Day 887 & Day 888

Today we have two days for the price of one...

Day 887...Tuesday

As Simon was back at work we resumed our shorter early morning walk and did our usual route of 1.9 miles in 37 minutes. My legs definitely felt it for some reason this morning and I was not loving the fact that this route is a tad on the hilly side.

My morning was spent catching up on a few jobs around the house, some cleaning, ironing and bits. I even managed to squeeze in a little jigsaw time before lunch.

After lunch I headed out to meet up with a friend for coffee at a local garden centre which has a lovely cafe called PipTree. It was very busy but we were able to grab a table outside and despite the very grey clouds it was lovely and warm and stayed dry. As a treat we both indulged in a cream tea which is one of my favourite guilty pleasures...although I'm not sure my stomach agrees with me one hundred percent. The effect of adopting a low carb/keto way of eating can sometimes mean that those indulgences don't always still as well digestively speaking as they perhaps once did. A combination of sugars and especially grains can sometimes make for a bit of a grumbly stomach. But we had a lovely couple of hours catching up and putting the world to rights.

Back home and it was time to have a play with our new purchase...a soda stream! Having gotten fed up of not being able to buy sparkling water we have indulged in a soda stream, not something I ever thought we would own but now we do. We won't be adding all the various syrups that are available as we don't drink any sodas of any variety, it will simply be for sparkling water with perhaps some fresh fruit added for a little extra flavour.

Then Simon gave me a quick lesson in 3D printer clean-up! Basically this is taking the printed part and snipping off any support structure and base layers...one of those weirdly addictive jobs!

I even managed another half hour with my jigsaw before I headed down the gym. Tonight it was all about kettle bell and body weight exercises targeting glutes and abs!

Day 888...Wednesday

Up and out again for another early morning walk with very grey skies but still warm and thankfully a breeze which meant it didn't feel as muggy as yesterdays walk had. But it was 1.9 miles in 37 minutes completed before 9am.

The majority of my morning was taken up with some gardening, or as I like to call it 'cleaning the outdoors' as that's what it feels like. It was a couple of hours of sweeping up leaves, cutting back plants, cleaning out grates and weeding. Not my favourite job but one that needed doing and one that I wanted to get done in case it decided to rain later on. I need to get some weedkiller sprayed around as well but that will have to wait until we have a dry weather forecast.

On a positive this morning both my brother and I have finally received an interim payment from the solicitors in respect of my dads estate. It has taken them since the beginning of the month to get this processed, their systems are so archaic. In fact my brother challenged them on why it was taking so long as he, like me, has worked in banking and, like me, knows how smoothly transactions can and should be processed. He was told because 'that's the way it's always been done' - unbelievable! They seem to be working about three decades out of whack with the rest of the world. And whilst neither myself or my brother were in need of the payment, and it wasn't a large payment either, we just felt that it belonged to us and should be with us rather than lining the accounts of the solicitors!

After lunch my task was to sort out the butchers order which had arrived late morning. I had 4.5 kg of bacon, 100 sausages, 5kg of chicken and 5kg of steak mince to split into meal sized portions and freeze.

It was late afternoon before I finally stopped and took a few minutes out to enjoy a coffee and move some jigsaw pieces about. Before I knew it Simon had finished work for the day and it was time to head down our gym in the rain. It's on days like this that having the gym in the garage only a short distance from the house is really appreciated. Tonight it was an arms workout for me.

And there we have a couple of days, see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 881

Day 881...

Wednesday has rolled around and finally the forecasted rain was with us. But we didn't let a little drizzle stop us from taking our early morning walk we just stuck to the pavements rather than get wet feet going over the fields. We managed a pretty quick 2.2 miles in 38 minutes.

This morning I headed out to a local garden centre for coffee and a catch-up with a couple of old friends back from my banking days. I left the bank over 20 years ago but a small group of us still keep in touch and ordinarily we meet up for a coffee every few months or so but today was the first time in over three years! But it was like we'd only seen each other a few months ago and a couple of hours over a coffee soon whizzed by.

On my way home I'd timed it right to be able to stop by a local retail branch of Next to collect an online order that I'd placed yesterday afternoon. How great is it that I was able to place an order and in less than 24 hours I was picking it up.

After a spot of lunch I had a letter from the solicitors to deal with. I'd been waiting for the letter to arrive for over two weeks and it was only because my brother had chased them on Monday that a letter had miraculously appeared today - strange that! The whole process following my Dad's passing in March has been so slow, with the solicitors seemingly stuck in a rut of routines that is now about thirty years out of date. Everything has to be sent by post, payments made by cheque and documents hand delivered. All very frustrating as in this day and age with technology where it is everything should be so much more simpler and much, much quicker. But anyway I finally had the letter and it contained some details that I had to approve, sign to say I agreed and then pop back in the post. 

Unfortunately, it took me way longer than it should have done but I blame how the paperwork was worded, how it was presented and then my haste to get it dealt with and in the post today. I had a deadline of 4pm as that was the time of the last collection at the post box closest to me, but in my rush to get it done I think I caused myself more problems than I should have done. So although I did manage to sort everything I needed I missed the 4pm cut-off, this means that tomorrow I will be going out of my way to hand deliver it to the solicitors instead! 

Before I knew it the afternoon had disappeared and it was time to go down the gym. It was so nice to be working out in a much, much cooler environment than of late and tonight I was focused on my arms and shoulders.

Right I need a cup of tea so I will see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 874

Day 874...

We have had another rather warm and toasty day again today but we still managed our now regular early morning walk of 1.9 miles in 36 minutes. Absolutely loving this way to start the day even if there are a couple of nasty hills that I really wish weren't there!

And with a mad rush of blood to the head I decided to do some gardening, anyone who knows me will know that this is not my thing. I know next to almost nothing about gardening except trying to keep what we have relatively tidy. So before the day got too hot I spent some time cutting back a couple of bushes and trees that were starting to get a little wild. I discovered why I don't do gardening...look at my arm...

