57 challenges

A little update which will show not a lot has changedin the past few days. All of the things I have started are continuing which is a good thing in itself. However, the one off items are not going anywhere just now, partly due to the lockdown of course but I do need to get started.

I have listened to Hot Chip today as part of the new album a week challenge and I'm well ahead in that one. Not too bad an album and worth a second listen; it's on as I type actually after I listened to it walking Maisy earlier.

I did attempt the keepy uppy challenge which is for 50 in a row but I am going to change it slightly to 57 which seems sensible. The seriousness of my approach is shown in my buying a new football for the task and far beyond too. I'll get the excuses in early - it was on the gravel drive which wasn't easy to play on and there is also a slope. I will add it's the first time in months I have tried to kick a ball around and I was cramped for space by the motorhome and hedges. Having said that I did get to 45 which should mean I'll get to 57 pretty quickly, especially on a level playing field.

The second thing I've done is get my car out, first time in months as we've been exclusively using Alison's recently, and drove the short distance to Sutton Holms where I'd seen some chopped logs a while back. A quick foray into the woods and I was able to get hold of a nice size chunk of wood with the intention of using it create a log planter. I'll measure for a plant pot to be popped into it, drawing the outline of the circumference and drill it out and then use the chisels and sander to create a space to pop the pot into. I'll look to drill holes into the bottom of the log to drive legs into which will raise it from the ground and level it out. Depending on how it looks, I'll then decide whether to varnish it or not and whether it comes in or stays out.

Could be the first of several if it works, as they might appeal as Christmas presents.

Very short run today - just 5km due to tiredness. I am pleased it is half term now as it means I can have a week off home school next week and spend a bit more time at the allotment.

Shattered

It was a long day but an enjoyable one. We had a really good home school session with plenty of interest in the differing activities and Maria has submitted all her work for the week with a day to spare. That meant we finished a little bit earlier and I took the opportunity to get out for a run which ended up at 6.5 miles in the heat of the warmest day of the year thus far.

I went out to Slough Lane and then across the tracks and paths leading to the entrance to Remedy Oak Golf Club. From there I was able to crack on to the actual remedey oak and back home in time for lunch and a second dog walk to the woods with Maisy.

The tough task of the day was getting Joy onto the internet and set up with her Alexa Show but I managed it and got them working successfully in fairly short order leaving time for me to ride back home up the tracks on the mountain bike to fix Maria's laptop.

It's been nerve-wracking but pleasing to take apart two laptops of late and to successfully sort them out including Alison's battery earlier this week. Saved some money and got to know a bit more about what is inside the machine. Like a lot of things, it is simpler than you might imagine but even so, I can't help but get anxious when opening them up.

The run and ride means I have already exceeded the 200 mile target for the month of May with 10 days left in the month which is quite something. The good weather has helped.

I listened to a lot music yesterday including Sleaford Mods and their 'new' release which features some old tracks too. I don't  mind one or two together but the album as one longer listen ended up as a long, angry, sweary rant and the power of their music and lyrics becomes lost, at least to me. The style is presented as authentic but it doesn't have enough shade to allow it to speak more forcefully.

On the other hand I have been listening to the book 'Humankind' on Audible and would recommend it. It chimes with my view on the world, a belief in the essential goodness of people and has plenty of interesting stories to back up the arguments. Strongly recommended, although I am sure there are plenty of opponents lining up to highlight research challenging what the author chooses to include and to present human beings as behaving as Hobbes wrote all those years ago.

Lockdown continues

We had a good school session yesterday and spent some time drawing the sound maps based on the walk we'd done the previous day. Both Maria and Joseph enjoyed the work and it got them thinking about the sounds themselves but also their local surroundings. Joseph was trying to figure out where his friend Charlie lived in the context of his map which was focused on travelling in the opposite direction.

Whilst they got on with their work, I was able to get into the kitchen and cook a sweet potato curry.

In the afternoon I took Maisy out before going for a run in the warm sunshine, 6.5 miles and not listening to anything this time. After a quick bite to eat for tea we got into the garden and I was cutting the hedge before we took off to the allotment where we spent the evening watering the plot. The water is accessed via the communal pump which is great fun to use. We were backwards and forwards and Maria got stuck in too. The rabbits have been busy and they in evidence in the small scrapes they have dug and disappearing seedlings.

I finished listening to 'A History of Britain in 21 Great Women' on Audible. Very informative and well worth the listen. I was also listening to the latest Hilary Mantel novel about Thomas Cromwell which is superb. I also listened to Enter Shikari's latest album again. Not too bad and going to be followed by the new Sleaford Mods release.

Road bike and home school

It was a fun morning at home school with time on Maths, Science and English followed by PE which we did outside following suggestions from the outdoor schools lesson plans. That meant taking Maisy for a walk (not part of the plan but why not) and listening to the variety of sounds along the road and into the goat farm circle. We are going to create a sound map of the walk using Geography skills. The other aspect that kept the children focused was finding and photographing the differing mosses, lichens and mushrooms which will be used for Art and Science.

