My birthday is at the end of April, and around that time, I tend to do quite a bit of pondering. This year, I was pondering how I'd largely got out of the habit of exercise. Well, I'm not sure I was ever properly in it... but I was doing hardly any, and was feeling slovenly and unfit. I saw an advert for a charity event, where you signed up to do the distance of an IronMan race, but across a whole month, rather than a single day. It was free to enter, there was no set amount to raise for the charity, and the whole thing felt like a bit of a challenge, but not so unreachable as to be off-putting. I signed up. I started with a plan to space all the activity evenly across the month, but, well, May was rather a mess, and life got quite in the way. Still, I headed out on my bike whenever I could, mostly along the old railway trails. It was lovely to do some more cycling. I left the bike in the car, and stopped off at the trails on the way home from work, which isn't something I'd usually do, but was lovely. The swim was, surprisingly, the least hassle. It was 2.4 miles, which worked out as 155 lengths of my local pool. I went swimming each week, including when we were away in Llandudno, and this was the first discipline I finished. I think I was most worried about the cycling - 112 miles is a long way, and takes a long time when you're as slow as me. I did ten miles here, fifteen there, but by the last week or so, I still had 76 miles left. I had a couple of rather long rides, including what felt like a rather epic 36 mile day cycling around and near a reservoir. Some of that day was rather outrageously uphill. With a couple of days before we went to Scarborough (which took us into June, and I didn't want to take my bike), I still had 16 miles left. I planned to go out along the trails one night, but as I got home from work, a piece fell off the underside of the car, and I had to wait for the AA. I was busy being annoyed, when I remembered the exercise bike. I thought I'd get a couple of miles ticked off, but by the time the AA turned up, I'd done five miles, and as it didn't seem that bad, I figured I might as well do another five. The next morning I was feeling quite wobbly, and finished off the final miles on the bike in the living room. I'd thought the run would be ok - it was only 26 miles over a month, after all, and I was meant to be training for a 15 mile running race in June. Somehow, I kept putting off running, until I found myself with about fifteen miles left when we went on holiday. I took my running shoes, and set out for a long run both mornings, accepting that I was going to have to do quite a bit of walking. I made it, finally, and spent much of the rest of the holiday sitting down.
Overall, I raised about £300 for Cancer Research UK, and rediscovered my love of cycling along the trails, and generally being outside. I also ended up quite pleased with myself that I'd actually done it - I often leave race preparation to the last minute, but because this wasn't a single race, and it was impossible (for me, at least) to do everything on the last day, it was fun to have a tracker and add a few miles here and there throughout the month. Obviously, a fair bit did still get left to the end... but it gave me a great sense of achievement, like I could actually commit to something and see it through. I'm still carrying that with me now.
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June was considerably more cheerful than April and May, although it's been quiet around here without the chickens. Let's have a round up of what's been going on. The garden June was hot, and the grass didn't grow much, but I did give everywhere a good mow and strim so it was looking considerably tidier. I cleared a path to the bench at the end of the garden, and we had a nice BBQ there one night with some friends. We've not yet decided what to do with the empty chicken house, so for now, it just sits there, with the door open in case any other critter decides it's an accommodating space for a nest. I cleared the grass round there too, as it was starting to feel a bit like a jungle. And I finally finished my bench in the greenhouse, and it became a favourite place to sit around with a book when the weather was a bit inclement. The weather was mostly warm and sunny in June though, and I spent a lot of time sitting around in the garden. Batch cooking I've been getting a little more organised around batch cooking lately. Meal planning was always something I somehow just couldn't get my head around, but it seems to have just clicked right now, and I'm doing a lot of planning and batch cooking meals for the freezer, which means I'm eating home cooked meals all the time, rather than just toast or porridge, which is great. I feel better for it, both physically and mentally. I love being able to take a proper meal to work, and having another sitting ready for when I come home, that just needs a couple of minutes in the microwave. We used the final eggs from our own chickens, which was a sad day. I'm now perpetually on the hunt for a reliable honesty box source close to home. Furry visitor My father-in-law went away for a few days, and we looked after his dog. Tiny has been to us before - he's not really a troublesome dog, but he can't be off the lead, and we don't have an enclosed garden. He's also 17 years old, so it means constant vigilance and putting him on the lead every time he needs a wee. Not something I'd be wanting to do all the time. He also won't sleep on his own, and while this probably isn't something I'd stand for in a dog I had permanently, you can't really train a 17 year old dog to behave differently for the sake of a few days, so I ended up sleeping in the spare bed with him. He was quite a fidget. Inside the house Not much DIY happened in June (well, none), but there was a bit of cleaning, and this rug from what is now the craft room got a good bashing outside.
There's nothing much else to report from June, I don't think. I've been away for work a couple of times, to the seaside, which has been very cheerful. July so far is also shaping up to be pretty cheerful, but more on that later...
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Hello!Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'm Jenni, and I write here about our new foray into country living, which includes growing food, knitting, baking, wandering around the fields, and seeing which local cafe serves the best cake. Categories
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