Randomness

Just because I am 'in the blogging zone'.
JGS and I went to the beach for a 40th birthday sports day party and I took this photo. I think it is one of my favourite photos of all time.

And with some props........

After the Race for Life  (I did it 29 minutes and 27 seconds you know) we took the dog for a walk. This was the view down the track........................

The track was muddy in places.

That photo makes me chuckle. It looks like a bad nail varnish job. Although if you wanted MUDDY here is one I took earlier.......

Number 16- be a more confident driver

Quick update on this one. I had to go to a work meeting so took a pool car. A snazzy 2011 Ford Focus. When I say snazzy, I mean that it can do over 50mph without sounding like the wheels are coming off- unlike Gert.
I had to park the car- and I really dislike parking after an incident in a car park which involved someone parking next to me at quite an obscure angle and then as I was trying to reverse out (in Gert) they came out and started yelling at me.
Anyway- I had to park this car. Which wasn't mine. In a proper car parking space. Which also involved driving around said car park 3 times before I found a space. But look... Look at the perfect parking.....

Man alive. I rock.
And then it turns out I got copped for speeding so now have to go to speeding school. Oh well- can't win them all.

In my defence, I was behind a very erratic driver and concentrating on what they were (not) doing when I got immortalised doing 36 in a 30mph zone.

Number 24- Run the Race for Life

Well....... I did it. I ran the Race for Life. All of it. I did feel like I was on the verge of collapsing at one point and because I had no idea of where I was running to I had nothing to aim towards so I just kept running.... I put my runkeeper on and went for it. The beginning was a bit confusing as everyone went together so for the first few minutes I was running around walkers. At about 4k I thought there is no way I am going to do this in under 30 minutes- it felt like I had been running forever and the course was on grass (and in parts was quite muddy)I am quite accident prone and I didn't like running in the mud.I even managed to have a conversation with someone at one point. I did miss the dog and lots of people were running with their earphones in.

I think you should imagine the music to Chariots of Fire now.. are you imagining? Are you ready? Yes, I am coming down the home straight now. I can see the end. I have a sudden spurt and then I see the clock........ 28 minutes down........ I cannot believe it. I dig deep ( is this getting a bit over dramatic now?) and get over that finish line at 29 minutes and 27 seconds. Hi 5 !!!!  I collected my goodie bag and then collapsed on the floor for a few minutes. JGS was on photo duty and was commanded to take this so I could text EVERYONE !!

JGS also took other photos but they are on my camera so I will get them later. I am (still)so impressed with myself. I have been out running tonight and I have decided to do a 10k in September. That was the promise I made to myself. If I did it in under 30 minutes I had to sign up for a 10k. I also decided not to buy myself a present and I gave my car boot money as part of my donation. I also need to watch Chariots of Fire !

Note to DL- what running magazine do you get? I found one and I was too scared to buy it after reading the first three pages !

Number 26 (part 4) an unexpected opportunity

Easter weekend found us heading to Wales. Snowdonia to be precise as JGS and I had randomly decided that we needed to climb Snowdon. JGS had never been up Snowdon, whereas most of my family holidays in this country involving climbing something (Snowdon/Ben Nevis/ Scafell Pike and so on). So on Good Friday we packed up the tent and the car and off we went. It took us a while to get there.Partly because I stopped paying attention on the motorway (I wasn't driving- I was trying to crochet) and we came off the M6 too early and went the long way round the West Midlands to Shrewsbury. Oh it was like Landy Rally all over again ! 
We had decided to go up the Rhyd Ddu path and camp in Beddgelert . I have known the story of Beddgelert since I was a child. I had a lovely book and shed many a tear over the story.
Anyways- we got to the campsite and found a little pitch and set up camp. I feel I must justify our choice of campsite. A couple of years ago after a really wet 4 days in Coniston we packed up Gert and headed over to the other side of the Lakes. To Ravenglass to be precise. The only campsite was an official Camping and Caravanning Club site so we joined as it was cheaper to join and stay (is this making sense? I do seem to have gone off on a tangent here- but I feel I MUST see it through). We have never been to a club site since as they are not really our thing- but we still keep paying the membership (note to self- cancel this year) and as Snowdon was a last minute thing we took what we could find- which was here. I requested a forest pitch as the one in the photo looked lovely. When we got there and I asked for the forest pitch a la photo, I was told that 'the forest was cut down to make the campsite'. We did find a little spot near the stream though and as it was too cold for mozzies we set up camp.
And then came the best bit- ration packs for tea!! We took ration packs on the rally with us because they were so convenient (and deliciously tasty). Although I realise that maybe the veggie version does not translate well in bold technicolour.....

It was really lovely- honest.
Shall I move on? We sat and listened to the rain for a bit then tucked ourselves in ready for Snowdon Saturday.

Saturday morning was dry and not too cold. We drove to the car park and set off. Judging by the cars in the car park- there were already quite a few people out and about.It took us about 5 hours to get up and down. I did find it quite hard going near the top and there was quite a bit of snow around. It was cloudy and overcast at the top- for which I was grateful as I do not like being able to see the sheer drop ! We had thought about getting the train down (there is a mountain railway) but it turned out that the railway and the cafe were closed. As we were nearing the top there were a lot of grumpy people coming back down moaning about not being able to get a hot chocolate.

