SCRUNCHING THROUGH LEAVES IS FUN!

Today's early morning walk took Belinda, Jenny and I around Shepton and Bowlish. We walked over fields, lanes and footpaths and enjoyed scrunching through the drifts of leaves that were mostly on the ground.  The weather was perfect Autumn walking weather - cold, but dry with the promise of a sunny day to come...

The footpaths took us past horses and an equestrian centre.  The only blot on the landscape was rubbish, (see middle left pic).  How people can fly-tip and ruin our beautiful countryside, I just don't know...

WE FIND GOG AND MAGOG!

This morning's walk was all about finding Gog and Magog, two ancient oaks situated near Glastonbury Tor.  They are named after two giants, who were the only survivors of a legendary race of giants who were slaughtered by Brutus and his Trojan army.  It was hard to locate them, as we didn't really know exactly they were! But as you can see above, it was a pilgrimage into the past and worth the effort. These two oaks are reputed to be more than 2000 years old!  Gog is dead and recently burnt by someone leaving a ceremonial candle, and Magog is on its last legs. I am positioned in an avenue of oaks that have been planted over the years replace them...

Belinda, Jenny and I set off on our quest by parking near the base of the Tor, following footpaths and consulting our phones until we finally found them!  On the way we encountered plenty of curious animals...

On our walk we found two interesting places - the Shekinah Yoga Retreat in a purple house with  Tibetan Prayer Wheels - see below top row and right middle pic, and the Old Oaks five star touring, camping and clamping site, exclusively for adults - see the rest of the photographs below.  Today was more of an adventure than just a walk!

CRUNCHY LEAVES ARE FUN!

Today, I was joined by Belinda for a brisk, sunny but cold, walk starting from Bowlish.  The leaves are now falling thick and fast and make a delightful crunchy sound when walked upon!

We had a great walk - up and down some lovely country lanes and public footpaths. One path took us through an equestrian centre where we saw the horse pictured above.  He was behind wires, with a notice asking people not to touch or feed it. This was a shame, because there is nothing quite like the feel of a horse's soft velvet nose and warm breath!

We found ourselves on top of the Meadows with a great view of Shepton.  We walked back to our finishing point at Bowlish, passing one of my favourite houses - Old Bowlish House whose frontage always looks good, whatever the season - see pics below - right and top left.  Jenny and I really enjoyed looking around the interior and learning all about its history on an organised trip last summer.  It also included a superb tea!  Press on the Old Bowlish House label below, to find out how we got on...

WILDFLOWER FRIDAY!

We set off under an overcast sky to West Shepton, as last year we had really admired the cow parsley, on one particular bridleway and wanted to see what it was like.  By the time we got there it was raining, but we weren't disappointed as besides the white billowing clouds of cow parsley, it was a day for spotting wild flowers - buttercups, dandelions, vetch, daises, lady's smock, red campion etc. As a child I used to press and name them, so I tend to be more familiar with them than flowers in the garden!

My skin felt great this morning and I felt quite buff, as yesterday I had a restful afternoon having a facial and pedicure at Skin and Tonic!  Jenny gave my skin quite an MOT, including eyelashes and brows trimmed and darkened.  The microblading on my eyebrows she did earlier in the year is still looking good!  And I now have some lovely red toes to peek out of summer sandals...

I would rather spend money on grooming - I went for hair highlights this afternoon - than expensive clothes.  After all, style and looking good is all about how you wear things - they can come from the charity shop!  If you feel your hair and make-up are the best they can be, it gives you confidence, which shows!  And clothes and make-up look so much better over a healthy and looked after face and body!

  
By the time we had finished our circular walk, the sun was shining and all the dog walkers looked happy!  Jenny made friends with a lonely and sad looking horse, which was quite an achievement as he wasn't that friendly, and she is a bit scared of horses...

HORSING AROUND!

We headed to West Shepton today, along the old Wells road.  A calm, mild morning but not along that road - a lot of traffic!  We were soon off up a muddy bridle way, where we met this lovely friendly horse who wasted no time trotting over to see us. Have to say I'm scared stiff of horses but this one was clearly very calm and friendly! A good round trip at a steady pace set us up for the day. My day was unexpectedly fully booked, so made sure I had time for my veggie juice and wholemeal toast and honey. Yes, still juicing...

Pedicures are one of the most popular treatments I do - very important for walkers! I have several foot clients a week, but never seem to get to do my own!  So, this evening I will spoil myself with a lemon balm soak and my luxury coconut foot scrub.  It is most important to care for your feet, a regular treatment has so many benefits, for example,  nail shape and length - important for comfort and looking good, especially if you want to paint your toenails!  Then there is the getting rid of hard callus skin and general foot health that can be 'kept an eye on'.  And finally, the finishing foot massage has endless benefits... 

I get asked a lot this time of the year about skin care in the autumn/winter months. I always advice a facial every six weeks. This ensures fresh, deep cleansed pores, enabling your products to access lower skin depth, to produce great results.  But I always tell people that the biggest beauty aid is WATER!!  Drink plenty of it - we all know we should...

Next week we are hoping to get Paula, the Holistic Therapist, out with us!  Her energy adds a different feel to proceedings and we always enjoy her company...

MUGGY MORNING

Today was another murky, damp but muggy morning.  We went walking along some footpaths from West Shepton.  Last time we went this way it was May, the sun was shining and the footpaths were overgrown with delicate cow parsley.  Here is Jenny making her way through it!

Now the cow parsley is over and dark pink rosebay willowherb is beginning to take over.  These were today's photos.  You wouldn't believe it is the height of summer!

Our surprise encounter was this delightful shetland pony.  We just spotted him in the undergrowth!