Worth getting out of bed for.

Hiya bloggy pals. I rolled out of my pit a bit earlier this morning, to get myself down to the start line for the 5k Park Run. If anyone is wondering what this is, read up on it here. It's for anyone, young or old, singles and groups, runners, joggers, and walkers, dogs and buggies allowed. Best of all, it's free. You know me, I like free stuff. 

My day started at 7am, (start time is 9am), with a mug of coffee and a pan of porridge. Half way round I wished I hadn't had such a big portion of porridge. I faffed about getting dressed as I wondered what the best attire would be. First I had to select a well fitting bra. I may have mentioned this before, but my chesticles are definitely not the size of melons, or even satsuma oranges, I would describe them as two fried eggs that disappear under my armpits when I lie down. Nevertheless they do need some support if I am to hurtle round a course at 90mph, only joking. No, small as they are, it's chuffin uncomfortable if I run without a bra. 

I don't have any fancy pink or green running gear, and it was a bit chilly first thing, so I opted for a vest and three layers on top, and a thin pair of cotton jog bottoms. I didn't want to shiver while standing around waiting for the start. As it was, I arrived five minutes before the start, just enough time to ask someone what happens. 

There is no checking in, what you have is a card with a bar code on, which you print off yourself after putting your details into the web site. I thought that was a good idea, saves waiting in a queue to report in. There is no need to carry anything apart from your bar code, and any essentials. I didn't need a drink, though some did carry bottled water. I had a small pouch with my camera, phone and car keys in it. There was ample parking at the start, if you are going to do this check out the parking where you are. You don't need to turn up early, a few minutes before the start time is OK. 

Everyone getting ready for the off. 

A few announcements were made. There seems to be regulars that go, some of them have a competitive edge, but most seem to just do it for the fun of it. Some were limbering up, others stood around chatting. Everyone seemed friendly, and I think if you went every week you would soon get to know people. At the end I had a lovely chat with a young lady who pushed a buggy around, complete with sleeping baby.

The course was all on the park, mainly on tarmac, with a short distance through woods. There was two laps to do. I set off at a steady jogging pace, and let others streak past me. I like to pace myself from the start, I am not a sprinter. I checked my watch as I started. At the half way stage I had done 19 minutes, but at that point I felt a stitch in my side, which got quite painful. I went into walking mode for a few minutes till it wore off. Damn, I wish I hadn't eaten so much porridge. The second lap was intermittent walking and jogging.
I checked my watch at the end, 41 minutes.

When you arrive back you are handed a plastic tag with a bar code on it. You pass the tag, and your printed bar code, to the next checkpoint which clocks you in and puts the information on the web site. I have just checked my account, and it tells me I took 41 minutes and 18 seconds. I was number 235 out of 260. I didn't enter it to win any races, so I am pleased with that.

My impressions are I think this is a great way to start getting fit. You can do as little or as much as you like. You don't have to finish the whole course if you don't want to. I would say don't be afraid of 5k, it sounds a lot but isn't really. Have a go and try to do the distance. There are marshals along the route, if you start to feel unwell they are there to help. I did the Race For Life when I was 47, and ran the whole distance, I thought it was a doddle. Now I am 64, I am not going to be as fit now as I was then. However, I can begin to work my way up again, and this seems a good way of getting started.

What I have learnt today. Wear less clothes than you think you need. Turn up five minutes before the start, leave some warm clothes in the car to put on when you have finished. Don't try and keep up with anyone, even if you are with a friend and they want to go faster. Let them get ahead and meet up at the end. I don't have proper running trainers, mine are more fashion trainer boots, but they are comfortable for this distance. You don't need the right gear, wear anything, it doesn't matter what you look like. Listen to your breathing, choose a pace which is not going to knacker you in the first ten minutes. Stop and walk if you have to. Concentrate on your breathing and what you are doing, shut everything out around you. Watch where you are putting your feet, don't want to trip up. If you are doing it for fun, relax and slow down, but try and push yourself in short bursts. If you are going to walk the whole way that's not really fair as you will get in the way of runners. You can walk anywhere at any time. Try a bit of running.

Have a look on the web site and see if there is an event near you. I shall keep going and try to improve. I can monitor my progress on the web site. If you already do the Park Run, let me know your times. We could all meet up on here at the weekend and check in with our times, and compare notes. It only takes up a couple of hours to do it on a Saturday morning, worth getting out of bed for I think.  
Have a nice weekend. Toodle pip.

