Maria Runs

Hey peeps- I am very excited about this wonderful weather. I have decided that ignorance is bliss, so I might not check the weather forecast any more (breaking the habit of a lifetime) and just imagine that it will continue like this for the months ahead.

This morning we were up early for a Saturday (6.30) to drive up to Silverstone as Andy was driving an Aston Martin (he got it for his birthday last year and had to cancel twice due to torrential rain and then snow)- we stopped at Ikea on the way home, which of course turned into a two hour shopping trip. Then we popped to town to get a couple of bits, and neither of us could resist a Starbucks. They now sell re-usable cups (for £1 or free if you have a gift card) so I got my free one, and that gave me 25p off my drink (and from now on if I remember to take it with me)- plus this week they donate 25p to a clean water project each time someone uses one- every little helps.

As the sun has come out, it is the perfect time to start enjoying cold drinks instead of hot tea all the time. I was sent some Welch’s juices to try, and they have been great now the weather is warmer.

The Purple and Rose grape light versions are “juice drinks”- water, juice, sugar and a little sweetener, but they have fewer calories than neat grape juice. I think it is a shame they add in the sugar, as the grape juice is sweet enough. Saying that, I really liked the Rose grape (my fave of the three), but on its own it was too sweet for me. I would either have it with some water and lots of ice, or as iced tea.

The White Grape and Raspberry drink was very refreshing as the raspberries added a tartness to it, although again this was a juice drink so made up of water, grape and raspberry juice, and some sugar. I have seen on the website white grape with peach, which sounds so summery.

My favourite way to drink it was as a fruity iced tea.

Any fruity tea would do, but I have some lovely strawberry and kiwi tea at the moment, so I used that. I made up the tea (using hot water), left it to cool, and then had a mixture of half tea, half juice, and then as much ice as I could get out of the ice cube tray.

I bought myself an iced tea cup on holiday (well it is a plastic Aladdin cup with screw on lid and straw).

I also had it with black iced tea. On holiday I would have iced tea unsweetened, but it does go well with something fruity in there too.

I used a Twinings Black tea with Echinacea, as they have a hint of cherry (or something like that) but plain black teabags would be fine. Again, make up the tea (I don’t leave the teabag in there too long), leave to cool, then mix with the grape juice and plenty of ice. It really is so refreshing. I made this up on Wednesday when I got home from work, and had it to drink when I finished my super tough Sweatshop run (tough because I was tired/ had not run for 2 weeks/ it was very windy). Very refreshing. Anyway, I liked these drinks, although I think it is a shame they add sugar to them. But I would prefer to have sugar than artificial sweeteners and as I don’t drink fizzy drinks they make a nice change as the weather warms up.

How have you been making the most of this weather? We walked to the allotment in the week and picked some daffodils, and I need to go and plant out some onions either today or tomorrow. I also want to plant some seeds in pots, as hopefully they will germinate now it is a little warmer. Plus a run in the sunshine is on the cards for tomorrow.

Are you an iced tea fan? I must admit even though I love tea I never liked the sound of it, until I was persuaded to try some while on holiday- now I love it!

Also, GOOD LUCK to Lara (who is running the London Marathon), and of course anyone else running this weekend 🙂

Hello! I hope everyone is well, and that the temperatures in England are getting warmer.

Last Thursday we had to get to the airport after work, as we were heading to California and beyond for an Easter holiday. We usually have a small trip in the UK at this time of year, but because last summer we bought an annual pass to the National Parks, (and because we have always wanted to go to Yosemite, and Easter is the best time for all the waterfalls etc) we booked it.

We had an evening flight to Toronto, then an overnight stay, then an early flight the next morning to LA. The pilot told us when we were flying over the Grand Canyon- pretty amazing.

We had two days in the Disney parks (which were great- really fun rides), and then picked up our hire car and drove to Vegas.

The Bellagio hotel had a lovely garden in the foyer bit- so pretty (we stayed in a hotel that linked to it).

In the evening we had tickets for The Beatles Cirque Du Soleil show, Love.

