - the mist has come down to the base of the hill !

The information board at Woodhead Tunnel - Joseph's cycling destination

The Woodhead Tunnel (Western Portal)

The Woodhead tunnel was started in 1839 to connect Manchester and Sheffield. At the time of opening in 1845 it was the world's longest railway tunnel at 4,840 m. The eastern portal is at Dunford Bridge.

At the Woodhead tunnel I decided to carry on to Dunford Bridge, this would mean I could do a fairly decent walk whilst staying on reasonably low ground (keeps the hubby happy - I have to promise not to go off on the hills on my own when its foggy).

Salter's Brook with Lady Shaw Bridge to the right (the remains of Salter's Brook Inn beyond the stone wall)

The information board tells us that the Salter's Brook House was an Inn from 1795 and would have provided refreshments and a resting place for the men and their packhorses as well as a meeting place for the local Shepherd's Society.

Plaque showing the route of the "Trans Pennine Trail" (Grid Ref SK141005)

Winscar Reservoir near Dunford Bridge, South Yorkshire

An appropriate spot to have lunch having walked the 11 miles to Winscar Reservoir with of course an 11 mile back again to home

Taken on Pikenaze Hill - getting nearer to home only another 6 miles to go

2007-02-23T21:32:00.000Z

My current "WIP"

Following the day out at GMEX recently I was really itching to get started on my goldwork kit but on going through the contents I realised that I needed some couching thread as there wasn't any included in the kit. Although I've got every make and colour of thread going I didn't have one I felt would be good enough to blend in with the goldwork, so as impatient as I was I had to order it on the internet and just wait for it to arrive.

In the meantime I decided to dig out one of the kits in my stash. Ages ago, my hubby had bought a Rowandean kit for me as a surprise when he came back from one of his trips. At the time I was working on a large Rowandean panel so although it was admired at the time he gave it to me, it got promptly put away in my cupboard to do at a later date. Now, aeons later I decided it would be the perfect project (something easy on the eye to work on when I was feeling a bit jaded in the evening) while waiting for my package to arrive.

The embroidery is called "Grazing Sheep" and measures 400 mm x 325 mm. It consists of the central picture which is on cream wool and is worked in silk, stranded cotton and wool. Then there is a slightly deeper coloured cream mount to be embroidered to go over the top.

I've thoroughly enjoyed doing this and have promised myself I'll definitely finish it before starting my Goldwork kit.

So far I've done most of the central picture - there's still the leaves to be worked in a reddish brown on the tree, some fluffiness to add to the grasses at the base of the wall and then the motif on the mount itself.

2007-02-22T18:57:00.000Z

"Happy Birthday to My Hubby !!!"

Thanks for being patient these past few months whilst I keep disappearing every weekend.

This was taken last July in front of our family home - Hah, I wish.

We visited Inverary Castle, Scotland when we had a week's break up there last Summer. It was the first time I'd been to the castle and thoroughly enjoyed it. I definitely recommend visiting if ever you are on holiday in that area.

2007-02-18T21:39:00.000Z

My other half has been very patient these past weeks putting up with me going out every weekend, so I thought it was time I got back from my walk early in the afternoon so we could maybe have a 'bit' of a normal Sunday for once. So with this in mind I set off up the Longdendale to Torside Clough for a quickie 12 miler.

It turned out to be quite a pleasant and sunny day. As usual there were quite a lot of families strolling/cycling along the Longdendale and then later on there were a fair few walkers dotted about on Bleaklow. I've taken tons of photos of this area in the past but here's one or two different shots from today.

From Reaps Bent

Someone must have come across this boot whilst on their travels. Obviously it had been claimed by the bog at some point and then later resurfaced and someone seeing the funny side has put it on display!! It looked like a fairly newish boot despite the metal lace eyelets having been rotted away - I bet someone had a tale to tell in the pub after that, I wouldn't have liked to have made it home from there without my footwear that's for sure!!

Look who I found sunbathing - a gorgeous Arctic Hare (I kept my distance as no doubt sounding like a clod hopper whilst wearing my bright red jumper would most definitely have frightened him off)

You can just about see the 'dot' of a person on the other side of the rim (right hand side)

Dowstone Clough

What Are We Letting Ourselves In For ?? The "Challenge" Team Finally Finds Out !

2007-02-17T21:14:00.000Z

Instead of the usual routine of walking to start the weekend it was a trip to the Victoria & Albert Hotel in Manchester for a meet and greet session together with a presentation from Global Adventure on the Challenge in April.

Everyone arrived before the due time so it meant we got to "break the ice" over a cup of coffee and a bit of a chat with each other beforehand. There were 8 of us altogether, another person from the hospital couldn't make it as she was on call and we were told there would be a few others who would be joining us as "independents" so although we don't know exactly how many of us there are it seems like we will be a fairly small group.

