A-Z Things about me: (idea copied from Petra, but it is fun)

A~Age: 54, whew not possible. I was sure that by this time I'd have had the makeup and high heel things sorted. 

B~ Bed Size: Tiny to fit antique 4 poster... that squeaks ...TMI?? :-)  

C~Chore you hate: Hoovering - dealing with the tangled cord, dog hair that is impossible to pick up, and so noisy I can't listen to my ipod.

D~Dogs: Nelly, sweetheart GSD

E~Essential Start your Day Item: Cafe Latte - worth getting up 10 min early to fuss with the machine. 

F~Favorite Color: That's so hard to answer - the green of newly leafed-out beech trees, the turquoise of  tropical seas, frosty greys and blues of the mountains.... depends! 

G~Gold or Silver: Gold, but can't afford to replace the gold earring I lost, so I wear silver.

H~Height: 5'2" - and I refuse to measure myself because my Mom says she has shrunk... horrors, NO!

I~Instruments you play: cello once, expertise long forgotten. Some days I wonder at all the stuff I once knew...

J~Job Title: Sr Geoscientist, little do they know. Should be "enthusiastic amateur". 

K~Kids: Ali is 24 and Nick is 26, again not possible, how could this happen so fast!

L~Live: Commuter faux village outside London, but the train ride to Westminster is not too bad.

M~Mom’s name: Eleanor, but I don't blame her for going by Ellie

N~Nemesis: Glazing. I can throw beautiful pots but continually destroy them with incredibly ugly glazes and cracks from smoking naked raku.

O~Outlook: optimist, definitely.
P~Pet Peeve: Television noise, particularly when there's no even anyone watching it!

Q~Quote from a Movie: Dune - Litany against fear
      "I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing......Only I will remain." 

R~Right or Left Handed: Right, boring I know.
S~Siblings: Three, all younger and wiser, Linnie, Missi and Miller
T~Time you wake up: 5:20 and rush for 6:10 train.
U~Underwear:Daydream about vampy sexy stuff, but alway reach for comfy.

V~Vegetable you Dislike: beets, and the way they can contaminate a whole plate of food!
W~What Makes You Late: looking for stuff, keys, ipod, wallet, blackberry, train pass...
X~Xenophobia : fear of confident people with perfect hair, polished nails and expensive suits.
Y~Yummy Food you Make: can't claim any but cinnamon toast.
Z~Zoo Animal Favorite: Always the big cats.

Stingray at Isla Contoy
Originally uploaded by platinumprints

A glorious week in Mexico, walking on the beach, riding bikes around Isla Mujeres. Short by a day with Gatwick snow cancelling our flight, but we truly felt we deserved margaritas on the beach when we finally made it to the island.   Fantastic food from breakfast cassula (baked eggs and beans) and cuban roasted plantain and grilled chicken.  And more margaritas!

We enjoyed a day trip out snorkeling and visiting a bird sanctuary where we saw fantastic frigate birds and had achiote roasted fish on a barbecue under a palapa on the beach.

But by the end of the week we had tired of the cheesy seasonal soundtrack that played all day at the resort and we'd seen all the sights and walked all the beaches on the little island.... so we looked forward to the return to the frozen north.

And we just made it home before the next storm hit!

WWFOR Lincolnshire Lollop 9 October 2010

Billy, Nick and I went to Lincolnshire to run the 5th annual WWFOR at Petra and Adam's farm in 1.4 mile loops. I ran 10k and Nick ran a MARATHON!  Billy rescued the sausages from the kids cooking (take off the cling-film before inserting in oven!) and scouted for wood for his lathe.  Adam and Petra's house is absolutely incredible and they made us feel so welcome. The very best campsite we've ever found overlooking their grounds! Click on the photo below for a short video of the event.

