Okay, so I knew it was a mistake putting old mushrooms in the compost heap last year… I even remember thinking so at the time. What came as a surprise however, was the return on my error.
The bag was heavy enough that it felt like it contained potatoes… had my brother Nigel been around to advise on their edibility, I’m sure we would have had mushrooms for tea, and probably for about a week!
There had been a rat or mouse in the compost heap, evidenced by a very curious cat hanging around last week, so I decided to empty it yesterday. Aside from the aforementioned mushies, my willing assistant Kim spent most of the afternoon sieving out around 200 litres of light compost from the heap, while the rest was returned to break down a little more.
While Kim worked her way resolutely through this task, I hollow tined the lawns front and back of the house (an equally thankless job), cut the edges and then scarified… thankfully using the machine!
It was a wonderful way to spend a beautiful spring day!
We awoke this morning to a second glorious day and after reading for a while, I got out to do my normal Sunday jaunt… somewhat surprised that I could walk after our garden exertions yesterday, let alone run.
With my sights set firmly on the Beacon and my legs out for all to see, I had a really enjoyable run out past Oldlands Mill and down through Ditchling. There has been much in the news about low ground water levels and this was apparent from the comparatively small amount of mud.
One walker warned me that it was ‘a bit mucky up ahead’ but he and I clearly have different concepts of mucky… mine being that my runners are completely caked and I am slithering around like a speed-skater on ice, with mud splattering half way up my back. There were a couple of muddy-ish pseudo-puddles but it was pretty much dry really
In contrast to last week, I had more than enough energy and ran up the Beacon, reaching the top in about 52 minutes.. the same sort of time it took me to run there with a pack on last summer.
I stretched out my legs a bit coming back down the tricky Beacon path (which again speaks volumes about how dry it was) and then down the next section to Ditchling. This is often where I start to feel weary, but not today. I ran up Lodge Hill with ease and back across to Oldlands Mill.
From here it was a relatively easy run back along the road to Burgess Hill and home.
10 miles in 1.41 meant that I had run a rare negative split and averaged 5.94mph, at least a little faster than my ‘pack’ runs last summer. My prize was to allow myself to ignore the other chores I had planned for this afternoon… with a little help from the sofa!
Now, I wonder what’s for tea?