I got the lunch cooked and ready for when we got back and was able to make a speedy getaway in the afternoon to spend some time at the allotment to water some of the most needy seedlings and rake over part of the plot ready for some more planting. I got some peas, spinach, beetroot and radish in whilst listening to headphones in the sunshine. It was lovely.

I rode via Verwood which was the wrong way really but I was trying to put a few extra miles in as I prepare for the 57 mile bike ride. That meant a 22 mile round trip and one I thoroughly enjoyed, epecially as I was averaging over 15 mph on the return giving a good indication that I am feeling on form.

The album for the day was the new one by Enter Shikari.

57 things for the year

An update on my progress with the 57 challenge. This is where I have made a list of 57 things (duh) to do over the course of my 57th year.

Most of them have not been touched yet but the fitness ones I guess are all being supported by the running and cycling I am doing each day.

Updating the blog is happening - obviously!
Learning Spanish and Gaelic using Duolingo. Currently on a 31 day streak using the app and have been pretty conscientious in using it since New Year.
Adding at least one item to food bank box each time we shop has started.
I have stopped leaving the tap running whilst cleaning my teeth to save water.
I am smashing the 15000 steps a day target and am nearer 18000 for May.
I've made kimchi as part of the make chutney/homemade food challenge.
The best thing so far has been listening to a new album each week and I've been taking in more than one having listened to Perfume Genius (didn't enjoy very much), Harry Styles and Dua Lipa (did enjoy) and The Strokes (enjoyed a lot).

One of the most straightforward should be the 50 keepie uppies in terms of effort and opportunity to keep trying. I might give it a go shortly.

That would take me to 8 of the activities after just over a week, so a good start but these are ones that need to be sustained. Can I keep them going? I certainly intend to but what with one thing or another e.g. lockdown, |I may have to be creative in completing some.

Travels around Dorset

I have been enjoying the dry weather in spite of the coldish breeze which has chilled the last few days. It has allowed me to get out and about exploring many different areas close to home.

On Wednesday I cycled out to the allotment to plant some onion sets which arrived extremely late due to the 'unprecedented' demand experienced by Suttons. It felt almost pointless planting them at this time of the year but what else was I going to do with them. The plot has been wind blasted and the potatoes have definitely taken a bit of a battering with the leaves scorched by the dry, cold wind.

The ride home was cold!

Happily the next ride I did on Friday saw the wind drop with a resultant rise in temperature. I am aiming to ride 57 miles in a day and have to prepare with some training rides. That meant getting out and about on the way to cut the grass for Joy. I took the long way and rode off to Edmondsham, Cranborne, Tidbit, Martin, Damerham, Sandleheath, Alderholt and Verwood. It was a stunning ride and I enjoyed a rest in the village of Martin, stopping for a banana and drink in the centre of the village. The ride was 26 miles and almost half of what I'll need to get the 57 miles done.

Encouragingly I was able to go for a run without too much discomfort yesterday following the long ride and churned out nearly 6.5 miles taking in Bagmans Lane, a fairly long trackway running uphill all the way. I felt good afterwards with no real aches or pains, something I am very fortunate to enjoy given how frequently people have to stop because of knee problems or similar. I'll keep going while I can.

Run and school and ride

I managed a 5km run before home school today which was lovely as it meant I was recovered enough to ride up to Mannington and Three Legged Cross to get to Joy's to fix the trellis near her gate which had been damaged by the weight of the winter jasmine growing up it. It was a lovely ride on the mountain bike giving me anohter 8 mile ride to add to the tally for the month once I'd got home.

Veg curry with butternut squash for lunch. The squash was soft and sweet and full of curry flavour and went down well with Joseph.

I also got a mirror up in Glen's room and did a bit of hedge cutting too. The main time waster today was Minecraft, getting it installed and playable on Maria's laptop. I could have done without the numerous obstacles but eventually got them sorted so she was happy to play at a reasonable speed later in the day.

Maisy's late afternoon walk meant I started to listen to Hilary Mantells's latest Cromwell novel, the final one in the trilogy. Having read the first two and enjoyed them immensely, I have this on audible and look forward to listening for many hours.

57 challenges for the year ahead

Following my birthday at the end of last week, I have been putting together a list of things to do over the next year. Some of them are very straightforward, some I am already doing such as learning Spanish using Duolingo, and others are going to be much more difficult. This would include the physical challenges in the main.

Here's the list:

