Autumn

Now we have arrived at the very end of September, this week has seen a marked change in the weather, especially after weeks without rain and some very warm days on the beach for example. Today was grey and damp, although not particularly wet. Alison dropped me down at Morrisons where I got some bits and pieces for tea and walked back, just over 3 miles but with several interruptions to chat with people I know and to enjoy the views of the lanes and fields.

Glen, Joseph and I had already been for a walk with the dogs earlier and they seem to enjoy rolling around with each other. Juno got an extra walk, as I'd seen the queues at the petrol pumps had gone and so I took the motorhome down to Morrisons to get some diesel. However, I had failed to notice that although there was petrol, no diesel was available. I took Juno with me for the ride and for a walk at Potterne, so she's had a good couple of walks already today.

My left eye is still swollen, some kind of irritant appears to have made it a little itchy and painful. I am also feeling tired as a result of the early starts with the dog I think but I am pleased that I have managed 100 miles of exercise this month despite having had Covid earlier and needing some recovery time. I've done 53 miles on the bike and the rest running. Not too bad at all. We'll see what impact the changing weather has on my exercising!

A day in the life of Juno

An early start, even earlier than usual, with Juno barking at 5.15 because she needed to go out which meant I had the pleasure of a few minutes walk in the dark but I did get to go back to bed. Juno was then out with Joseph and I again before 7.30 to see Maria off on the bus taking us up the hill for a little run.

I tried her in the puppy pen in the conservatory but fogot I shouldn't really put the water bowl in as it got spilt over the floor, quite a lot of it, mainly because Juno was barking at a toy which rolls around and empties out treats, if loaded. She liked the treats but was suspicious of the rolling about.

Juno was nicely settled for lunchtime and then we walked the goat farm which was lovely, dodging the showers.

It was interesting seeing a buzzard take off only for it to be almost instantly mobbed by at least 10 other birds, a combination of jackdaws and rooks. It must be struggle to fly with that level of distraction.

In between times I have done another bottle of sloe gin which can rest until Christmas. There was time to go for a decent run at a modest pace, 3.5 miles at under 10 minute miles listening to The Circle. I've got about 19 hours to go! Then the new Sally Rooney novel and Bob Mortimer's autobiography.

I am thoroughly enjoying reading A Gentleman in Moscow on Kindle. I'm not sure where I heard about it prior to ordering but it must have been on a list of must reads in The Guadian I imagine. 
 

Mountain bike ride

I was out on the bike earlier and in contrast to the heavy rain and strong winds of this morning, the skies were blue and ideal for a ride round Woodlands. I headed out towards Slough Lane off road and then onto the hill up to Mannington where I took a left turn past the gravel pits and down Devil's Hill before taking in Remedy Oak golf course and the Horton Road. It was just a pleasure to be able to ride around in the warm and surrounded by so many great views, over to Horton, through the woods, past the open fields and hedges. The jays are busy at the moment, collecting early acorns I imagine, and there were lots of rooks and jackdaws around too.

I took Juno out for a good walk in Boys Wood and listened to Desert Island Discs with Tracy Ullman before switching to The Circle which has been nominated for the Booker Prize.

Chance to Dance

Maria danced the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth last night as part of the festival of dance held every year for dance troupes across the region. They do a series of workshops and rehearse dances from their own shows to present in the evening to families and friends. We loved the show but are all feeling tired this morning, especially with the weather taking a turn for the worse. It has been very autumnal with the rain lashing down during the morning dog walk, although it has turned sunny now. I got wet feet and learned a lesson - walking boots on during a downpour, not trainers.

 

Ragwormers

We enjoyed watching Glen's band again last night, this time as part of a weekend of music at The Compasses in Damerham. They looked as if they were having a great time and there were plenty of people dancing the night away.

This morning Maria was at dance by 8.00 for a day of tutorials and performances with a public show at 7.00 this evening. That meant a quiet day at home for us, time for a run which was made up of 5km jogging along and a final mile run more quickly, a 9 minute mile. Very pleased with that.

