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Dancing queens, butter, and bikes

Pic of the week 4/6/23

Yesterday, Becky and I travelled to London to see Abba Voyage. It was brilliant! I’m not really sure how they do it – its as if the four members of the band were there performing live for us, but they weren’t, but it was so realistic. Anyway, the music was brilliant and the dancing fun as they belted out all their classics. It really was a fantastic show.

We had originally planned to travel to London by train, but a train strike put paid to that plan, so we drove up instead, parking in the (pre-booked) NCP Richmond car park (circa £25) A really easy and direct route, although we were then slightly stymied when I discovered the district line between Richmond and Earls Court was closed that day for engineering works. So we got an overland train to Waterloo and then entered the tube system from there.  On our way back, we travelled directly from Strafford (the site of the London Olympics) all the way to Richmond on the London over ground.

In addition to the show, we also spent an hour or two exploring Camden which was fun.

Half-term is often a time for self care and I had both a dental hygienist appointment (my check up was cancelled as they no longer have any NHS dentists)  and also my over 50s medical check up at the doctors surgery. All was going well until the final results from my blood test came in and told me that my cholesterol is too high.  My total cholesterol level is 6.74 mmol/L – needs to be below 5 – my serum HDL cholesterol level (good cholesterol) is 0.98 mmol/L – needs to be above 1.0 – and my ratio TC/HDL is 6.9 and needs to be less than 4.5. So I have an appointment to discuss this with the doctor in 4 weeks time, but in the meantime I’ve started cutting out stuff high in polyunsaturated, so that means no butter, milk, cheese, chocolate, red meat … Looking on the positive side, I am seeing it as an opportunity to try new foods and expand my palette, rather than thinking of what I can’t have.

On Tuesday and Thursday I went spinning at Strode leisure centre, and really enjoyed it, so have signed up again, with the view that I cancel at the end of the summer holidays. Having tweaked a calf muscle whilst running today, it may be that I need to move my exercise away from high impact running to lower impact spinning and swimming. We’ll see ….

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It’s all gone quiet …

Pic of the week 18/9/22

All of a sudden the house is quiet and feels empty.

On Tuesday Sophie moved up to Cardiff, and on Thursday Sam returned to Cardiff to (re) start his first year at uni.  Their return does see to really mark the end of summer – whilst we still have dry days (although Tuesday, when Sophie moved pretty much rained all day, although fortunately not until she had got all packed up) and brightness and sunshine, it is now noticeably colder, almost surprisingly so. After such a long hot summer it doesn’t feel right to be cold!

Anyway, both Bambinos seem happy to be in Cardiff, embarking on the next stages of their life.  I think they were enjoying the comforts of living in “Hotel Home”, but now they are both moved in I think they are looking forward to the coming months.

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Summertime?

Pic of the week 8/5/22

With warm sunshine and clear blue skies, it does feel as though summer may have arrived, and I have had a very busy day today, making the most of the weather.

First up I ran, the first time without gloves, and also no under armour, was just a T-shirt day today for running, it seems a long time since I did that.  My running feels like it is OK, but the times are not quick, only just managing to sneak under 50 mins for the 10K.

I then spent a happy hour or so changing the coolant on the Corsa.  When I returned from taking Sam back to Cardiff the level dis seem low, so I drained the system, removed and (attempted to) cleaned the expansion tank (I couldn’t get all the gunk out) and refilled it with fresh coolant.  I will keep an eye on it to see if it is using an excessive amount.

And then I spent much of the rest of the day gardening. I planted up a number of pots with geranium and lobelia, and in the big trug on the lower deck I planted some geraniums and lobelia and also some sunflower seeds, some  “Evening sun” multi-headed, multi coloured sunflowers, and some “Little Dorrit” dwarf sunflowers, always exciting to see if they pop up.

And I have also planted x6 pumpkin seeds in small pots on the windowsill of my room, the plan is to plant them out when germinated and strong enough to face the demands of my poor soil.