Cycle 57 miles in a day
Motorhoming in Cornwall
Swimming at Tinside
Write blog
Thai cooking
Learn a dance routine
Learn Spanish and Gaelic
Run/walk/crawl a marathon
Take part in a charity bike ride
Take part in at least 10 Saturday parkruns
Have a picnic on Dartmoor
Hike from Princetown to Plymouth
Swim a mile
Go paddle boarding
Plant a tree
Turn off the tap when brushing my teeth
Buy an extra item of food each shop for food bank
Bake cakes for a giveaway 'sale'
Woodlands litter pick
Watch a ballet
Plant a hedge
Make a child's wooden tool box
Go paddling in a stream
Visit the Russell Cotes Museum
Visit the National Gallery in London
Read a book by James Joyce
Watch a meteor shower
Visit an RSPB reserve
Do a beach clean up
Walk av. of 15000 steps a day
Make a bird table
Give children materials for making their own reindeer decorations
Decorate the front room
Do a night's wild camping
Make a wooden wine bottle holder
Make a log planter
Make a log seat
Do Junior Parkrun in at least 4 different locations
Watch Plymotuh Argyle home and away
Listen to a new album once a week
Visit an Island
Play Hide and Seek in a castle
Take part in a school activity
Have a snowball fight
Go on Go Ape
Bake a fruit cake
Make blackberry jam
Make chutney
Share a Sunday afternoon cream tea
See the Red Arrows
Collect firewood once a week
Bake using the Dutch Oven
Complete 50 successful keepie uppies in a row
Play boule on a beach in the rain
See an osprey
Have a yes day- say yes to everything
Make my way way home - Dropped off in the middle of somewhere I don’t know and left to get home
A day with no phone
Fast for one day
Sing a song of someone else’s choice to be shared on social media
Spend a day in fancy dress for no reason
Take the children for a midnight ramble

It's going to be a lot of fun getting these done and I'm looking forward to recording my success, or otherwise, here on a regular basis.




In the meantime, it is just after 9am and we are about to start home school learning once again. This has become a routine for us over the past two months and the children are handling it well. We do 25 minutes per subject period for 6 periods, alongside two 10 minute breaks meaning we work from 9 - 12 with the two breaks plus a little bit of room to extend the learning or extend the break depending on what is happening and how the focus is at that time. Joseph at 8 is able to concentrate for relatively short periods and is enjoying it less than Maria. She is 12 and gets into the work quickly and in a sustained manner. It is incredibly helpful having regular feedback from teachers on the work completed.

Sunday mornning - stay alert!

There is already a good deal of comment about the possible changes to lockdown likely to be announced later this evening. The one featuring most heavily is the change of instruction to stay alert rather than stay home and the comments I have read, which are going to be slightly one-sided I accept, based on my Twitter feed, seem to be focused on the lack of clarity within the message. It seems people are concerned there is the opportunity to interpret the slightly relaxation of rules as meaning whatever you like them to mean. This is perceived as making the prospect of a second spike in virus cases far more likely, particularly as we seem to be easing restrictions ahead of where other countries have taken action to open up. They have had far fewer new cases on a daily basis for a sustained period whilst we appear to be risking an earlier easing of the measures.

We will see what comes of it. I imagine for some people they are going to slaughter the message whatever is actually said and others are going to defend the announcement come what may. They may be more interested in the politics of it all rather than the human cost, expressing preference for whatever they already believe to be for the best. It looks like in the middle, more people are becoming critical of the government with a majority feeling the crisis has been handled more badly here than in Spain or Italy.

In the midst of it all, life under lockdown continues and there are plenty of people out for a Sunday stroll. I was running earlier and on the way back had to dodge from one side of the road to the other to avoid getting too close to parents with their children on bikes, horse riders and plenty of cyclists. Good to see so many about so early.

I did high intensity running today sandwiched between a mile warm up and mile warm down. That meant 2.2 miles of alternating between bursts of full pace for a minute followed by a minute and a half of recovery jogging.

I am getting to know the local area very well now and have got the Ordnance Survey map out to give me a guide to other routes I've not yet taken.

VE Day and Birthday celebrations

Yesterday was a long day but in a good way starting with a 10 mile mountain bike ride followed by a fair amount of drinking in the front garden as we joined the street party celebrating the 75th anniversary of VE Day. It was a lovely event with lots of neighbours stopping for a chat, many of them very long indeed.

We got the fire pit out and stayed into the late evening so Maria and Joseph could enjoy waving their glowing sticks about.

Covid-19 continues to cast its shadow with the community keeping socially distanced. Very interesting to look back on previous posts already given the way in which the number of lives lost has increased well beyond 30,000 on the official accounts and over 55,000 based on the number of excess deaths over the period of the pandemic. By any measure, this has been an enormous blow to the country and yet the government appear to be convinced that admitting to no errors whatsoever is the right way to go leaving the public with the impression that they are increasingly distant from reality and more vulnerable to criticism when they talk of 'success', a word Johnson used without irony a week and a bit ago, just before the UK achieved the unwelcome distinction of having experienced the worst death toll in Europe with the prospect of more deaths to come.

The daily death toll remains stubbornly high, significantly above the previously worst hit countries, Italy and Spain. It is not long since we were looking at those nations with incredulity, wondering how the crisis could be hitting so hard, convinced it was almost a confirmation of our preconceptions about these nations, well meaning but slightly under-developed nations which lacked our expertise and fortitude. Not sure there are too many people who are now seeing ourselves in the same way. Perhaps it is because it has seemed almost inevitable but in a relatively slow way. It is incredible that the deaths of hundreds of citizens has become the norm and is no longer as shocking as it would have once been.

It will be interesting to see how the crisis is seen in retrospect and whether it leads to resignations (unlikely) and to changes in lifestyle (equally unlikely in the longer term). It does seem there is an opportunity to reset to some extent but maybe it remains a feeling confined to those who were already considering such in light of the climate crisis. We will see.