C25K Week 4 and Week 5

Phew, week 4 is over. A bit more of a challenge with a total of 16 mins running and a lot less walking. But.....it wasn't too bad. The first run in the block is always the worst, but by the end of the session I felt like I could run further. Wow. I might just get to that tantalising 30 mins running and 5k distance. After having a bad back for, well, ever..... at least it seems for ever when you are used to being reasonably fit, it's nice to have aches from sore muscles rather than tight tendons and joints. I absolutely love my running track - it has views, a gentle hill (up and down - so time for a breather), a grassy track and the grass is not too long. Perfect. And, it is just over the garden wall from our new (future) home. Happy, happy person.

Week 5 and a new location during the half term holiday. We were at Sutton on Sea on the Lincolnshire coast, and just look at my running track.

No hills on this track, and I most definitely didn't run on the soft sand -  that would be a challenge too far. I stuck to the hard sand near the sea and it was lovely. I was fortunate in that the wind wasn't too strong because that can really make it feel like running up a hill. Week 5 has three different runs with the first having three 5 minute runs, the second run has two 8 minute runs, and the third has just one 20 minute run. Yes, I know......20 minutes. I nearly choked when I heard that on the podcast. I managed it, but it wasn't fast. I must have been a bit conservative with my energy because I was able shuffle a bit faster for the last 2.5 minutes to compensate a bit. I was really pleased that I could do it, but it makes me a bit nervous for the week 6 runs. On the whole I am enjoying that I can keep up with the programme and that I'm definitely getting fitter. The only negative point I have is that I'm getting really fed up with being attacked by dogs. On my second beach run a dog bit me. Not a big bite, and if I had long trousers on then it would have just got a mouthful of trouser leg, but it flipping well drew blood. I regularly have to stop and wait for an owner to get their pesky animals under control. Anyway, gripe over. It's not going to stop me running.

C25K Week 3 Completed

Hoorah, week 3 is done. I had a bit of a break between weeks 2 and 3 because I had a touch of lurgy. I bravely tested my health and fitness by doing week 3. Every week 3 run was in glorious sunshine, if a little nippy in the wind so I could almost say that I enjoyed all the running. I could certainly say that I enjoyed completing all the runs and being out in the fresh air! Surprisingly, I found the runs a bit easier than I expected and I think that is because there are fewer but longer walk/jog sessions and not because I'm that much fitter!  

Peak District weekend

I've been away. Admittedly it was only for a weekend but I seem to be behind with everything now, including blogging, so this will be the first of a few catchup posts. 

During the May bank holiday weekend we went on a birthday bash with a big group of friends to the Peak District. Now this isn't very far from where we live, although it took about 50 or so minutes to get there, unlike some of our party who were travelling from Suffolk, Bristol, Leeds, Lincolnshire and so on. We ventured into the county of Staffordshire to stay at Hamps Hall in  the village of Waterfall which is not very far from Ashbourne - think of popular Peak District places like Dovedale, Tissington, and Ilam. The first day we walked along the Manifold Way which used to be a railway line and is now a walking and cycling track. Not ideal for walkers with all the bikes whizzing by, but the wild flowers and blossom are absolutely stunning at this time of year. It did start out as a bit of tea shop crawl as we stopped twice for tea, but then headed back over the hills to our accomodation. The rain held off (mostly), and our total distance was clocked at 10.4 miles. I was wearing a brand new pair of boots so it could have been at bit disastrous, not to mention painful (for me)  but the boots were super comfy.....phew. No photo's of the walk though - too busy chatting!

The next day we went to Sudbury Hall, a National Trust house south of Derby. It is a beautiful house and also has the Museum of Childhood. The museum had toys of yesteryear - we were all saying "Did you have one of those?" "Can you remember this?" The house itself was impressive, as much for it's age and the condition of the interior. I thought the mouldings on the ceiling in the main hall were brilliant - I'd love to try making something like this in textile form. Hmmmm, must tuck this thought away for a time when I have more time.

Our last morning we went for another walk, this time on the Tissington trail. This is another cycle/walking trail and was far too busy with the bikes so we escaped the trail and headed back over the fields through Tissington village.  I loved the boot planters - a bit past their best for walking!

