London

 

Well, I didn't really have long before the planning and preparation began again, as last weekend saw us back in London again. This was my first visit since running the marathon, and I'm happy to say that the weather was much warmer this time, no need for my hat and gloves :)

After dropping off our bags, the first stop was Richmond. By this time, we were feeling really hungry, so after a much needed lunch stop (a lovely picnic on Richmond Green) we walked along by the river, and up the hill towards Richmond Park. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we had hoped we might see the deer, but it didn't look too promising. There were plenty of butterflies and bees, but we didn't notice any deer, not even in the distance.

We made our way a little farther along the track, weaving our way past the ponds, and returning through the trees, when I suddenly spotted a deer among the bracken. Just one. Whether there were any more close by, I couldn't tell, but you're not supposed to get too close to them, so we stayed where we were.

Having given our legs a good stretch on the walk (It had been a long train journey), we headed along the river again, back to Richmond Green, where we enjoyed an ice cream and watched some of the cricket. It was quite busy there, as you might expect on a Saturday afternoon, but everyone was happy and  relaxed, and making the most of the sunny day.

Dinner that evening, was a McDonald's, eaten on Clapham Common :) I think half of Clapham was there, and why not, it was a lovely evening for it. After a quick drink at a nearby pub, we went back to our hotel for the night, where we both slept incredibly well, unsurprisingly after all that walking. 

For ages now, Lily has been wanting to experience H22, the city's highest free viewing platform, but you usually have to book tickets in advance for this. I kept checking for cancellations, but I wasn't having much luck, until last Sunday, while we were eating breakfast. I refreshed the web page, and it appeared that there were just a handful of tickets available for 11.00 that morning. Cue much excitement, then a quick dash to get into central London, to make our time slot. We had been incredibly lucky to get these tickets, and it was the perfect morning for it.  

Once we had reached our destination, in sharp contrast to the heat and noise of the city, we stepped into a quiet, cool entrance lobby, where we were directed through security and into the lift. 58 floors later, we were greeted by the most amazing views. Previously, we have visited the Sky Garden, which feels high enough, but on this occasion, we were actually looking down on it. We had a wonderful time up there, searching for the landmarks down below. The Tower of London, especially, looking as though it was part of a model village. It was amazing, and I would definitely recommend a visit there, if you are ever in the city. 

From H22, we walked down towards the river, passing The Monument to The Great Fire of London, then caught the tube to Hyde Park, where we enjoyed another picnic lunch, before spending the afternoon by The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. 

Then, all too soon, it was time for us to return home. Although, I was quite relieved, as the temperature rose even higher the following day. And I must admit, the city is not my favourite place to be when the weather is so hot.

J. X

A Morning in the Park

 

Last Sunday, I spent a morning in the park. The sky was blue, and it was lovely and sunny, but it was a fresh start to the day, and I felt cold. I was wearing several layers and an old beanie hat, but it wasn't enough to keep out the chill.  I wasn't alone. Everyone else was dressed in a similar way. In fact, thousands were. This was Greenwich Park, and I was waiting for my start wave for the London Marathon.

For years, I had hoped for this day, as it is notoriously difficult to be offered a ballot entry for The London Marathon. And just when I was getting ready to train for the event last year, I had my accident on the ice rink and needed to defer. It was a huge disappointment at the time, and since then, I've had some issues with my feet, which had me thinking that I might not even be able to run much farther than a few miles. So earlier in the year, my friend suggested we should run a half-marathon. Which was when I decided, if I could complete that without too much discomfort, then running the marathon could still be a possibility.

And that was how I found myself on a sunny April morning in London, stood in a park, surrounded by thousands of runners, all set to complete a distance of 26.2 miles around the streets of London. I dropped off my kit bag at the allocated truck and joined the ridiculously long line for the loo. I was incredibly nervous, as I'd never ran so far before, but I soon began chatting with some other runners who were feeling exactly the same. We were all anxious, but excited about what lay ahead. 

As soon as I heard my start wave being announced over the tannoy, I went to the numbered 'pen', and waited patiently for the approaching start time. Once the previous wave of runners had set off, we were herded, a little bit like cattle, towards the starting line. Then, before I knew it, we were off. 