It was our birthday presents to each other, as they are both coming up soon. I had never seen a cirque show before, and had no idea what to expect, but it was brilliant. The performers were amazing, and the music just added more to it.

Of course we had to stop by the Fountains and see them dance to music.

The next morning we had more of a walk in the sunshine before our longest drive- Vegas to Grand Canyon (over 270 miles). We stopped for some lunch first, then stopped at the big dam, (The Hoover dam, apparently where one of the transformers live?) before the long drive. It was amazing the way the scenery changed- mountains, deserts, forests. We finally reached the canyon once it was dark.

We did a lot of walking around- there were free shuttle buses that went all around the South rim, so we got those and then walked between them (on the first morning the walk was 5 miles). It is just amazing- the views change all the time, and it is so hard to understand the scale. Apparently it is 10 miles across, and the river, which looks like a ribbon in the distance, averages 100 feet across!

We even saw some elk in the car park of the hotel! We saw more while on the bus too- always very exciting!

Then we drive to Monument Valley (just the 200 miles this time) as Andy has always wanted to see it.

It was amazing to see. They can be up to 300 metres high! There was a drive all around them, but it was on sandy desert and not paved roads, plus we had another 140 miles to drive before our overnight stay. We have been doing a mega road trip! We had one night in Page (Arizona), right by Lake Powell, and then another long drive to Zion National Park today. It is amazing! If you have seen 127 hours (which is a brilliant film) then the scenery is just like that. Basically it is a massive canyon, but you are in the bottom of it, instead of looking down into it, like at the Grand Canyon. (You can look at a photos tab on that link if you are interested, although Andy has taken loads too)

We arrived in the afternoon, and it turned out the clocks had changed? We were in Arizona before, but often they have the new time zones on the “Welcome to … state” signs. Anyway, even though it was an hour later we still had time to catch a bus up the canyon (they have free shuttles here too) and do a couple of walks- one up the river, and one alongside the canyon floor. The walks all have estimated times, but I don’t think they take into account all the stopping for photos that we do- I think Andy has already taken 600+ this holiday!

We still have Bryce Canyon, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite to visit- lots more walking and photos to come!

Bye for now! 🙂

Did you all have a lovely Easter? They don’t seem to have Easter eggs over here- have to look forward to some on our return home!

Hey peeps, hope everyone is OK. We really need some sunshine now!

I used to do the WIAW posts (what I ate Wednesday) but I just have not done that for months, but I still like reading other peoples’ ones, and keep meaning to do them. I think I started off taking photos, and then forgot, so they are not all on the same day, hence why it is not WIAW.

Breakfast:

Every week day is porridge- this day was with a chopped pear, soya milk, and a little pb drizzled on top once cooked. I soak my porridge the night before, then cook it in the microwave in the morning, this way the oats soak up loads of liquid and I find it very filling.

I also have a mint tea and some water.

Lunch:

Andy made me a pb&j 🙂 The cute owl box had assorted chopped fruit- apple and persimmon I think. The nakd bar is for a morning snack, and the mint tea is for lunch time. My favourite lunch at the moment is ryvita with hummus (sometimes caramelised onion yummy), carrot sticks to dip, and fruit.

If I go on a run I would often have a snack in the afternoon too, but of course I didn’t take any photos of them.

Dinner:

This may not be of the same day! This was a speedy dinner for when we were in a hurry- we cooked some tomato soup, and then made a quesadilla to go alongside it- wholemeal wrap heated up in a pan, topped with grated cheese and chopped pepper, then another wrap on top. This, sliced and dipped into soup was lovely. Sometimes I add spinach in there too as I love wilted spinach and cheese.

Snack:

I normally have some kind of evening snack- this was fab- yoghurt, persimmon and chocolate marzipan hearts left over from Christmas.

Urgh, the weather. Blah blah. You can fill in the gaps. I went on a run on Monday but it was so cold, etc etc, so I nearly wimped out, and then just went on a short one because I basically thought I am not training for anything right now, and running for fun, and running in this cold is not that fun. Weirdly the pavements were not gritted, but the ice had mainly cleared, but it is still all on the grass and houses. Blah.

What are your Easter weekend plans? Let’s look forward to something good!