We are just back from seeing the family in Tyningham. As the sun was setting we went for a play on the green in front of the house and I got snap happy. This is my new favourite picture of my family :-)
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Generous people!
Week one of fund raising and already £175! Thank you all so much and keep it coming!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Strathpuffer24 08
Those of you unfortunate enough to be in my email address book will already have the gist of this, but Strathpuffer24 is a 24 hour mountain bike race held in the forestry near the spa town of Strathpeffer.
Earlier this year, sometime in the spring I think when the buds were beginning to show and winter's chill was fading, I mentioned to Mike that I had bought a mountain bike. A good one, like, with suspension and disk brakes and everything. His eyes narrowed and he asked whether I wanted to take part in an event next January - it sounded like ages away, and full of bravado and warm soup I agreed.
So here we are! January is only 12 weeks or so away... I have kept up my daily cycling to and from work as far as possible - sometimes I need the car to carry stuff and sometimes the motorbike if I have to be somewhere soon after work, but I've pretty much stuck to it, so that has helped me get fitter and faster. On top of this Mike and I have been visiting Glentress and Innerleithen, local mountain bike singletrack developments which, after some initial fear and reservation on my part, is absolutely brilliant fun. Sure we crash, and get knackered, but it's worth it for the downhill sections and the views from the top.
So the Strathpuffer is a reality. We both have a bit of a shopping list - waterproofs and lights seem to be pretty important as will be a Scottish January and 17 hours are in darkness. Brrr. Convincing some good friends and family to act as support crew will be important too - who else will make us soup at 4am if not them??
I'll keep posting exciting training stories and boring techy gadget details as we go along.
And don't forget the donation box on the top right of this page - I'm raising funds for Edinburgh's Sick Kids hospital. I chose it as a kind of taliksman...if I give to them maybe I'll never have to use them ;-)
Earlier this year, sometime in the spring I think when the buds were beginning to show and winter's chill was fading, I mentioned to Mike that I had bought a mountain bike. A good one, like, with suspension and disk brakes and everything. His eyes narrowed and he asked whether I wanted to take part in an event next January - it sounded like ages away, and full of bravado and warm soup I agreed.
So here we are! January is only 12 weeks or so away... I have kept up my daily cycling to and from work as far as possible - sometimes I need the car to carry stuff and sometimes the motorbike if I have to be somewhere soon after work, but I've pretty much stuck to it, so that has helped me get fitter and faster. On top of this Mike and I have been visiting Glentress and Innerleithen, local mountain bike singletrack developments which, after some initial fear and reservation on my part, is absolutely brilliant fun. Sure we crash, and get knackered, but it's worth it for the downhill sections and the views from the top.
So the Strathpuffer is a reality. We both have a bit of a shopping list - waterproofs and lights seem to be pretty important as will be a Scottish January and 17 hours are in darkness. Brrr. Convincing some good friends and family to act as support crew will be important too - who else will make us soup at 4am if not them??
I'll keep posting exciting training stories and boring techy gadget details as we go along.
And don't forget the donation box on the top right of this page - I'm raising funds for Edinburgh's Sick Kids hospital. I chose it as a kind of taliksman...if I give to them maybe I'll never have to use them ;-)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Ooh, that's a bit nippy
Last Saturday we made the most of a dry day and headed to Seacliff Beach, 2 minutes from North Berwick and charging £2 for parking to keep the riff raff out. You can see from Kit's face that it was not the warmest of water but we promise, it was his idea to paddle and it was all we could do to get his shoes and trousers off before he waded in.
I been busy dividing myself between SQH worrying (I am ahead in this, though behind in the actual work), school camp, continued practice for the Strathpuffer (more on this to follow) and other general work stuff. Lorna's new term has started in earnest and with huge rewrites and restructurings of existing courses her time is taken up too.
The boy talks more and more - his longer mutterings include "Ready, Steady, Go!" -and has a fetish for the red light on the burglar alarm sensor in the living room. People think he's waving to be friendly but he's actually trying to motion-activate it.
Oh, it's my birthday on Friday but I've definately stopped counting and have to do sums to work out how old I am.
Anyway that's a short and vague update until I get a real one done. And that might be soon.
I been busy dividing myself between SQH worrying (I am ahead in this, though behind in the actual work), school camp, continued practice for the Strathpuffer (more on this to follow) and other general work stuff. Lorna's new term has started in earnest and with huge rewrites and restructurings of existing courses her time is taken up too.
The boy talks more and more - his longer mutterings include "Ready, Steady, Go!" -and has a fetish for the red light on the burglar alarm sensor in the living room. People think he's waving to be friendly but he's actually trying to motion-activate it.
Oh, it's my birthday on Friday but I've definately stopped counting and have to do sums to work out how old I am.
Anyway that's a short and vague update until I get a real one done. And that might be soon.
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