Tales from our Grand Tour

Hi everyone
Quick update on our holiday - here is a snap of the house and garden at Erddig, a lovely old Country House near Wrexham. This house is an amazing collection of little bits of life from 1700's. A lovely relaxed wander through the house and lots of great little stories from the Guide folk.













We are moving deep into Wales today.

Back with more photos soon.

Bye for now.

Lazy days ............

Hi everyone
Weather fantastic and a very lazy start to our holiday. We are in Wales - will get some pics of where we go later. Today, is all about sitting and doing the least I can ! Not as easy as it sounds !!! Kids and loved ones don't see it like I do ! ........

Here is my photo story for today .... as you can see, Ive made a reasonable start.



Will be back soon.

Bye for now.

Adventures of a POPPY

Hi everyone
It's Friday again ....... A whole week of very lazy days. The weather is fabulous again !

My plan today is 'packing' - all day ! We are off on out travels soon - but somewhere in my day, Im going to start a little project for my holiday. Im not sure exactly what it will be yet. However as I spent some time this week trying to get the garden in shape, I came across a patch which has poppies in it. While I cleared all the old poppy stuff, I was reminded of a few photos I took of the poppy blooms. I love to see them and each year they seem to get bigger and bolder. They last a very short time but somehow this makes them even more precious. This little experience prompted me to use the photos in my holiday project. Ive put a little story together with my photos and will work on some ideas.






I saw another picture (not sure where this came from so I can't give anyone in particular a credit) - which prompted me to take my photos.



This is the kind of thing I have in mind ! Isn't is great.

Have a great weekend. Not sure when I will be posting again. I hope to show some photos while on our travels.

Bye for now.

Strawberries Forever !

Hi everyone
Not sure how today will turn out re the weather. We have had heavy showers and very hot sun and now it's a bit cloudy (but lots of blue sky).

My photo story today is all about my little vegetable garden. The overnight rain was very welcome ! I don't have much time for gardening but I love my herbs, strawberry and veg patch. This year the strawberries have been wonderful - such a treat to go out every day and pick fresh strawberries.




My veg. garden is tiny and quite limited but we do use everything I grow. Im building up a bigger selection of herbs to plant throughout the rest of the garden. My aim is to make it all a pretty 'edible' garden. You can just see a couple of lavender plants - Ive grown these on from cuttings and they are so pretty as well as smelling wonderful.

Bye for today.

Is an 'ice' bath a good idea ?

Hi everyone
it's a lovely warm morning, there has been a little rain overnight but the sky is clear. Lets hope we have another good day.

My photo story today tells an ongoing tale ............



Ive been running for many years but have been plagued with various bouts of shingles and more significantly last year - glandular fever ! As a result, my running programme has suffered. About 18 months ago, I started using an Apple app called 5K Runner. It's a series of structured running sessions working up to 5K over 8 weeks. I would recommend this to everyone. It's been helpful in slowly developing an element of fitness while recovering from my illness. Ive had some setbacks over the last year and have needed to start again a few times but I now have one more run to get to the end of the programme. Im doing great and feel much stronger in myself. I also record my progress with a Nike running app which gives lots of stats and is a great motivator - it adds up all the runs and I love to check my pace. My aim is to get to a consistent sub 30min 5K. A little way to go but Im doing fine.

As a treat, after my last run of the 5K Runner programme, I am giving myself a new dress. It's a pretty summer dress covered in limes. I love it. Will share a photo when Im there - my last run will be Sat. am.

Todays photo was taken when I got back this morning - so HOT today while running. An image of my trusty old trainers with my ipod sum up my story today. I feel a little tired but very hot - Im considering having an ice bath. I see tennis players and athletes using this procedure and have often wondered if it would help the recovery of old prunes like me ? I don't like being cold but .........no pain, no gain !!! Not sure at the moment. Will report on that one, later.

Bye for today.