Well, maybe not quite a heatwave but more summer weather than this week of intermittent sunshine and showers.
With regards to my Strava log (which helps me to remember what I actually did), it went like this:
Monday: 10k in the sunshine
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday: lots of walking
Thursday: Yoga and then a 6 mile run but it was very humid
Friday: not parkrun and then a hot walk/run home
We were then off to Scotland for a week so I’ll put that in a separate post.
Walking in the woods, hibiscus flower, tomatoes and Pudding Stop goodies
This is the best time in the holidays in my opinion, as you are far enough in them to have a good routine, but also the end is far enough away that the back to work thoughts don’t crowd the mind too much. The lovely weather meant lots of pottering in the garden and catching up on podcasts. Plus I actually get to enjoy our hibiscus flowers- they don’t seem to flower for that long and so often there will be loads of buds, we’ll go on holiday and when we get back they’ve finished flowering. Silver linings and all that.
I was also feeling a bit braver (or maybe more realistic?) and did a few covid firsts (I don’t want to say post lockdown, because although it’s all eased we are still not at the end). My neck and back bother me a lot and for the last several years I’ve been going to see a lovely woman for a deep tissue massage around once a month or every 6 weeks. The last time I went was in February and of course they have been shut for ages, but recently they reopened so I booked an appointment. I was pretty nervous but I felt very comfortable- they would obviously always wash things between clients anyway, but they had extra precautions, and I had to keep my mask on the whole time. I felt so much better after though (eg I can now look over my left shoulder properly when reversing my car). Afterwards I walked around to The Pudding Stop and picked us up some goodies- last time I did a click and collect to minimise time in there, but in fact it’s all glass so you can see in and they only let one customer in at a time so again it all felt fine.
I was glad to have done a couple of things like that because I had to have my car MOT and service that week (well technically I could have waited until October but I would rather have my car checked sooner rather than later just in case) and although I had booked online you still have to go into the office to go over the paperwork and hand over the keys etc. Again, masks on, although at one point another guy (customer) was in there and he didn’t have a mask and kept wandering about and getting too close. Anyway, after dropping my car off I walked the long way home (I think about 6 miles?) via Caffe Nero to get a croissant, through the golf course and woods. I did a fair bit of work while waiting for the garage to call, and then walked back (the short way) to collect it.
Ordered myself a diary clip from Enchanted Cozy Co (on Etsy) and they now do personalised cozies so I got one with my initials as you do. Plus a croissant and also a delivery from Food Circle Supermarket who sell lots of bits when they are close to their sell-by date to reduce supermarket waste. I got some Clif bars and Kind bars to take to Scotland with us.
On Friday we were going to head to Edinburgh, planning to stop in a NT place to have some lunch, so Andy had suggested that on my run I stop in at Waitrose and get us some lunch. Having not been in a supermarket since March it was very strange going inside. It was early in the morning and thankfully quiet, although there was a lady with a trolley who kept going into the box that I was in (the boxes marked out on the floor). I was also very disappointed with the options- I’ve really gone off cheese and can’t remember the last time I had dairy cheese (I have some dairy free stuff which is good if I make a pizza), and there were only a few veggie options and all of them had cheese, even a hummus and falafel thing which would usually be a good bet. Anyway, I ended up with carrots and hummus… not such the treat lunch I was hoping for!
What is your favourite treat lunch? We don’t have a Pret here but their hummus and crunchy veg wrap is sooooooo tasty. I also like a toasted panini but that doesn’t last well for a packed lunch!