First walk of the season. Bimbling around Brigg

It was good to get out today, my first proper walk of the season. I drove myself to Scawby, a village not far from junction 4 of the M180. I didn't want to spend too much time driving to the start so this is fairly local for me. I haven't seen this information board before, it looks new. 

This is the old school in Scawby, built in 1854. It is now a private home and a listed building. That means the outside has been kept pretty much the same as it was.

St Hybald's Church is one of only four, dedicated to St Hybald, a Saxon Saint. There are two rows of yew trees leading up to the front door, said to represent the twelve Apostles.

The village green has been decked out with flower beds. I think Scawby might be in direct competition with us for the Best Kept Village competition, as it is of a similar size. From what I saw today it looks pretty darn good. We will have to pull our socks up if we are going to beat them.

Just past the church is a little lane leading onto Scawby Park, through this old fashioned gate. Luckily no bull was about today. The park stretches through three fields, and has a gate like this at the other leading onto the road.

I followed the road to Scawby Brook, then into Brigg. 

Heading into the town centre, the road goes over the Old River Ancholme. Children were having fun feeding the ducks.

A pub in the High Street.

This is The Angel in the Market Place, it's a former 17th century coaching inn. Inside is a new Heritage Centre, full of fascinating facts of the history of the area. There is a bronze age raft which was found locally, which dates back to 800BC. The library is also housed in this building, and there is a function room for hire.

Thursday and Saturday are market days. It gets very busy. The building in the middle with the clock on the top is the Tourist Information Centre. I used to have a stall on this market a few years ago. It's nice working on a market when the weather is warm, but it's awful in the winter. Some of the stall holders are the same ones when I was there, you've got to have a thick skin and determination to stick at it.

This is the tea room just inside The Angel. It's a lovely warm courtyard with a tropical feel about it.

I took the road out of Brigg towards Cadney, and after going under the railway line a path splits off to the right and follows the river. A view of the power station.

When I got to Cadney Bridge I noticed how quiet it had become. I had left the drone of the motorway traffic behind. It was so peaceful. This is a pedestrian bridge, and can be used for light farm traffic.

At the bridge I did a left turn towards Cadney. I see from my map that I have been down this road before. On a sharp left hand bend I carried on straight ahead and took the footpath across the field towards the village. The farmers seem to be quite good at leaving the paths clear around here. 

Cadney Church looks very old indeed.

From Cadney I marched straight ahead towards Howsham and just past Cotswold Farm I took the footpath on the left along the edge of a field, to head back to Brigg. There was a convenient stile to place the camera on for this selfie. Ha ha, you will see that I have brought out the long baggy shorts again. They are good for a few more walks. This is the first time my legs have seen daylight since last year. Oh dear, they're as white as two bottles of milk.

I must say it was bloomin marvelous to get out again. I love roaming about with a map. I've checked the mileage on bikehike and it comes out at 14.25. I didn't rush, stopping to talk to people and take photo's. A lovely stroll in the great British countryside. There will be more.
Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.
PS. George is settling in very well, and they love him.

Cherry picking the best bargains

I had to go to town today in search of cat food which would not upset Bugsy. He can't eat Felix or Whiskas any more, they make him sick. I got him some gourmet tins, and some fresh chicken which I will grill tomorrow. 

While I was in town I had a look in the small Asda and found some yellow stickers. YAY, yogurt and veg. Then I popped in Aldi for a few items, no yellow stickers sadly. And on the way home I went to Sainsbury's to pick up some food for the rescue cats. Guess what I found, YES, more yellow stickers. The girl was marking down broccoli. I said, 'oh no, not more broccoli', and told her the story of eating it for two weeks and blogging about it. She laughed, and said, 'why not have a change, there are some sprouts in the next aisle marked down'. Ha ha, I got three bags, so it's sprouts all the way now. 

I have added up what I have spent on my food this week in four shops, and it comes to £16.21. Tesco £4.66. Aldi £4.77. Asda £4.30. Sainsbury's £2.48. Cherry picking the best bargains certainly pays off for me, and I don't have to drive very far to do it. I always combine journeys. My fridge is looking full now, I have enough to last a week or more. I reckon I spend an average of £15 a week on my food.    

