Wild October Day 1

I had work today at Lyme Park in Cheshire. I awoke to the sounds of rain, thinking it was a full waterproofs kind of day and there would be lots of wet kit that needing drying out after the session, wondering if anyone would even bother to come out and join us this morning.

As it turned out, the weather was alright. It stayed dry and a few families came out to play. Not only did it stay dry, there was even a bit of sunshine around here this afternoon. It was very, very windy though.

I hadn't made a plan for today's time outdoors but I didn't want to count my morning outdoors as counting work feels like cheating.

We meet in Meerbrook for the Lyme Park session so when we got back and finished work, I thought I'd take my lunch somewhere outdoors in the village and make that my wild activity for today before heading home for an al fresco cuppa in the garden.

I ate lunch in the churchyard, listening to the wind in the trees and watching the light change over the rocks. Whilst sitting there, I had the idea to do my 'daily al fresco cuppa' with a drink rom the cafe at Tittesworth Visitor Centre, drinking it overlooking the reservoir, so I walked there, spotting some shaggy ink caps on the way.

I drank hot chocolate watching the water ripple in the wind and then thought I'd just have a little wander before heading home and see what else I might find.

I'll just go as far as the river, I thought...

But at the river, I thought I'd go a little further, into the woods.

By that point, I knew I was going all the way around the reservoir. I hadn't intended to (I had so many things to do at home that I had planned to do this afternoon!) but clearly I really wanted to stay outdoors and just walk!

As I walked I watched a helicopter at work on the Roaches (moving stones for footpath repairs).

I spotted quite a few puffballs...

and these... new shaggy inkcaps maybe?

I also found this, which I think is witch's butter fungus, also known as yellow brain fungus for obvious reasons...

I just kept on walking!

It was a great walk. There were hardly any people out this afternoon. I only saw two dog walkers, one runner and one site ranger during the whole walk. This pleased me... I much prefer to be alone than constantly meeting other people when out for a walk!

ground beetle larva

I walked a little under 6 miles and got home roughly three hours later than I'd expected too, but I had a lovely afternoon for the first day of Wild October!