To begin with, it didn't feel quite as I'd expected it would. The road ahead looked fairly quiet, but I had forgotten that there are, in fact, three starting lines for the marathon, blue, green and red, all of which merge together at approximately mile 3. That was when it all started to resemble the marathon I'd seen on the T.V. over the years. Thousands of supporters lined the streets, and the one thing I hadn't prepared myself for was the noise! It was quite overwhelming at times. The enthusiasm and support for those on the course was incredible. Thankfully, the miles passed surprisingly quickly, and I settled into a steady rhythm. However,  I did stop briefly to take a quick photograph at the iconic approach to Tower Bridge. I was still feeling quite strong at the halfway mark, but as I passed mile 20, I began to struggle, as the effort of running such a long distance began to take its toll. Spurred on by the crowds, somehow I managed to keep going, and it wasn't long before I found myself beside the  Palace of Westminster, then heading down Birdcage Walk towards Buckingham Palace. Then came the final straight stretch along the Mall and through the finishing line. It was here that I was greeted with a big, and most welcome hug from one of the amazing volunteers, then presented with my medal and, of course,  a foil blanket. Exhilarated, but exhausted, I had completed my first ever marathon.

J. X

London in December

 

I apologise if I sparked concern with my feeling so tired last night. The truth is, I was exhausted, but on this occasion it was self inflicted. We've just spent an amazing couple of days in London seeing the Christmas Lights. 

We're back home again now, still tired but very happy. It was a wonderful experience. 

Oh, and I managed to get those presents delivered :)

I'll share more photographs tomorrow, when I've had time to sort through them all. 

J. X

Summer in the City

 

Last weekend, Lily and I went on our previously postponed trip down to London, and even though we didn't get the high temperatures that had been forecast, it was at least warm and and sunny, which made sightseeing a far more pleasant experience than it would have been a week earlier.

Once we'd arrived and dropped off our bags, our very first stop just had to be the new water park on Clapham Common. Now I realise this wouldn't rank high on most people's London itineraries, but ever since our previous visit, when it was still in it's construction stage, Lily had been desperate for it to be open. This happened officially at the end of July and it has since proved to be incredibly popular. It is a great facility and Lily had a wonderful time running in and out of the various water features and fountains, while her big sister and I spent a lovely afternoon chatting in the sun.  I didn't take long before I decided that something fizzy was in order, and so we treated ourselves to some passion fruit martinis :)

The following day began with a trip on the cable cars at Greenwich. It was only a short ride, but was a lot of fun to do and gave us some amazing views across the city. 

I had been a little worried in that it was rather breezy that morning, but thankfully our car remained quite steady.

Moving away from Greenwich, we enjoyed a quick walk along an unusually quiet Oxford Street, then went for a wander around Covent Garden. It had been years since my last visit, but it hadn't changed a bit, and was still just as lively and bustling as I'd remembered. There were so many people milling around here, and lots more just stood about watching the street performers. It was nice for a little while but it felt good to then make our escape to Regent's Park, where we could relax and enjoy our picnic lunch and a much needed cup of coffee, followed by a walk around the beautiful rose garden. 

From there, our morning took on a more gentle pace. Away from the busy streets we walked along the canal to Little Venice. The tow path was lovely and quiet, and it certainly didn't feel like were right in the centre of such a large city. The slower pace was welcome and the brightly painted houseboats were such a delight to see. 

The next morning, we walked along by the Thames. Because we couldn't visit London and not see Big Ben! Stopping off at the Jubilee Gardens near the London Eye, we walked right along South Bank towards Millennium Bridge, then across to St. Paul's Cathedral. From there we headed to The Monument (on my list to visit next time), before catching the tube to Euston, for our journey home.

Being such a contrast to the slower pace of life I'm more accustomed to, I do enjoy our trips to the city, and yet, I'm often surprised at how easily we both adjust to it  when we arrive. 

But for now, it's good to back home,  for a short while at least :)

J. X

April Catch Up

It's been a while, and I hadn't intended to leave this long between posting, but I've been caught up with work, studying and attempting to manage the work being completed on the house. I am very happy to report that he dripping tap is now fixed, I have a radiator in the downstairs bathroom, and the bedroom window has been replaced. Yay!