I thought I'd best take things a little easier and stop for a while with a coffee in the sunshine...to be fair although my arm flared up it wasn't sore or itchy and within an hour it had vanished. But I did take a coffee break and used it as an excuse for a little more reading...I'd forgotten what an easy and interesting read this book is...

Anyone interested in being healthy and getting rid of any excess pounds should give this book a read. 

I then stopped by my dads house to check on any mail and make sure everything there was okay. There were two pieces of mail both from organisations that I had contacted back in March when Dad had passed away asking for information about the occupancy at the house...do they not check their records?

Just before lunch I took a little time to get a bit more of my jigsaw done, taking advantage of the room where it lives being in shade and relatively cool compared to else where.

My afternoon has then been an afternoon of being sat at the laptop. I had the letters from my Dads to respond to which didn't take too long but then I needed to chat with Amazon! We wanted to buy a new Kindle and were taking advantage of their trade-in deal; £15 gift card plus 20% off a new device. But we had to return the old Kindle first before we could buy the new one which we had dutifully done over a week ago. We could see from the online tracking that the old device had been delivered to Amazon but they had done nothing with it for a week.

So it was time to figure out what was happening. I finally found the online chat option and managed to 'chat' with an actual person. I was told that they were experiencing some delays due to the knock-on effect of their recent Amazon Prime Day but that if we hadn't heard from them by the 17th to get in touch again and they would process it manually. Not sure why they couldn't process it manually today but at least I'd got an answer.

About half an hour later we received an email from Amazon to say that they'd accepted the old Kindle, applied the gift card to the account and that the discount would be applied automatically on check-out. Call me cynical but how coincidental was that email?! Anyway I went to order my new Kindle but when I got to the check-out there was no discount...then ensued a very frustrated me trying to figure out how to get the discount applied. Eventually I discovered that the discount only applied to a Kindle on its own and not when buying a bundle with a case and a charging dock which is what I was trying to do. It was so annoying that despite going back over their email and following various different links and being told that discounts were applied to 'qualifying' products I could find no information about what that actually meant. Argh! But in the end I managed to order the Kindle, the case and the charging dock and get the 20% discount and use the £15 gift card...phew!

At the end of the day, and despite the heat, Simon and I headed down our gym. I was trying a few more new exercises that today targeted arms and shoulders. I'm really starting to develop a new set of exercises and am liking this new approach to my workouts.

With that I will see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 867 & Day 868

Day 867...Wednesday

And the day started with another two minute and thirty second cold shower followed by our early morning walk of 1.9 miles in 36 minutes. The clouds were rather grey but there was a hint that the sun was trying to get out and my weather app told me that there was only a 13% chance of rain...suffice to say we experienced the 13%. Just as we stepped out the door it began to rain so I quickly grabbed my lightweight rain coat and Simon grabbed the umbrella. Thankfully within about ten minutes the rain had stopped and although it was a little cooler than yesterday it was actually lovely and refreshing.

First job of the day was to head out to Lidl for a little catch-up shop, all those fresh things to keep us going over the next few days.

Once back home I had a relatively quiet day. I had a few odd jobs around the house to do, a little laptop work and a little internet distraction! I have been eyeing up some Funko Pop Vinyl figures that I had seen in Forbidden Planet in Nottingham and thought I would look online to compare prices. Now I'm not normally a Funko collector, we have a few odd ones that have been received as gifts but this particular set had caught my eye. It's a set to mark the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World and involves one of my all time favourite attractions; the People Mover. There are four in the set and they feature Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Stitch each sat in their own People Mover carriage. Although it looks like the Stitch one maybe a little hard to find at a reasonable price but I think the other three should be quite reasonable. I am still in two minds but they would go rather lovely in our new study/craft room!

Mid-afternoon I hooked up with my good friend, and podcast co-host, Michelle to record an episode of the Disney Dream Girls podcast. We chatted about the new Magic Band + that has just been released in Walt Disney World as well as looking at the Halloween foodie offerings. Would you believe that Halloween starts mid-August in Walt Disney World and as Michelle will be visiting in a few days time she has booked an evening at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! While it's great that more people can get to experience Halloween Disney style I still think August is just a tad early!

I was able to make a little more progress on my latest jigsaw before we headed down our gym. This was our second weights workout of the week and it was another warm and muggy evening that just seemed to sap the strength out of you. In fact I did most of my exercises outside of the garage in attempt to feel a little cooler although it didn't give me any extra energy!

Although my second cold shower of two minutes and thirty seconds was actually quite pleasant!

Day 868...Thursday

It was a lovely morning with blue skies and clear views for miles around as we completed our usual walk of 1.9 miles in a sprightly 36 minutes, our pace has definitely improved over the last few walks.

I wasn't really sure what I had planned today but knew that I had a couple of boring online jobs so got them out of the way first thing. It was then onto the ever so exciting (sarcasm here!) ironing before I decided to defrost the freezer! I know I am just living the dream! 

Although defrosting the freezer would have been easier if I'd actually switched it off. To be fair I thought I had as we have a plug that is clearly marked 'Fridge' (it's a combined fridge and freezer) and I dutifully switched it off. What I didn't do was actually check to see if it had actually switched off, it was only part way through defrosting that I heard a noise from the fridge, opened the door and saw that the light came on. I then looked at the oven which is plugged into the same socket as the fridge and lo and behold that was off! So somehow or other we have managed to label up the wrong plug. I did start to make a little more progress with it switched off and Simon lent me his heat gun to help speed things up! But as it had been quite some time since it was last defrosted I didn't manage to get it as fully defrosted as I would have liked but as it had taken up most of the morning I decided to call it a day and attempt the remainder another day.

