About time, too

Bless me, for I have sinned. It has been almost a year since my last geocaching expedition but …BUT, on Wednesday, I headed for the forest complete with wife and dog and found my twentieth! How great is that? I’ve only been caching since the middle of 2003. I’ll soon catch that Gottle chap up. Anyway, Sophie’s Secret was the one. It involved a fair amount of yomping across a thoroughly soggy landscape but it was no match for my super‑duper waterproof walking boots. At one point, we reached a wide, quite deep and fast-moving stream and the track was blocked with cones and red plastic safety netting where the bridge was being repaired. A large sign said: “If you squeeze past the netting, you could probably walk gingerly across the half-dozen or so pieces of 8x6, although if you have a stupid dog who refuses to put his foot on them you might have to carry him.” Ahem. Good job the Forestry Commission blokes had gone for a cuppa. Sadly, my GPS is ailing as, even though there was little or no tree cover for much of the way, the arrow was swinging around all over the place. I think I need a new one; I must speak to those extraordinarily nice, handsome, lovely people at Garmin. *rehearses begging speech *

A lovely spot in the forest

This is to appease MMM, who, since my earlier posting, has been acting like my mum: she used to be keen on squeezing blackheads on people's backs etc. Sorry about the lack of shaveage, by the way, but I'm frightened of making a mess on the bathroom floor.

Suffering

Currently, I am suffering with: (1) a stinking cold and hacking cough, (2) a particularly bad bout of back pain which is (a) hindering upright movement and (b) causing me to seize up after being sat down for longer than about 20 minutes and (3) the after effects of cryotherapy (on Monday) to a blemish on my left cheek (the face, the face) which has caused it to swell up and fill with fluid – it looks revolting but is, according to the helpful notes issued to me after the treatment, an expected consequence which must be pricked with a needle (to release the fluid) and a dry dressing applied for a couple of days. Having told a friend on the telephone about all of this, he advised against buying a lottery ticket tonight.

*has generous swig of Glenfiddich purely for medicinal purposes*