Guess what was for dinner tonight. Veg of course, with a quarter of a cheese and onion quiche, at 25p. 

I was reading Justine's blog Jazzy's Place, the other day, she said she has started doing the Park Run. It's a 5k run on a Saturday morning, there are venues all over the country, and it's free. I had a look on the Park Run web site, and have signed up for it. Might as well give it a go, don't want to bugger my knees up though, but 5k once a week should be alright. I'll make an effort and go this Saturday.

It's looking like I might go for a ramble tomorrow, off to study the maps. Toodle pip.

£8.25 saved on shopping

And here we have Helen, working away merrily, tearing her house down and putting it all back together again. She will have a go at anything, cutting and sanding wood, bashing tiles off the wall, ripping up laminate flooring, repairing skirting board, sanding the staircase, and painting the walls. Who says women are hopeless at DIY, ha ha. Come on, give us a smile.

Thank you. Love the safety glasses and the rubber gloves, very fetching :o))

I went to do some gardening and attacked the massive laurel bush. Managed to get most of it cut down to a more manageable height, except for three or four thick branches. Then I ran out of time because the tip closes at 4 pm and we wanted to take a couple of loads in. I filled my car with the laurel, looked like a mobile forest, ha ha. I'll go back and finish it next week, there are workmen in the house for the rest of this week, so I'll keep out of their way.

I timed it so I went to the small Tesco for 4.30pm, to look for yellow stickers. Again, I was too early for the final markdown, but I am pleased with what I found. Here is the list.
2 bags of fresh pears, reduced from £1.75 each, to 9p each.
Mushrooms reduced from £1, to 41p.
Grapes down from £2.25 to 78p.
2 bags of broccoli and cauliflower florets, were £1 each, reduced to 45p each.
2 bags of spinach, £1 each down to 45p each.
Fresh double cream was £1.16, now 48p
Leerdammer cheese slices, not reduced £1.
Total real price £12.91, I paid £4.66
I really wanted Value plain yogurt, but they didn't have any, so I opted for the not so healthy cream. As you can see I have even more broccoli to chomp my way through, very pleased with the spinach though. My fame goes before me, two shoppers in Tesco said they read my blog. Amazing.

When I got home there was a small package waiting for me. Here I am modelling a new sun visor, sent by blog reader Toni. When she saw it she thought of me. Why thank you so much, I am chuffed.

Dinner tonight had broccoli in it, well what a surprise. I chopped two small onions and eight mushrooms, cooked them in a small pan in a little oil. Added wholegrain mustard, garlic powder, a little stroganoff sauce mix, and apple juice. Cooked it for a few minutes till the onion was soft. Just before serving I added two dessertspoons of cream. Served on a bed of steamed cauliflower, carrots, spinach, and broccoli.

 The sauce was delicious, nothing was wasted, I licked the plate, ha ha.

Well my dear readers, that's the end of another day, they go too quickly. I'll hit the cross trainer before I go to bed, should sleep soundly tonight. Toodle pip.

Making a storage system for beads.

I didn't manage the full session at the craft club this morning, too busy, only had time to call in for ten minutes to show the rag rug. Everyone liked it. A lovely day again,lets have more sun please. Lunch was alfresco, broccoli and onion omelette, washed down with the last glass of wine. There's another bag of broccoli to get through yet, it's never ending.  

Steam the broccoli and two chopped onions for five minutes. Put a drizzle of oil in a small omelette pan, and add the veg. Beat two eggs in a bowl and add some garlic powder, then pour it over the veg. Cook the bottom on a low gas on the hob, then put it under the grill to cook the top. Make sure both sides are light brown before serving. It was scrumptious. I like the way you can put anything you like in an omelette, and it makes a filling meal.  

I needed something to keep my beads in, something that would keep them neat and tidy. I looked in the shops for suitable plastic storage boxes, but none of them were exactly right. They were all too big. I'm sure there must be something out there, but probably way too expensive, so I came up with my own idea. I had some small empty plastic containers that I used to buy supplements in, oil capsules and vitamin tablets. I gave  up buying them ages ago, but kept the bottles because they might come in useful. I cut around the middle of them with a Stanley knife and discarded the tops into the recycle bin. I also have a couple of ice cube trays, which can be double decked, these all fit nicely into a spare tin I have. 