At the top there were hundreds of people sitting outside the (closed) cafe.

And on the way back down we stopped for a little snack and a hot drink.

On the way down I could appreciate the view more and see just how quickly the cloud came down and then vanished. It was so quick- by the time I had got my phone out to take the photo- the cloud had started to lift.

I have just realised that because I have taken so long to blog about this it all feels rather flat now as I write. Also, we did march up and down at a fairly quick pace so there were no real photo opportunities and although it was dry it was rather cold in places and my fingers stopped working. When we got back down we drove into Beddgelert for some refreshment (my fingers made a miraculous recovery) Cheers ! Happy Easter.

Number 24- more race for life (is there anything else on the list?)

Well......... I went out running twice on Sunday. Well, I ran to JGS's parents for a chat and a cup of tea and then ran back. I think that was 6k round trip. Today I did 4.78k in 27 minutes (measly 352 calories- but after my tea I think I am in the calorie version of negative equity).
I have also been thinking about my list and that I should have organised it better. I should have been blogging a thing a week ( this would have given an extra 12 weeks to play with. instead of probably a VERY busy November as I cram everything in). I have just counted and I have only ticked off 11 things !!!!! A couple are going to come together at a later date and there are several I need to knuckle down to but there are three I have concerns about.
Number 5 is learn to surf. I REALLY want to do this. REALLY REALLY! In fact I would be happy if this was the only thing I completed. I need to get this organised. The weather doesn't really matter for this as it is hardly California round here and I will be wet suit-tastic.
Number 13 is walk all/part of the coast to coast walk ! What was I thinking?? I put this on after a random comment by JGS last year. I even got him a coast to coast guide for Christmas. I am thinking that maybe we could do part of it over August Bank Holiday. Me, JGS, the dog and the tent. I am sure it will be fine.
Number 20 is do a craft fair- this incites panic as I don't think I have left myself enough time to make stuff? How much crochet does the world need?
I also need to blog more- I have at least 4 updates to write about (one of which is from Easter- which was in April!) So I have written them on my weekend to do list. You should get two 26's (unexpected opportunity) (I am in danger of having too many 26's and not enough 1-25 and 27-40) and update on another crochet cushion (should I have done a separate list for the amount of cushions I have done this year?) Plus an update on 16 (being a more confident driver) and two new items.
Number 18 - stop my checking habits (checking gas/taps/phone are switched off and on hook respectively) is quite random and I am unsure how to measure this. Maybe if I can go a week without doing it I can say I have succeeded. Although it does take 3 weeks to change a habit apparently......
It looks a bit dull without a photo so here is a photo of my asparagus.

If you look carefully there are a couple of spears (and a sweetcorn)- but those toadstools- man alive they are everywhere and have come from nowhere.

And then some peanut butter cookies I made JGS over the weekend. They got 9.5/10 (but JGS could not confirm the reasons for the missing .5) I used the Hummingbird Bakery recipe . They were delish. Past tense. There are none left and suffice to say it appears neither of us have a nut allergy that we were unaware of.

And then only because I found this photo and it made me laugh........(those ends!!!) (although I found this on Little Tin Bird which has a brilliant bit on darning in ends- mine so far have been random knots and darning but thanks to this tutorial it will be darning all the way from now on).

because yes..... this is going to be another cushion.... (well it was a mistake to start with but I am going to persevere)
Oh yes- before I go, we did a car boot the other Sunday and I took this with me. Several people came over and had a look and complimented me on my choice of colour (some of them were wearing sunglasses) but one man came over and said to me that he loved to crochet but he felt that he had to do it in private. As he left I said 'crochet outside and be proud' and then felt bad as I had yelled out something he kept secret in my over excitement. I am sorry.
Later on another man came over and he said he had been in the special forces and  had a breakdown and part of his rehabilitation had been crochet and cross stitch. It was lovely chatting to him and he was chuckling when he was telling me about men that had seen terrible things but were all sitting in a room discussing crochet and if the pattern was looking OK. Crochet is fab.



Deborah- if you are reading this I hope your knee is better and that you are raring to go- good luck !

Number 24-Race for life update-part 2

I only went out running once last week. I have other stuff to do on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and last Thursday I sacrified running for vanity in that I was having my hair de-greyed.... So I went out tonight (Monday) after looking at my race plan which claimed I should be 'running for 5 minutes and walking for 1 minute x5 times'. I translate this as 'must run for 25 minutes'. I cannot do with the stopping and starting and having to check my watch- especially with the dog. So I set off (with dog) with a target of 25 minutes running continously. I have a route that I know is just over 3k so I tagged a little extra onto the end of this and clocked in with 4.48k in 28.54 minutes. I have this app called RunKeeper (suggested to me by LC-where is your blog LC?) which is both a blessing and a curse. As it quite clearly states that 4.48k of running only burnt 379 calories !!! Oh well, it makes me think about what we put into our bodies and how much effort we have to put in to balance it out.
Well, I will get down off my high horse now. I need a cup of tea !
Oh yes, to bring me back down to earth I appear to be following my own blog... by accident/technological incompetence. A temporary  narcissistic  moment which I will correct the moment I work out how.


PS- running seems to make me unable to spell as it has taken me nearly 30 minutes to write this because of my dancing fingers.