My two coastal walks pretty much zapped my energy for the whole of June, and having had to take a couple of days of sick leave, I really needed to make sure that I kept to my more usual routine of shorter morning walks and afternoon naps.

Two successive walks in Faversham involved cow encounters! The first was while I was walking along the Swale estuary towards Whitstable and came across the resident herd of longhorn cattle, with one giant lying right across the path.

His companions were slightly lower down the slope to the right of him. and as there was no way that I fancied squeezing either side of him and he was showing no signs of moving, I had to hop up onto the sea wall and nervously bypass him that way, ready to jump down on the other side if necessary. I was definitely more bothered by him than he was of me, but my heart was pounding!

(I am a huge fan of the herdwick sheep that graze along here though!)

My second cow encounter was far more scary. I was attempting the Two Creeks walk, heading from Faversham to Oare, and the first field I came to bore a warning notice about cows and their calves ahead. There was a suggested alternative route for dog walkers. I was nervous but I didn’t have a dog. I thought I would be fine as long as I gave them a wide berth. They turned out to be closer to the path than I would have liked and they started mooing. I was scared. Should I re-trace my steps and go back? They stood staring at me and the mooing got louder, and then suddenly one cow started charging straight at me. I don’t think I have ever been more terrified. In my panic I leapt down the side of the raised bank to the edge of the creek, not knowing what I would do if it continued its charge. Luckily it didn’t, but stayed on the bank, mooing threateningly. At this point I did re-trace my steps. Still feeling very shaken, I followed the alternative route and came across another large herd, also mooing at me. This time I wasn’t going to risk it, so I gave up and went home. Unfortunately, at a point where I am trying to increase my confidence with solo walking, it has made me very nervous about the prospect of crossing fields of cows in the future.

I do enjoy a walk that involves a tea/coffee stop – or even better, a cream tea! One rainy weekend when my daughter was at home, the weather cleared up enough on the Sunday afternoon for me to make a rare post nap foray into the world, with a trip to Whitstable. We shared a scone from the tearoom at Whitstable Castle before a short walk along the seafront. It was lovely.

There were more scones on the last Friday of the month, after discovering that it was National Cream Tea Day! My resolution for this year has been to mark as many special occasion days as possible in order to make the most of life and create moments of magic, so I did some baking and invited the family round for tea and scones in the garden. Jam first and then cream, the Cornish way for me!

I also celebrated the summer solstice, this year on June 20th, with an evening trip to Herne Bay where I had a spring roll and chips on the beach (I’m vegetarian!), before walking to Whitstable, watching the sun slowly set over the horizon as I went – right behind Southend on Sea which was clearly visible in the distance.

Looking through my photos, I also see that we had a delicious al fresco veggie breakfast in Hythe. This was followed by a browse in my favourite charity bookshop (where, despite my best intentions of restraint, I always buy more books to add to my ever growing ‘to be read’ bookshelf), and a walk along the seafront into Folkestone. It’s important to make the most of every sunny day!

Hmm, did I think that June had been a quieter month? I seem to have done more than I thought!