Showing posts with label Gym. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gym. Show all posts

Saturday, 4 October 2014

On Niddy Noddys and Hot Air Balloons!




I am currently being seriously rubbish at keeping up with my blog.... 100 lines, “I must try harder”.

Things have been pretty much ok at Mothball HQ. We are a few staff members down at work which has been a bit overwhelming at times but it has meant that I have learned some new skills (booking in groups) and had lots of opportunities to answer the phone (I’m honing that telephone voice technique!)


In real life I have been continuing the spinning. I treated myself to a new fleece – from a Dutch breed called a Zwartble. This fleece is mainly black with light tips and it has really long fibres. In essence this means it is a little easier to spin which I figured was a good thing for a learner. I have also created my first bobbin of yarn from two bobbins of thread wound together in the opposite direction than they were spun (are you still with me?). Now I need a piece of kit called a Niddy Noddy to wind the yarn into a skein. Well, I don’t actually need one, I could do it round the back of a chair but the idea of owning something called a Niddy Noddy fills me with such glee that I can’t suppress it.



The gardening is winding down. I have to admit that my half hour allotment visits have been a bit sporadic what with work and all. But the leeks are growing nicely and one pumpkin has overcome all odds and will hopefully provide some Hallowe’en centrepiece. Our plot is right on the corner of the allotments, nearest the entrance. This means it is easy to get too, not only for us but for everyone else. Unfortunately it means that all the local dog walkers seem to see it as fair game for their dogs to use.  People who have things to dump also seem to find it attractive. We’ve had bricks, rubbish, cuttings, you name it. Last week I found a lovely hanging basket, complete with flowers. I was tempted to hang it from my raspberry supports for some added colour! We have decided to make some form of fencing a priority over the Winter.


DD has passed her Fitness Instructor course – one proud Mother! She has gone on to do some extra courses so she can teach classes at her local gym. Of course, being a supportive type, I have been there at the classes. Power Pump is mostly fun. Loud ‘modern’ music and some hard work with weights. I am still struggling to move my arms for a couple of days afterwards but I am assured this will get better! The other class is enticingly called ‘Insanity’. I was swayed by the promise that there are actually only 15 minutes of exercise in this class. What they fail to tell you is that the 15 minutes are pure hell. To tell the whole truth, I was really swayed by the promise of Haribo after the class but so far this has failed to materialise.... I would like to tell you at this point that the classes have been totally worth it and I now have the physique of Linda Hamilton playing Sarah Connor in Terminator 2. That would be a lie and I suspect that the mirrors in the gym are in fact fairground mirrors because after all that pain my arse is still the size of a hot air balloon!



Oh well, back to those squats..... 

Sunday, 12 January 2014

January Blues



So - it's the 12th January already, where did that go? I have spent the past week feeling quite guilty that all the promise and excitement of the New Year has faded into dull routine and some post workday crashing on the sofa and falling asleep by 7pm :(
My body and mind have quite simply said "no, sod off. We do not want to crochet or sew. We do not wish to create artistic photographs or write beautiful words and we most certainly do not desire to begin any of the 101 wonderful ideas that you wrote down for your New Year Inspiration list. Why don't you come back in March and see how we feel then?"

I journalled about it quite extensively on Friday night (before falling asleep!) and decided to start afresh on Saturday and get my arse into gear.
I took some time to get a few pictures of the floods at nearby Radcot and even managed to post a couple on my poor, neglected Instagram page. I completed a couple more crochet squares, that tiny cushion cover is slowly becoming a reality. And I have a couple of new things starting in the next week or so.... more on these as they happen :) I even made it out to a social event last night and to prove that I was on the right track I was heartened to pull this from my fortune cookie "A fresh start will put you on your way" How cool was that!?!

Fields and river become almost one.


Radcot Bridge



The pain of getting up early for a gym session on a Sunday morning was rewarded with some beautiful frosty scenes!


Let's see what the next week brings...... I am already feeling more positive about it!

Sunday, 10 November 2013

Inspirational....

Just a quick update today... I decided to go ahead and sign up for Susannah Conway's Blogging From the Heart e-course. A week in and I already have lots to think about including some quite deep questions about the motivation for my blog and the creation of a 'mission statement'. Motivation so far has been to share some of my pictures, talk about my stuff and to revel in the wonderful ordinariness of my life!
I'm thinking maybe my pictures should be bigger?!? :)


Shadows on a sunny day


My impending craft fair stall has inspired me to new heights of industriousness. The teacup candles are finished, I have created some fab vintage map bunting (it might not even make the stall) and have all sorts of other goodies in a variety of stages of complete. On the downside the house is a complete mess and the cats are begging for attention (the children are just making the most of extra tv time).
Photographs to follow (of the crafted items, not the children watching tv)

The sudden rush of enthusiasm has also spilled into my gym routine. I have to admit the first flush of gym bunny fever had passed and I was making more and more feeble excuses to miss my sessions. So, I booked a refocus session for today and blimey, am I now refocussed! And unable to walk! Or lift things... Seriously, it was really useful and just what I needed. Sophie showed me lots of new equipment to try (me and a cross trainer...ha ha ha) and got me doing excercises which involved a balance board, a medicine ball AND some step ups. I have never felt so co ordinated.



My #alphabetofme photo project has now reached S. Apart from one missed day I have managed to post everyday and I am still enjoying the challenge. I have to say, it has shown just how much random stuff I do like and that's without sharing all the really weird bits!





And I said my life was ordinary??!!

Sunday, 8 September 2013

The Wrong (way round) Trousers and other adventures!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post - and what a whirl it has been! I have been going to the gym in a bid to stave off middle age spread (whatever that is). Any self confidence I was building up in terms of looking like I knew what I was doing was cruelly shattered in the 'inside out trousers' debacle. Only I could spend a whole hour with my tags dangling behind me like a big wavy tail and not notice. Oh well.......

In happier news, I have discovered a new eating place to go! It's called The Bobbin Bistro in Faringdon and is a most wonderful venue! It's sited in an old haberdashery and still has all the wooden shelving and drawers etc. They have added some gorgeous old vintage sewing machines and other ephemera and the whole place is just beautiful. DH and I attended their recent Burlesque evening which was great fun. The food was lovely and the ladies most entertaining!

Actual Bobbins!
 
A most delicious blackberry/prosecco cocktail!
 

The Bobbin also runs a classic film night every Tuesday. Last Tuesday DD and I draped ourselves in our finest and joined an enthralled audience for All About Eve - a classic Bette Davis movie. It's such a great setting and I would recommend it to anyone! Casablanca next Tues - Sadly I have no date, any offers??



No one can fail to have noticed how Autumn is slowly creeping up on us. I love it! Autumn is my absolute favouritist season and I have snuggly jumpers and fluffy blankets poised at the ready. We have had some spectacular misty mornings and I have plans for much blackberry whiskey and sloe gin this year.


Misty mornings at work.


It's also that time of year where I start to itch to begin new courses or studying. Must be a throw back to the new school year and the need for new pens and folders! I have a few ideas up my sleeve......

The August Break project is now well and truly over. I have really missed the daily prompt and found it hard to inspire myself. But.... I decided to go simple and use colour prompts to at least get me going and in the habit of taking pics everyday if possible. Blue was my first choice and this saw me starting to get more bold in not caring who watched whilst I took photos. Apologies to the young Homebase lad who thought I was in serious need of medical assistance whilst laying on the ground!



 


 


 
 

This coming week is 'red'. I'll see what ideas that can inspire.......