A peaceful walk...

I think the heat of summer is definitely over now and there's a real Autumnal feel to the air. Today was supposed to be sunny all day but we've had a very mixed bag of weather today, with lots of clouds and a brisk wind. Not good for the Balloon Festival taking place this weekend!

After taking Sophie to work, I drove to Pitsford where Keith had parked the Mini. We then returned home and walked back down to the car, via the Nature Reserve. I never cease to feel lucky that we have this on our doorstep and now that Keith has a permit for us, we can walk around the much quieter side with its beautiful grassy tracks and avoid the much busier path around the other half of the reservoir.

We didn't see a single person (and not much wildlife either, to be honest!) and emerged from the Reserve to see the causeway packed with people walking, cycling and jogging. Dogs and cycles aren't allowed on the Nature Reserve side, but for £30 a year, it's definitely worth getting a permit and having a more peaceful walk!

Back home we had lunch and then I gave the Mini a good wash as tomorrow afternoon we're returning it to Mum and Dad. We also drove over to the Tesco garage at Kettering to put some diesel in the car and met not one, but two tractors! It's certainly a busy time for them at the moment as they're harvesting the fields and the chances of coming across one of them lumbering along the road are high. It's not a good idea to be in a hurry!

No sooner had I got home than Sophie called me to ask her to pick her up. She was finished a lot earlier than I'd imagined but it was good to have her home and she chatted with me while I finished washing the Mini. I looked anxiously at the sky but although there were a lot of dark grey clouds about, it didn't rain. We didn't see any balloons this year, probably because it was so breezy.

In the evening we prepared a special meal to celebrate our Anniversary yesterday. We had a spoonful of Cannelloni for a starter, followed by ham and leek pies, cauliflower cheese and delicious green beans. For pud we enjoyed trifle and the meal was washed down with our very last bottle of Rex Goliath Merlot. It was delicious, thank goodness!