The dog walks were early enough for me to take a photo of the dew covered spider webs adorning ghe fence along the goat farm walk. There were hundreds of them and it reminds me of just how many webs are in the hedgerows as well, ones I've seen plenty of as I've been blackberry picking and sloe picking. It is incredible how plentiful they are and so many with a plump garden spider in the centre awaiting a careless victim. 

Berries and alcohol

I took Juno out early and was then out on the road again for a 4 mile run which I got quicker on the further I went. It felt good which was encouraging after the past few days of feeling tired. We then had the girls over with Kate and what a lovely time we had including dog walking and blackberry picking.

We were looking for sloes and blackberries today to go with the gin and vodka respectively. I have 2 new 2 litre jars for the berries, sugar and alcohol. Evie and Amelia helped with the picking and then the pricking of the fruit and mixing the various ingredients in. I have to say, the mixtures are going to be fantastic tasting and we might well end up doing more in the run up to Christmas.

Maria is off at dance practice again with Chance to Dance tomorrow when she is at the pavilion from 8.00 in the morning until late evening, a very long day but one she is so looking forward to .

Friday with feeling

Joseph is currently eating his pasta and watching Mr Bean whilst Alison has taken Maria to dance for a couple of hours. I am feeling tired out again and am going to give parkrun a miss this weekend, not wanting to overdo things.

Juno and I were out at first light and again at 7.30 when Joseph came with me to the top of the hill where we were picking sloes, the first time I have picked these. Later in the day I got on the bike to buy a cheap 1 litre bottle of gin which the sloes will flavour before Christmas, as well as a litre bottle of vodka which is going to be flavoured with blackberries over the next few months. The taste of summer really will last into 2022!

As I cycled into Morrisons, I saw the queue to get in stretching back some way, the panic buying is on for fuel, immediately after reassurances that supplies are in no danger. People really are strange. Still, I think this one could be of more inconvenience than the toilet roll shortage from early on in the pandemic.

I think Joseph and I might be off out with the dog again shortly and we have apakced weekend ahead, Maria especially, with dance all day Sunday after another couple of hours tomorrow.

Dog walking

Maria, Joseph and I went up to the village green yesterday evening and we took Juno with us for a lovely play on the field. It was great having the open space and the children enjoyed throwing sticks and doing headstands. Juno loved it too.

You will see we were up early again this morning and the moon was still almost full looking beautiful above the low mist hanging above the field. I had a 3 mile run before Alison and I went down to Joy's to do the garden, mowing the back lawn, digging over part of the vegetable plot and plenty of weeding. 

By the time we were home and I had collected some more blackberries, I was shattered. I had to have a little snooze but that did revive me. It was time for another dog walk.

What a day!

I was straight off to Bournemouth from the school run and was parked at Durley Chine before 9 which meant I got to listen to Lauren Laverne on Radio 6 as I ran 3.25 miles along the beach front. As you will see from the photos, the weather has been amazing for the past weeks and it promises to remain so for a little longer yet. Having got myself nice and warm I got myself cool again with a lovely swim in the sea which was almost flat calm. 

One of things I wanted to do in the past was improve my technique and stamina for swimming and it has begun to pay off as I swam between groynes using a mixture of front crawl and breaststroke. I am breathing every two strokes with the crawl and have learnt to exhale under water so I can take a breath as I turn my head to the right and out of the water. 

Once home and having had a quick salad, I took Juno out for a short walk and then we went litter picking up the hill and towards the junction. It was nice to see less litter but I did go up there fairly recently I suppose. 

Next I parked the dog for the next activity, blackberry picking which she wouldn't have done well with, all that pausing and having to try and prevent the pots from spilling if she yanked my arm. I got over a kilo walking about 100 yards from the house and back. Having already done plenty of jars of blackberry and raspberry jam, I think this lot will be for blackberry syrup to be used for pies and the like over the coming months. I want to put some in the freezer cubes and see if I can then just use some of them at a time, so they can be preserved longer.

Best carrot ever!

