Newark was a bit disappointing today: quite a few shops were closed, either becsause they'd gone out of business or because they've now joined the trend of not opening oin Mondays. It's still a nice town though and the castle and the church are lovely.
Today has been my first visit to the Peak District for over six months since I injured my legs. I spent a couple of hours taking photos and looking round the shops. I bought a hot 'Bakewell pasty' to sit and eat down by the river; it was exactly the same as a Cornish pasty but the baker told me you can now only call them Cornish pasties if they're actually made in Cornwall.
I caught the 257 bus back to Sheffield, which goes the long way round, but it was good to see some more parts of the Peak District that I'd not seen for over six months. There were problems with the doors sticking and the ticket machine not working.
A journey on the bus today to Thorne, a local town about ten miles northeast of Doncaster. It's flat and there aren't any steps so I didn't have any problems with my knees. I've recently been doing some pilates and stretch exercises and I'm seeing some improvement, especially when it comes to getting up out of a chair. It's been rather disappointing, many of the shops were closed and the weather wasn't as nice as originally forecast.
A visit to Rotherham today for a couple of hours; it's good to be able to get out independently again. Apart from going to Retford a couple of months ago I've had to rely on my support worker taking me out in the car.
Earlier this morning I left the house with the specific intention of going for a walk for the first time since I ripped my knees at the end of July. It wasn't a long walk though, just a circuit of two local parks, but my knees didn't require any support, although I did take a couple of knee braces with me just in case.
