Just a quick update

Not much time at the moment as there's so much happening so apologies for that. Village in Bloom is looming, I've another marathon in a few days, there's crochet and knitting to catch up with and a very strange and sad situation as Britain woke up to the news that a majority of people had voted to leave the European Union leaving us with the very real possibility that the United Kingdom might be torn apart into separate bits. I felt sad just typing that never mind having to face the reality.

A quick update on the Frida's Flowers CAL:

Not in any order but there are 4 of each of these motifs (but I see I've missed off the last motifs, sorry!)

This one is called the 'heart' flower and I love the way the petals are shaped like hearts.

We've just completed the 6th set of motifs and the 7th is due next week but I doubt I'll be able to start them straight away.

Jamming

I noticed that a lot of people have been viewing my recipe for Gooseberry and Elderflower jam as the gooseberry's are perfectly ripe now and the Elderflowers are prolific. I picked 3 times the amount of gooseberry's from that same bush this year and I've still got another one to pick which is a different variety.

When I'd finished topping and tailing the fruits I was struck by the contrast between the vivid green gooseberry flesh and their dark brown tails so I played around and shaped them into a heart in an arty-farty way:

Simple pleasures!

Sheep save the day

I don't think I've mentioned my horsey dilemma before so here it is: Kizzy is so old that she has no grinding teeth left and whilst she can bite off the grass she can't chew it enough to digest it so spits it out. As a result, I have to give her chopped and soaked feed 3 times a day so she can just slurp it down. Esther on the other hand is not quite as elderly and is prone to weight gain which can lead to laminitis if not kept in check, plus she has arthritis so I need to keep her weight down.

I used to put what's known as a 'grazing muzzle' on Esther but she learnt to get it off. Then I tried shutting her in her field shelter overnight until she learnt that she could get out of it if she threw all her weight at the entrance (which she did every time Kizzy went out of sight!). The only option seemed to be to divide the field into strips but that's a real nuisance and costly too!

When the last lot of ewes and their lambs were in the next field some of them found their way through a gap in the hedge to graze with the horses. The horses didn't seem to mind and so we asked Mark and Melissa if the sheep could go in with the horses and they were happy with that. This means that they will restrict Esther's grazing and help maintain a good weight.

The other day the ewes and lambs came back (looking much bigger now) and we devised a way of fixing the adjoining field gate open by erecting a small fence which is just wide enough for the sheep and lambs to get through but not for the horses. QED! 

They are all quite happy with the new arrangement and it's lovely to look out of the window and see them all together.

The cheeky lambs come and pick up the bits Kizzy drops from her feed bucket!

Marathon 84

This was the day after the results of the Referendum had been announced and I was still numb with shock. As I was driving to the venue I listened to the radio and I could hardly make sense of what I was hearing. How could this be happening in our country?  I found tears running down my cheeks at one point as it was so sad. I needed to run just to escape from reality for a few hours.

I was heading off to Jeskyns, a beautiful open space of pasture and woodland close to Gravesend. This event had to be re-routed earlier in the year due to heavy rainfall so we never actually got to run through the venue itself so I was looking forward to exploring it.

It's situated alongside the A2 road which leads into London and parts of it are traversed by these giant pylons:

Having collected my number my first stop was to join the queue for the toilets whereupon I bumped into Lisa sporting her new badge for having run 200 marathons.

Back at the registration area our lovely support team were setting up the aid station (I'd baked my usual banana cake which always seems to go down well) - Clive dear, there's no point checking your GPS yet, we haven't started!

These two lovely ladies, Kirsty and Liz, seem to be appearing on here quite frequently!

OK, why are Lisa and Ellen tying eachother together with a chain? No, they are practising for Ellen's latest ultra where she will be running 130 miles whilst attached, by chain, to another runner who she has not met before. She ran a couple of laps with Lisa and then 2 other men for variety and I ran 2/3 of a lap chatting with her but not attached. 

I should have a caption contest for this photo!

It was already hot when we set off at 8:30am but the forecast was for rain at around 11:30am and it would have been quite welcome to help cool is down but of course it never comes when you want it! For marathon distance I had to do 9 laps and on my final lap as I was well within the time limit so I considered going out for an extra lap. Thankfully the lure of chilled Prosecco and Mike at home changed my mind and I didn't as by the time I got back to my car the rain had started.

I took a few photos to try to capture the feel of the place. It was very popular with dog walkers and families, which was nice to see, and there is a bridle path too with some fabulous gallops. As I was nearing the end of my final lap I saw a young girl on her horse cantering around a bend and then galloping down the long straight stretch. The look of sheer joy on her face made me smile as I remember that feeling of freedom.

Our route was undulating and very pleasant, passing through wildflower meadows, sometime son grass, sometimes on wide gravel paths. Some areas had signs indicating dogs must be on the lead, probably because of ground-nesting birds. Even though the loops were just under 3 miles long I always spotted something new on each one so I'll just let the photos do the talking:

Storm clouds gathering!

