Tuesday 24th April 2018

Hi,

So Adam and Erika were here today...we started off with bacon butties...and eventually got ourselves into Taunton. I took my trainers back and exchanged them for other Nike trainers.  Then Erika bought Adam a Barbour coat...he gets spoilt off Erika - and Luckily for him she has good taste...expensive good taste!

We came back home and decided that we would not go out - we'd get take-out.  We played pool and waited for Andy to emerge from the basement where he was working.  That didn't happen until gone 7pm - which us usual lately with his new role.  He works so hard and such long hours...

So then me and Andy beat them at pool 6-0 or did they win one? Cant remember now!  We ordered really unhealthy kebab and chips...which I didn't enjoy very much...and then Adam and Erika beat us both at cards! lol

Andy had to get up about 6am....and we were all quite tired so I think we went off to bed at 11pm!!  I never go to bed that early! 

Monday 23 April 2018

Good Mawnin!

I'm a bit tired today, although I got 8 hours sleep last night which is unusual!  Think it is just taking me some time to wake up properly!

Yesterday at Helen and Pauls we watched the London marathon...me and Helen seemed to enjoy it the most - I really enjoyed watching it.  I do not dream of doing it one day - seems way too hard to me! One day I'd like to do a half marathon (20 km)...I joked to Helen that we could do the Taunton half marathon next year...you never know though - depends how our training goes, and if we stick to it and not get injured.  I was debating putting myself in for a 10km run next Sunday in Bridgwater, but then realised that it is full!  Helen is still not admitting that she will do the Taunton 10km with me in September this year...but I think she will.

After the weekend and all the food and drink - I am back down to an 8lb loss (since jan) and it had got up to 11.5lb so that is a bit crap.  On the up-side according to my fitbit I am now in the "very good" range for cardio fitness!

I have a fairly busy day ahead as Adam and his gf Erika are coming to stay for a couple of days and it is Erika's 30th Birthday today - so I need to go out and buy a cake and some balloons and that kinda stuff.  I also need to get the house clean and tidy, change the bed, empty cat litter, get bins out...etc. I also wanted to go out and do a 10km run - but I'll have to play that by ear!

We are going out for a meal with Adam and Erika later - so more food and drink tonight!  This is why my diet fails - and I would not dream of eating a salad and being alcohol free!  So....really need to do that run today....

Right, better finish my coffee and get going then or I won't have enough time in the day....

----------------------

So - I went into taunton - and bought myself a new pair of trainers, 2 new running tops, a pair of ankle boots....then I get the stuff for Erika! Got a card, banners, helium 30th balloon, normal balloons, a birthday cake hat a birthday cake and 30th candles!  Got home and me and Andy put these things up at the windows so she would see it as she came in.  I then changed the bed and got tidy etc. and just about got 4km run in before they got here. 

Let me just mention though  - my new Nike Zoom Pegasus trainers - were very disappointing - not enough cushioning so I could feel the tread through the bottom of the trainer.  Gutted.  They were £80 too....so might try taking them back.

So Adam and Erika got here - hope she enjoyed all the things that we did.  We hung around for a but and they then played pool while I got a shower and got ready - then we all had a few drinks and got a taxi into Taunton.  Had a few more drinks and then headed to bare grills restaurant.  Had amazing food...went for another drink and then got a taxi back.  We played pool for a while but all basically crashed before midnight!!

Andy being silly taking a group pic...

~

Then the proper one...

Saturday - park run day!

Morning all,

I woke up this morning at 7.30...before my alarm went off. I wanted to do the park run today and beat my time.  I've only done it twice before and my times were 35:51 the first time and 36:22 the 2nd time.  On both occasions there was a long section of really awful mud and on the second occasion the puddles were more like long long rivers!  Today was dry and so much better!  I was determined to beat my time and I've done a lot of running lately.  My time today was 33:22!! So beat it by quite a bit!

