Garden – Page 13 – About Stuff

April 15, 2018

Broken

Pic of the week 15/4/18

I’m in pain. Again. Not the tooth this time, but my knee, my right knee which I thought had pretty much got better took a big hit on Friday.

I did a tournament at Kingweston on Friday – good standard, a mix of U15 academy & district FA sides – I ref-ed four 35 min games and lined another. By the end of it my knee was hurting. So much so that I cancelled that night’s spinning.

It’s now Sunday afternoon, and it still hurts. Cancelled yesterday & today’s games (middles) and tomorrows line at Glastonbury U18. My season is over.

The last month has been a painful one – first my tooth, and then my knee. I need to remember that I am only just shy of fifty years and my body can’t take the hammering it once used to. This weekend I’ve realised that, and come to some conclusions. I can’t do everything. I’ve really enjoyed referee-ing this last week, but I’m really not enjoying the pain and enforced idleness that is the result.

Straight lines – I need to stick to straight lines. That means running, swimming and spinning. My body can cope with that, its the twisting and turning (football, referee-ing) that imparts those loads. Not sure when I shall start to run again. Hope to be able to spin on Tuesday, but will cancel if the knee doesn’t feel right, and swim this week. Running the Glastonbury 10K may now be in doubt.

In other news, weather has been rubbish, but yesterday the sun came out & I found my spot at the bottom of the garden. More rain today, but it is forecast to heat up next week. Here’s hoping …

March 4, 2018March 4, 2018

Beast from the East

Pic of the week 4/3/18

Wednesday – the last day of February was cold, very cold, but it was not until after lunch on Thursday 1st March that the snow began to fall, heralding the arrival of the Beast from the East.

And that evening and night, it dumped a whole lot of snow. The first significant snowfall for 5 years. Enough snowfall to result in a snow day (or two) but not for me, being but a five minute walk to school. (For the first time in over two years I regretted moving from Shepton!)

Snow is dispruptingly exciting and fun, beautiful, and blessedly rare. A rather cool drift was sculptured in our back garden; it was quite interesting to see how the snow swirled and illuminated the eddies and gusts.

Two days on, the beast is now slain. Its cold, white, wet entrails still lie strewn across some patches of ground, but the thaw has been swift. The temperature has risen, the sun has shone, rain has fallen to wash it away. It’ll soon fade into a dim memory as the warm spring sun shines through, announcing the end of winter and the promise of hot days to come.

February 15, 2018

1st Daff

Always a significant day in the calendar – the flowering of the first daffodil.

Today was that day, 15th February 2018. Two brave, plucky yellow souls open to the sun that shone today.

It was a warm, dry end to 2017, but has been cold and wet since Christmas. With the daffodils come hope, although just as one swallow doesn’t make a summer, two daffodils don’t make a spring.

January 2, 2018

Goals, aims and targets – 2018

2018 has arrived, so now it’s time set my goals, aims and targets for the next twelve months.

Run 10 Km in fewer minutes than my age in years. This one is my “biggie” for the year. Its doable, but by no means a given. Am targeting the Glastonbury 10K – conveniently after my birthday – but there are other events if I fail first time round. Will need to average 4 min 53 sec per Km – achievable on the flat, but on in an incline …
Run 400 Km. Nearly hit that total in 2017, should be able to do so on 2018, particularly given the goal above.
Swim 100 Km (3,000 lengths). An achievable, but not a given. If I swim regularly should be no problem. Swim at least once a week.
Spinning. Spin for a total of 2 days (48 hours)
Weight. I finished 2017 with a long term established weight of 12 stone 9, and I have allowed it to creep up over the Christmas period into the 13 stone bracket. Need to get that down. 12 stone 6 as my long term established weight is the goal.
Garden. Enjoy it! Less construction and landscaping required this year (but some still needed) Grow sunflowers and sweat peas (in addition to some basic veg)
My maths blog – keep blogging. Write a new post at least once per month, and write a minimum of 15 posts over the course of the year.
Sleep. A somewhat nebulous aim, but when I think about it, sleep – or perhaps I should say tiredness – is the thing I’d like to change most about my life this year. No target, but I shall aim to think about my sleep, my patterns and routines and what I can do to improve it/get more of it/reduce/manage my tiredness.

January 2, 2018

2017 – A year in pictures

Some of my favourite pictures from the year just gone, in vague chronological order.

Sophie passed her driving test

I built a new deck

The Nissan Almera died, so we replaced it with a convertible mini. Practical? No. Cool? Yes.

dots and spots closed

I took up yoga (loving it)

Finished fourth in my predictor league

The weather wasn’t always wonderful, but the garden grew

Love this picture – but from ’87 not 2017, but came bout because of …

… our 30 year reunion.

A day in the sun at Burton Bradstock with Becky

… and a few days en-famile in Cornwall.

The birthday boy (age 15) is now taller than me

My Legends team finally won a game (and drew another!)

Sophie turned 18

Hard to remember them both as young as this

A warm, dry, colourful autumn …

… and I discovered napping as a new hobby.

December 31, 2017December 31, 2017

2017 – How did I do?

So how did I do?