We were introduced to Brian Jackson, our Expedition Leader and as not one us has done anything remotely like this before we were extremely eager to hear his words of wisdom ! Brian gave us a quick Bio and run through all the fantastic challenges he's been involved with, pretty much in nearly every part of the globe so we feel we're in very safe hands.

We were also introduced to the two "Mikes" who are Mushers (sounds like the start of a limerick) to give us a talk on the dogs. They live here in the UK and have their own huskies which they race. From their talk it is so apparent they absolutely love what they do and live, sleep, breathe huskies, their enthusiasm is truly infectious.

I'd asked the guy from the hotel to take this photo for me of everyone together, unfortunately I think there was a bit of camera shake as the first one was totally blurred and this one's a bit indistinct. The pic shows Brian Jackson, Exped Leader on the left (white shirt), Mike the Musher next to him in the Grey top with Mike the other Musher stood the right of him (black cap), and far right is Dawn the organiser from the Hospital's Appeal team and the five of us left are those participating in the Challenge.

The two Mikes have done the same trip that we'll be doing. They talked through the itinerary day by day to give us an idea what we will be doing. There was lots of practical advice ranging from how to treat the dogs, camping out in super cold conditions , vital clothing/equipment etc. We all seemed to have the same concerns so of course there were lots of questions constantly flying about and when it was time for lunch we begrudgingly left our seats only to resume our barrage of questions in between mouthfuls!!

A slide in the presentation shown what a typical home away would look like

Our 'mushers' were full of anecdotal info which was enough to raise our eyebrows on more than one occasion - particulary when it came to the delicate subject of the "loo" (or lack of in this case). Of course we knew when we signed up for this event that it was something we would have to 'get over' but when you're talking about temperatures possibly dipping to -34 due to the wind chill factor being thrown into the equation the thought of bearing your all suddenly seems like the biggest challenge of all !!!

2007-02-12T23:32:00.000Z

Happy Birthday to my Dad !!!

A few of the sweeties he got for his birthday.

Picture proof that I don't stand a chance - I inherited the chocoholic gene !!!

Weekend Walking

2007-02-12T22:11:00.000Z

This weekend started off pretty miserable weather wise - a fair bit of mist hanging around the hilltops very early on so I put off going out until mid morning by which time it seemed most of it had blown over. The grey cold looking sky was very surprisingly deceptive as it turned out to be quite mild.

My original plan for Saturday was to go across Arnfield/Ormes Moor over to Dovestones but because I'd left it a bit late for going due to the earlier mist thought I'd do a shorter walk of Hadfield/Arnfield/Higher Swineshaw Reservoir/Slate pit moor overlooking Buckton Vale/Swineshaw Moor/Ogden Clough/Arnfield which by the time I got back home to Hadfield would be a little over 12 miles.

Unfortunately, I had to leave my little walking buddy, Leo, at home as he's been limping a bit; we think he cut his paw on some glass on the road. Limp or no limp he was not impressed at being left behind !

Footbridge - Ogden Clough

Lower Swineshaw Reservoir

Slate Pit Moor - Buckton Vale Quarry on the distant hill

One of the many streams running into Ogden Brook

Arnfield Flats

Was fortunate to be able to get out again and do the walk originally planned for Saturday. Hadfield, Tintwistle, Arnfield Top of Ogden Clough, Ormes Moor, Chew Hurdles, Along the rim overlooking Dovestones Reservoir, Descend Wimberry Stones Brow to Dovestone Reservoir, Return through Mossley, Heyrod, Stalybridge back to Hadfield = 16 miles.

Weather was mild once again, mist kept off the moors until I got to Chew so all in all started out very well, that is until I stepped into a particulary deep boggy section. Due to the recent snowfall it was only to be expected it would be extra squelchy now the snow had melted so I had been picking my way carefully to avoid anything more than ankle deep. The stile I was heading for was in sight and only a very short distance away when I noticed some walking poles. It was in that fleeting second on catching sight of them thinking it was strange somebody would leave them there rather than take them with them (serious walkers do not leave their rubbish behind unlike the idiots that leave broken glass and litter lying about the village) that I went down like a lead balloon thigh deep in the thickest black morass ever. I must admit it is a very "hairy" moment when you think oh s@@@ until you realise you've stopped sinking and need to get yourself out of that one. In hindsight I am sure the poles were left as a warning I only wish I'd spotted them sooner would have saved me being well and truly christened bog style!!!

Left Walking Poles Mark the Spot

Unfortunately they mark a spot about 30 yards from where I got my christening

Despite getting the heeby jeebies from my wee mishap, the rest of the walk was enjoyable. It was only a short distance to Chew Hurdles. This is a pic overlooking Chew Brook with a patch of Dovestone Reservoir showing in the distance

Overlooking Dovestone Reservoir

Looking back along the rim path

Weathered rocks overlooking Dovestone Reservoir

Weekend Walking

2007-02-04T01:24:00.000Z

What a treat today was - another beautiful day to go out walking !!

