Snowy weekend

Hey peeps, I hope everyone is well.

Let me see, where did I leave off last time?? On Friday evening I had an unsuccessful attempt to visit my Mum, as the traffic was so awful I had to turn around and come home, but never mind, people are allowed mobile phones in hospitals now, so at least we could have a chat.

Andy bought us a present- this massive bag of Earl Grey teabags! (He is quite partial to it too and it only cost £2!)

On Saturday morning I went for a run before breakfast- there is a 6 mile loop that I fancied doing, and I decided to go for as close to an hour as I could. I think I am still worried about starting off too fast in case I get to the furthest point from home and my legs fall off or something, but I am getting better at knowing my pace. Anyway, it was fast for me, but it still felt OK- I felt like I had pushed myself, but not like I had exhausted myself. I couldn’t start the Garmin until 0.1 miles (I checked the distance on the way back) so although it was 6.2 miles, my Garmin tracked 6.1 miles in 59 mins! I am hoping that I would have done the 0.1 mile in a minute, and it means I am getting close to that sub 60 min 10k.

After breakfast (pancakes with apple, pear and mincemeat) we headed up to Norwich. Andy had a ticket for the football, so I decided to go with him and look around the town. We only just made it in time as the town centre traffic was so awful (and all the car parks were full), so he rushed off and I wandered around the town centre.

It was raining heavily at first, but soon that turned to snow. I ended up buying quite a lot- a new wallet and bag for work from Fat Face.

I bought a few bits from Holland and Barrett (mint tea, a bounce ball although I really wanted the coconut one but they didn’t have it, cocoa nibs, plus earl grey tea lip balm- how exciting- from White Stuff- navy nail polish, peanut butter and key lime pie locally made chocolate, and some Hotel Chocolat too.

I found a tearoom and had a mint tea and a scone for a belated lunch (and they didn’t even have jam to go on the scone), although what I really wanted was lemon cake but they didn’t sell it. When I told Andy later he told me I should have gone to The Waffle House- I had forgotten there was a Norwich branch and he passed it on his way to the ground. I was annoyed with myself then! I went back to the hotel and painted my nails in the new blue varnish- I had packed some pink but of course it is always better using the new stuff. When Andy got back from the football we braved the horrible weather (cold heavy snow and slushy slippery pavements) and headed for Giraffe for dinner.

This morning we were planning on going to Cafe Rouge, as we have some vouchers, but decided on The Waffle House instead. Their menu was similar to the St Albans one, but they also had additional waffles, plus you could get small or large for some of them (I always say this to the St Albans one), and they did a lunch time deal- 2 waffles for £7.05- bargain! Anyway, there were a couple of items on the breakfast menu that our local one does not so, so I went for one of those. It was a fruit and nut waffle, with dried fruit and nuts baked in to the waffle, served with a fruit compote, natural yoghurt and crushed nuts. And of course you can add maple syrup to it too.

The photo does not do it justice.  Andy had a normal breakfast one with scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes. And of course a pot of tea for us each! That fruit compote was so delicious- really sharp and tangy with the blackcurrants and raspberries- mmmm.

We were originally planning on going somewhere on the way home- the seaside or something, but it was snowing, sort of hailing, freezing cold and wet, so after another wander around the town we headed home.

I stopped off to see my Mum, and by the time I got home I was starving! It was about 5pm I think, so that waffle had done a pretty good job of keeping me going. I had some chilli and lime popcorn (it was very orange although I don’t think it has shown up that well)- it was pretty spicy but you could still taste the lime. I don’t find popcorn very filling so I had the bounce ball too, and a persimmon.

I can’t believe all this snow though, and also how cold it is, yet again. I don’t mind the cold, but it does seem totally freezing out there. At least the snow had not settled properly I suppose. Easter is only 3 weeks away- surely it should be Spring by then????

Did you have a good weekend? Where do you like to go for a weekend away?