Peeping out again.....

Where have the past 3 months gone? I really haven't felt like blogging, even though it might have helped amidst all this devastingly gloomy and very sad news. I did start a couple of times but really couldn't find the words. It's just been so awful hasn't it. So many people dead. So many people whose lives have been changed irreversibly by this devastating disease.

I have no idea what 'normal' is any more.

All my fund-raising marathons were either cancelled, reschedued for later this year, or moved to 2021.

Almost immediately after my last blog post, Mike and I went into an early lockdown as a way of shielding as we both have 'underlying health conditions' (I hate that term). We both said we'd do this and that, things we haven't had time for but wanted to do, but we didn't. I had lined up several knitting and crochet projects, a new loom project, books to read and several on-line courses I'd had earmarked for ages.

I did none of the above. Nor did Mike do what he'd intended.

Instead, we set about revamping the front garden completely. We're still at it. I reckon we felt the need for being outdoors and doing heavy physical work to take our minds off the horrors affecting the whole world. I also started another wave of the Six Pack Revolution just 4 weeks after I finished the previous wave. I'm just about to reach the halfway mark and it's really helping me to focus on my health and diet in these strange times. I'm finding the community aspect of it very helpful too as we're all split into teams and share our exercise challenges together which means there's always lots of positive support. This is a revamped version of the orginal 90 day plan and takes just 75 days to get the same excellent results!

I have no idea where to start with this catch-up so I'll just have to put down things as I remember them! I had to look back at my last post to find out what I'd written about then and it just seems sooooooo very long ago, a different lifetime actually, because the way we're living now is nothing like how we did then or will for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps I should just share some photos with a little text to give a feel for what's been happening here? I'll give it a go anyway.

Running stuff

I'm ticking over with regular runs but nothing very long at the moment. I've taken part in several 'virtual' runs with my running buddies just to feel connected. The last one was with Centurion Running with whom I should have been running the South Downs Way 100 miler this weekend. The virtual event was over 5 days and you could choose to run distances of 5k/10/half-marathon/marathon/50k/50miles or100 miles which you could run all at once or spread out over the 5 days - I opted for 50 miles as I thought 10 miles a day was very doable. I had to get up really early to avoid anyone else so I was out the door each day by 4am and back by 6am! I got a sweet little wooden medal and it felt nice to be part of a community of runners with a wide spectrum of ability - the youngest entrant was 5 and the oldest 85!

My next one is the virtual West Highland Way ultra-marathon which is 95 miles spread over 10 days so very doable without interfering with normal life. I started it this morning with a pleasant 9.5 miles and it should work quite nicely alongside my 6 Pack stuff.

In a previous post I wrote about the collaboration between ARUK and Tikiboo and I'm very pleased to announce that my blog about it is now live here. I enjoyed my 1st set so much I went and bought the other 2 as they are so comfy and I love the patterns; such fun! Each set of leggings has a matching bra top and I'm finding them really comfy for gym work and short runs.

Full length

Capri - can you spot the little ARUK comets?

Capri - definitely 'sharing the orange' in these!

Plus, I haven't shared this cute little skort (that's a pair of shorts joined to a skirt) from Flanci:

Crafting (or rather, the lack of!)

My cardigan started in early March is still on the needles and has only been picked up again this week. The crochet project I'd planned to do is sitting in a bag, partially completed.  The scarf I was weaving on my loom is finished so at least I've got something to show!

I was pleased with my colour choices as I think the lime green really pops against the purple

My edges got a bit neater as I progressed. Practice makes perfect!

I did a simple knotted fringe to finish the ends

I'll definitely be making a few more scarves with stash yarn to send to the homeless charity in Hastings.

In The Garden

The large pot on the tree stump has been a great success, starting with the beautiful Crown Imperials early in the season, followed by these splendid Tulip 'Fly Away' and then Scilla Peruviana:

Don't they look gorgeous set against the dark red of the Cotinus!

The tulips were a delight, so bright and cheerful

I like the Scillas best when they are only partially in flower as I love the green tufts against the beautiful dark blue flowers.

I dug almost everything out of this awkward bed near the gates as  it had been overwhelmed with low-growing carpeters and self-seeded Hypericums and it needed to be refreshed.