Today I had company on my travels - my little buddy "Leo". He has boundless energy and can't sit still for more than a minute which can be a pain when I want to take a pit stop and simply eat my lunch. I think this is his favourite walk - lots of holes to get stuck in, plenty of water to wade in; he always ends up filthy by the time we get home.

We went from our home in Hadfield along the Longdendale Trail, up Torside Clough, quick lunch stop at the Wain Stones, Higher Shelf Stones and back down through Little Clough towards Glossop, then final leg back to home to complete our 12 mile journey.

Torside Reservoir, Longdendale Valley

Torside Clough

Bleaklow Head

View From The Hern Stones

Memorial Plaque at the crash site of the B-29 Superfortress "Overexposed"
3rd November 1948

Trig Point at Higher Shelf Stones

Graffiti it gets everywhere - Higher Shelf Stones

Leo looking a bit grubby now

A useful website on Derbyshire walks, some info on the Bleaklow walk:-

http://www.trekkingbritain.com/bleaklowfromoldglossop.htm

If you are interested in the history of the aircraft wreck sites, Mick Melvin has a web page dedicated to this:

http://www.btinternet.com/~mick.melvin/darkpeak/shelfstones.html

Weekend Walking

2007-02-03T23:38:00.000Z

Last night on my way home from work the "Gritters" were out in force, I must have been showered with sprays of grit at least 3 times over. This in addition to internet weather reports did not bode well for the weekend. So what a surprise it was when the weather turned out to be so lovely.

I went out for my walk packed up with waterproofs, fleece, thermal gloves & woolly hat - all the usual stuff as the weather is so changeable up here, but it was like a Summer's day and I didn't need any of it at all. Despite the good weather there were hardly any walkers about and when I chatted briefly to the only other person I came across up on the ridges (and she was wearing a "Park Ranger" badge) she said exactly the same thing.

Nobody about - just " Me and My Shadow ..."

Rhodeswood Reservoir, Longdendale Valley

From the old quarry above Didsbury Intake

Looking down towards Torside Reservoir

A picturesque part of the quarry
(I must admit I find old quarries interesting)

On the way down to Crowden

(looking over towards yet another old quarry)

Carved Bench in Crowden Picnic Area

Quick Note on Recent Blog Changes

2007-02-03T00:00:00.000Z

For those that "drop in from time to time" I am sure you will have noticed a few changes to the look of these pages recently. It's taken me a while to attempt doing it as I'd had huge problems accessing & editing my Blog when E-Blogger decided we all had to make the change over from Beta. As I'm fairly new to all this I was a bit wary of making the switch but everything seems to be running smoothly.

I have been doing a fair bit of "tinkering" and experimenting with E-bloggers new features which I love. I've changed the way my postings are listed so instead of the last 10 postings showing up, you can just click on a topic in the categories listing as an alternative to the Archives. Also, I even have my very own "widget" now (that's the "Just Giving" target box in the sidebar for those that think "what on earth is she on about"). This is so much better than the discreet little link that used to be half way down the page.

During my surfing travels I picked up a few graphics on the way. I know some people dislike "Blinkies" but I think they brighten up the place and I loved the ones at Otto's, there are so many to choose from. Country Graphics have some nice pics and they can be found at: http://www.countrygraphics.us - very useful for the crafters out there.

UFOs

2007-01-30T21:44:00.000Z

This is one of my first Rowandean kits; it's called "Hilltop Farm". It's quite big and measures 22" x 29" (585 mm x 737 mm). The background fabric is wool and it's worked in wool and stranded cottons. All the embroidery is complete and I list it amongst my UFOs because I haven't got round to framing it despite having been finished about 4 years ago !!

"Hilltop Farm"

---oooOooo---

This is another one of the Rowandean kits called "Bindweed". It measures 253mm x 304mm.

The main picture is on a wool background worked in stranded floss thread and wool (It will need a stretch and then the embroidered mount put on).

The fabric for the mount is brown wool which has been worked in stranded cottons. All the embroidery has been done, what I need to get round to doing is actually putting it all together and get it framed. Well one of these days ...

---000O000---

This one is kind of inbetween a UFO and WIP. It's another Rowandean called "Footpath to Quarndon" (I just love all the textured wools) and is another biggie measuring 22" x 29".

It's still on my large work frame so hasn't quite got relegated to the cupboard but as I'm not likely to work on it in the next few months it's probably more of a UFO at present.

As you can see I've got a fair bit of work to do on this one.

