Month: October 2017

Last week was a fairly normal week- walking on Monday, a club run on Tuesday (the route was great and according to my watch was 4.94 miles so I ended up running laps of a statue to make it up to 5- if I was further I wouldn’t bother but I was so close!).

Yoga on Wednesday was great, and I was so pleased as I was the closest I have ever been to a handstand. We were shown a new way to get up (we usually do them against a wall but you have to have your hands on the floor and jump your legs up, and I can never jump them high enough)- this time we stood with our backs to the wall, put our hands down on the floor and then walked our feet up. If my hands hadn’t been so slippery (I was nervous too) I think I would have managed to hold it!

These coconut goodies arrived in the post this week- of course the first flavour I had to try was the salted chocolate (basically coconut chips with a little coconut nectar, cocoa and sea salt);

They made my fingers all brown from the cocoa powder. Really tasty though.

I’m looking forward to trying the other flavours, although they don’t do a salt and vinegar one which would be the king of flavours in my opinion!

On Thursday we had booked tickets to see Borg Vs McEnroe, and happily I was home a bit earlier so I managed a quick run before a shower, dinner and then heading off to the cinema. The film was really enjoyable- I didn’t know the actual outcome which probably made it more dramatic, but the rivalry and their backgrounds were shown really well- it was a bit like the F1 films= you don’t need to be a fan of the sport to enjoy the film. We also had a load of good adverts- The Battle of the Sexes (another tennis one- again I don’t know the outcome so am going to avoid finding out until I see it) looks fab, the Armando Iannucci film about Stalin looked funny, and the Jo Nesbo Snowman film looked gripping (I have read some of the books but not that one I don’t think- good old Scandi crime fiction). It made me look forward to a few more trips. We’ve recently signed up for the Vitality health insurance (only a basic package, but there are things like an online GP which would be so useful) so if we earn enough points each week we will get a free cinema ticket and free Starbucks, and this was our first free trip.

I had caved into ordering some Bluebird tea- I was going to wait until we go to Brighton in a couple of weeks, but they posted that a lot of their pumpkin spice teabags had already sold, and I needed some more gingerbread chai teabags (an evening treat as they are rooibos) so I ordered myself a little top up- the marketing clearly worked on me!

They included a couple of recipe cards for banana bread chai loaf and a gingerbread chai latte- I am sure I will be making them soon!

I also ordered myself another one of these hairbrushes- they are totally brilliant for de-tangling hair when it is wet or dry. One of the things I struggle with used to be de-tangling my hair after a run in the rain as my hair would get so tangled (and I can’t plait it for running as it is too heavy and bangs around on my shoulders- I’ve tried it once and learnt never again!). Anyway, I think my hairdresser mentioned it to me once and so I got one and it’s been a revelation! You can use it on wet or dry hair and it’s so gentle- so I got myself one to keep in my bag (as the other one lives in the shower).

What are you looking forward to seeing in the cinema? Could you do handstands and cartwheels when you were a child? (I never could!) Which is your favourite crisp/ crispy snack flavour?

* I was sent the coconut snacks for free, but all opinions are my own.

Last Saturday, after Thetford parkrun, we headed off to a couple of National Trust places in Norfolk.

First up was Oxburgh Hall, where we had a look inside the building, went up the spiral staircase to the roof, wandered around the gardens and enjoyed a hot chocolate in the cafe. Then we headed to Blickling which had an RAF museum (as it was an air base in WW2), and lovely large grounds to walk around. We knew we would be heading to The Waffle House early in the evening, so we shared a sandwich in one of the tea rooms for lunch.

By late afternoon we were ready to head to Norwich (where Bush were playing later)- we had a little wander around the shops but I had a headache and didn’t feel great (probably not had enough to drink in the day) so we mainly sat outside in the fresh air with a cold drink, before heading to dinner.

As you may well know, I do love to go to The Waffle House in St Albans. The original is in Norwich, and personally I think it’s better, as it has a bigger range on the menu, plus you can have small or large sizes. I love both the savoury and sweet waffles, but having two is a bit much so I have to choose each time (tough choices). I’d explained to Andy that we would be sharing a sweet, and so in the end we both went for the small for our mains (still a perfectly good portion size).

I went for my favourite- the hummus and avocado- the one in Norwich was slightly different as it had sundried (not cherry) tomatoes and was sprinkled with poppy seeds. It was so good. Andy had a bolognese one which wasn’t on the St Albans menu- good to try something new.

We decided to have a dessert that we couldn’t get in the St Albans one, so we opted for a waffle with mixed nuts baked into the waffle and sprinkled over the top, with chocolate sauce and then added a scoop of ice cream (meant to be pistachio but they had run out so we had vanilla). It was so good.

Then we were off to see Bush- we had a slight fail here as we thought they would be on stage at 9 (this is the normal time for London gigs)- we turned up just after 8 thinking it was the support band playing, only to realise Bush were already on! Whoops! It was a great gig though, in a very small venue so we were really close to the front without being squashed by anyone. The bonus was that it ended earlier, and as we had a two hour drive to get home this was no bad thing.

On Sunday we went to Crews Hill to get some bargain plants for our garden (including a little crab apple tree for £3!). We were meeting Andy’s parents there and I’d woken up too late for a run before, so when we got home I headed out, but it was hot and I was hungry as I hadn’t had lunch, so I didn’t manage to go as far as I had originally planned. Andy spent the time putting most of the plants in the garden (I think I planted one when I got back).

Bottom right is where the huge patch of weeds was- the one I started tackling a few weeks ago- so nice to have some plants in there now instead of five foot tall thistles!

Are you often late for things? I hate being late but I also often underestimate the amount of time it takes me to do things (e.g. dry my hair) so I often end up rushing and feeling stressed. Do you often have a dessert if you go out for a meal? Although I have a sweet tooth, I find that often desserts are the most disappointing as they are from the freezer, and Andy would usually rather share a starter (plus if I order something like a brownie I will then feel like I could have made a nicer one myself and for less money). The main exception is The Pudding Stop in St Albans which makes the most amazing puddings (the clue is in the name)- you can go somewhere else for a meal and then head over for the pudding= perfect.