This gorgeous Azalea really shines out in the darker part of the bed and it has a lovely scent too.

This pretty variegated Weigela will be very happy here as it's been sitting in a pot for several years awaiting its new home.

But the biggest front garden project at the moment is the creation of a shade garden (my project) and a path (Mike's project!). Here are a couple of snippets:

I think will have to do for now as there's so much I could share but not enough time right now.

Stay safe everyone.

185 and counting

Hoorah, I managed to get another marathon in without weather disruption last weekend! It was another SVN event over at Kings Wood, a lovely route through Forestry Commission owned land, which I've done several times before.

I knew that even though it had been raining heavily last week that it would be OK in the main as the route is on Fire Tracks, which are used for vehicular access and are mostly gravel/stone, with just a few muddy sections. This what my poor gravel garden looked like after the last downpour:

When I arrived at the car park the weather was a bit grey and overcast but it stayed like that the whole time which was perfect. I set out with no idea of pace or time and just ran how I felt.

Not muddy

Just a bit more muddy!

I reached marathon distance and decided that although I felt OK to go out for an ultra on the trail, I'd prefer to do another 5 miles on tarmac so I rang the bell and then trotted off along the lane on my own to get some extra miles in. I have another marathon this weekend and it's going to be a tough one.

Loving the purple dragon on the medal this time!

Speaking of purple, here's where I'm at with my weaving project of a scarf. I watched the course videos all the way through twice and then just dived in. I can see already that my tension and beating are both improving which is encouraging. Shelley has been banned from the room whilst I'm weaving as she doesn't miss an opportunity to climb up onto the table and play with the yarn or climb underneath the fabric!

She's also been helping me with my Six Pack stuff which I did indoors today. I do a few exercises then throw one of her toys for her. Here you can see squish square, catnip banana and a silver foil ball which she brings back to me, bless her.

I finally finished and mounted my paper-cut picture and Mike put it up on the wall for me. I spent ages putting the mounting pins in just the right place in order to get some interesting shadows and I'm quite pleased with the result:

The one in the black frame underneath is by Ian Penney, my teacher. Now that beautifully cut writing is something to aspire to!

Resurfacing

No, not the road surface, it's me resurfacing from the lurgy that caught everyone unawares.

Oh my goodness it was a really nasty blighter and it swept through our little village like a wildfire taking its prisoners at random. Mike succumbed just after Christmas and I really thought I'd escaped it until 2 days into 2020 it got me, big time. It completely knocked me out, going straight to my weak point, my chest (asthma) where it stayed, festering and getting worse and worse until a week ago when I suddenly felt as if it was on the way out.

Mike was getting really worried because I was coughing so much and he said he'd never seen me so ill and I have to agree that I don't think I've ever felt so ill either. A friend in the village had it for 5 weeks and is only just starting to feel better so I think I was lucky in the scheme of things!

As a result of the naughty lurgy I have missed 2 ultra-marathons in my training schedule but that can't be helped and I eased myself back into my training slowly with events on Friday and Sunday last weekend (as opposed to the 3 days I had planned). I took it nice and easy anyway.

Thankfully my recovery hasn't impacted the start of the Six Pack Intensive wave which began this week and I'm really enjoying. I've just finished the first Challenge which included 2 short runs of 1k, which I did on the treadmill, and I was delighted that I managed the second kilometer slightly faster.

I did a little happy dance afterwards to celebrate!

Then I had to wait to see how I coped at the weekend (with fingers crossed!).

I really haven't felt like doing much crafting but I did set up the little loom and started a bit of weaving on it. Of course Shelley appeared out of nowhere to help me:

Finally she'd had enough and went and rearranged the cushions so she could have a nap.

It's a wee bit fiddlesome actually but good for experimenting

You have to lift the shed up as you go across one way.....

Then press it down to go back across the work

Running wise, I did none for 10 days but when I finally felt better I trotted off for a gentle marathon last Friday. I had no expectations of how I'd feel so just ran it gently and power-walked the hilly bits and was delighted to finish under 5.5 hours. This was the first in a series of 3 events at which Id planned to do ultra-marathon distance, but I chose to just do the Friday and Sunday events as marathons to see if I had fully recovered.