Time Out From Training - A Stitching Treat

2007-01-28T22:38:00.000Z

Today I had a "day off" from walking, and went instead with my friend and colleague, Carole, to the "Stitching & Crafts" Exhibition at GMEX in Manchester.

It has been such a long time since we've been able to go to one of these as the past few always seemed to have fallen when I was away. I'd had a leaflet sent to me and seen it advertised on TV but I'd not really given it much thought as I've been needing to spend every weekend walking (trying to get in at the least a 4 1/2 hours walk each day and 6 1/2 hours weather permitting). But at the last minute Carole talked me into it and we decided to go - telling ourselves all the while we wouldn't spend much, we'd just go for a look!!

One of the first things we did when we arrived was to check out the Workshops which were scheduled throughout the day. We both love needlecrafts, particularly embroidery, and one of the workshops was for "Gold Work" and as this is something we've always liked the look of and kept saying we'd give it a try some time, we couldn't wait to get booked on to it. The workshop was run by "Golden Hinde" of Warrington and as it was for just 45 minutes it was run as a quick introduction / taster session. We had three project motifs to choose from; a heart, paisley design and abstract triangular motif (we both ended up choosing the same design - the paisley, which was just as well as the heart was the most popular choice and got snapped up). Of course 45 minutes went by in no time at all - just enough to whet the appetite! We really enjoyed it and would love to do a full day's course one day.

The "Golden Hinde" Stall

Advising a Customer

Gold Work Workshop - Quietly stitching away

Carole Concentrating on her Couching

Paisley Sample Piece - Gold Threads on Silk

The Seahorse looks gorgeous and of course now having done the starter project I just had to buy one teensy weensy little kit

The Golden Hinde's web site;- http://www.golden-hinde.co.uk/

We spent the rest of the day looking at every stand in GMEX - there is so much to see, lots and lots of beautiful designs on display. We could have bought sack loads of stuff, and it was extremely tempting but we both have "stashes" of every kind of needlecraft kit going and cupboards practically bulging at the seams so we tried to restrain ourselves (and we did fairly well by repeating the mantra must finish this or must finish that ). We did, however, catch the "stitching bug" again and we came away from the show all enthused and ready to dust off our embroidery hoops and make some time (no matter how much we procrastinate how busy we are) and finally get round to "doing a bit" again.

"Just Out Walking"

2007-01-27T19:47:00.000Z

The strong winds and flurry of snow this past week has not been very conducive to keeping my walking mileage up - my footwear simply isn't up to the job on glass like ice. So I was quite pleased that most of the ice had thawed out and I was able to get out and about "up on the tops". The typically wintry conditions this week seems to have kept people off Bleaklow and instead of the constant trickle of (experienced) walkers (I'm still only a beginner), I only came across 'one man and his dog' and another solitary figure on the descent back to Glossop. I had no particular mileage aim today, simply to enjoy mooching about, taking a few photos on the way. By the time I got home I'd clocked up a total of 10 1/2 miles which wasn't too bad for pottering about !

The Big Thaw - Only a very light dusting of snow left on "Lightside"

"Wigan Clough"

Looking out towards Shire Hill

Doctor's Gate (Path) back down to Glossop

Taken on Mouselow Hill whilst on the Way Home

Bog Trotting on Bleaklow

2007-01-14T22:35:00.000Z

For the past few weeks now the weather has been pretty miserable "our way"; pouring rain and strong winds (although that's pretty much the norm for this time of year) and the hill tops have been so misty you just can't see a thing. Today though we had a brief respite from all that, and it was bliss!

Due to the crummy weather the past few weekends I had actually decided I was going to use the day to catch up on some desperately needed housework & shopping, but the blue sky was so unexpected and just too good to miss, so despite being quite late on in the day it was on with my rucksack and head for the hills! My route was to walk from my home in Hadfield to Glossop, head up Lightside and Yellow Slacks onto Bleaklow, potter about taking pictures of the Hern & the Wain stones then see how much time was left before getting back down to Glossop and home before it got dark (a total of 12 miles altogether)

The sky was pure blue and although still windy, not enough to knock you off your feet which really got to be a pain when trying to go up onto Bleaklow weekend before last (I ended up having to turn round and go another route instead). I love tramping about on the moors and I feel really put out when it gets too foggy for me to go walking across the "tops", so this break in the weather was more than welcome. Although it was a fine day for walking, the constant rain these past few weeks meant it was particulary soggy once away from the stony channels leading up from Yellow Slacks & Dowstone Clough and I don't think it would be too much of an exaggeration to say the sound of squelching totally drowns out the sound of the wind in parts (and that's saying something). Even with careful negotiation I still found avoiding calf deep stinking squelchiness impossible!!!

Walking from Hadfield towards Glossop along Cemetery Road
(Shirebrook Hill on the right, )

Looking out From Yellow Slacks

Lots of pictures of stones now coming up !!