Oh, and on Monday, I replaced the hot tap cartridge valve in the kitchen tap to stop it dripping.

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Weight

Pic of the week 20/3/22

So its probably taken me a few weeks longer than I might have hoped, but I am now regularly seeing my weight as sub 13 stones. It fluctuates on a daily basis, with Monday seeing me at my heaviest, but for the last three weeks I have had several days each week in the sub 13 stone category, and I am pleased about that.  It would have been very easy to have accepted 13 and half as the new norm, but then a t some point, that would have crept up again and so on.  I’m sure come the hols, and Naples, the pounds will pile back on, but piling back on from a lower base must be a good thing.

Today’s pic shows the downstairs loo, with our new tiles and the bright blue woodwork, a colour I am really coming to enjoy.

The sun has shone for the last couple of days, and the week ahead promises to be glorious – I’m looking forward to blue skies and a bit of warmth.

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Fun with power tools

Pic of the week

It has been a tough week at work.  Can’t really write why, here, but it was both busy and difficult.

So I was looking forward to today – going for a run, and then firing up my new circular saw. We’ve had the hall floor tiled (looks ace), but that of course means the floor level is higher and so doors need the bottom slicing off them.  I decided to invest in a circular saw, a couple of saw horses to support my work, and some clamps to keep everything in place. Over the years, I’ve learned the value of having the right tools – it makes everything so much easier.

Its been dry (so I could work outside) but cold, and a bit blustery, and I enjoyed immersing myself in my jobs.  Still a lot to do – just having one day off a week really does mean you try and cram everything into the one day, and its never enough time.  I had fun, am pleased with what I achieved, but am tired now. Early to bed tonight …

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Hall

Pic of the week 13/2/22

We’ve decided to have the hall re-tiled.  Becky has found the tiles she (we!) like, and a man to come and lay them. On Friday he announced that he was ready to come and do them – perhaps a little sooner than we had anticipated.

Anyway, I spent much of the weekend lifting the carpet, underlay,  gripper rods and lino from the utility room and taking it to the tip, and then giving the floor a good clean,  Today we ordered the tiles (circa £600) – will probably come later this week – and then hopefully get them laid the week after, so exciting times.

Relapse.

Having said how I’d got over my cold in last week’s blog post, it came back with a vengeance. Perhaps swimming on Monday evening was not such a good idea, on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday I felt pretty grotty; by Friday I seemed to be over the worst and that does seem to have persisted into the weekend – not having to work (am now on half term) has probably helped.

First daffodil.

Got home earlyish from work on Friday (Half term began at 3pm) and spotted a single, yellow daffodil flower in a trug at the bottom of the garden.  The first of the year! Just as one swallow doesn’t make a summer, one daffodil doesn’t mean Spring has arrived, but with its appearance, along with a number of others showing promise and lighter evenings (’til, say, 5.30pm?) one does begin to hope that the worst is over, and better days will come (although it looks like halve term is going to be grey, damp & windy, rather than filled with blue sky and sunshine, which is a shame.)

 

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Feliz cumpleanos

Pic of the week 29/3/20

Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 51. I had a lovely day – a 9K run in the morning and the presents and toast for breakfast. I got a lot of chocolate and soap (ideal for surviving lockdown), a Spanish book & map, yoga mat, compression socks (and “normal” socks), just what I wanted.  A lovely day at home with Becky, Sophie & Sam (and I even snuck in a delicious snooze in the afternoon.)  The pic shows my chocolate brownie cake which was (is – there’s still some left) yummy.

So a fairly normal birthday in abnormal times.

We are now in lock-down.

Having begun the week teaching remotely, but from my classroom, on Monday, from Tuesday we’ve been in lock-down with only essential travel allowed, and one outdoor exercise slot a day allowed. So I continued teaching from home for the rest of the week – it went well, but I was glad to reach the holiday that begun at the end of the week. I don’t think we’ll be back at school before September, so for next term, at least, this will be the new normal.

