athletes of the water

Don't you love it? That is what the rowing coach calls us. Today for the first time, he did not yell at me or call me a novice. We practised some technical stuff and then did some strength moves. It was exhausting and in the end painful. But what a feeling. In the lulls before the hard work we were drifting on the reservoir, surrounded by water fowl. We even got close to one small coot on her nest in the reeds. There were yellow flag irises in bloom in clumps all around the place too, and in the tall rushes was a heron. I am sure the rest of the crew is just like me. They love it out on the water as much as they love the work. Still a long way to go to get fit enough to handle the endurance training, but it was a therapeutic session!

News from the north is that the children are booked to come down by train tomorrow. The girls will miss a day of school. John is keen to get on the road, but he cannot risk hurting himself more. He will probably have to give it another day....tough as I think he is not naturally inclined towards sitting around!!

Ivan sounds robust and cheerful and is pleased to be home.