At the Hern Stones -Bleaklow

Close up - Hern Stones

Looking across the Moorland from Hern Stones

The Wain Stones

The Wain Stones (Kissing Stones)

View across the moor from the Wain Stones

Looking out towards Yellow slacks (brook below)

This site is worth checking out for brief information on Bleaklow and Derbyshire towns/villages:-

http://www.cressbrook.co.uk/features/bleaklow.php

2007-01-10T20:20:00.000Z

Happy, Healthy New Year to Everybody !!!

Hope you had a stress free and enjoyable Christmas with some nice surprises in your stocking from Santa.

By far the most popular saying muttered time and again in my workplace (and come to think of it by nearly every female I know) is .... "I don't know where the time has gone, its just flown by". Well I'm sorry to start the New Year off not only repeating it, but by putting it into print as well as for ages now I've been meaning to do catch up sessions and update the pages and I hate to say it but ... "I don't know where the time has gone !!" I will endeavour to do better over the next few weeks and hopefully publish some backdated pages although the fundraising pretty much stopped for a while back in September whilst we went on our trip to China followed by a family wedding in Loch Lomond virtually as we got back to the UK. Since then every weekend in November was taken up with walking (major concentration on getting the fitness levels back up after being on our travels) and it seems like every weekend in December was taken up with shopping and family matters! So in one way I am glad the Christmas season is over and I'm looking forward to the brand new year!! Before I sign off, I'd just like to say:-

Thank you so much for visiting my pages and for all the support that has been given these past few months.

Here's wishing you all the very best for 2007.

Deborah xxx

2006-11-15T13:37:00.000Z

Some of the cards on the Hadfield Carnival stall

Below - A few close ups of donated cards

Carole, my friend at work with the Christmas Cards she'd bought

My other colleagues who'd all bought a handful each suddenly became all camera shy!

Dinting Station Car Boot - 10th Sept

2006-09-30T23:02:00.000+01:00

Before our planned trip to China in September, my mum and dad mentioned they might do a car boot for me if a) they had nothing in particular planned and b) the weather was ok (of course). Not really expecting much to come of it as the previous two car boots had been totally rained off, I handed over what was left of the donated items and jetted off on my hols.

Of course because I wasn't doing it, the weather turned out to be absolutely glorious! Mum reported that the unexpected warm weather seemed to bring everyone out as it was the busiest she had ever seen it. They found themselves extremely busy all morning and their selling tactics must have worked as with a combined booksale later during the week they raised £60 !!.

So a great big "Thank You" for all the hard work to my Mum & Dad !!!

Not my mum's usual peaceful Sunday morning !

Dad Chatting Up The "Car Boot Neighbour"

Dinting Station Car Boot (Just For a Change !!)

2006-08-30T07:22:00.000+01:00

Slightly Better Than Last Time - Sunday 27th August

Due to such a disappointing time the week before last it was with a little apprehension that I decided to go ahead and do my final car boot before going on leave for a month. Despite being August and supposedly still summer a cloudy grey sky did not bode well at all. With fingers crossed I hoped that the rain could hold off just until lunchtime. I managed to get set up and despite bracing winds quite a few people ventured out to take a look. Mid morning my dad came out to see how things were going and kept me company. The extra pair of hands were very welcome when trying to rig up plastic sheeting that refused to stop billowing when the quick showers finally came. Despite the chilly day there was a continual stream of people who came over and we were kept quite busy. Combined with the few pounds from the13th, the grand total came to £60 so we were more than pleased with our morning's efforts.

The Really Wet One - Sunday 13th August

Once again the weather had been changeable all week and the forecast was not particularly good for the weekend. But as the saying goes "every penny counts" so I thought I really should make the effort and try my luck at "Dinting Station" . Unfortunately it absolutely poured down from start to finish and with hindsight it was probably better not to have gone at all as despite trying to keep everything covered with large plastic sheeting quite a bit of stuff (books and packaging) got totally ruined and had to be thrown away. Due to the amount of things that had got spoilt it really was disappointing. A handful of people braved the weather to come and take a look first thing in the morning but by about 9.30 the sky was so dark there was no way it was going to let up at before 12 so what few of us there were, we had to just call it a day and head for home.

Despite the poor forecast a few optimists set up !

Where is everybody?

Anne, a friend of the family and fellow optimist keeps smiling despite the rain!

"I'm a Wet Customer Get Me Out of Here"

Now we really know nobody else is coming .. aww

A total washout ...
time for even the diehards to pack up and go home

2006-08-15T15:18:00.000+01:00

Corporate Sponsorship

I wrote to quite a lot of companies asking if there was any way they could help with my fund raising. I know they get bombarded with continual requests day in day out and often they have already "adopted a charity" which they regularly support and as a result don't tend to support individuals. So despite the poor odds I thought I might as well give it a go along with all the others planning to do a challenge at some point in the year. I received quite a few nice replies back even when they couldn't help.

