02.15 MONSEL HEAD

After a very girly Valentines, we treated the boys to a muddy walk at Monsel Head. It was much deserved, of Barney, but of Paul especially.

That's right, the same Paul who spent a quarter-century cherry-less (see 'Cherry Picker' http://3sixty6.blogspot.com/2007/12/1211-cherry-picker.html )

On Saturday, we introduced him to shopping and dragged him out around Ashford town and Matlock-Bath on what turned into a bit of a day-long spree - at least on my part. I couldn't help all the quirky bits and pieces in the shops and I did need a scarf (mind you, I left the shop with two).

In any event, he was a good sport so we let him off the leash for a while.
Barney too.

02.14 BRAIN STEW

Spent the weekend in the Peak District at Jenny's bed and breakfast. It was a non-romantic getaway, along with Kat and Paul; although I did force a lot of loving out of Barney (Jenny's dog).

One of my favorite pastimes while in the Peaks with Jenny, is eating her stew (recipe is simple, but I have yet to master it: Saute veg and meat and drown it in red wine then put it in the oven until you get in from a brisk walk with the dog).

I'm not sure if it was the wine or the stew that rushed to my head first, but whatever it was leant to an interesting debate over cerebral dominance - left brain versus right brain. Jenny's a lefty. I'm a righty. Kat's a righty. Paul's a lefty. We decided to try and write love letters to one another using our non-dominant hands

Said Jenny's righty in a rather legible cursive form of Haiku:

'Stew is warming in the heat.

Warming to make us cuddly and contented.

Ahh...'