After a spot of lunch it was time to catch up on a few more jobs. All not very exciting just those need to get done things. I spent a few minutes chatting with one of my elderly neighbours who is a 'tour de force'. She is in her very late eighties and lives alone having been widowed 28 years ago but she is active and gets herself out and about in her car and shows no sign of letting up. She is a gleaming example of how to embrace life and carry on whatever is thrown your way.

I did manage a little more jigsaw today and was able to grab a little time outside in the sunshine with a coffee before rounding the day out with another session down our gym. Tonight it was body weight exercises with a focus on legs and tummy!

Well, I best sign off and see you all tomorrow.
xx

p.s. I even managed to get those Funko figures ordered...well all but the Stitch one so I now have a mission to track one down.

Day 860

Day 860...

A much brighter start to the day today and we seemed to storm our way around our 1.9 mile walk in just 36 minutes.

It was another relatively quiet day with Simon at work while I pottered around the house. There were a few cleaning jobs that I wanted to get done this morning one of which involved trying to get the hoover to work correctly. For some reason the brushes aren't spinning and no amount of me poking and prodding could get them to work!

After lunch I headed to my dads house as I needed to disconnect the router and send it back to the provider, Sky. According to the text messages I'd received there should have been some packaging waiting for me in which to return the aforementioned router but there was not. So I bundled it up and brought it home with me to try and figure out what to do with it.

After searching around Sky's website I finally found the information I needed and was able to simply package up the router and then arrange for it to be collected from my address tomorrow morning. I haven't even had to print a label as apparently the Royal Mail will do that for me. Fingers crossed it all works out as promised!

And the end of the day saw Simon and I down our gym for a weights workout. Simon is doing really well following his broken wrist and is now able to do pull-ups and move some heavier weights which this time last week he would have struggled with. Just goes to prove the best medicine is to get moving, listen to your body and do as much as you feel you can while being careful not to push too far.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 851, Day 852 & Day 853

After an unusually hot few days I am back at my laptop and ready to bring you up to date.

Yes, it has been hot but a little common sense goes a long way to making life comfortable. The problem here in the UK is that we don't get these really high temperatures that often and as a result we are poorly equipped to cope with them. Homes do not have air-con as in other parts of the world and so we have no real means of escaping the heat, plus we tend to have a very dry and oppressive heat with very little air flow that can be quite stifling. And then factor in our 'British' fascination with the weather and you have the perfect 'storm' for a little drama!

But it did mean that as my laptop is situated in one of the hottest rooms in our house I decided that blogging could wait for a day or so.

Day 851...Monday

We were still up and about early Monday morning to take a steady 1.9 miles in 37 minutes; it was absolutely gorgeous to be out in the warmth and we were glad we got out when it wasn't at the peak temperature for the day. 

We did have one job to do and that was to fetch the grocery shopping from Asda and we were thankful that the car had air conditioning.

After that we stayed home and tried to keep as cool as we could. Simon spent the remainder of the day drawing and 3D printing various bits and pieces while I started a jigsaw. And because we did little else I made a good amount of progress in just one day...

Day 852...Tuesday

And despite today being even hotter than yesterday we still went out for our early morning walk and still managed 1.9 miles but in a slightly slower 39 minutes. And unusually we saw no-one else while we were out!

My day then consisted of very little which basically translated as making great progress with my jigsaw! By the middle of the day progress was looking good...

Simon was back at work and in his small 'office' area was recording temperatures of 34.5C!!

But early afternoon I had to venture out of the house as I'd agreed to volunteer at pre-school to help out with their 'end of year party'. Thankfully I keep my car in the garage so it was lovely and cool to get in and the air conditioning kept it cool while driving. Arriving at pre-school I was able to find a parking spot in the shade which meant that getting back into the car an hour and a half later wasn't as bad as what I was anticipating it to be. But the temperature on my car did say 41C!!!

And despite the heat Simon and I managed a weights workout down our gym; now our gym is the garage so it was cooler in there than the house. Simon was desperate to get back to his weight workouts following the removal of his cast for his broken wrist last week and so wasn't going to let a bit of heat stop him. I was pleasantly surprised by what I managed to get done and Simon behaved himself and stuck to the very lowest of weights but still managed a decent all round workout.

Oh and I did manage to get a little more jigsaw completed...

Day 853...Wednesday

Wow, last night was another hot night and although the temperature this morning was significantly lower than the last couple of days it still meant that the night had been rather hot and sticky. But with the temperature around 20C we got out and managed our 1.9 miles in a pretty quick 36 minutes.

And while Simon got on with work I grabbed Ethan for a trip to Lidl. Now Ethan is on holiday all this week (boy did he pick a good week to be off!) so I could make good use of him to lend me a hand plus as he is now getting into the habit of taking a packed lunch to work I wanted him to pick a few things out so that I know what to buy for him in the future.

The rest of my day has been a 'lap-top catch-up' kind of day. All the things that I wanted to do over the last few days that I'd put off because it'd been to warm to sit at my laptop but now needed to be done. Some boring stuff like sorting out house insurance and placing a butchers order but also cool things like ordering tickets to go see one of our favourite bands 'She Wants Revenge' when they play Birmingham in September. We last saw them in 2019 in London and were convinced that we wouldn't get chance to see them again as they are a band that go through periods of not performing or recording so when I saw on Instagram that they'd added some UK dates after playing in the US over the summer it was a no brainer to get tickets booked, and booked they are.

And my day was rounded out with a little podcast recording with my good friend, and co-host, Michelle. We recorded a Disney Dream Girls show for release this Sunday as well as a special bonus show for our Patreon supporters.

A much cooler evening is now upon us, with even a chance of rain...let's see what tomorrow shall bring!
xx

Day 846

Day 846...

Wednesday started with our usual early morning walk of 1.9 miles in 37 minutes. The weather was bright and clear and a lovely cool temperature compared to the last few days.

