Category: Pic of the week

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21, and street legal

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Pic of the week 13/8/23

On Monday Sam turned 21!

We went up to Cardiff to see him (& Sophie!) for the day and tok him out to lunch at Maria’s, the Greek restaurant where he works. (The pic shows him with his boss, Mario, who kindly supplied the (cheese) cake. It was lovely to see them both (S & S) in their “home” environment – they do seem to be building their lives in Cardiff and it is lovely to see their growing independence. (Still struggle to believe I have 21 and 23 yr old!)

On Friday, the 205 passed its MOT! needed a new tyre, windscreen wiper and one or two other bits and bobs but it is now up and running! Need to ponder my future plans for it, but it has got back under my skin …

Over the last couple of days I’ve been tackling some of the “heavy” growth in the back garden, in particular the ivy along the wall at the bottom of the garden. It’s been tough, but I’ve taken a lot out – 3 tips to the tip, and its still not “job done”!

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Barbie and family

Pic of the week 6/8/23

On Friday we (Becky, Sophie & I) went to see Barbie, down at Strode cinema. A good film and I enjoyed the evening out,

The night before, we had been over to Wells for a gathering of the clan as Auntie Janet was down visiting

(I can’t be seen in the pic, but I was there!) Sophie was home (she had come back for her car’s MOT – it passed, but we did put on two new rear tyres – and she was going to 42nd Street with Becky on Saturday, Rog & Lisa also came over. A nice evening, and a chance to catch up.

Also on Thursday, it was our 27th wedding anniversary, hence the obligatory pic of some sunflowers. These are the ones in the back garden, which are fairing better than those in the front which continue to take a heavy beating from the strong winds that this dreadful summer is regularly producing.

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Soller, Majorca

Pic of the week 16/7/23

On Friday, we returned from 10 lovely days -en famile- in Soller, Majorca.  We had a fantastic Finca a few minutes walk from the town centre, with a pool set in a lovely garden.  It was, however, hot! As the week wore on, we became embroiled (emboiled?!) in the heatwave Cerberus with temperatures hitting 36, 37 degrees, and not getting much cooler at night (which then exacerbated the omission of air con from the property, although ceiling fans dis their best to keep us cool.)

We did a lot (well, Becky & I did – Sophie really didn’t like the heat, and Sam didn’t like getting up in the morning!) Probably the highlight for me was on the Sunday when Sam & I went coastering of Deia, climbing rocks and leaping of cliffs (10m high?) into the sea. The best bit for me was entering the sea cave – in fact, it was exiting the sea cave! The water was so perfectly blue as I rounded the corner the enter the final passage. This was no grand cavern, the exit was not very big at all!

Other highlights included our trip to the orange grove Ecovinyassa, and on our final day when Becky and I took the bus to Fornalutx, explored it and then walked down to Biniaraix and back to the house. But the whole holiday was great – food, family and fun!

Day 0 – Arrival

Day 1 trip to the Eroski!

Day 2 – Deia

Day 3 – Market Day in Soller

Day 4 – Becky went to Valldemossa, whilst Sam & I went coastering

Day 6 – Becky & I walked to Port de Soller. Hot, hot, hot!

Day 7 – In the evening we got the bus to Port de Soller

Day 8 – Ecovinyassa

Day 8 – exploring Fornalutx and Biniaraix

Day 9 – Heading home

(For the record, our return flight was delayed by two hours)

 

 

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School’s out!

Pic of the week 2/7/23

School’s out for summer!

The term, for me, sort of fizzled out (not that I am complaining) – with most year 11s finishing their two weeks before the end of term, and all the week before, I’ve been on easy street as term drew to a close, but it was still great when it finally, officially, ended. To have the long summer hols stretching out in front of me is something to look forward.  I’ve kept myself busy and active so far: spinning on Thursday, swimming on Friday, Park Run yesterday and an 8K run today, with the intention of swimming tomorrow and spinning on Tuesday before I “let it all go” on holiday!  I’ve also spent some time pottering and tidying up in the garden.  The first sunflower has burst into bloom, which is nice to see, but now want them to slow down for a couple of weeks whilst we are away!

On the rat front, they have been consuming quite a bit of poison and I restocked all the blocks on Friday, but nothing more has been nibbled – beginning to hope that, perhaps, they’ve done their job …?

Had a doctors appointment on Tuesday to discuss my cholesterol – not really sure it was helpful or useful, he didn’t really know why I was their and needed me to him my results.  We then chatted about cholesterol for a bit, he suggested what I was doing was the right thing and wants to do a full blood test in September/October to see if the changes to my diet have had a positive effect.

Off to Majorca on Wednesday, so no post next week …

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Glastonbury 2023

Pic of the week 25/6/23

On Sunday I went to Glastonbury.

(It was me on my own this year as Becky had a 30 year uni reunion)

It was a hot day, the ground was baked dry (in fact, when I got home I realised that my t-shirt looked a hue of grubby yellow  – the white having become discoloured my the dust storms that whipped up as you walked along the pathways) Perfect conditions.

This year, I had a plan. I was on site by about 9.15 having caught my bus at Street, so early the litter pickers had not yet begun to clean the detritus from the night before. I headed straight up the hill to the “letters” and enjoyed the sweeping vista across the sprawling site.

After enjoy the sunshine and sights, I ambled down, taking in Glastonbury-on-Sea, pausing to have my photo taken:

I had wanted to see CarHenge, and I wasn’t disappointed:

before scooting over to the Pyramid stage to see the opening act of the day: The Bristol Windrush Choir and Reggae Orchestra

They were great. Really enjoyed them, and afterward I was interviewed by a journo and the piece was picked up by the Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/glastonbury-windrush-bristol-caribbean-essex-b2363827.html

I stayed in the “pig-pen” (the section right at the front of the Pyramid Stage) for Sophie Ellis-Bextor who was brilliant, the highlight being when she covered Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”. Her show was, possibly, my musical highlight of the day.

