Puddings, pancakes, plants, podcasts- part of the holidays

After going to QE parkrun on the Saturday, we headed into Southampton to see Andy’s grandma, and then into the town centre for a wander around the shops. It was really cold, so we popped into Caffe Nero for a chai latte to warm up. We had to get some bits in IKEA, and then went for dinner at Bill’s- I had a really good salad with beetroot and lentils and falafels and all sorts of tasty things.

We then headed to Sprinkled for dessert- I’d seen they did baked cookie dough,  so we shared one with peanut butter ice cream. It was really tasty- not as good as The Pudding Stop cookie dough, but still pretty tasty and perfectly gooey in the middle.

In the morning we headed to Chichester for a wander and brunch (we went to Boston Tea Party where I had some lovely blueberry pancakes), and then stopped off at Uppark National Trust Gardens for a walk around, and of course I could not resist a scone in the tearoom (shared with Andy).

It was a beautiful day, but very hazy, so we couldn’t see all the way across the Downs.

As I didn’t run on Sunday, I had a nice long run on Monday morning instead- 10 miles mostly avoiding the drizzle and forecast heavy rain.  The tulips looked beautiful with big drops of water on them.

I had an almond croissant in the freezer for a post long run breakfast, and decided to turn it into a chocolate almond croissant (the king of all pastries) by adding some chocolate buttons before heating it in the oven- the buttons melted a bit and it was rather heavenly.

Refuelled I then spent a couple of hours in the garden. Thankfully the rain meant that the ground was soft so weeding was pretty easy, although all that crouching gave me rather sore legs later on!  I saw an advert for this podcast- Paradise- about a couple who were murdered in the 70’s and the one suspect being arrested 38 years later. I listened to a few podcasts and the time flew by.

I made some hot cross bun dough, ready to prove in the fridge overnight, as we were having visitors on Tuesday.

I headed out on a quick walk first thing and then my sister-in-law visited with my niece and nephew. We headed to the local park but the rain just got harder so in the end we retreated to home for hot cross buns and tea. After they left we headed into town as we were meeting Andy’s parents for lunch (it was Andy’s birthday).  While Andy was working I decorated his birthday cake (it’s a Christmas cake as he loves fruit cake, so I just make an extra and then hide it somewhere- honestly this year I had a hard time finding it and did have to consider making a new one!). After a big lunch we had a long walk in the  evening.

On Wednesday I had a 7 mile run first thing, then I was in the zone, ticking loads off my list. I managed to clean the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, clean the hard floors and vacuum everywhere (even moving the mattress and cleaning out the floor under the bed which you can’t normally get to because it has a solid frame with drawers).  I had to pop and get some petrol and then pick up my mum to take her for a hospital appointment, and when I got home I started report writing.

On Thursday morning I did a 5 mile run, had to wait in for a delivery (which meant I couldn’t dry my hair until the parcel had come as I wouldn’t hear the knock at the door over the noise of the hairdryer)  and then headed to visit a friend and her new baby. I got home early afternoon and got on with yet more reports.

On Friday morning I drove over to St Albans and walked into to the town centre as I had booked a massage. As always it was very relaxing (and the lovely masseuse actually commented that apart from my left shoulder I actually wasn’t too bad! Progress!) and then I wandered into town for some breakfast (tea and almond croissant).

I won some Sweaty Betty vouchers via The Scientist Runs, so I popped in there to try on some leggings- I’ve only had their running bras (which I love) and I think a vest from there before, so wasn’t sure on sizing or fit. I found a pair of glasses in the changing room- that’s the second pair of glasses I’ve found this year.

I ended up buying two pairs of leggings- one cropped (power leggings) and one slightly longer. They both have big zipped pockets which I love, as so many leggings don’t have pockets. I could fit my phone in the zipped pocket which is an added bonus, and the cropped pair also have a side pocket in one of the legs. You can never have too many pockets!

When I got home I also found that my tea club for April had arrived- hooray! They are holding a tea election to find out which of their specials should become a permanent member- I am keeping my fingers crossed for peach cobbler tea because it is delicious.

More report writing happened in the afternoon, and then we had a walk in the evening before watching The Dawn Wall which was another fantastic documentary about climbing in Yosemite (like Free Solo)- I’ve no interest in climbing at all (I don’t do heights) but these films are so inspiring, and the scenery is just beautiful.

Do you like documentaries?

Pockets in clothes- yay or nay?

Any good podcast recommendations? I quite like series like these.