Well. So much for the brave new “one blog post per day for the whole of August” initiative, which spluttered to a premature halt yesterday, on Day Four.
My excuse? Yesterday was my first day over at the cottage in three weeks, the first decent weather we’ve had in living memory, and the first chance to get to grips with the unkempt wilderness that PDMG#1 has become since our last visit. Oh, and I hadn’t actually gone to bed until 7am on Saturday morning, for reasons that shall be made abundantly clear in my next post, to be titled “Prince at the O2 Arena: The Great Funk And Soul Swindle.” All things considered, it just wasn’t a day for switching on a laptop. The Germans have a word for it: Hitzefrei. And quite right too.
So, yeah, I owe you one extra post in recompense for my lapse. Consider it banked.
I am writing this from the cottage kitchen, upon our return from an uncommonly agreeable “early doors” at the Hartington Youth Hostel, of all places. No, really, you’d be surprised. Beautiful old Elizabethan manor house, locally brewed beer (I started with the “Hairy Helmet” and progressed to the sublime Hartington IPA), outside seating in the capacious and leafy gardens… a hidden gem, so it was.
The bright pink rose on the boundary wall of PDMG#1 is nothing short of spectacular this year. Here’s what it looked like, ten minutes ago.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s al fresco supper time. (Oh dear, when did our meetings become so rushed? It’s not you, it’s me…)
troubled diva 