I was thrilled to bits to get phone calls within a week or so of each other from "Boots" in Manchester and from "Costco" Trafford Park offering help.

Boots kindly donated 3 huge bags of samples some of the soft toys were used in gift baskets at the Carnivals and as raffle prizes whilst the smaller samples were given out to the "unlucky ones" who'd not won a Tombola prize.

One of the gift baskets - soft toy donated by Boots

---ooOoo---

Costco donated a lovely Stainless Steel Kettle / Toaster gift set to be used as a prize.

What a fantastic prize; it was won by a husband and wife who were as thrilled to get it as I was when I first got the calls, unfortunately in all the excitement I forgot to take their photo (it was early days and I've learned a lot since then).

Dinting Station Car Boot - 16th July

2006-07-30T22:47:00.000+01:00

The sunglasses are on and hoping for a nice sunny day !

My other half ready to do his bit !!

Nice to see a blue sky for a change

A few early birds looking for bargains

Turning out to be a nice and hot T shirt/Shorts day after all

A marvellous day, beautiful sunshine, plenty of smiley faces and we managed to raise the grand total of £68 to boot !

Charlesworth & Chisworth Carnival

2006-07-08T20:53:00.000+01:00

This Saturday it was Charlesworth & Chisworth's turn to hold their annual carnival. We arrived at 8 am to allow plenty of time to get set up, although we're a dab hand now at putting up the gazebo - it was up in about 5 minutes flat! Ken Dee the organiser kept calling me 'Zebra' and my dad was subsequently christened 'Mr Zebra' when his help was enlisted along with that of my OH to set up other first timer's gazebos.

As usual the sky was not looking too promising, after being glorious all week it certainly was due for another downpour. And pour down it did - fortunately it was fairly early on in the morning and the carnival wasn't due to start until lunchtime. So there we sat cocooned in our little green shell, draped in plastic sheeting and waited it out. By lunchtime it was as if it had never happened, the sun came out and it went on to be such a gorgeous day. Ken Dee and the other organisers worked tirelessly throughout the day which certainly paid off as there was a great atmosphere and everyone had a marvellous time.

For a little place we get some fine looking customers!

When is it my turn ?

Needing a bit of help

This little 'bee' has flown back
for just one more go

And a few moments later ....

one happy customer with her prize !!!

Glossop Carnival Weekend 1st & 2nd July

2006-07-02T22:27:00.000+01:00

It's been carnival time in Glossop and I spent the whole of the weekend with my family in 'Manor Park' running a small craft stall and Tombola. On Saturday my dad just came to help put up the gazebo with my OH and ended up, despite it being the day of the England match, staying all afternoon until it was time to pack up and go home. So that was really nice, having such support without having to ask, cajole or bribe !!!

We were very lucky with the weather - what a scorcher. It was so hot that during the Punch & Judy shows there were more people behind our table shading from the sun that we actually had in front of it!!

My dad helping out even though England were playing

Behind the scenes - one hot dog

We did extremely well with the Tombola stall having had lots of lovely prizes donated from colleagues and neighbours. Costco kindly donated a superb Phillips Kettle and Toaster set as a raffle prize which I thought would be put to best use at the Carnival, particularly as it was a 2 day event. Without these lovely prizes I don't think I would have collected anywhere near the amount we raised over the weekend. Although I couldn't believe the first four people to draw tickets on Sunday morning all won prizes one straight after another (and good ones at that !) I thought I wouldn't last half an hour at that rate. Fortunately the wins slowed down to much more respectable intervals and it was only in the last hour that I had a pretty empty looking table with only about 6 items left.

Of all the Tombola prizes it was this little chappie

that all the ladies wanted to win

It's a serious business choosing a ticket

The Morris dancers in their finery. I meant to go and watch them but we had a bit of a 'busy spell' and unfortunately I missed their 'turn'.

Picture Perfect - the Carnival Queen & Rose Queen Attendants.

Much later in the afternoon when I'd not got a trace of make up on, my hair had not seen a comb since 7 am and I had goodness knows what spilt down the front of my Appeal T shirt, this was the time the reporter from the Glossop Advertiser turned up to take my photograph (thanks a bunch). So this is one article that definitely won't be flashed around the office!!

At the end of the day I think we managed to pack up in record time and were thoroughly exhausted by the time we got home. We'd had a super weekend and managed to raise 253 pounds for the Appeal.

