The blackberry and apple crumble was (and still is) delicious--no surprise there. But what was new for us was a wonderful combination we experimented with yesterday and this morning--fresh blackberries served in strawberry yogurt. Oooooooh, such bliss. This is pretty much my new favorite food combination in existence. A bowlful of heaven. If only blackberries grew year-round.... We used up our stash of blackberries at breakfast this morning (which is actually pretty impressive, since our one session of picking-as-we-walked on Saturday gave us enough for a HUGE crumble, plus three servings of yogurts 'n berries), and I'm already planning my next attack on the local bushes! (Sadly, so is everyone else in our neighborhood. It's rare to see anyone in the woods or on the footpaths who isn't munching on freshly-picked berries nowadays.)

Yesterday was really perfect. We woke up early, drove out to the Dales, and stopped for an hour at my favorite tea room in the country (just outside Bolton Abbey) to sit outside and drink delicious French-pressed coffee/ a pot of tea , while Nika lay on the grass underneath the table. Then we drove on and ended up spending about four hours hiking through a forest on a path by the River Wharfe, looking up at huge green hills on either side. Since there was no rush and there were no other commitments for either of us all day, we walked as slowly or quickly as we felt like, stopped at every particularly-beautiful spot, and spent a while just sitting down together writing descriptions of the area (because physical description is the hardest thing for me to write, and I want all the practice I can get). It was a warm day--hot outside the forest--and as we walked along, we saw people swimming and boating down the river. It looked really idyllic. Next time I'm bringing my swimsuit! (I was tempted to jump in fully-clothed, but I resisted.)

Best of all, we booked our hotel rooms for WorldCon in Glasgow next August, which means it's real, we're set (and just in time, too--they were already sold out for some nights!), and we're going! I've never booked that far ahead for anything in my life, but this is actually really cool--now I get to look forward to it for eleven months! (Maybe it can even be my official reward for getting my thesis turned in by August. Who knows...)

Much happiness.