I then wandered some more before returning to the Pyramid for Cat Stevens who was good, but perhaps a little laid back, although I did miss the end of his set as I headed over to the acoustic stage to watch Toyah and Robert Fripp – they finished with a cover of Bowie’s “Heroes”, another musical highlight of the day.

Then I hot-footed it back to Blondie on the Pyramid. The crowd by now was immense, It was good, but too much filler and not enough Parallel Lines.

Now tired yet happy, I decided to head for home, getting the 7.30pm bus back to Glastonbury Town Hall, and then walking home, to watch Elton on the TV. A good decision I think – I would have been so far back in the crowd, and exiting the site afterwards would have taken some time.

So a great day at Glastonbury. Musically perhaps not the best (it didn’t top Diana Ross from last year) but I really, really enjoyed myself.

 

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Sub 13

Pic of the week 18/6/23

For the first time in a year I am under 13 stone! My official weight on Thursday was 12 stone 13 and one quarter, the last time I was under 13 stone was 23rd June ’22 – one of only four weeks in 2022 that I was sub 13.

I know that over the last 18 months I have allowed y weight to creep up and establish at about 13 and a half stone, so I am pleased with my weight loss following my new regime after my health MOT and discovery that my cholesterol is too high. I am being very disciplined with my no dairy diet and also not eating other than my three meals a day. It seems to be working!

Although it hasn’t helped my running – ran 7K today, whilst my splits were not reliable, I am still much slower, averaging about 5mins per K.  I thought my weight loss and regular spinning would see me improve, but it has yet to manifest itself on the road.  I think I just need to get more miles in (unlikely over the next month or so, with Glastonbury, Majorca & Cavtat to come)

The sunflowers out the front are growing rapidly, with a number already over a metre tall. The continued wall to wall sunshine has probably helped.  The ones in the back are a long way off this growth, but seem to be healthy – looking forward to a forest of sunflowers this year.

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Rata, and other wildlife!

Pic of the week 11/6/23

The long hot spell has continued and Wednesday afternoon found me home alone (Becky had gone to Cardiff to see Coldplay and Disney 100), sat outside, reading my book.  I heard a strange noise, looked up, and saw something darting from the top deck to the bottom of the garden.  I hoped, for a moment, that it was a squirrel, but, whilst its tail was long, it was not bushy – it was a rat.  I then saw another , a little more timid, poking its head out from the top deck – confirmation: we have rats.  On Friday, Becky saw one emerge from the same place, so a quick trip to Amazon and bait and a bait box was bought, arrived and installed on Saturday.  Looking this morning, I think the edge of one of the bait blocks has been nibbled so hopefully our infestation will be short lived.

Today, Sunday, was Becky’s first as not an employee of Sainsbury’s so instead of her working and me running, we went for a walk around Shapwick nature reserve. It was lovely.  Saw many, many dragonflies:

Damson flies mating:

Swans with their cygnets:

and a very impressive Marsh Harrier. It was a lovely way to spend the morning, before coming home to potter in the garden.

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Half-term

Pic of the week

Half-term has arrived and, somewhat surprisingly, the sun is shinning, and promises to do so all week.

I’ve made little use of the day today, other than to run, rest and snooze – I have a bit of a summer cold (sore throat came on in the night on Friday) and now I have a bit of a cough and feel a little lethargic. I ran this morning, but was a little slow, and had looong snooze this afternoon – other than read and snooze, I’ve done little, but I probably needed today to recharge my batteries.

Plan to get busy in the garden for much of the week, some bushes need pruning back, geraniums need planting out and my latest batch of sunflower seeds – and six pumpkins – will need planting out before the week is done. Anyway, its nice to know I have some time ahead of me to potter and prune in the garden, snooze and read, and maybe also get in a little exercise.

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Sun and sunflowers

Pic of the week 21/5/23

So this week we have been blessed with sun and blue skies – and what a difference it makes.  I spent yesterday afternoon running around in the sun, refereeing at the Ashcott charity football tournament (did two lines and two middles for a total of 120 mins.  Legs were aching last night, went for swim this morning – first few lengths were tough but then my body loosened up, I glided through 40 lengths and have felt much better for it all day.) and today I have spent quite a bit of time outside – this morning, circa 11am, enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the garden along with the sunshine, and this afternoon reading and then snoozing, Good weather makes such a difference.

On Wednesday I planted out the sunflower seeds I had sown a few weeks ago, putting them in the front trough. They seem to have taken well and are growing nicely. Today I planted some more seeds in trays in the porch, along with some pumpkin seeds – this time of year is busy, busy, busy in the garden, literally sowing the seeds to reap the rewards later in the summer.

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Bulbs

Pic of the week 14/5/23

Well, we’ve had some quite biblical rain this week (flooding in Bruton, Queen Camel and other places) but yesterday afternoon the sun shone and the garden is looking lovely – the alliums in particular.

Today, I lifted the bulbs from the front “trough” and planted them in a corner of the lawn (top right in the pic above) and hopefully they will burst through to give added colour next year.

It was bloomin’ hard work digging the lawn up and I fear I may not have planted them to the optimum depth but, worst case scenario, we just end up with a patch of mossy lawn again.

I must confess, I ache now. I ran this morning, and then spent a couple of hours of heavy toil in the garden but hopefully, come next March, it will have been worth it (I’m clearly playing the long game here!)