The week has continued to remain cold with daytime temperatures not moving above freezing and night temperatures falling to between -4C and -7C.

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On Saturday, I’d arranged to meet Kevin (Fenlander of http://www.naturallore.co.uk/) for a wander in Poor Park Woods, the woods local to me. The main mission was to set up a new parachute and take a few pics. I met Kevin a few years ago at a BCUK meet and despite living not too far away and “corresponding” by way of leaving comments on each others blogs we hadn’t met up since then and it was great to see him again.

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After circumnavigating the woods, we found a likely spot and settled down for a cuppa and beef steak pie. On the way round we thought we might have seen either fallow or muntjac creeping through the woods, but they were too distant to ID properly.

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When setting up the camera for the required pose shot I got up too quickly and heard a dull “snap” from my ankle. The familiar pain returned and I knew that a bit of damage had occurred. The expression on my face shows the disappointment I felt at having to relive the nightmare (compare it to the cheery first photo on Kevin’s blog!)

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Nevertheless, there was little or nothing that could be done at that time and I watched as Kevin carried on to erect the parachute. He made a long centre pole, tied down some sides and it wasn’t long before the ‘chute was up.

These are cargo ‘chutes, 3 together making up a single cargo drop. Check Kevin’s blog to see if there are any more available. (I’ve got the one in the picture by the way :) Also on his blog he shows us how to make a tipi out of the same size ‘chute. This is going to be a very versatile bit of kit.

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We walked (I limped) out of the woods unfortunately cutting short the trip. I returned home, applied ice and put my feet up. It’s not as bad as the original rupture so I might just get away with ice treatment and putting my feet up for a couple of days. Just goes to show how careful you’ve got to be.

Thanks to Kevin for a great few hours and look forward to a more extended trip out in the near future.

Pablo.