Thankfully I was fine on the Friday and took it nice and easy to finish in 5:25:25. I went back on the Sunday and finished in 5:25:21 so was happy with that. So that's marathons 181 & 182 done and dusted.

Sundays marathon - the first time ever my Garmin has measured the exact marathon distance!

Onwards and upwards now into my rather manic training schedule for the South Downs Way 100 mile event in June - eek!

The Yarn-Thief!

Shelley is well and truly settled here with us now and she is an absolute delight, full of beans and always ready to play. We still haven't let her out yet as having been feral in suburbia for the first year of her life we want her to be fully comfortable in her new surroundings before she ventures out into the expanse of countryside where she lives now.

She definitely likes my yarn though, especially the really sheepy sort of yarn, and she can sniff it out as soon as something new appears.

A few weeks ago I finally took the plunge and bought a rigid heddle loom I'd wanted for ages as I've always wanted to experiment with weaving.  I searched and researched and decided on an Ashford 16" rigid heddle table loom from Weft Blown in Scotland who were very helpful and delivered my loom promptly. It came complete with a 7dpi reed, 2 shuttles, threading hook, warping peg and clamp and an instruction book. There was a handy video on the website which showed how to  warp the loom.

They recommended a light waxing for the wood to protect it so I did that a soon as I'd unpacked it and was raring to go the next day. The first step was to 'warp' the loom - the warp is the thread running from top to bottom and the weft is the thread that goes across. A peg was supplied attached to a clamp  so that you could wind the warp thread around it but our dining table was took thick to attach the clamp. Mike came to the rescue and attached the peg to a flat piece of wood which I then clamped to the table using his adjustable clamps. Phew! You can see it in action in the 2nd photo below.

I watched the video about 3 times before I plucked up the courage to make a start on the warping. It got easier as I found my rhythm.

I decided to just do a sample to get the feel of the movement, try different yarns etc and somebody was very interested in my bag full of yarny goodies!

Having set up the warp I decided to go for a short run inbetween the heavy rain showers and whilst I was out our little yarn thief went into action. She was only caught out when Mike was heading downstairs to get a drink. She'd ripped open the bag and started to take the balls upstairs one at a time!

He just managed to reach for the camera and caught her bringing another one up (it's a bit fuzzy but you get the gist)!

I gave her this really tangled bit to play with and she took it everywhere for a few days, bless her.

I'm coming to help you now mum!

"Don't worry mum, I'm, here!"

And so began my new adventure and I learnt such a lot just from playing! I spotted my warping mistake immediately - you'll see it clearer in the next photo..... 

Here's my warp error - see the 2 darker lines in the middle where I'd warped the thread twice in the same hole. However, it made me realise the possibilities of different thicknesses to highlight sections. I really enjoyed playing with the different weights of yarn and getting used to the feel of the shuttle.

The warp is 4ply sock yarn and the stripey part of the weft is the same but the pale blue is dk weight wool/silk and I love how the warp shows up against it.

This was a dk weight silk/wool with a sticky thick and thin dk/aran weight wool

The thick/thin yarn got really fuzzy going through the holes.

My first project is going to be a scarf for Mike and so we chose some Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply to experiment with as he liked the dark colours.

After I'd soaked and blocked it I wrote down what I'd used for each section.

I suggested we introduce some vertical stripes just and inch or so in from the edges to break it up a bit so that will be my next sample. I'm loving the possibilities of the loom already.

As I'm typing this, Shelley has settled in my paper recycling bag under my desk!

What I noticed when making my small samples was that it wasted an awful lot of yarn and so I went onto a forum and asked what other people do. Many suggested a small sample loom which cost about £40 and comes from Canada but, as you can imagine, the postage was prohibitive.

Then I went onto eBay and found this little weaving loom in excellent condition and with all the parts in place, including the original pattern book.  I paid £15 for it, plus postage, and it arrived packed beautifully.

It measures 21cm x 30cm so will be perfect for trying out stitches and patterns without wasting lots of yarn on the larger loom.

I'll end this post with a photo of my festive running outfit for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day/Boxing Day. It was so mild and sunny that I had to strip off a layer after 10 minutes!