Car Boots

2006-06-28T17:39:00.000+01:00

Sunday 25th June 06 - Chelford

The car boot at Chelford is a fair distance from where I live and because of its reputation for being huge with lots of tradespeople I probably would not have tried it out for my 2nd jaunt if it wasn't for the prospects of yet more poor weather. As rain caused problems on the day of the Carnival and my 1st CB (the organisers of which felt it had put a lot of people off attending) I thought that if it did pour down then perhaps, people would still go to the Chelford one because of its sheer size. We had a 5 am wake up call (on a Sunday, ugghh) I can tell you my OH wasn’t too happy at being coerced to come on this little trip. We were out of the house for 6.15 and arrived at Chelford for just gone 7. There were at least a couple of rows of vehicles already parked up but we seemed to be fairly well placed, ending up amongst mostly ‘car booters’ rather than a complete row of ‘tradesmen’. We’d no sooner got the boot flipped open and this time there was a constant stream of guys wanting to know if we’d got phones/DVDs etc, so I felt a bit pressured getting unpacked and literally threw everything on the table (although I shouldn’t have, as it wasn’t officially open until 8 and there was plenty of time so that’s definitely a lesson learned for next time). Due to donations of toys, books and nick nacks from friends and colleagues at work instead of my 'artily' arranged table I had a proper car booters table crammed with all sorts this time round!!!!

Weatherwise the clouds were quite grey and I wondered if there was going to be a downpour yet again, but luckily the rain held off and it was surprisingly warm all day. The morning went in ‘fits and starts’ - you could tell people here were ‘seasoned' car booters determined to get their 50 p bargains!!! My OH went off for a while to explore with strict instructions not to buy anything. When I went for a quick look round myself much later on it was hard to believe how many cars were cram packed into the field - it was almost an assault on the eyes the amount of tables with 'junk/treasures'. Ten minutes mooching round was more than enough for me and I was quite happy to go back behind my table.

Half way through the morning we got a surprise my parents turned up out of the blue - Mum just cannot resist seeing what’s going on. I think that Dad brought her on the proviso they were back in time for the football. After lunch things started to really slow down and the occasional passer by was the cue for packing up. The couple with the pitch next to me told me it was their last CB as they were going to live in Spain and as I was doing my table sale for charity I could have whatever I wanted as they would just be getting rid of it all. I can't tell you how strange it felt, picking things up off their table and putting them straight on to mine!! I really had a problem doing it, so they ended up doing it for me along with my mum!! The couple who had the pitch at the side of them saw what they was happening and then came along with three lovely porcelain dolls saying they'd not had much luck with them but hoped they would do better for me!!! How nice was that? What lovely gestures!!! So what a brilliant morning not only did I raise a total of £56 for my charity. I ended up having my mum and dad's boot filled with enough stuff to keep me going for a couple more CB mornings.

First Car Boot Sale !!!
Hadfield Cricket Club

Sunday 28th May 2006

A few bits and pieces left over !!!

Despite the weather forecast not being that great I decided to go ahead and try my luck at having a car boot sale. I didn’t have a great deal of ‘stuff’ to do one but I was very keen to ‘get going’ in doing something towards helping raise a few pounds for my challenge. I’d been given a few items such as my nephew’s old fancy dress costumes, I’d raided my daughter’s book collection and by the time I’d cleared out the kitchen cupboards thought I’d got a not too bad selection of items. Having never done a car boot sale before or even visited one in the last 15 years I wasn’t really sure what to expect so it was quite nice being able to do one literally on the doorstep. On arrival before I’d even begun to set up my pitch, quite a few chaps kept coming over asking if I’d got DVDs etc to sell. I took my time ‘artily’ arranging all my wares on my old paste table feeling quite pleased with the result, that was until I’d finished and had chance to survey the other ‘car booters’ – they had a colossal amount of stuff stretched out in front of them/to the sides of them and draped from every corner of their vehicles !!! It did cross my mind that perhaps I’d been a bit hasty after all in trying to do it until I’d collected a ‘full boot of stuff’ and that I’d probably be lucky to even make much over my entrance fee. Fortunately it wasn’t too long before people started to drift round and I had no time to contemplate what I should or shoudn’t have done. People did stop by and were very chatty. Weatherwise it wasn’t too bad; the clouds were dark and threatening but luckily there were just brief showers. Although it stayed fairly windy all morning and more than once I had to go chasing across the grass for the odd flyaway item! I ended up thoroughly enjoying my morning and as a newbie was more than happy with my morning’s takings which totalled £43.00 to go towards my Appeal.

First Post / Hadfield Carnival

2006-06-20T21:40:00.000+01:00

Hello there and welcome to my first ever post !!!

As mentioned above I hope to use this blog as a means of an "online newsletter" for everyone to see what I'm up to with regards raising sponsorship for my Big Event next April. I was hoping to have my web pages up and running but due to a few technical hitches (which I won't go into as extremely boring) they are on the back burner for now.