I was pleased to finish in 5:23:42 and received another medal with slightly different colouring than the one from earlier in the year.

I also got a birthday badge which they'd run out of when I ran on my birthday last week! Such a nice touch.

Next up is marathon 85 in a few days and it's at the place where I bailed out after 2 laps earlier in the year because it was just too muddy. I'm hoping it isn't as bad this time but the forecast is for rain...........

Number 2

Yesterday was my 2nd event of the year. It was originally planned to be held at Jeskyns Community Woodland near Gravesend but a few days before the event the wardens made the difficult decision to cancel due to conditions underfoot. It's been so wet for the last few months that all the trails were very muddy and they were concerned about the impact of a 100 or so runners on them.

This of course gave Traviss a huge dilemma - to cancel or reschedule the event. Many Race Directors would just have cancelled the event and offered a transfer to whenever it was held again (which can sometimes mean never and thus you've lost your entrance fee) but Traviss is a different RD altogether!

As soon as he learned the news he put out a message to all entrants and then the next day he had offered an alternate route with several options for everyone:

i) Run the new route, which was on tarmac but in the vicinity of Jeskyns, based out of the Cyclopark.
ii) Defer to the rearranged date in June.
iii) Transfer to another of their events.
iv) Save it as a race credit to be used at another of their events in the future.

There truly aren't many, if any, other Race Directors who would do that and that is one of the many reasons why his events are so popular. I chose option i) and I'm really glad I did.

On the morning of race day I looked out of the window at 5:30am and saw a white curtain of snow falling. Worse still, it was sticking to the ground and there was already a 3" covering. As most of the little lanes I'd be using to get to the main road do not get gritted this was a worry and so I checked the BBC website for traffic updates and weather forecast. It looked as if it was fine elsewhere so I set off and within 5 miles there was hardly any snow at all, phew! In fact, my journey took less time than usual.

Of course, I got lots of teasing from Traviss about my snow worries!

As always it was a very sociable event so there was always someone to chat with en route and the support from fellow runners is wonderful. I was feeling strong and had already decided to go beyond marathon distance depending upon the time (the event had to start later than planned which meant the 6 hour time limit took it to 4pm finish and I didn't want to get home too late).

Many of the Usual Suspects gather at the registration tent

Greg, on the left, was in charge of car parking and the man on his right was a Marshall who stood around in the bitter cold for hours

On the face of it the route was not glamorous; running on a gravel track alongside a busy motorway, over a couple of bridges, across a railway line, along a road, but I really enjoyed it. I've grown accustomed to going round in circles or out-and-back and although my heart is in the hills/trails I am happy to do this sort of route.

This route plan showing the route elevations someone uploaded from their GPS device made me chuckle!

I made the decision again not to take loads of photos unless there was something I just couldn't resist so the next 3 photos came courtesy of Gary Groutage who was snapping away as he supported us:

I couldn't believe how much I look like my late sister in this photo

Kirsty had a brilliant skirt teamed with her fluorescent socks

Phoebe managed to sleep through a large part of the run. How Rik managed over some of the trail terrain I really don't know!

I'd decided from the start that I was going to go over marathon distance again, by at least one extra lap, and I'd also decided that I would adopt a run-as-I-feel plan rather than trying to do a negative split (that means that you run the second half faster than the first half) which never seems to work for me. So I just set off at pace that felt right on the day and was delighted that I felt really strong. In fact, people kept commenting that I was running well and I hoped that it wasn't going to be a case of pride before a fall!

There was lots of chatter en-route and I was delighted to share a few more miles with James with whom I ran last weekend. He was intending to do 10 laps so we parted company after a while. This young man has some amazing things planned and the good thing is that I know he will achieve them.

For marathon distance you had to complete 7 laps and 8 laps or more would get an ultra so I was aiming for 8. When I got to my 8th lap I knew I had could easily do another lap but decided against it because the later start (10am rather than 9am due to the Cyclopark's opening hours) meant that I'd be getting home a lot later than planned. Plus, the thought of a nice warm car and Mike waiting for me was rather appealing.

The next 2 photos were taken on my last lap and I couldn't resist because even though I'd run over this bridge 8 times I hadn't noticed the bunnies:

Aren't they cute. I've no idea what the story of them is as I can't find any mention of them but they certainly made me smile.

My finish time was 5:45:04 for 30 miles which is much faster than last weekend so I was both surprised and pleased in equal measures.

The medal was really lovely, I got an ultra badge too, and the goody bag was so full of goodies that Mike said I should give some things away next time or we'll both get too fat from all the chocolate!

I'll leave with a photo of one of our beautiful Amaryllis which is blooming now. It's rather different from the usual ones and is Amaryllis Cybister Rose. I love it's fine petals.