Necessary Organizational Day

  Old growth forest with barrows from the 11th century.

A public path. 

 Beautiful old landowners home.

 Dottie walking the public paths.

 Sloeberries.

Elderberries.

 Blackberries.

Monday, September 4^th.

Today was a day spent almost entirely on the computer getting my trips and documents sorted. Denise and I have been booking things for a couple of months, but I hadn't really organized them and carefully connected the dots to make sure that all our bases were covered. So, after breakfast, when Dottie and John both went to work, I settled down on the dinning room table and got started. I had saved all the e-mails that Denise had sent and I had to go through them checking the attachments of invoices and electronic tickets. I entered all the dates, and flight and trip details into a spreadsheet that I started back home. I made sure the dates all worked and then checked the trip itineraries and compiled a list of dates and places I'll be. I can't believe how much of the day that took to do, but I now feel better and feel ready for the next adventures.

When Dottie came home she asked if I wanted to go for a walk. We headed off and into the forest and fields around her house. She lives at the edge of the suburb and the country is literally across the road.

As we walked she told me about the history of the area. I had commented about the hedgerows that separate all the fields in England and make such a beautiful patchwork quilt from the air. She told me that Henry VIII started them. After he abolished all the monasteries he had the lands divided into fields whereby he could award sections to worthy knights or members of court and sell other bits to rich men who would in turn rent or lease the land in plots to peasants who would farm it. They could then be controlled and taxes could be applied to everyone.

Around every field there is a public path. Some are very narrow and are on the edge of fields, others are in the forests and still others have become the modern paved roads now that cars have replaced horses and walking. The owners of the fields are responsible for keeping the paths open and clear.

In addition, in the forest there was an area that had sections of raised land that Dottie had read were basically the slag heaps and landfill areas of the people who lived here in the Iron Age of the 11^th century!

Along the hedges we found blackberry bushes (which were delicious), sloeberries (which they use to make sloegin) and elderberries.

We walked for an hour before she had to return to pick up Innie from her playdate. John made dinner tonight as Dottie was having an in-house manicure and pedicure. After dinner John and I watched part two of the show from last night. It is based on a book written by JK Rowling under a male pseudonym, based on a private investigator named Striker.