Our Step Challenge #3

Hi there again everyone 😀

Well here we are ... three weeks into November and still managing to keep up with the 'step challenge' that we set ourselves for this month.

Last week we did manage a 'big day out' ... which was just lovely ... so managed to have a bit of a more interesting walk than our usual convoluted stroll around the block or the local nature reserve.

As suggested by Kate in her comment on last week's post I think we will try and up our challenge ... just a little bit ... to 2250 steps a day for this coming week. I know we have been exceeding this fairly regularly so it will be interesting to see how it feels knowing we need to do just that little bit more ... time will tell.

For now ... here is how we did last week ...

Monday, 15th ... 2925

On Monday it was my Goddaughter, Rachel's, birthday. We had a wander, via the nature reserve, round to Jackie's to drop off her birthday card ...

Tuesday, 16th ... 2662

Today we had a choice of walks ... we needed to go to Aldi to pick up a few bits and pieces and that was the original plan for our walk. But when it came to it we didn't really fancy it and opted for a walk purely for walking's sake ... which actually surprised us both. We didn't go far ... just down the road, through the ginnel by the canal and back via the nature reserve ... but the opposite way to Monday. 

We also both realised that we are both better at walking in the morning, rather than later in the day. And ... of course we still had to go to Aldi so did a few more steps round the supermarket, which actually took us up to 3091 ...

Wednesday, 17th ... 2050

Today I was out for afternoon tea with Jackie, Rachel and Erin, who is just one and has definitely found her feet. I gave Martin the choice of walking before I went out or after I got back. He opted for after I got back so we had our second quick evening walk in the dark. Today's total did not include the numerous circuits of the restaurant that I did with Erin toddling around  ... she found that an absolutely fascinating way to spend an afternoon ...

Thursday, 18th ... 7343

Thursday was my birthday and we spent the day at Clevedon on the Somerset coast. It's a bit of a trek just for the day but it was lovely. We had a lovely walk in the sunshine along the pier and the front and a really nice lunch ...

Friday, 19th ... 2409

On Friday I needed a trip to the Post Office so we made this our walk for the day ...

Saturday, 20th ... Garden Leaf Clearing

Saturday was time for another massive leaf clearing session in the garden. We easily filled the green bin and were feeling quite pleased with ourselves ... until we looked out on Sunday morning and saw that next door's lilac had decided it was time to drop 🙈🙈🙈

Sunday, 21st … 2662

On Sunday I’d noticed that there was a Christmas Market on in Lichfield and we had a ride over to have a look. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience as it was just sooooooo busy. We ended up avoiding the market and having a quick walk round and heading straight back home again …

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Photo Scavenger Hunt :: November #3 ... Something you see every Day

Hi there everyone 😀

The photo challenge this week had me scratching my head for a bit. This week Astrid has challenged us to find photos of … something we see every day.

I know it sounds kind of easy but it's harder than I thought it would be. The view out of my front window is not very inspiring at all and I can’t really see into my garden that well … other than from the landing window.

I don’t have a pet and I don’t have any children. I was beginning to think I was going to have to photograph my hands 😂😂😂

Anyway … yesterday was my birthday and we went to the coast for the day and I started to think about sharing photos of the sea … which is what some of the lucky locals of Clevedon would see every day.

In the end I opted for the sky … I see it every single day … whether at home or away somewhere else and it is always so different.

Rather than dig back through the archive I’ve decided to just share a few from our trip out yesterday.

Starting with when we arrived and it was very, very murky … with no sign of Wales in sight ...

...but in just the time it took for us to walk the length of the pier it had changed to this … beautiful … and yay ... Wales is back in the background ...

There were so many colours in the sky to be had yesterday …

On the way home the sunset was fabulous … with the sky looking at though it was running with red hot volcanic lava. As we were driving I couldn’t really capture it, but this is this is the best I could do …

I will let you know more about our day trip to Clevedon in a separate post as it definitely a spot worth sharing 😀

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Our Step Challenge #2

Hello there again everyone 😃

Last week I let you know about the 'step challenge' Martin and I had set ourselves for November. I know it may not sound like a particularly stretching challenge but believe you me ... for us ... a minimum of 2000 steps a day, every day, no matter what ... is no mean feat.

This week started out really well and, whilst we haven't given up, outside forces have made this weekend a real trial. Let me tell you all about it ...