Alison and I went to the allotment in the motorhome so that we could collect Maria from school and take her to dance for 4.30. The motorhome means we can give her somewhere more spacious to change and we can cook some tea for her too without having to go home, the end of school and start of dance being too close together to allow Maria that option.

We parked up and Alison popped into the shops whilst I strimmed the grass and then dug up the last of the potatoes, at least I'd thought they were but I discovered another whole row of them later which means we are going to have plenty for weeks to come. The bag of spuds in the photo are the ones I dug up yesterday and we have already been eating other roots for several weeks.

I also pulled one of the carrots and I was amazed how big and straight it was, almost supermarket quality. It's the first carrot we've had this year and there are plenty to come. Alison returned and picked a bowlful of raspberries and lots of greens for the next few days. We have done well with both again. We are still getting courgettes too and there are more beetroots to be harvested. I took another three home for roasting and using in salads having already pickled several jars for the winter.

Juno is doing well in most respects but she is pulling on her lead when getting closer back to home. I am using cheese as a reward to try and change this. The other thing is that she wees herself slightly when she sees someone and gets over-excited. We've all been there! Perahps not.

I took her out just after 6 this morning and the moon looked lovely just over the trees. Off to the beach next for a run and then a swim. Hoping for the sunshine which is forecast.

Bike ride

Maria was back at school yesterday and had a good day which was a relief after her lengthy absence due to covid. She was well enough for singing later in the day too and has lots of rehearsals ahead for dance starting this evening from 4.30 to 7.15. She is going to be so tired!

I got a good deal of cleaning done in the kitchen and downstairs bathroom but then spent another 90 furitless minutes trying to work with EE to find a way of getting wifi calling to work on Alison's new phone. It has been incredibly frustrating but we have now cancelled that order and will return the phone with a new one being delivered from BT this afternoon. Fingers crossed for an easier time with it.

I ran down to the library and back for my exercise and swapped over my books before doing the school run and making the tea. 

Already today I have done us a salad, pickled some turnips grown at our allotment and made lentil soup before getting out for a lovely ride in the sunshine on the mountain bike. The photo shows Remedy Oak.

Parkruns and parties

 

We have had a very busy weekend but a brilliant one where we got to see family again after he isolation of Covid for three of us. I was out on the bike just after 8 on Saturday morning for the 10 mile round trip to Moors Valley with parkrun sandwiched in between legs. It wasn't a quick run by any means, although quicker than my runs have been of late. However, it was just great to get out and be part of it again after 18 months without it.

Once home we got ready for Joseph's birthday party which was based around multi-sports and led by a guy who got the children sussed very quickly and ensured they had a great time playing hockey, rounders, basketball, football, dodgeball and so on. The children loved it and what a pleasure it was to see them so engaged. I got roped in as well and ended feeling tired out after my earlier ride and run.

In the afternoon we took ourselves off the The Horton Inn and had a few drinks in the sunshine before watching the latest scores come in. 

This morning was similar to yesterday with a ride to Moors Valley and back again but with Junior Parkrun instead. Amelia beat her previous best by almost 3 minutes, completing the 1.20 miles in under 16 minutes for the first time. The girls did brilliantly running the whole way. Joe, Kate and the girls came back for Sunday dinner, along with Joy, so a lovely day seeing family again.

Exhausted

It has been a long day but a successful one. I was up for the early morning dog walk and was soon on my road bike for a ride to Three Cross to the garden centre to check if they had any garlic bulbs for planting in the autumn available yet. Sadly, they are not about just yet but it did mean I got a 10 mile ride in, punctuated with a stop at Joy's where I mowed the front and back lawns. made easier at the front now I have cut back the magnolia. It had encroached so far onto the lawn I was struggling to mow around it.

Once back home I cut our hedges and have largely finished then for the year. They are looking good for now and I also did the lawn mowing too. That was followed by a short walk across the road to cut the remainder of Carl's hedge and then back again to cut next door's hedge too. It is so nice having got those jobs out of the way!

Having collected Joseph from school, I took Juno for a walk before satrting on the tea, korma and rice, which went down well with curried red cabbage. 

