Went out together and did some shopping for food (there are some pretty fantastic butchers and bakers in the very small place where WM lives). The pace of life here is very slow, everyone says hello to you the street when you pass them and everyone in a shop has time for a nice chat too.
Anyway, something I never did before was experiment with recipes and cooking. I started doing it just after we met. So last night we made a Moroccan type lamb dish together. It was really tasty, but I could sense there were other things I would maybe have added if I made it again. So there's something changing in my palate as well, and in the way I sense things and imagine things.
We also went out for a walk in the countryside nearby. It was a cloud-covered gloomy dusk when we set off, cold and windy, and gradually became darker until it was night and we were still walking. A really interesting experience. We've done this a couple of times before, once on my first winter, snowy mountain climb (about a year ago now). It was dark when we got back down, but still had a good few miles to walk thought countryside to back to get to the car.
I find that sometimes I am pushed to the limits of what I am capable of doing physically and mentally, but he's always there, right beside me, looking after me, which feels incredible. I never feel alone or left behind in any way. He's very good at going at my pace, whatever that is, and maybe pushing me slightly too.
He's one of these super fit people. He was asked by the SAS when he was in the army in his early 20s, if he could take part in some of their special training in the Arctic Circle. The SAS are the ones that do covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, direct action and hostage rescue. Most of their recruits come from the Commados. Anyway, they were dropped somewhere in the very north of Norway, in the Arctic Circle, to see if they could survive one night. They were given sleeping bags, but told that they were only to use them in an extreme emergency. I think they also had a lighter and some frozen fish...
I honestly never knew people with his level of physical fitness and capability for endurance existed. He isn't intimidated by any sort of physical challenge whatsoever - that's really exciting. AndI love the possibility of exploring that side of things but always knowing that I'm in super safe hands.
I don't think I ever let myself be vulnerable in my M. And I certainly would never have shown myself to be so. I think I would have absolutely hated it. But I'm really enjoying exploring this side of myself.
On the flip side of things, he's really exploring his creative side and been enjoying that enormously. He's never really done that, or had a chance of doing that so far, both through life circumstances (hard to find the time when you're bringing up two children) or through being with someone who actively encourages that. He's got a totally instinctive feel for a lot of things, and is really making me feel like I want to try some different things too. Both of us work with our hands, and I'm kind of thinking I might really like trying something like book binding together one time.
Anyway, that's my update for now. I hope everyone is having a good weekend.