This meant that my morning was spent catching up on a few tasks around the house that would be more bearable in the slightly cooler morning temperature. So lots of cleaning around, laundry and ironing all mastered.

I then had some online bits and bobs to complete which were interrupted by lunch. As I knew we were podcast recording later I took the time to have a look for some Disney headlines and latest happenings.

It was then time to head out to pre-school and as I left the house I came across a water engineer who was looking for our house as he wanted to update our water meter. Turns out that we should have had a letter advising us of the change but I think the confusion on my face confirmed that we had not had any such letter. Anyways it was a quick job and only resulted in the water being turned off for a few minutes which was not an issue for me as I was on my way out!

I stopped by my local pharmacy on my way to collect a prescription and for once I walked into an empty shop, I was served straight away with no fuss and best of all the staff were not wearing face masks! I know that shouldn't be a big deal but I am fed up of seeing people wearing masks when there is no need, when there is no science to back up the supposed 'need' and when for the vast, vast majority of people that are unlucky enough to get covid it really isn't a big deal. If people took the time to make themselves as healthy as they possibly could then getting what is by now another variation of a cold would not be such an 'issue'! I am fed up of people testing themselves and posting all over social media that they have covid...we never did it before when we had a sniffle, or the flu, or a tummy bug so why are we doing it now? It is beyond me and I am so over all of the fuss and the drama!

Anyway, back to my afternoon and it was onto pre-school to be a guest at this years Leavers Concert. Everyone did so well and it was lovely to see the children who I've known over the last couple of years being so confident and performing so well. It was also lovely to be able to enjoy the concert without having the stress of rehearsals and staging and performing it!

Back home and with a coffee brewed it was time to hook up online with my podcast co-host Michelle, as we recorded another Disney Dream Girls episode ready for this coming weekend. 

And while Simon got some exercise in by way of the static bike I took the time to write this blog post and then prep for dinner...meatballs I think, so I better stop typing and make those balls!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 839 & Day 840

Day 839...Wednesday

The day started with our usual early morning walk and another 1.9 miles in 38 minutes.

My morning was then taken up with a visit to the hairdressers. It was time for a change so out with my blonde and in with a lovely dark purple.

I was home just in time for lunch. We have been making lunch our first meal of the day for a few weeks now and seem to have adapted to it really easily. We start the day with a coffee before we have our walk and then lunch has become our breakfast. It is so much nicer eating our first meal of the day at lunchtime as it is no longer something that is rushed to facilitate getting out of the door at a certain time but can be enjoyed and savoured.

The afternoon saw yet more cleaning and tidying around. Having sorted the vast majority of paperwork over the last few days I just had a few bits left lying around that needed new homes before I could start cleaning. And as Molly and Dan will be using the room as their bedroom when they visit at the weekend it needed to be done before then.

The day was then finished with a workout and while Simon stuck to the exercise bike because of his broken wrist I headed out to our gym and moved a few weights around.

Day 840...Thursday

And yet again we started the day with another 1.9 mile walk in 39 minutes. It is so great to be out and about in the fresh air so early in the morning and really starts the day off with great positivity. We are blessed to live so close to open countryside and to be able to experience it on a daily basis.

Next up for me was a trip to Lidl, I needed to re-stock on some fresh bits and pieces as well as make sure I'd got some extras in for the weekend...as we have visitors!

Back home and armed with coffee I braced myself for the task of cancelling my dads Sky (broadband) account! After my dad had died the broadband account was in credit and so we had left the service running but transferred it into my name. This meant that whenever my brother or I were at my dads house we could access the internet should we need to. This turned out to be the right thing to do as my brother was able to work from there a few times while we waited on things to happen. But now that the house is about to go up for sale, and the credit has run out, we needed to get the account cancelled.

Well suffice to say it wasn't as easy as it could have been. The online account hadn't been set up correctly but once I'd sorted that myself I was able to pay an outstanding small balance but it still wouldn't let me cancel. The online chat option wouldn't let me cancel as it couldn't identify me! I then found an email address and started to compose an email to them and all the while trying to call them. I was cut off at least three times, had weird voice prompts that made no sense and scolded me for not answering questions that hadn't been asked. But finally I found a different number to try and after about 20 minutes I spoke to the lovely Stuart who had been in a similar situation to me when his dad had died a couple of years ago and we were able to get the account cancelled...sort of. Basically it takes them two weeks to cancel it all and then there maybe a small amount to pay but I won't know that until it happens which means me having to remember to check the online account on a semi-regular basis! Argh!

With perfect timing I put the phone down and deleted the email I'd been writing just as Simon broke for lunch.

Over the course of the afternoon I enjoyed a coffee outside in the sunshine, did all the ironing, cleaned the bathroom, caught up with the laundry and did a little online retail therapy. I've ordered some new shorts that I should be able to collect tomorrow along with some gym gear and protein bars which should arrive in the next few days.

I then had a lovely phone call from my good friend, and podcast co-host, Michelle. We have agreed to hook up tomorrow to record a show and so the remainder of the afternoon was spent doing a little research in preparation. I did sit outside in the sunshine for a short time while I used my phone for some online research, but it didn't last long as the sun was too hot and too bright for my poor phone!

And as Simon finished work for the day we opted for another walk, this time of 2.8 miles in 56 minutes. Because we tend to walk very similar routes each day we have noticed that some of the walkways at crucial points, like crossing over stiles, have become a tad overgrown with nasty nettles, brambles and thistles. So Simon now carries with him a small pair of pocket secateurs so that he can clear the way of any nasty bits to make our life, and hopefully that of other walkers, a little more pleasant!

And with that I will see you all tomorrow.
xx

Four Days for the Price of One - Day 830 - Day 833

I'm not sure where the time has gone this week but it has been difficult to find the time to write these blog posts so in the end I am writing up four days in one go...

