Southwick and surrounding woods

About 6 miles. 2 hrs 15 mins. A couple of showers but nothing really wet. As I got home the sun came out.





Lovely walk, with only likelihood of wandering off track right in the last half-mile or so.

Quite up and down. I parked by Southwick church and walked up to the water tower on the Glapthorn Road, but there's a fair sized lay-by at the top. Of course that puts the uphill road walk at the end.





The track starts about 100 yards past the water tower, to the right.

It runs through at least three fields of this crop - is it bamboo? Pandas next?





(I'm told this is a bio-fuel crop)





It was very windy up on the ridge, but the plants were some protection as they were taller than I am.





The hedges around had lots of blackberries.





For much of the way the path runs beside Short Wood Nature Reserve.









After about a mile or so the track comes to a metal gate leading into a large meadow, and today I was treated to the sight of these two little deer.





I was surprised when they came towards me at first, so I tried to get a shot - usual problem of the wrong lens for the job, and the splodges are raindrops! It was a joy to watch them leaping about. The wood behind the deer is part of Glapthorn Cow Pastures Nature Reserve, famous for nightingales in May, and black hairstreak butterflies in June.The cows were in the lower part of the field keeping themselves to themselves.





The track goes across to another gate, then right on a road leading to Provost Lodge. I followed the path between the two big barns and through a gate then downhill. According to my instructions it crosses a stream, but it looked as though there has been no water in the stream bed for some time. The path goes uphill to another gate, past a gap in the hedge. At the gate I went slightly diagonally left towards yet another gate. Then turn left towards an old farm building - this part of the walk is alongside a ploughed field. There is a bit of grass along the edge, but it's a bit rough in places.

At the old building (Tottenhoe Lodge) turn right and carry on going north, with a hedge on your right until you reach a wooden footbridge almost on the road.





There's a bridge which you have to cross - it brings back memories of cycling over to Suffolk almost twenty years ago, as I remember stopping here for a rest, and Harry drawing Crossway Hand Farm on the hill.





I followed the concrete track towards the farm, turning left just before it, and then along the track towards Boars Head Farm. There is woodland immediately on the right, but no public access as it's a conservation area. The track continues as a grassy path just past Boars Head Farm, going downhill and entering the wood, at its narrowest point. There is a clear path to left and right. We go to the right along a gravel track signed with a horseshoe. As I walked along here, I first heard, then saw a couple of jays - are they burying acorns already?

I followed the route straight through, past three paths to the right. The last one of these leads to Shire Hill Lodge, but the path becomes very narrow for a short distance before joining the track .

Soon there is a small plantation of fir trees on the left, and at the end a footpath cuts across the track. I turned right - it's clearly marked as a footpath, but not for horses. The path turns left after another young pine wood. When it joins a gravel track go straight on, not to the right. A little later turn right and follow this path directly to Southwick.





(If you come out of the wood and spot the Water Tower on your right, a little behind you . . . retrace your steps. If you're out of the wood you should have the trees on your right not your left!)

Spot the statue?

You arrive at the church after crossing a footbridge over a stream and following a small lane to the footpath signs and two benches.

No, it's not the leaning tower of Southwick.

Thanks to 20 Best Local Walks, by Nicholas Rudd-Jones, for this route.

La Sportiva Hi5 rock!

New snow is down and we are skiing in the NW again. Time to think about new ski may be?



Theworst reviews I have ever read in hard copy have been on an 7K meter down jacket, the Eddie Bauer Peak VX, reviewedas a cold weather bouldering jacket. And more recentlythe La Sportiva Hi 5 as an all mountain ski.



No doubt the writer in the Peak XV writes ot his experience level and customer base.



The more recent dismal review of the Hi5 as an "all mountain ski" I can't find a reason for that other than ignorance and being so lazy they couldn't make a turn on them in the back country.



I own a lot of skis these days. And I paid a premium for the La Sportiva's Hi5s by comparison.



This blog is a simple response for the poor bastard looking for decent HI5 info.



I love this ski. I used it in terrible conditions inside the areaand more in the back country. It skis every bit as good as my Stokes in similar terrain and conditions and may be a little better from my perspective. Both the Stoke and the Hi5 were NEVER intended to be all mountain resort skis although I use both there knowing theirlimitations inside the ski area. You don't need five buckles to drive them and they are actually cut for skins. The hole in the tip should have been a small indicationwhat the ski was designed for. Put them on you pack and you know why you bought them. For true "all mountain" touring they rock.



I like the Hi5 enough I am temped to buy either a longer pair or a shorter pair.



Do a search here for the Hi5. The info is at least real and you know who wrote it.

Guess what is (nearly) finished!!!

Okay, this is a "brag" post. . .

Four months ago today I embarked upon my second major scanning project for ... The first project was to sort and scan my mother's photograph albums which took from April through August. There is still one group of photos left with that project and, in my goals for .., I stated that I hope to have those done by the end of March.

The second project, sorting and scanning my genealogy files and documents, was started on September 22nd and I'm *EXTREMELY* happy (relieved, thrilled, pleased as punch, etc.) to report that it is *ALMOST* done! The last group of documents to be sorted and scanned are those that pertain to my ancestors, shown on the table in the photo above. The two tallest piles belong to the Brubaker and Phend families. These will be scanned to both jpg and pdf format. After being scanned, these documents will be put into protective pages and placed in three-ring binders.

Other files that were scanned and kept were put in folders and are being stored in small "bankers" boxes in the garage. Only about a third of the files that I had were kept. Everything else has been recycled, most of it scanned first, but not all. The binders on the shelves and the folders and in the filing cabinets consumed nearly 40 linear feet, while what was kept amounts to about 13 feet (9 bankers boxes 15.5" deep and the papers on the table).

Two empty filing cabinets. Now there is the "problem" of what to do with the 3-ring binders and hanging file folders that are no longer needed. As you can see below, the three tall bookcases have been removed. They were sold, at a very reasonable price ;-) to a friend.

The "before" photo, above, was taken November 13, ... And below is what it looks like now (photo taken yesterday).

Another view.

The "before" photo is above (taken November 13, ..) and what it looks like now is below.

How did I accomplish this feat in four months? It is due to several things actually, among which are:

• Retirement. No way could I have gotten it done in four months if I was still working, maybe in four years, maybe!
• Being single with no kids. Though I do have errands to run for my Mother and I have to make sure she gets to the doctor and other appointments.
• A stubborn streak (perseverance) that was inherited from my Mother. I just made up my mind that it was going to get done, one way or another!
• And finally, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 document scanner, which I heartily recommend. In four months of use and after sending nearly 30,000 pages through it, I had only a couple of paper jams and none of them seriously damaged the paper being scanned. I've definitely gotten my money's worth from this little gem. Thanks, Denise!

Of course, I still have to add file data and captions to all of those image and pdf files, but at least they are scanned and accessible on the computer. I've already had a need to access some of those files and I must say, it is much quicker to click through several pages of a pdf file than it was to find the binder they were in and flip through the pages. And yes, they are all backed up to the laptop and an external drive, though I haven't yet overcome my fear of "losing" all of those electronic files...

High Pressure!

Hope everyone has been enjoying the sun. We would love to get some reports or photos of people's climbs if they would like to share. Climb safe.

Clouds Over the Sandia Mountains

Close Up of Redbud Blossoms

Skyrocket Flower

When I posted a simular photo I said I didn't know the name of this flower. I have found out it is called Skyrocket.