Sunday just gone (18th) it was our local (Hadfield) Carnival. After a week of gorgeous sunshine and high temperatures the weather changed for the worse on Sunday morning. I should have known, of course, just as on my first ever car boot sale a fortnight earlier, it was just bound to rain on my first ever stall at a carnival!!! When we arrived at 8 am to set up, you could not see the tops of the hills for heavy cloud. All morning we kept our "mental fingers crossed" that the sun would break through, but no, by the time noon came when the Carnival was officially opened and the crowds poured in, so did the rain. It was a nuisance trying to keep everything dry but it made for an interesting day to say the least. Of course the day wasn't a total washout; we met some very nice people and were pleased to have so many lovely comments on how nice our stand was (despite the weather's best attempts to sabotage it) and most importantly we managed to raise 140 pounds for the Charity.

Thank You's

I'd just like to add a big thank you to the ladies on the card & papercraft forum for your donations of all the beautiful cards and embellishments. They truly were a sight to see. I can't tell you how excited mum and I were to see them it was Christmas come early!! You will be pleased to know you had many 'appreciative buyers'. Also a big thank you to "Boots Pharmacy" in Manchester, I was so pleased to hear from them, I know stores/companies receive tons of requests. Boots kindly donated 3 huge bags of samples some of which were used in the gift baskets at the Carnival and the rest will be put to good use over the next few weeks.

Some photos of our 'pitch'

Optimistically, we borrowed the gazebo to shelter us from the blistering sun (lol). We had no idea how it went together but were assured it was easy 'just join the numbered poles together' we were told. Famous last words - what numbers?? Of course they'd all fallen off and it was anybody's guess what was supposed to go where. A dummy run would have been a good idea but we'd only got hold of it late the night before so it just wasn't possible. We would have been there all day without the organisers coming over to give us a quick lesson. We felt rather sheepish for a while but only a short time later a couple of other stall holders came over to ask us 'how we'd put it up' because they were all having the same problem !!!

"Moi' in my Charity Appeal T Shirt although a little bit hidden.

Introducing my mum (aka 'Handy' to her Internet buddies), I'm sure she was a salesman in a previous life, she certainly had the patter to a T.

Everything finally in place, all we need now are some customers.

The Challenge

2006-05-28T11:09:00.000+01:00

Lapland Husky Trail Challenge

April 14th 2007

Day 1

Depart UK and arrive at Tromso Airport, Norway. Transfer to Villmarkssenter and meet fellow team members (will this feel like arriving at Boot Camp I wonder ?) Here we will meet the 130 energetic Alaskan Huskies, some of whom will be with us for what we are told will be the next six arduous days of sledding. Time here will be spent in helping prepare the equipment for the expedition before ‘getting our heads down’ in a lavvo - a Sami tent with an open fire.

Day 2
An early 3 hour transfer (7.00 a.m.) to Helligskogen in the high mountains where our journey begins. The itinerary sales pitch reads … “Climb aboard your sled and experience the force of six spirited huskies as you manoeuvre them across ice and snow, over mountains 800 metres above sea level and through wintry forests – all the while with only the bracing air for company”. Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be quite as easy as “climb aboard” and hope its not too many crash landings before I get the hang of things. At the end of the day we will be camping in a forest, where we will be setting up the tents (no such luxury as log cabins) and feed the ravenous dogs and their ‘mushers’.

Day 3

Having given the huskies their breakfast and broken camp, remaining in Norway today we will experience Isdalen – an Ice Valley. This is a strenuous trail which they say will certainly keep the adrenaline flowing. This evening the camp will be close to a river.

Day 4

Sledding across demanding mountains and wild landscapes, we enter Sweden and the homeland of the Sami, or reindeer people. Although the weather will be tough, with temperatures possibly below freezing and strong winds, we are told the sun doesn’t set until about 9.00 p.m. with amazing sunsets (I think we are told this to try and take our mind off how long we’re “on the go” today !)

Day 5

Remaining in Sweden, this is another testing day driving the sled through high mountains and forests, dodging the occasion reindeer!! The itinerary mentions that camp is set up again by a river and we can refresh our aching limbs around a blazing fire – they don’t mention aching limbs until now but I get the distinct feeling our limbs will ache long before this point !

Day 6

This is a shorter day to allow us to boost our energy for the final arduous push tomorrow. We travel from Vosko to Voulus traversing various lakes. Tonight’s camp is closer to civilisation than we have been for the past few days.

Day 7

Today we push on to Kiruna and finally are allowed a visit to the Icehotel in Jukkasjarvi where we will stop for about an hour before the 6 hour car journey back to Tromso.

This evening we get to have a shower !! We will all meet up for a Presentation Dinner and at the end of the night get to sleep in a real bed! Tomorrow return to the UK.