Day 830...Monday

So the day started, as is our new normal, with an early morning walk; however we only managed 1.3 miles in 23 minutes as rain stopped play. We'd not got our waterproofs with us so we made the sensible decision to head for home when the precipitation started!

Our morning was then taken up with what we referred to as 'Kondoing the wardrobes'. When we revamped our bedroom the other year we adopted the Marie Kondo approach to tidying and we have adopted it ever since. It is a great way to ensure that you only hold onto those items that you genuinely need or love. Since it had been a while since our new wardrobes had been fitted it was time to re-evaluate the storage and assess whether it was working and whether we were actually making use of its contents. We did pretty well and only filled two bags with clothes for our local charity clothes bank.

So after a spot of lunch we hopped in the car and dropped off the clothes, stopped by my dads house to drop off a couple of bits and then had a quick tour around our local Lidl.

Back home and after a coffee and a quiet hour we decided that the weather was more conducive to walking and headed out completing 2.3 miles in 47 minutes.

Day 831...Tuesday

The weather played nice this morning and so our usual morning walk of 1.9 miles in 38 minutes was much enjoyed although at the top of the hill it did feeler a little cooler than of late with a strong wind that I described as bracing.

Then my day took on the theme for much of this week...gardening. Now I am not a gardener at all, my mum used to love gardening however I have not inherited that love, but my task this week was my dads garden. As we are about to sell the house both the front and back gardens were in need of a lot of taming if we wanted to make them look presentable. The morning was focused on the front garden and by lunchtime I'd done a pretty decent job and the whole plot looked a lot smarter.

I came home for some lunch with Simon before heading back to my dads to start on the back garden...a much bigger garden and a much bigger task ahead. It was heavily overgrown and full of weeds and other bits that shouldn't have been there.

By the end of the afternoon progress had been made, although I'd literally just scratched the surface.

I could just start to feel my muscles beginning to ache but that didn't stop me squeezing in a weights workout to round out the day!

Day 832...Wednesday

Thankfully the weather was much better this morning than had been forecast yesterday which meant we could take our usual 1.9 mile walk in a steady 38 minutes, despite my achy body. Why does gardening have such an impact on the body, no wonder it's not my favourite pastime!

So we had a repeat of yesterday today with a morning and afternoon spent at my dad's house gardening. It did rain a little mid way through the afternoon but I was able to occupy myself with other little jobs inside the house. The focus of this week is to get the house looking presentable for estate agent photos next week, so lots of moving things around and storing them out of site.

After a shower and a coffee we decided to head out for another walk in lieu of our usual exercise session. Simon is a little restricted as to what he can do with his arm in cast so walking is proving to be a great alternative; we took a different route to normal in an attempt to find a less hilly route. It was a little less hilly but there's just no way to avoid an incline or two where we are; but another walk of just over 2 miles in 44 minutes was achieved.

I was very glad to finally stop, put my feet up and watch this weeks episode of Ms Marvel.

Day 833...Thursday

And despite my achy muscles we started the day with our usual 1.9 mile walk in 37 minutes.

I was then straight out the door to my dads house to carry on with the gardening although today I had a little company as I was joined by my brother and nephew and by the time I left at lunchtime the back garden was looking pretty good and a whole lot better than when I'd started on Tuesday!

So for the first time in a few days I was able to spend the afternoon at home, although there was no rest for me!

Lunch and a shower out the way it was time to get some research done ahead of podcast recording later in the afternoon. We were talking about the upcoming Epcot Food & Wine festival as all the details of the various food booths have just been released. And as my podcast co-host, Michelle, will be visiting during the festival I had the task of picking some tasty treats for her to try!

We had the most efficient podcast recording session ever as in under an hour we'd not only recorded a show to be released this weekend but also a show for our Patreon supporters. But we had good reason to be efficient as at 5pm UK time tickets for next years Star Wars Celebration in London went on sale and I needed to be poised and ready.

Just before 5pm I clicked on the buy tickets option and found myself on a queue holding page, as 5pm ticked over I was put into the queue and told I had over an hour to wait! Well I was convinced at that point that any chance of getting tickets was looking doubtful, but as I sat and watched the screen the wait time went down surprisingly quickly. Within 20 minutes I was choosing my tickets; the most expensive Jedi Master tickets were all sold out which was fine as we didn't want those as we were after the 4-day tickets and the four day tickets is what we got! A much more cost effective buy than the individual tickets and so by 5.29pm I had our confirmation that we are going to Celebration next April!!

But by 6pm I was starting to see a lot of disappointed fans who'd not been able to secure the 4-day ticket and could only buy the more expensive single day options. It certainly isn't a cheap hobby being a Star Wars fan and I feel exceptionally lucky that we've been able to secure (and been able to afford) the tickets and a hotel. London 2023 here we come!

Phew - the end of Thursday and hopefully a slightly quieter and less garden focused day ahead tomorrow.

See you all then...hopefully!
xx

Day 823, 824 & 825 - a trio of days

So not sure why at the moment but I seem to be struggling to get daily blog posts completed. It may be that this has turned into a much longer venture than could have been predicted and as such it has become more routine and basic. My posts have become more diary like and I've not afforded myself the time to expand on my thoughts and opinions. Perhaps a change is needed but until I figure out what that may well be I will continue to 'keep my diary'.

Day 823...Monday

Monday started with our usual early morning walk with 2.4 miles in the bag in 45 minutes. Although we did have to navigate our way around a fallen tree that was blocking a bridlepath, thankfully we were able to duck under the branches to get around it. Once home we were straight back out the door to collect the grocery shopping from Asda.

With the shopping packed away and knowing that the weather forecast for the next few days was looking pretty good I decided to get the weedkiller out. And that is the extent of my gardening...I don't mind pulling up the odd weed but the nasty spikey, stingy ones I won't go near, so out with the weedkiller it was.