It's Joseph's 10th birthday and so we have had a bit of birthday cake with him and he is sleeping over tonight before tomorrow's party. Of course, Maria is on the last day of isolation and has tested negative for covid which means we really ought to be getting back to normal.

Running again

I've kind of lost track of the day, as it seems to have been a very long one but it did have an early start with Juno waking me up at 2 to go outside. I did get back to sleep but was up early for a walk with her round the goat farm before breakfast and the school run. Once back I was off on a run, this time 5km and feeling fine, before some hedge trimming and a trip to Joy's to check how things were.

You will see I went on to the allotment and what a time I had picking lots of veg. The potatoes have been outstanding and I got masses from one root, as well as a tub full of raspberries for jam, greens, plenty of beetroot for pickling, lettuce and our first ever turnips. It is incredible how much is growing there.

I made some more blackberry jam, seedless this time, and did a lovely lasagne for tea which Joseph loved. Juno and I got another walk in as dusk fell and the view across the fields with the moon showing was lovely.

The other stuff included lots of time on Duolingo where I am almost at a full year with at least one visit a day and my French and Spanish have definitely come on. There's also been plenty of time for reading and listening, the book I am currently close to finishing is Sebastian Faulks' 'where my heart used to beat' which I am enjoying.

It is worth pointing out that I listened to 'History' by Miles Jupp on Audible recently and absolutely hated it. He is a comedian I like and I expected to enjoy his book a great deal. It made me so annoyed listneing to it with such an unsympathetic lead character and one catastrophe after another. I'll say it again - I hated it.
 

Frustration

Alison's phone stopped working a couple of weeks ago so she has a new one but is keeping her number. It hasn't been activated properly yet and I have now been chatting online with technical support for over two hours! Very annoying.

I had started much more positively with two dog walks, a litter pick and blackberry picking too. 

Today is also the first day of running for some weeks, so a good sign - just 2.21 miles but a start.

 

Hedge cutting time

 Another busy day starting with a goat farm walk at 6.30 before the school run and then trip to Verwood. The hedge cutting this time was being done by a firm of specialists which has saved me a great deal of time and effort. They did a great job although it meant I had to stay around for the duration in order to ensure Joy didn't get confused or upset about things.

I took the opportunity to prune the magnolia tree which has been blaocking a path and making grass cuttinga pain because of the overhang, as well as popping to Morrisons with Juno. I gave ger a walk in the copse too and drove home before cycling back down again on the mountain bike, That's my first real effort since covid and I coped ok.

It was then time to collect Joseph and I took him to Potterne with Juno for a run around whilst we waited for Bridie to come home from work. There was still time to wash the car and for a final walk of the day with a stroll around Boys Wood as the dusk fell.

I'm doing plenty of physical stuff and feeling ok, so hopefully, nothing long term from covid for me.

Allotment Sunday

 Juno and I were up early again and enjoyed a sunlit walk round the goat farm circle which looks lovely in the photos above. It really does look welcoming. Before long we were off again, this time to the allotment via Verwood where we tried to fix Bridie's window without success. 

The allotment is out of bounds to dogs but I parked there and took Juno for a walk along the banks of the river Stour which provided a stunning backdrop for the walk, a memorable one as it turned out, as Juno ran up to another walker and failed to stop which meant she careered over the edge of a drop of about 8 feet into the water where she managed to sramble out and back up to my outstretched hand. A bit of a fright and possibly a lesson learned.

Back at the car, Juno waited in the boot whilst I strimmed the grass before picking lots of raspberries, greens, beans and potatoes. I also picked a couple of good sized beetroots which have been roasted and taste deliciously sweet. 

At home, I made raspberry jam, 3 jars, and 5 jars of blackberry jam, so plenty to keep us going over the winter.

Juno and I had time for a good walk round the woods in the evening and she is doing well in terms of behaviour and keeping herself from accidents in the house.