Monday, 8th ... 2051

On Monday we had no particular reason to walk ... no errands to run, so it was a walk purely for walking's sake. We had another wander down to the local nature reserve, where the swans were more than happy to pose for a close up ...

Tuesday, 9th ... 2183

Tuesday was the day we were actually laying dad in his final resting place, so we started off with a walk in the cemetery where he'd chosen a nice spot. It was a lovely autumnal day and the cemetery actually looked lovely in its autumn colours. We made up the rest of our steps later in the day with a quick walk round the block in the sunshine when we got back home ...

Wednesday, 10th ... 3150

On Wednesday we had to pick up a parcel from our local sorting office, which is in walking distance. We turned it into a nice short circular walk, ending up coming back along the canal ...

Thursday, 11th ... 2874

Thursday's walk was made up from running errands ... a trip to Dunhelm to collect a delivery and a bit of shopping at Asda, where we parked as far away from the entrance as we could, which is a totally different thing for us ...

Friday, 12th ... 2390

We really had to force ourselves to make the effort for our walk on Friday. Our central heating boiler had finally given up the ghost. We had no heating and were due to have a new boiler fitted on Saturday morning. I think having no heating was making us just want to huddle in front of the fire. We had a short wander to Jackie and Phil's via a circuitous route ... 

Saturday, 13th ... 2656

I've just really realised that Saturday was the 13th, which, if you were superstitious, you could say was the reason for our mega stress of a day. After lots of issues, the new boiler finally was up and running, but we were left with a leaking mains stop tap, which just happens to be sited in a corner behind kitchen cupboards. It wasn't just a drip either, it was a pretty steady flow, and the plumber couldn't do anything until Monday evening. 

After the plumber had left, we decided to abandon everything and have our walk, hoping it would clear our heads a bit. We were both so stressed I didn't even remember to take a photo. 

When we got back, we spent ages working out how to catch the water until Monday. We managed to rig up a system to contain a certain amount of water and a friend came to the rescue with a wet and dry vac, so we could keep on top of things We finally sat down to eat at about 9pm ... thank goodness we'd just planned a very easy dinner.

Sunday, 14th ... 2073

It was another stressful morning mopping up and our friend came back to help take the kitchen cupboards apart to make things easier for the plumber on Monday. He then came back later with the family for Sunday lunch, which, in spite of the chaos, I hadn't wanted to cancel. I'm really glad we didn't as it took our minds off things water related for a while and we had a lovely lunch followed by some planning for our holiday in a few weeks. 

By the time they left it was dark and we really didn't feel like walking, but it seemed a shame to break our run, so we headed out for our first walk in the dark ...

So there we go ... another week and we've managed to do our 2000 steps each day. I'm quite proud really, though Martin is still finding it pretty tough on his recovering ankle and we don't seem to be managing to build the distance up much ... but at lease we are still going and haven't given up 😀

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Photo Scavenger Hunt :: November #2 ... Apple

Hi there everyone 😀

It’s Friday and time to link up with Astrid again for this week’s photo scavenger hunt. The word for this week is … apple 🍎

The only photos that immediately sprung to mind were these ...

Not the prettiest I know … and I apologise profusely if you are eating ... but taken on a lovely autumnal walk when we stayed in a cottage in Biddestone, not far from Bath. And these guys were quite happy with the quality ...

We did used to have a braeburn apple tree in the garden, which did quite well for a few years. It was one of those problems though ... seemed a good idea at the time but it was the often found case of wrong tree, wrong place and it got too big and it had to go ... I think 2014 was the last year we had fruit from it ...

I did wonder if I might have any pictures taken in orchards from our many garden visits over the years and whilst pickings were pretty meagre I did manage to find a few …

Coughton Court - July 2018

Snowshill Manor - August 2018

I did manage to find a few culinary pics ...

This is one I took when we were on holiday in Wales … a lazy apple crumble, made with a bag of pre-mixed crumble mix from Tesco, which was delicious … can’t see me hand making crumble mix ever again …

... and this was our breakfast on Wednesday … apple pie pancakes …

I do have a few tubs of this still left in the freezer ... stewed homegrown cooking apples and blueberries which are earmarked for another lazy crumble for Sunday when Lesley and Tom are coming for lunch ... it will be the first time we've had 'guests' inside the house since before the first lockdown, so that will be lovely.

It will be made even more exciting as we are making plans for our wintry Northumberland break in December ...

And finally ... a spot of hand stitched applique that I did a few years ago ...

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