It’s early one morning, barely past dawn, when I head down to the Kitchen for an early breakfast of tea and a buttermilk biscuit (as the Americans called them) with cheddar cheese and ham in it. After that, I pack a lunch of tea (yes I like tea quite a bit), an apple, crusty rolls, smoked sausage and a quite sharp cheddar cheese. And then I was off for a walk to the Standing Stones and back.
Oh, I dressed right for a ramble — sturdy boots, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt as it’s always cool in the woods where I’ll mostly be walking. Let’s see … I do carry a phone as anyone can have an accident though I’ll be damned if I know why we get reception away from the area around Kinrowan Hall. And I carry collection bags for mushrooms, herbs and such from the forest and meadows I cross. There’s also a notebook for jotting down observations if need be.
The first thing I found on my walk was some lovely morels a scant dozen yards into the woods. I think they’ll go well in eggs with a mild cheese to complement them. A nice bag of St. Georges soon followed as did a number of wild herbs and even small onions made it into to my pack.
I was eventually joined by a small fox, probably a young female, with a white splash on her face. She ran ahead of me as I got deeper into woods. Several ravens harassed her for a while but they went off in search I suspect of something to eat. Did I mention before our foxes talk? Well somehow they speak, though we know not how. Or at least we hear them and they hear us to be precise.
When I stopped for lunch, my fox companion came very close to me as she noticed I was eating good stuff from her viewpoint. I anticipated this might happen, so I carried extra provisions, particularly the sausage and cheese. And she got her fair share and maybe a bit more.
And we’ve time enough left to head back up the path, and pull a few weeds before afternoon tea.