Covid buster

 

I am a free man at last after what seems an age. It isn't that long really but the confinement of having covid does pale quite quickly, especially when the weather is good and you have a new puppy. However, Maria has tested positive in the meantime, confirmed by PCR test too. That means she is having to isolate now, along with Alison, who continues to feel quite poorly with the virus.

We have had good news over the past few days, Maria having gained a distinction in her acro exam which had been a bit of a struggle for her, a major achievement therefore, and she has also been awarded a solo slot in the half term show in October. She is so pleased, understandably, and just devastated to be missing so much dance over the next week.

I was up early with Juno and got a good walk round the woods at first light and then got on with various jobs including making lentil soup, cleaning out the motorhome thoroughly before setting off for Verwood where I mowed front and back lawns for Joy, did the bird feeders and found her garden fork. I was then off to Potterne with Juno to meet up with Bridie and Joseph and we had a great time meeting lots of new people and other dogs.

Afetr lunch I mowed our lawns, strimmed the grass outside the property, walked Juno again, and vacuumed up and down stairs. Juno and I then took ourselves off the The Albion pub for a pint and she was delighted to find doggie treats and lots of fussing from the staff and other punters.

It has been a very busy day and I feel ok still which is a relief. I did pick 1kg of blackberries ready for jam making tomorrow and am looking forward to going to the allotment too.

Covid update

Having started with myself and Paul having positive Covid tests, Alison and Murdina have also now had positive tests which is a real shame. Alison is feeling pretty ropey but at least I am feeling better and have been able to get on with some washing and cleaning, including mowing the lawn.

The sun has been out and that can only mean it is time for summer to make a welcome return. It has been beautiful in the garden today and Juno has been enjoying time out there too.

Maria made her return to school today, her first day at the new school with a bus journey shoe-ending either end of the day. That all appears to have gone well and she was in fine form when she attended her singing lesson later in the evening.

I managed over 10000 steps today, so must be on the right road.

Covid update Sunday

I had a better night's sleep which was most welcome but have felt more tired today. Other than that the symptoms have been fine and I have been listening and watching but with a bonus trip to the garden for a cup of tea. Exciting times! The cricket has been helpful in giving me something to watch, so no films as yet today.

The photo is from 1979? or thereabouts when we went on a school trip to the NEC which I had completely forgotten about. I would have strongly denied ever having been to a motor show if asked but I did go once, which would have been to avoid school for the day rather than any love of cars. I was always bored by the obsession some had with them, able to identify make and model. It seemed to have little useful purpose being able to point out what someone had been driving unless acting as a witness in some crime involving a car.

I do recognise some faces though and one or two names were attributed to the faces in the photo and it did come back to me somewhat. Wonder what became of them?

Covid 19 update

Not much to write about given the fact I am isolating. PRC test came back positive too which means I have another 7 days of this to come but at least feel fairly normal today, despite another really poor night's sleep. In terms of symptoms, I no longer have the sore throat, the prickly sensation through my sinuses, nor the irritating cough. I have barely sneezed and my appetite is fine. The one thing I am still aware of is headache but even that is diminished. Fingers crossed I can continue to enjoy relative comfort during this time but I am not going to push it by taking my relative wellness for granted and it being permanent. I know things could change again and am not willing to take the risk.

In the meantime I have really enjoyed watching Once Upon A Time In America and Cinema Paradiso. Watch them. They are both great films. St Maud was ok but not something that resonated to any degree.

In the time I have been awake during the night I came across this photo of my old teachers taken perhaps in 1979. I would not have recognised a single face. I wonder why I have such poor memories of it all?

Watergate Bay with the family

 

I could quite easily just type that we got back from Wales and then down to Cornwall the very next day and I got Covid. That would be the sum of it but it would miss out the lovely few days we had there with almost all of the family. It was such a treat to see everyone. The weather was good, the sea was warm(ish) and the company excellent. 

It was just a shame to wake during Monday night ready to drive back the bext day and realise I had a sore throat, maybe a bit of a cold coming and then feel shattered after the return journey home. I took the test on Wednesday morning and found I was positive which is why I am now in isolation. Paul has also tested positive but thankfully, no one else thus far.