Couch to 5k and baking

You wouldn't normally expect to have baking and jogging in the same post, but that is how I've been spending my spare time, although not baking and jogging simultaneously in an 'extreme jogging' sort of way. A more accurate description of my jogging would be 'shuffling', but everyone has to start somewhere and I've been persuaded to try the NHS 'couch to 5k' podcast program with my daughter and her friends (though she said it was the 'couch potato to 5k' scheme and I believed her).   I survived week one, and that is not an exaggeration as I only managed 2 out of the 3 runs for week, and I can categorically confirm that it is not a good idea to miss any. DO THEM ALL......or be VERY sorry. This week I'm determined to do them all which meant doing a run on my own today. I went up to the barns because it was so beautifully sunny and it is such a lovely area to shuffle in. I went down one of the footpaths and then around the big field to pick up another footpath, going round 3 times in total. I then went round another time with my camera so that you can see how lovely it is, but without any of the pain and panting. Oh, and I saw a helicopter landing at Ripley International Airfield (the grassy landing strip below the barns).

The starting point

View down the fields

Looking back to the stile and the barns

Helicopter coming in to land at Ripley International Airfield

Landing safely

Hilltop Mink Farm and Barns

Back up the hill to the barns

I love the way the clouds are lit up by the sun and are set in the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky

Cherry blossom with the hope of many cherries in the summer!!!

Onto the baking. Last week I  (possibly) somewhat foolishly suggested that the kids could choose the cake for family tea. The choice for last week was white chocolate brownies, otherwise known as 'blondies'. I found a great recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, which can be found here. I didn't add the cardamon pods, but everything else went in and they were pretty delicious. I also made a few cheese scones for the week, which were eaten on an impromptu picnic at the barns one evening.

This weeks cake of choice was a chocolate cake, as it happens for my birthday....and it was not made by me, but my partner in crime! It was really delicious though, and this is all that is left......

Gardening time

It's been glorious this weekend so far, if a little chilly in the wind, so it's easy to give into the temptation to do a bit of gardening. Mind you, 'gardening' might not be the right description; it was more like 'hacking and chopping'. We have managed to cut down 8 trees so far and have dug out 3 of the roots. It's been a bit of a challenge with an achey back and tennis elbow between us, but we are taking our time with it. In fact today I spent more time photographing and watching the birds and sitting in the sun than actually digging. One of the tasks I had set my self was to plant some herbs. I've really missed having fresh herbs so the obvious thing to do is to plant some pots that can be moved and transplanted at a later date.  When I say 'obvious' it was only after much deliberation about where to plant the herbs that I came to the 'obvious' conclusion. I'll pick the herbs and freeze them so at least there will always be some to use in the kitchen. The herb roll call so far is mint, oregano, parsley, thyme and rosemary.

  Just to give you a hint of the monumental task ahead of us to convert the barns and clear the garden, I've added a couple of very pretty photos of our wall garden, which is actually, slightly disturbingly, some of the barn walls. For more information about our barn project, click on the link above to view the barn conversion blog.

There is an abundance of bird life at the barns and it was completely absorbing watching them. It will be the last summer of nesting in the barns so I intend to make a full photographic journal in the next few months until the building starts. The swallows have returned to their nests and they are absolutely fascinating and so quick. I tried on several occasions to catch them on camera on only managed one blurred effort. The sparrows were quite amusingly spring like - see the photo to see what I mean!!!! 

I managed a little bit of crochet before I packed up with the gardening. I'm still working on my sheep concoction with a bit of grassy loop stitch meadow.

Sewing Day

At last a day of sewing. Having packed up most of my sewing stuff for the duration of the barn conversion I've been pretty much restricted to hand crafts, and crochet has been the craft of the moment. However, today I joined Nottingham Patchwork Group ladies for a day of sewing. The community hall at Wollaton had been booked for a day of sewing and everyone brought their current project(s). I took a quilt that had been layered with the quilt top, wadding and backing and was ready for the final quilting. Bearing in mind that this had all been prepared long before we moved house but it was packed up along with the rest. Actually, not quite with all the rest because I could at least find this and my sewing machine. The majority of the sewing gear is in storage as there just isn't the space to set up in our tiny flat. I was a bit worried that I had forgotten what to do, but with a bit of fiddling around setting up the machine and picking out some thread for quilting, I was on my way. It's a bit of a struggle manoeuvring the quilt through the neck on my machine as it is quite petite, but I had plenty of space around me so didn't get stressed out with the wrestling. It was really interesting seeing what the very talented ladies of the group were working; from applique to foundation piecing to quilting. A couple of ladies brought a few projects to work on - they really are very prolific compared to my quilting efforts. My quilt is an african themed quilt which will be a throw for a sofa when finished. I will reveal all when it is finished. I managed about a third of the quilting on the main body, then there will be the border and then the edging, so it won't be finished for a while yet. No rush though, because the sofa that it will go on is in storage as well!

