Slape Crags, Carrock Fell

As Ian’s post shows, Monday’s weather dawned very disappointingly! The wall-to-wall sunshine promised by the weather forecasters just wasn’t to be seen. We procrastinated for a couple of hours knowing that early starts are unwise for rock climbing at this time of year, thus allowing the rock to warm up. Then as it started to brighten a little it seemed that our tardiness had been well placed… I suppose the beautiful sunny day that had been promised was just hiding behind the thick grey clouds. By the time we reached Carrock Fell, our chosen destination for the day, it was indeed a dingle day!

After a few routes and some lunch sat on top of a boulder in the sun watching a shepherd training his sheep dog in the fields below we headed off back home as we wanted to get the last few hours of daylight in the garden. The flower beds needed tidying and grass needed cutting. The first cut of the summer is always really hard work. Partly ‘cos I try to put it off as long as possible since once I start cutting the grass I know I’m committed to a cycle that won’t end until next winter. A depressing thought. Also, during the winter the moss gets super thick (sometimes I wonder if there is more moss than grass!) meaning that the mower is a bugger to push and I can easily fill three or four green wheelie bins with clippings! I wonder if we should turn more of the grass over to vegetables?