I am aiming for less than 30 minutes but that's quite a lot to knock off, so don't expect to do than any time soon!

I was really pleased with my time, although it was a little disheartening to see I was so far down on the list of the results - I came 294th out of 357.   This is an incentive to do better!

Hehe...I was obviously happy to finish! Think this is me saying YAY!

I came home and had a lovely soak in the bath...then we eventually got ready and went to Helen and Pauls.  Saw their amazing new kitchen, had a few drinkies and went out into Paignton, and to our usual haunt - The Spinning Wheel - AKA The Spinney.  They always have a band on and Andy and Paul said tonight's was rubbish - to be honest me and Helen were chatting so much I didn't hear them.  We chatted loads - lots about running as we have now both got into it.  It is brilliant having somebody to talk to about running - who is about the same standard as me.  We spoke about running shoes, running bra's, routes that we do, hill runs...etc.  SO boring for anybody not into running - I was worried I would bore Helen, but I really think she is just as enthusiastic as me!

Anyway - we also had a really good laugh too - it wasn't ALL about running!!

So, a good time was had by all!  We went home via the kebab shop and I had chips and curry sauce - god it was good!!!  Think I went to bed about 2am,,,,thinking...not too sure about running tomorrow....

Friday!

Morning!

I had a really bad nights sleep last night - decided to leave my door open so the cats could come in - not doing that again! Periodically one of them would jump on the bed and wake me up by walking over me and at 5am mercky decided to come and sit on my head and purr so loudly! She then decided to paddy-paw on my face and lick my eyelids and my lip!!

My eyes are stinging today, I guess because I didn't get much sleep! I am sat here with a dilemma about what to do today.  I should really be getting the tiles out of the bathroom as I now know that they are not asbestos...or continue to strip the wall paper in the bedroom.  However, I am also wondering if I should go for a run before it gets too hot but its already 10.22....I could also spend the day getting the house clean and tidy ready for the weekend....oohhh what to do.....

I could go and get ready for a run....do a shortish one....then get some work done in the house - and finish early enough to get the house tidy ready for Andy coming home.  That sounds like a plan.....

six hours later

So, I went for a run - 7.4km so not so short...here it is:

So my average time was 6.58 min/km which is quite good for me.   Just before I went for a run Mercky decided to try and climb up my leg...as soon as I looked down, my leg was bleeding! I have little cuts all over my legs as their claws are like little razor blades!!

Anyway, I got back home, and got the quote back from the plumbing/electrics for the annex - I had put £3,500 in the budget, hoping it would be less and it has come back as £6,200.  We don't have £6,200...so that was bad news.  Then I got a call about the asbestos testing we got done the other day on the tiles in bathroom.  He just wanted to check that I'd understood the results.  As it happens, I hadn't because I thought that it said it was not asbestos - but it was!! So - that was bad news too....got to figure out how to get rid of it now!

So, rather than work on the house, I decided to dye my hair and then go out into the garden for a bit. Its so gorgeous, we are so fortunate to have such an amazing house and garden.  Big cat Itsy joined me in the garden...

Underneath the Indian Bean Tree (which incidentally, doesn't grow beans and is not from India)

  

Big Cat (as opposed to one of the kittens) Itsy:

View of the garden (big tree is the Indian Bean tree)

Me messing about sending snapchats to Lissa:

So...now I await Andy's return.  He's caught in traffic so he will probably be a bit stressed and tired.  Hopefully getting back to our awesome house and having the weekend ahead will make him feel better! I am going to go and sit in the garden and give him a call....

xx

The sun has got his hat on...

The hottest April day since 1949! So...decided to do more stuff in the garden.  Actually the gardeners were here this morning...Chloe and Neil.  They used to look after the garden before we moved in - so we asked them to carry on.  This was supposed to be until we got the time to do it - but we'll never be ble to do what they do! They know what they are doing and we don't! The garden is very big - probably 3/4 acre and there are all sort of things growing in it - its amazing in the summer.

