life – Adventures of Cumbrian Blondie

Make your own Gin

When you are at that age when lots of friends are celebrating milestone birthdays. Back in the first lockdown way back when, our very good friend Jo celebrated her 50th birthday. Lockdown down meant it wasn’t the celebration she had planned. So our gift to her was a “make your own Bathtub gin” with the nice folk at Shed 1 Gin in Ulverston, Cumbria.

Sticky pork meatloaf

Such a simple recipe and makes for a great lunch.

HOT stuff

At the grand old age of 47 and 3/4 the menopause has started and in the last few weeks the hot flushes are real. It does make you consider your own mortality and dwell on the meaning or purpose of my life. My body ageing, though according to people I don’t look my age, something to be grateful for.

A tick of the fabulist – become a Guinness world record holder

I put this on my list as a bit of a joke, I had the grand plan of getting lots of people together on Space hoppers. But i didn’t need to do anything like that to be a record holder, just run 26.2 miles.

Lockdown – Light at the end of the tunnel

In a speech to the House of Commons on 22nd February the prime minister gave details of the government’s road map for exiting the current lockdown in four stages, subject to four conditions being met at each stage.

Lockdown 3.0

For the last 3 weeks all we have heard is Happy New Year! But somehow, it doesn’t really feel like a ‘new year’ does it? Starting off 2021 in Lockdown was not how we all planned it to be. By now, we are all aware that the world has changed dramatically. We have adapted to furlough schemes, shops being closed, schools moving to online learning and of course, sourdough starters and banana bread.

Lockdown 2.0

With the second wave of Covid-19 taking over the country. Lockdown 2.0 the sequel is here.

Hoka’s

When I started running back in 1996, I was an ASICS girl. When I was training for the London Marathon in 2015, I was noticing I was getting hot spots on the balls of my feet. Graham at the Body Rehab said you should really try Hoka’s. Pronounced ‘Oh-nee’, this is a brand developed in 2010 by two Frenchmen who previously worked at Salomon, searching for a modern trail shoe to play in on the Alps mountain paths. The wide sole is based on powder skis and mountain bike tyres.

Lockdown Lethargy

So here we are week whatever of lockdown, the elusive ‘R’ number is still around 1 and the world as we know it is a much different place. There does feel to be a light at the end of the tunnel as we navigate our way out of lockdown.

Surviving lockdown

On Monday 23 March 2020 Boris Johnson ordered people not to leave the house unless absolutely necessary. People to only go out to shop for essentials; for medical reasons or to care for the vulnerable; to travel to work that is “absolutely necessary” and cannot be done at home; and to exercise – once a day, alone or with a member of their own household. Normality as we had known was a thing of the past. Continue reading “Surviving lockdown”