Its all very strange, but I’m beginning to come to terms with it. As a key-worker, Becky is still working (like a trojan) at Sainsbury’s. I think that society is finally coming to realise the importance and impact of Covid 19, but there are still those that are not following the rules and guidance. This is frustrating as so many are having their lives massively impacted and the rules are so draconian because not everyone follows them (and will become more draconian if people continue to flaunt them.)

Anyway, some things remain the same – after a week or so of lovely weather, the holiday’s arrive and its gone blummin’ cold, with a particularly biting wind. There is a lot I want to do outside (yet within the curtilage of our house, so within “the rules”, but I will wait for the weather to warm a little.)

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Running Backwards

Pic of the week 14/7/19

Yesterday afternoon, sat in the back garden whilst taking a rest from hall decorating (see below) I heard a deep, rumbling roar and looked up to see a Lancaster flying by. It flew round the back of the Tor before doing another circuit and then heading off to (presumably) Yeovilton Air Show. A magnificent sight.

Today I ran my 10K backwards. Not literally, of course, that would have been foolish, but in the reverse direction. On the whole, I ran it faster – was an interesting experiment that I must repeat some day.

Having decorated the upstairs hall & stairwell, my attention turned to the downstairs hall.  Still to be finished, but looks a whole lot better than before.

On Friday, Sophie, Becky and I went to see Scouting for Girls at Frome Cheese and Grain.

It was chuffing hot, but it was, not surprisingly, brilliant.

We ended up about three back from the front, a jumping, thumping, pumping set of their favourites. A great night.

And Sam applied for his Provisional Driving Licence – not long now …

 

 

 

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Stripping

Pic of the week 7/7/19

Its been a busy week – no sitting with my feet up in the first week of the hols!

Fed up with the “Steptoe-esque” state of the top landing, I took it upon myself to strip and paint the top landing, stairs and ceiling. The initial stripping wasn’t too bad, but its all the fiddly bits that frustrate. Anyway, at time of writing, I have now applied 3 coats and its beginning to look like the finished article – another couple of coats tomorrow and I could be done (to then begin the downstairs hall and landing. And then there’s the tilly room to be done …)

The weather has been good, plenty of sunshine and blue skies to enjoy when I have ventured outside in between my stripping. The garden is looking good, first sweet pea flowers just blooming, daisies look magnificent, lawn holding up. I do like the swishy swashy grasses in the front, they help to break up the sea of brick that is the extension. Some pics:

Sam decided to update his computer – which was a little fraught when it didn’t go quite as planned, and wouldn’t boot up. But calmly revisiting the situation the next day, and some good troubleshooting and fault diagnosis on Sam’s part had it all working as planned the next day.

On Thursday I caught up with Marck Radford in Shepton, and then Becky, Sophie and I went to the cinema to see “Yesterday”, which was a good film.

And then on Friday we all went to Cardiff for the day, an open day to see if Sam was/is interested in going to Uni. He was inspired by the Chemistry labs and he definitely wants to continue with Chemistry post sixth form, its just where and how. Will be looking into Chemistry degree apprenticeships this holiday.

And in amongst all this busy-ness I’ve still run, spun and swum. No wonder I’ve had to multi-task whilst having my evening snooze …

 

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Project Scorched Earth

Project Scorched Earth

One of the many beauties of our new (still call it new, despite having been here nearly four years) is the ample parking we have. It may not look beautiful, but it is certainly practical and I reckon we could park up to six cars on our gravel driveways.

Last summer I graveled one side in new gravel and it looks much better, maybe I’ll do the other side this summer?

However, my one concern with gravel is the preponderance of weeds to pop up.

So I’m trying a new scorched earth policy. I’ve bought myself a 5 litre pump sprayer from Amazon (£9.99) and filled it with a mix of vinegar (39p for 1/2 a litre from Tescos), salt and a dash of washing up liquid and have sprayed the gravel. I focused on the weeds, but also sprayed the whole area, the idea being to create an area so hostile to growth that not even the hardiest of weed will survive.

We’ll see how it goes.