York getaway

Just before Easter we took off for a couple of days in York. Sadly, the weather wasn't so great, certainly for the first day and our energy levels were a bit low as well, so we did a bit of gentle pootling around the shops. History hits you there even if you are just shopping! We stayed at the Youth Hostel, albeit in a private en-suite room for two. We've stayed before, and as long as you don't mind bunk beds, it's a really pleasant and friendly place to stay. We had a gentle walk along the river to get to the city walls, ending with a walk through the Museum gardens.

All lovely, lovely. I spotted a yarn bombed tree, which I just had to take photo's of. I quite fancy having a go myself, maybe up at the barns when they are all finished as a sort of  yarn filled  fanfare. Now,  there's a thought......

We spent time wandering around, browsing in the book shops. The second day, we went to the Treasurers house which is a National Trust Property, and then ambled slowly around the Minster  before deciding that it had all become too thronged with people (well, it was Easter weekend), so decided to pick up a picnic lunch and eat beside the river and watch the rowers go past. The weather had brightened up and it was nice and peaceful.

Easter food and Omega Juicer

Easter is usually the occasion to have a giant roast dinner for all the family; the first big get together since Christmas. However, we're not really geared up for a big family 'do' with our tiny kitchen. Fortunately, a daughter came to the rescue with the venue for a buffet meal, with everyone to make a contribution. We volunteered an Easter Simnel cake and a loaf of bread. The food was yum and we had a good catchup and a giggle.

As the title of this post suggests we bought a juicer last week. We always have a juice drink whenever we go to Wagamama's for a meal and always enjoy it, so when we went for a meal before Easter we decided to take the plunge and get a juicer. After much googling and playing of youtube videos I decided on the Omega 8006 which is a masticating juicer which grinds the fruit and vegetables at a slow speed rather than whizzing them up in a blender. This is supposedly better at preserving the enzymes and vitamins, but one of it's really big benefits is that it is good for making nut butters. I love eating nuts and the thought of making healthy, fresh nut butter was a temptation too far. So far I've made cashew nut butter and hazelnut butter. The cashew butter was creamier than the hazelnut, but the main reason for hazelnut butter was to make a version of nutella and mmmmmm is this heavenly. I followed the recipe from Ella Woodwards book "Deliciously Ella" and it is absolutely delicious with frozen bananas that have been modged up in the juicer. Not a great description, but it made a delicious (and quick and healthy) dessert. Sorry, but it didn't last long enough for a photo! Well of course we have also made loads of juices this week. Being on holiday there has been more time for experimentation and have been following some of the recipes in Rosemary Fergusons "juice" book. We have juiced apples, carrots, celery, blueberries, redcurrants, pears, bananas, cabbage, ginger, oranges, lemons, watermelon and pineapple. I haven't yet tried the coconut, mango and sweet potato. I can confirm that it has cost an absolute fortune but it has tasted (mostly) really nice. The first juice I made I just guessed a recipe and put in far too much cabbage and ginger. It certainly tasted as if it ought to be good for you. It did prompt the purchase of the afore mentioned books and in the main, the recipes we have tried have tasted nice as well as being good for you. We had to cut back on 3 juices a day though,  because not to be too indelicate, it was having a bit of a disastrous effect on the digestion! 

Just a little footnote. The weather has been glorious this week. I've been gardening and wallpaper scraping (helping out in  a child's home) and generally busy, busy, but the best thing about the lovely weather has been the chance to dry some washing in the sun. Strange, I know. In our pokey little flat there is nowhere to hang washing outside so on a gardening day at the barns, I took the washing and HUNG it out in the sun. Whoopdedoo, fresh smelling bedding. It's the little pleasures in life......