Something tells me I’m not getting enough discretionary time, my last post was the other end of the month for goodness’ sake. Now I never intended to do a daily post, but twice a month is not a great frequency. However with the longer days there are so many more opportunities to fix things, cut things, and much to my aching backs disgust, dig up small shrubs. Well you know how it goes, a moment of madness in a garden centre two years ago leads to a couple of hours hard labour. You don’t? Well then you’re either not a gardener or not married to one. Still at least we get to see the Californian poppies from the kitchen window now.

And speaking of fixing things, it will come as no surprise to hear that the builders attempt to fix the long-standing leak in the sun room roof has met with precisely zero success. As proven by the rather violent and prolonged rain storm a few nights ago. In fact, and you’ll excuse the possibly inappropriate use of words, he has all but washed his hands of it. So I am going to have to find some (dry) discretionary time to fix the leak myself as roofing contractors in and around Lymington seem to have gone the way of the dinosaur but in a somewhat shorter time span. I am really looking forward to it.

I realise that even with a computer the size of London it must be difficult to predict the weather in the UK, but fortunately the forecast was completely wrong for last Sunday. Rather than the promised deluge, we had glorious sun. Now I’m not complaining, not really, but we were invited to lunch just around the corner, actually most of Lymington is pretty much just around the corner, so we decided to walk the short distance. It was going to rain so we donned raincoats. Which on our return home I got to carry along with the wife’s Backfriend in what felt like sub-tropical heat. Still at least I took a few shades of grey off my skin colour by sitting out in the garden. Not really a tan, but at least a viable shade of alive.

The Bank Holiday Monday forecast was pretty much spot on. Enough sun in the afternoon to make us think a visit to the seawall was a good plan, too many clouds and a keen wind to make it a group activity if you don’t include joggers and dog owners who apparently had to be there. Didn’t matter, it’s a great place to be whatever the weather, and with the recent onset of a number of cygnets and a whole nursery of Canadian goslings, there was a high Aahhh factor which made the whole thing very rewarding.

Incidentally, if you have back pain and dread going out to places where you cannot be sure of a suitable chair, the Backfriend is a most marvellous aid. It is a tad bulky to carry around, but has made the difference between an early exit and agreeable social intercourse on numerous occasions for my wife. As the advert (kinda) goes, we don’t leave home without one.

Well actually not what you’re thinking. A hazy sun looked to have a battle on its hands with the fairly complete carpet of cloud and as often in these parts, the Island was a tad on the misty side when viewed from the mainland. Not daunted, wife and I decided on a walk along the top of part of Hordle Cliffs between Milford on Sea and Barton on Sea. Well I say a walk, it was definitely on the sedate side and most certainly wasn’t what you’d call a yomp in your wildest dreams, but pleasant enough if your mobility is limited. By the time we had finished the sun was actually shining, so not sure what went wrong there, but it really was pleasant sitting a bench gazing out across to the Island.

In fact when we parked and got out, a large sign had informed us that the powers that be had been flexing their powers to the extent that the cliff top walk was being tarmacked over and was thus even more accessible to the disabled. Without I hope being rude, the majority socio-economic groupings in the area tend toward the more mature end of the spectrum age-wise, so although it isn’t the prettiest thing, it does enable the residents of the area to walk without fear of tripping. This counts as a Good Thing, and I wouldn’t have thought it exactly hindered council officer re-election chances either. I’m guessing that since it isn’t quite finished yet, when it is it will have a top coat with sand and pebbles pushed in to take away some of the unremitting blackness of it much like the stretch at the front of the Needles Eye cafe completed last year.

Not sure what will happen if we ever get a really hot few days on the trot, I think I would probably stay off the tarmac if I were you, unless you wish to stick to the same place on the path for a while. But for those who have difficulty walking or even those needing wheelchair access, this is a good place to go. There are benches along the side of the path throughout most of it’s length, and the car parks have spaces dedicated to the disabled. One even has a kiosk where you can buy fish and chips, although I can’t personally vouch for them one way or the other.