In my usual online travels using the Zite reader on the ol’ iPad I came across this bloody fantastic idea on the LifeHacker site.
Click in this link to read all about it. All I will say is, why the feck didn’t we think of this earlier?
Oh the great idea? To use one of those re-usable pepper grinders to grind fresh coffee while out camping/backpacking.
Dave and Andy at the base of the Longhope on Orkney, picture credit is Lukaz Warzecha
If you are free on the 8th Feb, Goretex are sponsoring Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner to give a lecture about their first free ascent of the Longhope route on St John’s Head last year (yep means nothing to me as I am not a climber).
After the lecture (which I assume will also involve a Q&A part, as there is nothing more boring than being spoken to for whole minutes on end – trust me ask my students), there will be an audio visual delight known as a film shown. But wait not any old film but the people’s choice winner at the Kendal film thingy they hold annually at some place (probably London) Paul Diffley (Hot Aches Productions) Longhope Film. You can see the trailer of this piece of celluloid here.
So how much would you pay for this extravaganza? Well for twelve of her Majesties pound notes you can exchange them for a magic ticket that gains you entry into this celebration of daring escapades. If you so wish to do this you will be facilitated at the following LINK on the heroic Dave’s website.
Apparently there are others sponsoring the event as well, Mountain Equipment and Cotswold (never heard of them 
)
If you do go leave a comment here letting me know what it was like. Would love to hear what you thought.
Just some snaps from this mornings walk out in the frozen wilds of the Fens.
Striders and mine New Years Day walk was along the sea defences of the Wash and prime Samphire country (when in season).
And boy was the winds coming off the fens out to the Wash and North Sea. As the photo below (taken a few weeks earlier) shows my favourite cold weather head gear.
As the pictures show my cold weather head gear is a polar tech buff, which I wear in what I call tea cozy mode, and a regular buff round the neck. Which as the photo shows does get pulled up to cover the face.
Even with the polar tech buff in tea cozy mode there is a gap at the top, which surprisingly helps keep the head regulated. often I find a fleece hat etc gets my head too hot, but this is just right for me. I even use the tea cozy mode while sleeping under a tarp to keep my head warm in the night.
Gloves wise I usually can get away with just liner gloves.
If you haven’t guessed when walking I get hot and this lot keeps me warm and just the right temperature without over heating.
Boxing Day is that traditional day that folks use to make their feelings of guilt go away for the previous days excess. One such way they try and purge those feelings of guilt is to go for a walk, usually at some convenient local beauty spot in our glorious British countryside.
Well our family if at home for Christmas get dragged by Mum to Snettisham beach for our Boxing Day walk. With Mums dogs, mine, step sisters dogs, and my brothers rat (it’s not big enough to qualify as a dog) there is a considerable sized pack being walked along the beach.
On the way back Mum’s dog Penny decided to have a paddle in a ditch behind the sea defence. Sadly the old girl was unable to get out, and despite the efforts of the kids, stuck. So I did the only thing that could be done, I dropped into the knee deep water and lifted the Penny out. Of course it looked like I couldn’t hold my bladder after I got out. Luckily no photos of these events or my fashionable pissed trousers look afterwards.
Below are some photos I took during the stroll along the sea front.
Just wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
Thanks for dropping by and reading my words over the year.
I hope you have a great day, get to eat plenty, drink plenty, have great company, and lots of presents from Santa.
Well the tweet says it all really
Hopefully this twitter link will save those that need it typing it in, and also work!
Thanks to a tweet on twitter
I was alerted to this story “Revealed: The true scale of Britain’s woodland sell-off” in the Independent.
I can’t say that I share the disillusioned sentiment of the original tweeter. I have been disillusioned with not just this Government but also the previous Labour Dictators as well for a loooong time.
It just saddens my heart that this is going on. We need to raise the awareness of this, let the public (which includes the Daily Hate reader) that this is still going on through the backdoor.
