I'm usually talking about the other soles - the ones beginning with A. Talking of which. I'll get a walk now, and see how many I can spot. Are ten digits enough, or will I need my toes as well....
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Enjoy your walk, @Fairygirl. Going to be a lovely day here... not much help to you, admittedly, but I might get my meadow sown...
Re boot soles. Some of the harder wearing ones are horribly slippery on wet rock... I used to be able to get my walking boots re-heeled & soled at the cobblers in Todmorden. Think I too might have to buy new ones soon - not found anyone cobbling around here...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I thought of pushing the boat out and getting a pair of Meindls, but decided I'd give these Merrells another chance. So many of the shoes are more like approach shoes/trainers @Liriodendron, and I don't know if that's to appeal to a new set of walkers. Looks less like they're hillwalking, and more athletic, or some such nonsense? I haven't found these ones good even on very simple, slippery surfaces either, whereas the old ones were good enough for hills, including scrambling, if I didn't want to wear my boots. I know what you mean about slippery though. It's sometimes hard to get the balance of robustness, and flexibility. I like a good amount of leather too, for waxing etc. You can wax the Goretex ones, but it's never as good, even with the hairdryer.Â
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
My Scarpa leather walking boots have been brilliant for grip. Even with a small child in a rucksack on my back throwing my balance out they've been excellent. I've worn them to death over 7 or 8 years so the value is good too.Â
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Another vote for Scarpa. I have "German" feet rather than "Italian" so boots have always been tricky. I went to buy new walking boots a couple of years ago and found a good shop in Farnham, (near the Hindhead Alps ) which is sadly no longer there - owners retired. I tried every boot in the shop including all the expensive British makes for wider feet, none came close to fitting. The assistant remembered there was one specific model of Scarpa which might work but the rest of the range was built for narrow feet. Instant perfect fit, bliss!
Decided we would go down to our local for a meal last night so had booked on line on Wednesday, even going to the extent of stating preferred table. First time since lockdown started. I assumed that by now they would have a proper system in place.Â
There was a 'please wait to be seated' notice which seemed a promising start. Member of staff approached and I started to say we had booked but he interrupted to say "That doesn't matter, we're not busy". I continued by saying which table we had requested but that was ignored. The place was empty other than one table in use - you've guessed it - the one I'd requested.Â
Not happy, and even less happy when he tried to seat us on the next closest table but allowed us to sit a couple of tables further along. We had just received our meals when 2 other groups arrived and were seated at the tables immediately next to ours. I could actually touch the chairs on both tables so nothing like 2 metre spacing.
Why they felt the need to put people on those tables when the rest of place was empty is beyond me. Suffice to say I won't be going back any time soon. Shame as the food is decent and well priced.
I think most pubs are doing the 1 metre plus thing rather than 2 metres but having said that I've been to a few places where people weren't even that far apart.
At my exercise class this morning the organisers had everything really well set up with chairs 3 metres apart and frequently repeated instructions to keep our masks on until the class started. Did people listen? No! Several groups of people gathered to have a chat totally ignoring repeated requests to sit down and put their masks on. I despair!
I went to B&Q this morning as I needed some DIY stuff for the weekend. I got up early to be there when it opened to avoid the weekend crowds. All the staff were masked and they'd gone to a lot of trouble to set out one way systems and distancing markers. People were ignoring most of the signs though and still coughing and sneezing all over things. I saw a women sneeze all over the fresh fruit at the supermarket the other day. Masks are mandatory from Monday. Can't think why... Â
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
 I'm not sure how many people in this country actually realised that EU membership also already meant that the UK benefited both from the trade deals the EU had negotiated around the world (and that they all stop when we leave, unless an agreement is in place with each of the countries) and from also being able to trade around the world anyway.
@steveTu  This is kind of correct in terms of the strict wording you've used, but incorrect in the spirit of the discussion.
Member states cannot negotiate their own trade agreements - the EU is the only body that has the authority to do this. Members can trade on standard WTO rules only, I.e.: identical to the situation the UK will be in from next year, if nothing is done.
Therefore the difference is that the UK will be free to negotiate any deal with any country or body. So, whereas today the EU doesn't have a trade deal with the USA, and therefore all EU members will remain on standard tariffs, the UK can negotiate one independently and get Reeses peanut butter cups for cheap!
 Note that the EU doesn't have a free trade deal with the majority of the world's largest economies (China, Brazil, USA etc).
Many of the free trade deals the EU has are actually fairly irrelevant to the UK (we don't buy much from the Faroe Islands, Lesotho or Swaziland).
And some deals are already replicated, such as the much hyped Japan deal.
The EU is trying to claim that the UK "needs" a free trade agreement with the EU, "more than" the EU needs one with the UK. This is patently false.
As I've said elsewhere, neither the EU member states nor the UK can afford to not agree a deal, so it's all pointless noise and bluster, with the facts lost somewhere in between.
Posts
Talking of which. I'll get a walk now, and see how many I can spot. Are ten digits enough, or will I need my toes as well....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Re boot soles. Some of the harder wearing ones are horribly slippery on wet rock... I used to be able to get my walking boots re-heeled & soled at the cobblers in Todmorden. Think I too might have to buy new ones soon - not found anyone cobbling around here...
So many of the shoes are more like approach shoes/trainers @Liriodendron, and I don't know if that's to appeal to a new set of walkers. Looks less like they're hillwalking, and more athletic, or some such nonsense? I haven't found these ones good even on very simple, slippery surfaces either, whereas the old ones were good enough for hills, including scrambling, if I didn't want to wear my boots. I know what you mean about slippery though. It's sometimes hard to get the balance of robustness, and flexibility.Â
I like a good amount of leather too, for waxing etc. You can wax the Goretex ones, but it's never as good, even with the hairdryer.Â
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
At my exercise class this morning the organisers had everything really well set up with chairs 3 metres apart and frequently repeated instructions to keep our masks on until the class started. Did people listen? No! Several groups of people gathered to have a chat totally ignoring repeated requests to sit down and put their masks on. I despair!
@steveTu  This is kind of correct in terms of the strict wording you've used, but incorrect in the spirit of the discussion.
Member states cannot negotiate their own trade agreements - the EU is the only body that has the authority to do this. Members can trade on standard WTO rules only, I.e.: identical to the situation the UK will be in from next year, if nothing is done.
Therefore the difference is that the UK will be free to negotiate any deal with any country or body. So, whereas today the EU doesn't have a trade deal with the USA, and therefore all EU members will remain on standard tariffs, the UK can negotiate one independently and get Reeses peanut butter cups for cheap!
 Note that the EU doesn't have a free trade deal with the majority of the world's largest economies (China, Brazil, USA etc).
Many of the free trade deals the EU has are actually fairly irrelevant to the UK (we don't buy much from the Faroe Islands, Lesotho or Swaziland).
And some deals are already replicated, such as the much hyped Japan deal.
The EU is trying to claim that the UK "needs" a free trade agreement with the EU, "more than" the EU needs one with the UK. This is patently false.
As I've said elsewhere, neither the EU member states nor the UK can afford to not agree a deal, so it's all pointless noise and bluster, with the facts lost somewhere in between.