After our late brekkie/lunch/brunch...whatever we are calling it...we decided to take advantage of the glorious weather and have another walk. This time we headed over the countryside to The Cowshed, a local cafe, for a coffee and a 2.5 mile walk in 52 minutes. And for our return journey we took a slightly longer route home of 3.9 miles in an hour and 11 minutes, suffice to say we 'got our steps in'!!

It was a lovely and very picturesque walk both there and back and on the way home we even spotted a deer in a field that was stood watching us, it then turned and leaped its way through the field full of corn.

Day 824...Tuesday

Once more we had an early morning walk in the sunshine, a slightly shorter, but still hilly, 1.9 miles in 38 minutes.

Simon was back at work today and my day was caught up with lots of bits and pieces. I had house insurance to sort for my dads house as we needed to find an insurer that would cover the house being empty. I had a few emails to write and to respond to as well as contacting a couple of auction houses about the contents of my dads house. Thankfully, because I had catalogued most of what there is along with photographs, I was able to send the information over by email to gauge the best approach.

Later on in the afternoon I met with another estate agent to look at my dads house with a view to putting it on the market. Now my brother and I need to decided which agent to go with and at what point will we be in a position to put the house on the market.

Despite the heat the day was rounded out with a workout. I did my usual bodyweight exercises before venturing out into our gym to move a few weights around. It was very warm and with not much air so I ended up using the space outside our gym (our garage) instead...although it was not much better!

Day 825...Wednesday

Well as per the normal we were up and out for our walk of 1.9 miles in another 38 minutes.

The morning was spent waiting for a heating and boiler engineer to arrive as over the last few days we have been experiencing a fair bit of water hammer, with the pipes rattling whenever the hot water was being used. Late morning and Charlie our engineer arrived; after a lot testing the system and trying to pin point where exactly the rattle was happening he found the culprit and has hopefully resolved the problem for us.

Early afternoon I made a visit to pre-school to have an update with the manager. As chairperson I now have the mantle of 'overseeing' the happenings as well as keeping in touch to ensure that no problems are encountered. But it was all positive which was great to hear and it was lovely to just pop in for a short while and see everyone.

Back home and I had a couple of emails to write as a direct result of my pre-school visit and before I knew it it was time for Simon and I to jump online to have a chat with our doctor as we'd both had some general blood tests done and we were catching up to discuss. All was good and we are both pleased with our general health, and happy to know that our lifestyle choices are conducive to good health.

And then it was the final Obi-Wan Kenobi...a great little series and I even had a little tear towards the end. It will be interesting to see whether they make a second series and if they do the angle that they will take with it. But if it's an excuse to see more Ewan McGregor then I'll be happy! 

Well three days done...best sign off and I'll see you next time.
xx

Day 818

Day 818...

Well today started a little different to normal as I headed into pre-school for the second day running!

Last night I'd nipped out and bought the team some treats to say well done at getting through the Ofsted inspection yesterday. It is always a nerve racking experience but they all did so well and should be very proud of what they did, so I popped by first thing to drop off the goodies. I think they deserved at least one day with a more relaxed vibe!

The rest of the day was spent at home getting various jobs completed. The last few days have all felt a little disrupted and I needed to get myself back on track today. A chance to get up straight with the laundry and to clean around; a little 'gardening'...well pulling weeds up; more cataloguing of items from my dads house; finally getting around to moving things from downstairs into our new 'study/craft' room and even a little pre-school work in my new role as chairperson. So although I haven't been very far today it has been a productive day.

And the day was rounded out with Simon on the exercise bike and me doing some body-weight exercises. 

Although now it is time to put our feet up and watch this weeks Obi-Wan Kenobi.

See you tomorrow.

xx

 

Day 810 & 811

Day 810...

I never got around to writing a blog post for yesterday so decided to clump two days together instead.

Yesterday started with an early morning walk of 2.3 miles in 46 minutes; we are loving this way to start our day not only do we get some exercise but being out in the fresh air really gives your day a kick start.

My day was primarily focused around cataloguing all the bits and pieces from my mum and dads house. We need to be able to clear the house in readiness for selling it and last week I had taken photos of all those items that need a little research before we just give them away. So it was a case of going through the photos and making a physical list of everything along with making notes from any internet research I could drum up. I still have a fair bit to go through so will be dipping in and out of this task over the next day or so before we can make a decision as to what we do with it all.

Simon was still in a little pain and discomfort from falling over on Monday evening and landing on his wrist. It hasn't really bruised but is a little puffy around where the wrist meets the palm of his hand. But he kept up with keeping it wrapped, taking pain killers and trying to keep it elevated as much as possible which is a bit tricky when your job involves using a keyboard. But the movement by the end of the day had improved although it's a long way off being right!

And the day was rounded out with my 'leaving doo' from work...yes the work that I finished on the 27th May...unfortunately the original planned event was cancelled due to a couple of the team not being well and so it had been rescheduled to last night. We went to a local Indian restaurant, in fact the one we normally use for our take-out meals, and it was lovely. A couple of hours to chat and enjoy some great food and I suppose kind of draws a line under my 'working' time at pre-school...maybe now I'll feel like I've officially retired?

Day 811...

Today's early morning walk was a little further and a bit quicker than yesterdays at 2.5 miles in 44 minutes; but this was a much flatter route and we stuck to the pavements rather than going over the fields as the rain last night meant everywhere was still a little wet!

Simon's wrist was still not great although our wonderful NHS has not been much help so far...using their online triage system yesterday it had recommended visiting our local GP. Mmm...neither of us had much confidence that they would be able to do anything more than what we've been doing never mind being able to get an appointment to see anyone and then factoring in all the stupid 'covid safe' measures that they are still insisting on!