At the start of the year, here, I listed my goals, aims and targets for the year. 2016 now draws to a close – time to review how I did …

Run 300Km – a much lower target than I set myself last year, but not a target I met, completing 296 Km in 2016. Should be do-able despite the demands on my time from other physical pursuits (swimming, spinning, referee-ing and who knows what for 2017) Smashed it. Ran 390 Km, running for 1 day 7 hours and 15 minutes. My only disappointment was I didn’t break the 400K mark. Was all set to do so, when on the Friday before Christmas, I tore/pulled/tweaked my hamstring refereeing and I haven’t been able to run since.
Run up the Tor. In the summer of 2016, when I was regularly running, I set myself this goal for 2017: to run from home to the tor, run all the way up the tor, and then run back again. This is a tough ask, particularly as I am not running as much as I did last year. Would be a real achievement to do so. If I don’t write it down, it wont happen. Think I’ll have to target the summer hols to do it, if I’m going to do it. Not even close. Didn’t even contemplate this once during the year. Perhaps a goal to keep on the back burner?
Swim 150Km (4,500) lengths. Toyed with putting in a higher total – I did 200Km, 6000 lengths in 2016, but don’t think I’ll be swimming as much this year as last, so have given myself a very achievable target to ensure that I do make it. Swam much less this year, probably falling into fourth place as activity of choice, after referring, running, and spinning. However, still managed to swim 2244 lengths – 74.8Km – over the course of 1 day, 4 hours and 15 mins.
Gardening: 2016 was all about the structure of the garden, this year I hope to focus more on the planting. So this year I want to: plant raspberry canes & rhubarb, grow and eat runner beans, peas, courgette and onions and grow some sweet peas and sunflowers. Raspberry canes and rhubarb planted, along with beans, peas & courgettes which were all grown and eaten. No sweet peas or sunflowers, though. Need to make them a target for next year. Built the deck where the old summer house was, really enjoyed the garden this year: creating it, tending it and just sitting in it.
Refereeing – enter the promotion programme from Level 7 to Level 6. Promotion year runs from March to Feb so won’t be able to clinch promotion in 2017, but hopefully will be a significant way down the track. Decided against entering the promotion scheme, it would have been difficult to have got in the required 20 Open Age games as I’m not normally available on Saturdays. Refereed circa 60 games and 7 as Assistant Referee. Did a couple of cup finals. Have continued to enjoy it, but not so sure I want to give up every term time Sunday to the whistle, have started to limit my availability.
Weight: before the Christmas excesses, I would say that my “normal” weight was 12 stone 7 (today its up around 12 stone 12). I aim to be back at 12 stone 7 within 3 weeks and establish 12 stone 6 as my “normal” weight (normal weight: allows a swing of 3 lbs each way, so range between 12 3 and 12 9 following a festival of feasting) Weight has crept up, and needs to be kept in check. Quoting my TwiXmas weight as 13 stone 0 and my long term weight in the last few months of the year was 12 stone 9.
My maths blog: this was an aim I failed last year, and want to rectify again. Write at least twice a month on my maths blog – A Maths Teacher Writes Not bad – 15 posts this year, so not twice a month, but a good healthy number of posts.

Another successful year. Other key highlights from 2017 include:

Attending school reunion. Hard to believe it was 30 years since we left, was great to reconnect with so many from my formative years. A highlight of the year. Blogged about it here.
Sophie passed her driving test in March
Becky shut up shop, closing her dots and spots business in April
The silver Nissan Almera died, and we replaced it with the soft top Mini – our mid-life crisis car.
No mention of spinning in my targets for 2017, but I pushed the pedals for just shy of two days: 1 day 23 hours and 15 mins in the saddle, burning a total of 38,901 calories.
YOGA – took up yoga this year. One of the best things I have done in a long while. I’m far more supple than I was this time last year and, despite being a big cynic when I first took to the mat, I’m beginning to see the benefits of its relaxation and mindfulness. Meditate on that!

October 22, 2017

Half Term – at last!

Pic of the week 22/10/17

And so half term has finally arrived.

September starts on a surge of adrenaline, but after a couple of weeks that wears of and the tiredness starts to kick in. With working Saturdays, making it a six day week, I don’t think that you ever get the chance to fully recuperate in term time and the trick is to manage the decline from the end of one holiday until next. This first half a term is always one of the longest, one of the hardest.

So half term began for me on Wednesday afternoon, but not until Friday for the children, so Becky & I grabbed the chance to go out for lunch together at GBK and it was, of course, lovely – the company in particular, but the food wasn’t too bad either.

No major plans for the half term, Sam’s nose is being put to the grindstone as he has mocks in the week he returns, Becky’s working much of next week and Sophie & Becky are going to London on Friday.

Me, I hope to do plenty of exercise (swam Wednesday & Thursday, spinning on Friday, refereed yesterday, played for Legends today – swim, run and spin, I hope, in the week to come), rest and catch up with stuff. Potter in the garden, wash the windows, maybe go up the Poldens …

I’ve already made a start at tidying up the garden – cutting back one clump of daises, and still mowing the lawn which is growing well in the warm, wet conditions. However, the weather does seem to have turned and we’re now into Autumn. Hence, rather sadly, I washed, ironed and put away my summer shorts for another year. A sad moment!

August 27, 2017

The sun shines at last

Pick of the week 27/8/17

And so, just as the hols draw to a close, the sun begins to shine. Today (Sunday) has been a glorious, sunny, hot day, and tomorrow promises the same. At last. Weather wise, its been a pretty poor summer holiday.

Pictured above are some shots of the bounty of the garden. Finally starting to get a good crop of runner beans (I don’t think we had enough insect pollinators in the early days) and only two courgettes. We’ve had plenty of diddy courgettes, but there have been very few male flowers, meaning the fruits have been fertilised and swollen into proper courgettes.

In other news, was GCSE results on Thursday. My two classes did well.

August 6, 2017

Graveling the Garden II

Pic of the week 6/8/17

On Monday morning I took delivery of (another) bulk bag of gravel from Bradfords (circa £65 inc. delivery) and began laying it in the garden where the “dividing bed” used to be.

Looks good, here’s a before and after shot:

I also gave the front hedge a (significant) hair cut – quite surprising how much growth there was, and how it looks a whole load better now its been trimmed back.

Weather continues to be rubbish.

July 23, 2017