Chloe usually nips in to use the loo - and this morning I was still in bed! It was about 9.15am and I felt really guilty about being in bed at that time.  I was awake and on my phone...but still ended up answering the door in my dressing gown!

I had cut the grass yesterday - so today I raked the dead grass up - took forever - I then decided to mow again and go a little shorter, I got about half way through and then the STUPID mower wouldn't start again!! I really wanted to hit it with something...or set it alight....

Let the kittens out in the garden for a bit and they loved it! bit too ambitious though and I thought I would lose them - so had to get them back in and I felt so guilty!

So now...I am not sure what to do with myself.  Andy isn't here and he is not back until tomorrow. It is almost 5pm...so I suppose I can get a shower...then errrrr.  Or, I could rest my legs a bit then maybe go on the running machine for a little bit.

Anyway...not feeling in a great mood now.  Don't like it when Andy is not here and still annoyed about the mower lol.  Here are some pics of the kittens in the garden that will cheer me up...

Mercky (above) and May (below)

below is Itsy stalking May

Today - continued.

So - went out and did my run.  Went through the no entry bit and didn't get shot by a farmer, although sort of wished I would when I saw how steep the hill was!

This was today's routes:

This was 6.78km, and I did it in 48:36 which isn't bad for me.  I got home had a bit of a rest and then went out to cut the grass.  Kept my Polar watch on which tracks me - here it is:

Hehe...doesn't look like I did straight lines, but it looked good....

It took almost an hour and a half to cut the grass and my watch told me I burnt 500 calories - and just less than that on the run...so a good day!  My feet hurt however!

I was chatting to Lissa via messenger on my phone when one of the cats started meowing - it was Itsy.  The one I said didn't bother bring mice in.  She had a mouse! Poor thing was running away and she was cornering it, picking it up and letting it go again.  Mouse was squealing and obviously frightened to death.  I managed to catch it - and I let it out of the front of the house, so hopefully if the cat went straight back out (the back) she wouldn't find it again!

It's such a nice day today - and although Andy is working from home - he is in the basement and wont be finished until gone 6pm.  Its supposed to be even nicer tomorrow - and he is working in Bracknell - and wont be home tomorrow night.  So we wont be able to have a BBQ :-(  As usual the weather is not expected to last into the weekend.

Wednesday 18th April 2018

Morning!

We were welcomed this morning as we came down the stairs with lots of feathers.  Andy said:

Cat Cluedo. We think it was Bitsey, in the hallway, with the teeth and claws.

We couldn't find the bird at first then Mercky appeared with it - throwing its corpse in the air and all over the place.  It seems to be Bitsy that goes out and kills stuff.  Not seen evidence of Itsy doing it and Mercky and May don't go out yet.  Bitsy started with worms - and now it is birds and mice!  She brought me a dead mouse and a dead bird to my bed one night!  Was lovely waking up to that - looked like somebody had a pillow fight with the amount of feathers around my bed!  Once she brings them in and stops playing with it - the kittens take over!

Today is supposed to be a really nice day - first in a long time - 20 degrees.  The sun is out and all I can think is: I'm not going to be able to run in this!  I have no idea how people go running in places like Florida - how do they do it!! I prefer cold and rain! I need to go early before it gets too warm and its already 9.53am. 

I need to cut the grass too - and because the garden is so big it takes me about an hour and a half, and I usually do about 10,000 steps.  I definitely need to do my run before than or I wont have the energy.

Think I will do a shorter route of about 6.7km - it involves going down a lane that says no entry - but I don't think it is private land - I think it is just so narrow that it is one way...and I need to face oncoming traffic so that is the way I need to go.  At least it is illegal for farmers to shoot trespassers, so if it is private the worst that can happen is that I'll get told off!

Can't quite believe that I managed to write all this without the cats on my keyboard...