My morning consisted of some online shopping...I needed to place a butchers order as our bacon supplies were getting dangerously low and was also trying to find some low carb, high protein snack bars. We find these come in really handy when we are out Star Wars trooping but we had used up our supply at the weekend and unfortunately the brand I normally go for haven't currently got in stock a flavour that we like so I found myself going down the rabbit hole of protein bars!! Who knew there were so many variations out there!

By late morning Simon decided to phone our NHS 111 service to see if there was anything they could suggest for his wrist...made the call...couldn't get through due to 'high demand'! So I decided to try the online version again and this time it offered a call back service...no idea why this wasn't offered yesterday when we'd tried but whatever it was better than nothing. The system said we would get a call within 30 minutes. About 10 minutes later Simon had spoken with them and secured a 1pm appointment at our local walk-in centre!! Luckily we had enough time for something to eat before heading on out as thankfully the centre is only about a 15/20 minute drive away.

And the result of our visit...Simon's wrist is broken and he came away with it in a cast. We now have to wait for for the fracture clinic at our local hospital to get in touch; I'm assuming they will assess his injury and decide whether a cast is the right treatment. But for now the cast is there to keep his wrist stable and prevent any further damage until he can be seen by a specialist.

But the great thing was that he was in and out in forty minutes; I've noticed that one of the side-effects of covid has been a greater reduction in out-patient waiting times as I suspect appointments are more staggered to avoid too many people in one place at a time. A positive that I hope continues so that we have a much better experience when we do need to visit the NHS. On the way home I popped into a local chemist to collect my prescription and I think that took longer than Simon getting his wrist examined and put in a cast!!

With Simon's wrist now being in cast that has put a wrinkle in our weekly routine of gym sessions and, for Simon, using the exercise bike so we decided to end the day with another walk. We stuck to the main road as everywhere was still wet from the few showers we have had on and off today and completed 2 miles in 39 minutes.

But now it is time to get off the laptop and watch this weeks episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 804

Day 804...

And we have reached the middle of the working week and what is the last working day for Simon and Ethan as we have an extra long bank holiday weekend ahead of us as the country celebrates the Queens jubilee.

But our day started very much like yesterday with an early morning walk. We took a hillier, and slightly shorter route this morning completing 1.9 miles in 38 minutes and according to my fitness tracker that equated to 34 minutes of fat burning!

My morning was spent at my dads house as I continued with the job of categorising all the bits and pieces that we need to find new homes for. I've taken lots of photos so that I have a pretty comprehensive record of what we have. There is everything from glass paperweights, to crockery sets, china collectibles, old board games, books and even some cigarette cards from the 1930's!

I made sure I was home for when Simon broke for lunch which is now our 'breakfast'...and I have to say that neither of us has found it difficult missing the usual breakfast time slot and deferring it till lunchtime. Intermittent fasting so far is pretty okay.

I'd hoped that this afternoon would have been a mixture of indoors and outdoors but the weather had different ideas. After a glorious start to the day (we walked in sunshine in t-shirts) it had turned rather grey and rained off and on for the afternoon. So I spent my time at the laptop googling some of the items that I'd found at my dads to see what they were and what best to do with them.

It was fascinating to discover all the old cigarette cards which must have belonged to my grandad and even more amazing was that they were stored in an old 'Cadburys's Selection Box' which dates back to the 1960's and doubled as a board game! 

The day was rounded out with a gym workout; I decided to complete some planks and floor exercises indoors before joining Simon out in the gym to lift some weights around. Pretty happy that I managed a full plank for 1 minute and side planks for about 35 seconds each.

See you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 797

Day 797...

The middle of the week and as I am typing this rather late in the day I think this will be a quick post.

My morning was spent in work and I was able to put my skills to good use and create a couple of posters for upcoming events as well as construct an email regarding some grant funding. I was also able to go over the forthcoming academic year's long term plan with my deputy. This is where we layout all the various events, special occasions, fundraisers and key dates for the year ahead which we then use as the basis for our planning. My deputy had already completed a good chunk of it and it was simply chance for me to go over it with my 'manager head' on to make sure nothing had been missed.

On my way home I had a quick stop by my local Lidl to get stocked up on a few essentials, as well as a few treats for my last day in work on Friday.

Back home and after a catch-up and a coffee with Simon I had a few of my own emails to deal with, a payment to make and some spreadsheets to update. But with that done I was off to see my fabulous hairdresser Kim who worked her magic, as always, and has updated my hair with a pink-ish twist...

And it was then home to cook dinner and put my feet up!

See you tomorrow.

xx

Day 790

Day 790...

We have had a very pleasant, sunny and warm Wednesday and one that I have spent working from home.

My focus today, as it will be for the remainder of the week, has been to update as many pre-school contacts as possible about my upcoming departure and whom their new contact will be. Because we are registered with a number of governing bodies there are a number of official forms and procedures that are needed to be completed and followed. All smooth sailing so far!

At lunchtime Simon and I headed out for a walk over the fields managing two miles in 42 minutes and according to my new fitness tracker 23 minutes of that was fat burning!! 

Later on this afternoon I was able to hook up online with my podcast buddy Michelle as we recorded a Disney Dream Girls show ready for release this coming Sunday. A lovely hour or so to chat all things Disney and dream about expensive VIP tours, re-opening of attractions and special events.

And while Simon jumped on the exercise bike I made use of my time by writing this blog and cooking a lovely keto shepherds pie.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 784

Day 784...

Well I think this is the first time I've stopped today and I'm writing while waiting for Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to start.

We are visiting a local cinema in Derby called The Quad and for the first time are in their screen called 'The Box'. Probably one of the smallest screening rooms I've been in and it's kitted out with comfy chairs and sofas!!! 

But my day has been spent in work catching up with my deputy manager who has returned after a few days away. We've also been getting ourselves ready for our AGM which is tomorrow evening. So a busy day at work.