As I type, there are men busily working on the roof and chimney, so I should actually be watertight come next winter. Now, I just need to find an electrician to replace the extractor fans, a joiner to box in the new boiler, and then arrange to have some new flooring fitted, none of which are urgent, thankfully. Then, once all of those have been completed, I can hopefully get on and decorate. 

In amongst the chaos, there has at least been time for more pleasurable activities. A few days after our walk up Blencathra, we visited the lovely little village of Downham. From there we walked up Pendle Hill, which has been on my list of things to do for ages. It is somewhere I have often driven past over the years but never actually had the opportunity to climb, until now. It was another bright and sunny day, and being a bank holiday weekend the summit was exceptionally busy. Fortunately for us, the way up from Downham was very much the less frequented path, we even spotted a deer on our way back to village. Downham itself is delightfully quaint and after a quick look around, we treated ourselves to some ice cream and sat down by the stream for a short while, before driving home again.

 

That afternoon we made some Easter nests. I always enjoy making these, although they never seem to last very long in this house :)

The following day, we left the car at home and went to Bowness-on-Windermere. Now, this isn't somewhere I would usually visit, especially on a bank holiday weekend, as it is often so busy with the many tourists who are naturally attracted to the area. Although, on this occasion, it didn't seem overly  crowded.  As always, we took our lunch with us and there were plenty of available benches where we could sit and eat, as well as enjoy the views. The pier and boats looked to be very busy however, so perhaps most of the visitors were out on the water.

The weather on Easter weekend had been rather glorious, so it came as no surprise that the temperatures dropped again during the week, and although overcast, it did remain fine for our trip to London. This time we visited the Sky Garden, which gave us a birds eye view of the city; Horse Guard's Parade, where they appeared to be making preparations for The Coronation; and to Chinatown, where we bought the most delicious cake from the bakery there, except it didnt make it home with us. Though Lily's favourite place would have to have been M&M's London, which is the world's largest sweet store, selling over 100 different types of M&M's in every colour of the rainbow. We did remember to bring those home :)

This last week I have been out running twice, and I am thrilled to report that my back was completely fine. And it is also reassuring to know that my legs still work :) Now that I have a little more time on my hands I hope to be going out more regularly, as it is the one exercise I really enjoy.  

Back soon. 

J. X  

 

September

I do realise we are now into October, and as the title proves just how infrequently I have posted lately, I thought another little catch-up might not be a bad idea. 

The new school term began slightly later than usual, which meant we enjoyed a longer than average summer break and so we used this time to take another trip to London. We stayed for two nights, enjoying a full day out in the capital, taking in Tower Bridge, The Museum of Natural History, St. Paul's Cathedral and Hyde Park. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we made the most of the good weather, enjoying a picnic in the museum garden and spending much of the afternoon cooling off in the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. 

Back home once more, we barely had chance to unpack, when we set off again. This time, to Ullswater for a day of paddleboarding, before travelling further north to spend the night in what should have been a camping pod, but thanks to a double booking, we ended up staying in a safari tent instead. It even contained a double bed, which made for a very comfortable stay. A fish and chip supper, followed by an evening beside the campfire provided a lovely way to round off our summer.

Two days later we started back at school for the autumn term, and as usual it felt good to fall back into a familiar routine once again. 

Determined to eke out every last moment of summer, that weekend we drove to Blackpool so that we could see the Illuminations, eat fish and chips, and best of all, enjoy fresh doughnuts bought from the pier. Our faces almost pressed right up against the glass, just to see the wonder of the batter being dropped into the hot oil and transforming into this delicious sugary treat, right before our eyes - I really need to get out more :)  

The last two weekends, we've been out walking, taking in three more Wainwrights and we have, at last, completed all of the Eastern Fells. I'm looking forward to exploring further afield now, and I am challenging myself to make it to the halfway point by the end of the year. 

Looking back over the month, I can see why I've had little opportunity to post. And now that the seasons are shifting, summer is but a distant memory. It's time to slow down, prepare for the colder months ahead, and embrace all that autumn now has to offer. 

J. X