Ove and Osen... yarnalong!

Hello,

Joining in with Ginny's yarnalong.  

Making slow progress with my Osen Christmas stocking. 

I think this is mostly due to my need to up my exercise and shift a few stubborn pounds, so when I have a few moments,

or half an hour, I take myself out for a short/slightly longer run/walk. I can't even blame Christmas for the extra weight 

I'm carrying because I did make use of the extra available time 

over the festive period to get out and exercise and as I was also very constrained with my Christmas nibbling, I didn't 

add any weight to the scales over Christmas - yippee!

At our book club we are reading 'A Man called Ove'. I really wasn't impressed with our choice of book and nearly didn't bother downloading it, but when I realised the kindle version was 

only 99p I thought I would give it a go and I have been pleasantly surprised by it. I'm not saying it is one of my top 10 favourite 

reads, or that it even makes my top 50, but it is amusing 

and surprising in parts.

 (I won't say more in case you decide to read it). 

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post - no imminent changes as daughter still has 18 months left at 

school, but no harm in planning ahead. 

And finally, daughter passed her driving theory test, just needs to get practising her practical skills a bit more!

Best wishes

xXx

Richard III and my 3 day weekend

Hello,

I was lucky enough to enjoy a three day weekend this weekend - and it has been a pretty busy one, a complete contrast to last weekend! And what a contrast of activities too!

On Friday a friend and I went to the NEC to the Hobbycrafts, Sewing and Knitting Show.

 I had never been to a show like this before and my goodness, there was a whole array of

 very tempting goodies to buy - and a fair number of people even had shopping trolleys with

 them to carry their purchases!

 I thought I was very restrained buying two DMC cross stitch kits

 and two other small craft kits. 

Oh, and a light complete with a magnifying glass and large clip to hold an embroidery hoop. I can't believe I haven't bought one of these before, considering the time I have spent sewing/knitting 

over the years, and sadly (and I hate to admit this!) my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be!

I'm hoping this new light will last me many years. 

On Saturday, daughter and I tried out an orienteering course, not very far from us. It was in a

 beautiful location, that I didn't know existed. 

Daughter has recently started orienteering in an endeavour to maintain her interest in cross country running; and she has a big race coming up so needs all the practice she can get. The course took us 1 hour 45 minutes. I can see the  growing attraction to orienteering - fresh air, exercise, discovering new places, and relying on your map reading skills to work out where you are - not easy in dense woodland. 

Saturday afternoon we picked up both boys from University - so the poor washing machine is on

 over drive at the moment - and plenty more washes to go too!

Daughter had football this morning...

and Richard III grabbed our attention this afternoon. 

 Elder son and I drove to a village to watch the procession of Richard III's remains from Market Bosworth to Leicester. I was surprised by how many had come to watch. 

We only had a fairly quick glimpse of the cortège as it passed, but it did feel like we were

 observing an incredible piece of history. 

 

 And I thought I would finally finish with a photo of the view from my office window, taken one

 day this week. It's not a particularly inspiring view but that glimpse of blue sky every so often, 

during a working day lifts my spirits no-end!

Hope you had a great weekend and I wish you a good week, whatever your plans!

xXx

Good to be out-of-doors...

Hello,

Yesterday was one of those days when it felt really good to be out-of-doors, 

enjoying nature at it's best.

Here I am at Bradgate Park, while my daughter is running. 

 The mists just kept rolling up and down and around and at any one time you could

 be stood in the sunshine...

... and within the blink of an eye you would be engulfed in the mist and the

 temperature would plummet as the sun's rays were blocked out.  

 

A good time and place to celebrate the end of the Christmas holidays. 

 

xXx

(Taken on my phone) 

Tools for a half

An update:  according to my watch I ran a PB of 1hour 57mins and 36 seconds!! A big surprise as I had decided that as I didn't feel 100% prepared for the race that I would take it gently!

Hello dear reader

Sometimes when I am struggling up a hill - note I didn't say "running" - I ask myself "why am I doing this?" It really does seem such hard work to keep fit as the years creep on to my age. But I do try to keep fit and one way I attempt to do this is by running. And occasionally madness completely overtakes me and I find I have entered a race.

A few weeks ago I had such a moment of madness and entered a half marathon - this will be about the 7th I will have run. So here I am getting ready for tomorrow's local half.

These are the 'tools' I take with me when I run.

1. Runinng shoes - I really need a new pair, so maybe I will buy a new pair once tomorrow's race is done, they are looking rather well worn and muddy (sorry!)

2. A pedometer - I wear this all the time so I pop this into my back pocket when I run.

3. My nike+ sportwatch GPS - I love this watch. I upload run data from my watch to the computer and can see where I have run, pace, elevation etc.

 So I think I'm ready for the off - tools at the ready!

xXx