Braving the shops

So yesterday afternoon I had to wait in as I was expecting a delivery (in the morning, but of course it didn’t come until gone 3pm).

I got a few bits for work and then could not resist these baking books (the babycakes book topped it up for free delivery, so it was basically free, right?). After that I had to go to the allotment to plant out some rhubarb crowns that came this week (not allowed to go there after dusk so I didn’t have long) and then I popped out to the shops. I even braved TK Max after hearing good things about it. I am not much of a shopper anyway (in that I don’t have the patience for more than an hour of shopping) but I just really want to tidy it up. I hate the way it is organised- all the coats on one rack were all different colours and sizes- like the Next sale I just cannot be bothered to sift through it all. I found the food section and was impressed with some of the lovely things on offer- I got some Christmas coffee to go in hampers, and some tea for us (vanilla chai, and peach and passionfruit which is gorgeous).

I also popped to Boots and as things were 3 for 2 I got some nail varnish, a sort of pearly top coat, and some conditioner.

Then I made some gingerbread- I used a recipe from the British Bake off book, although I simplified the recipe. Basically you had to heat treacle, butter and syrup in a pan. In a bowl you had flour, sugar, spices and bicarb- you added milk and an egg, and then whisked in the cooled treacle mixture- it all frothed and bubbled up- I imagine how honeycomb is supposed to- before baking it in the oven.

Today I added some lemon icing (just zest and juice of one lemon mixed with icing sugar)- the sunlight was so bright but the picture has not come out that well.

Anyway we had it with our Sunday tea and it went down very well indeed- really moist and sticky like a good gingerbread should be.

This morning I woke up early, and the weather was gorgeous so I went out for a run. I decided on 10K- so I did an out and back route so I could get it just right. I was keeping a close eye on my watch- I knew I had to be under 10 minute miles, although I need to actually work out my pace properly for next week. Mostly I was doing 9.25 ish, at one point it crept over to 10.02 but that prompted me to speed up, and I even kept up a good pace going back up the hill on the way home.

I was very pleased to see that even with crossing roads I had managed sub 60 minute! I might manage my target next weekend! More on that another day I think. Plus, good news, I wore my new trainers- I laced them up much tighter, and put a plaster over the cut, but they were much better so hopefully I will keep them.

Even though I wore a long sleeved top, a jacket, tights and gloves I was pretty cold, so after a shower I went back to bed to warm up. I am reading the new John Grisham book at the moment so read a few more chapters.

Later in the morning we realised that we had run out of a few things (annoying seeing as I only went to the shops yesterday) so we parked a bit away from the town and then walked in. We got to Starbucks at just after 2pm, so decided to take advantage of the festive drinks offer. I had a gingerbread steamer (so no coffee, just steamed milk and gingerbread syrup)- very delicious.

Plus my new nail varnish nearly matches the cups! It was so nice to sit outside- even though it was pretty chilly we were wrapped up warm from our walk anyway.

Are you a good shopper? I find that if I go somewhere new, whether this country or another, I can shop for a bit longer, but if I go to my local shops I can only stand about an hour before I get fed up and want to go home. Although saying that often if we are away somewhere we spend most of our time in coffee shops/ tearooms!