I like the fact that they are separate little pots, of varying sizes, to accommodate the varying amounts of beads. If it was a box with fixed compartments some of them would be almost empty and some would be overflowing. Storing them like this means that I can swap the beads around in the pots, so that all the space is utilized. My bead storage system cost nothing. 

If I need to transport them anywhere, I can lay bubble wrap on the top before I put the lid on, to stop them moving about and getting mixed up. If I want to use them I can just take out the pot I need and put the lid back on. With a bit of thought, there is always a cheaper solution, rather than taking the easier option of going to the shops and buying something.

Someone asked, what am I going to do with the beads. Just ideas at the moment. I would rather have the materials to hand when I make something, than having to search out bits and pieces. You will have to wait and see.
Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.

Bargains from the car boot sale

What a glorious day, most of Britain has been enjoying the sunshine. I've just been looking through the photographs in the papers, everyone has been out today. I was happy to stay on home ground. I can't for the life of me think why thousands of people would park their bottoms on Brighton beach, it looks all pebbly, and everyone is packed close together. 

After breakfast I went off to the car boot sale at the football ground, should be a good turn out. There wasn't as many stalls as I thought there would be. I suppose it's still early in the season and not everyone is organised yet. I was looking for a pair of trainers but didn't find any. I also looked for some beads and found these necklaces at 50p each. Lots of beads here, I shall be taking them apart. 

When I saw this bag I thought of a friend who would love it, so I bought it for £2. It's quite an expensive hand painted leather bag. It's got a zipper top, and a zipper pocket inside. The lining looks almost new, and the bag looks like it has had very little use. A bargain I thought.

My garden shears are falling to bits, my fault for buying the cheapest, so when I saw these I could see that they are a better quality. For £2 they are a snip, and I got to test them on a nearby hedge before I handed over my cash. They are ultra sharp and do a good job on grass and hedges. Just the job. The moral of this story is to buy a second hand quality item rather, than a cheap new one. 

I called in at the shopping centre on the way back and got two bags of seed potatoes from the £1 shop. They are on the window sill chitting away. I won't put them in the beds just yet, we could still be getting some cold nights. 

It was warm enough to sit outside with my lunch. Last nights cous cous and curry, with some baked beans added, and zapped in the microwave. A glass of apple juice with a slug of wine to perk it up. Blimey, don't I live the high life, ha ha.  

So, what's the broccoli recipe for tonight. Here we have it steamed, with onions, peas, and carrots. In the middle is a 12p packet of 2 minute noodles. Luverly jubbly, very nice, and very filling.

It was a lovely relaxing day, and the bonus was that I saw a friend at the car boot sale that I hadn't seen for ages. We now have each others phone number so we can keep in touch, she only lives in the next village. I hope you had a lovely Sunday, lets hope the sun continues to shine on us all. Toodle pip. 

A lovely afternoon, and a new home for George

Hello, I've had a lovely Saturday. I've been to visit a friend who lives near Nottingham. I met Kate on Down the Lane Forum, a few years ago,and she put me up for a night when I did the long walk along the River Trent. We also met up at Perth when we were both there on holiday. Kate is involved with a lovely group of ladies who knit and crochet for charity. They make up parcels of mainly baby and childrens clothes and send them all over the world, and they also crochet shawls for a hospice. It was great catching up with her, an enjoyable afternoon. 

When I got back I quickly threw a broccoli recipe together. Today is Saturday Night Curry Night. Broccoli, frozen peas, and sultanas in a pan with some water, bring to the boil. Add some Madras curry powder, this was £1.69 for 400 grm from the Asian shop, it's lasting ages. I also added some turmeric, garlic powder, desiccated coconut, and three teaspoons of porridge oats. Just before serving I added two dessertspoons of  plain yogurt.  I couldn't be bothered to wait for rice to cook so I made some cous cous.  

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It was absolutely delicious. Not too hot, just right. I guessed the amounts spot on this time. There is some left for tomorrow.

I've just had some good news. Another success for the cat rescue, George has a new home, yipeeeee. He is staying in the village with a lovely family who are known to us. It's a quiet street and they have had a cat before. I am so pleased. The icing on the cake for a lovely day. Thank you to the lovely reader who sent the Sainsbury's vouchers for George's food. There are still some left, so with your permission they will be spent on food for the other four cats we have in the pens. I am a very happy bunny tonight :o))
Enjoy your Sunday, catch you tomorrow. xxx