Wednesday 26 June 2013

10 things

Bertha pretending to be a pufferfish
Bertha
  • Bertha is broody.  Whoever opens the eglu door gets treated to a display of her inflating herself like a pufferfish, and shouting irritably at us.  
  • I went to Kew and took dozens of photos of roses, as I do every year.  They smelled incredible - I wish there was some way to replicate precisely that smell of rose.  There isn't, but Crabtree & Evelyn's rose water comes pretty close.  I love this stuff and splash it around quite liberally.
    Roses
  • My parents have acquired some hens, which is very exciting.  My mother, and her father before her, used to keep hens when I was growing up and I am sure that is why I keep hens too.  My Grandfather kept urban hens - long before such a phrase was used - in the grounds of the rather grand vicarage in Sheffield where he and my Grandmother lived when I was small.
  • I am undecided about what sort of birthday cake to make myself this weekend.  Perhaps I should ask Olivia to make one for me?  Or am I too much of a control freak about my own birthday cake?
  • I start a placement with a local District Nursing team next week.  I am excited - this is going to be very different to all the hospital placements I have had so far.
  • I am still loving the running.  This pastime is a keeper, for sure.
  •  On Sunday, Graham ran seven 5K Parkruns in one day as part of the Parkrun Longest Day event.  He did the North East London loop, and I joined him for the last race of the day at our local parkrun on Hackney Marshes.  Graham usually runs 5K in around 20 to 21 minutes; my fastest 5K to date has been around 33 minutes, and that included some walking.  I wondered if he'd already run six 5K races whether he might be going slow enough on the seventh for me to be able to run with him for a little bit?   In the end he very sweetly offered to pace me for a 30 minute run (meaning that he ran at precisely the speed required to finish a 5K race in 30 minutes, and all I had to do was run with him).  I wasn't at all sure I could do it, but being paced (and being exhorted by Graham to "focus" and "dig deep" in rather a severe tone as we ran) made such a difference - I ran the whole thing in a time of 30 minutes and 25 seconds.  I was elated and told anybody who would listen that the experience was "harder than childbirth" - but on reflection I think that was endorphins speaking.  It wasn't really harder than childbirth.
  • New PB
    New PB!
    Red faced
    Red faced, after our race
  • I go bright red in the face when I run.  Is this because I am unfit or just because I go bright red in the face when I run? I am unsure.
  •  I have made a rhubarb crumble every week for the past three weeks.  All of us are wild about rhubarb.
  • There is still a little bit of the rhubarb and peach one I made this past weekend, waiting in the fridge for my lunch today.  Sometimes I love a day at home by myself.

6 comments:

  1. How fun to see you! Congratulations on your new PB -- very impressive. And I'm feeling extra special with you and Sue26 this morning -- I go bright red in the face when I run AND when I think about Daniel Craig!!!

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  2. annafield@hotmail.co.uk26 June 2013 at 20:31

    Ooh, I made a rhubarb orange and ginger crumble cake at work today and the whole lot was demolished. It was apparently awesome, so I made another but with gooseberries instead.
    Love the photo of broody Bertha,and if not being too personal, what does one do with rose water? have always wondered. Love the smell of roses too...x

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  3. congrats on the running, you definitely deserve rhubarb crumble!

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  4. Oh well done you! Whenever someone takes up running and enjoys it I always think I must try, but then I never get round to it or it only lasts a couple of weeks. Maybe this time though... Hope your new placement is really enjoyable. Lucky parents having hens. I'd love to have hens one day, it's just working out where to put them. Beautiful rose photo, the ones with hundreds of petals are lovely.

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  5. I go bright red in the face at the merest hint of exercise - my heart-rate may be fine, I may not be the slightest bit puffed, but I'll look like a tomato within seconds. I mentioned it to my doctor once because I was getting self-conscious about it and he reassured me that it's just my peely-wally colouring - oh well. Your running exploits have inspired me though - now that it's he summer holidays and I can't get to my usual exercise classes I've decided to take up running again, and went and got new running shoes today. They're pretty vile to look at, but who cares!

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