Once home I had a work email to send and to chase a couple of my own things while enjoying a coffee. Then it was time for our butchers delivery; 4kg steak mince, 2 kg chicken, 4.5kg bacon, 10 pork steaks, sirloin steaks, burgers and 100 sausages! Which then all needed splitting into portions to be frozen.

With that all sorted it was then time to cook dinner; a quick and easy keto chicken parmesan and while that was cooking we bought our cinema tickets online. Which then gave me enough time to eat dinner, get changed and head out the door.

A great film with plenty of action and probably more questions than answers but an enjoyable and quick couple of hours.

See you tomorrow.
xx

 

Day 777 - Happy Star Wars Day!

Day 777...

Yes it's that time of year when it is customary to wish one and all a 'Happy Star Wars Day' and watch the puzzlement on the faces of the 'non-geeks' among us!

So just to clarify, today is May the Fourth...May the Fourth Be With You...Happy Star Wars Day...get it?

We even had a special episode of the Disney Dream Girls podcast that I co-host drop today. We had a special guest who had recently visited the new Disney resort experience aboard the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser; he'd even adopted a persona for his 'visit' called 'Hank Lonely'!

And then before settling down to write this blog we were able to watch the trailer that had just dropped for the upcoming Disney + series...sorry limited event...Obi-Wan Kenobi, and boy does it look good. But then again anything with Ewan McGregor in will always look good in my eyes!!

But on with the mundaneness of the middle of the week, the hump of the week if you will. And it was another full day in work for me and involved yet more cash flow predictions as the day started off with a request from a parent which made a significant impact on the figures I'd calculated yesterday. But it was all good and by the end of the day I was pretty pleased with all that I'd achieved.

Back home and after a coffee I struggled to find the motivation to get going. But I did eventually and managed to sort a couple of things to do with my dad's estate. I've also been scouring the internet for something suitably Disney as a suggestion for my leaving present from my work colleagues. Initially I'd started looking at jewellery but had struggled to find anything suitable and so now I'm looking into whether I can find a figurine or ornament that would sit well in our new study/craft room.

But that's pretty much it for the day as the only thing left to do now is to watch the last episode of the Disney + series Moon Knight, and hope that we get the answers we've been looking and waiting for.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 770

Day 770...

The middle of the week and another full day in work and I think another relatively short blog post.

My day in work was spent, yet again, helping to transition my job role over to others. We were able to submit data, balance accounts and start to predict cash flows.

Once home it was chance to grab a coffee before jumping online with my podcast co-host, Michelle. We were able to record a couple of shows for our Disney Dream Girls podcast; one was our regular weekly show and the other was a special Patreon recording. We chatted about some news items along with a hotel review from Michelle's recent visit to Disneyland Paris where she was lucky enough to stay in Disney's Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel.

And that was pretty much it for the day and all that is left to do is to watch this weeks episode of Moon Knight...let's see if it's making any more sense!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 763

Day 763...

Middle of the week and this will be a quick post I think!

Today has been spent at home and has comprised of a lot of online research and a lot of tidying and reorganising of cupboards.

We need a couple of chairs for our newly refurbished upstairs room and so I spent some time looking at different options. We would like an office type chair and a stool and we would like them to look at least similar in appearance. But I also don't want the chair to look too 'office like' and we also need to decide on a colour. White initially came to mind and all I could think of was stains and it looking grubby very quickly so then I started to look at greys and discovered just how varied the colour grey could be!

Taking a break from internet research I started on reorganising cupboards. We had a number of crafting supplies living in a cupboard in the dining area and these needed going through and moving up into our 'new room'. All supplies now have a new home and I have a fairly empty cupboard that I'm sure will get filled sooner or later.

As Simon finished for lunch we headed out for a lovely walk in the sunshine, managing 2.5 miles in 45 minutes.

The afternoon saw more sorting of cupboards as I went through a few drawers and cupboard spaces to see exactly what we had and whether we still needed it or not. Suffice to say there was a pile of stuff that went in the rubbish...not sure why I had kept numerous letter writing pads as all my communication is done electronically or typed as no-one needs to have to read my writing!

We had a few deliveries turn up today as well including the new TV for the upstairs room although we have yet to set it up as this evening we decided to take a trip to our local Ikea. We came away with a set of drawers, two drawer tidy trays, a pedal bin, a wok and a set of felt tip pens!

And that was Wednesday and now it's time to sit and watch this weeks episode of Moon Knight and see if we are as confused as we were watching last weeks show!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 756

Day 756...

We have reached the middle of the week and it has been another full day.

My first task today was to begin to get together various bits of paperwork for our solicitor. Whilst I'd made a good start on sorting things out now we have a solicitor on board they are going to take over and get everything sorted for us.

I then headed out to the hairdressers as it was time for a refresh of my colour and cut. It was a couple of hours well spent as my hairdresser and I had a good old natter; the benefit of knowing Kim for a lot of years.

I was back home just after lunch and finished gathering together all the bits and pieces that I needed for the solicitor. I was then able to drive out and drop everything off with them so that hopefully things can get moving relatively swiftly.

And once back home again it was time to sort out the butchers order that had been delivered earlier today; 100 sausages, 5kg bacon, 4kg steak mince, 5kg chicken and some steaks! By the time that was all done it was time to sit down and enjoy a coffee before starting on the next thing.

We still have some of my dads paperwork to go through and so I took an hour or so to sort it into things that I think would be worth keeping and then stuff that can probably be thrown away. We have discovered some fascinating documents; old wills, birth certificates for my grandparents, marriage certificates, an old telegram sent during the second world war, a police warning notice issued to my dad for improper use of fog lights (?) and more. But we also have old bills and invoices for accounts long closed and no longer relevant and that hold no historical or sentimental value. I have at least been able to organise what we have and now me and my brother can go through it all together and decide what to keep and what not!

And with that all done it is time for this weeks Moon Knight episode, a cup of tea and some dark chocolate.

See you tomorrow.
xx