Bristol Half Marathon 5 September 2010

It just started to rain as Ali, Nick and I started for the race village. Waiting until the last possible minute to leave our raincoats at the bag drop, we took our places at the back of the pen, as the skies opened on us.  Nick and a friend of Ali's (named Nick too), started off fast, and got faster. The rain stopped, and we even had some sunshine under the bridge, about the time we saw the Nicks, headed the other way on their way back into town.  They finished in 1:45!

Ali and I planned to run 10 min miles and then walk 0.1 mile at each mile marker.  We pretty much stuck to it until about mile 9, then Ali started having pain in her hip so we walked a couple more times each mile.  But she was smiling throughout.  We finished together in 2:20 - two minutes faster than the Bath half we ran together in the spring. Not bad as Ali really hadn't trained during her summer break. A short video follows:

Next on to the WWFOR 10K at Petra's Lincolnshire farm!

A long drive to the north coast of Scotland, but worth it! Here was one of our campsites  - our campervan was the only vehicle by evening. We woke early to hear the fishermen heading out, but the crush of August holidaymakers did not travel far enough north to crowd us. We had a rainy day on the drive up to Inverness, so decided to visit the Culloden visitor centre. I'd first learned about the battle of Culloden in 1746 in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series so I had a fantastically romantic idea about it before seeing the battlefield.



Culloden Battlefield (photo by curtis_welsh)

I had to leave the multi-sided cinema dramatisation - the horror of war in the 18th Century was too much for me - flintlock guns, swords and incredible bravery of hand to hand combat.  The exhausted, starving Scottish Jacobites in tartans fighting the professional English redcoat soldiers.  The computer simulation of the battle was fascinating.  I wish we had walked out to the clan stones on the field, but the rain was tipping down by then.  We also visited the site of Rossal, where crofters were evicted during the subsequent Highland Clearance - an early version of 'ethnic cleansing'. The Clearances stemmed in part from the attempt by the British establishment to destroy, once and for all Clan System, which had facilitated the Jacobite uprising - and combined with Culloden, destroyed the culture and sent my ancestors to immigrate. I can imagine that the scenes are even more emotive for a Scot!

The midges drove us to the coast where the breeze would take them away. NASTY little beasts that are too small to see until they bite and then itch for days!  When we had campsites in the woods, we had to close ourselves up tight, dashing out only to make very hurried toilet stops. Not much of a wilderness experience locked inside a closed vehicle!  But the coast was magical - while Billy took a wood turning class for a day I took Nelly for a long run and then went to watch the seals and knit by the sea.  

There really isn't a well defined coastal path, like in Cornwall or Pembrokshire - I guess they just don't have the traffic, so it was occasionally a bit scary, not knowing how close you should walk to the cliff and collapse scarps appeared when you were not paying attention and the fog descended.


 All in all a great adventure!

So, I've bailed out of being the RRT scheduler/coordinator. After almost 100 episodes, I just realised that I was spending too much time WORRYING about getting it right and getting frustrated when thing went wrong at the last minute despite my best efforts. So I told everyone I was burned out and asked for help. And the funny thing is that I should have done it a long time ago.

It seems that people wanted to do more, but didn't want to step on my toes. And that my holding all the potential co-hosts confidential meant that only I could match up interests. So now with a Runners Round Table Googlegroup and Googlecalendar - it can all happen "in the cloud". I'm so relieved that I didn't have to hand it all off to someone else... its been my baby for two years!

And the timing is great! Billy and I leave next week for a campervan trip to the very northern tip of Scotland  (John O'Groats ) for a fortnight. We'll stay a couple of nights with a wood-turner Billly's keen to meet, and then wander west into the Scottish Highlands.

I'll need to keep at my running schedule, with the Bristol Half Maraton only a month away, but I think that will be pretty easy with no other committments for two weeks!

I won a pair of yurbuds from Yurtopia on RunnerDude's blog! Wow, thrilled, I never win ANYTHING. Thanks Runnerdude!
And I really had high hopes. I don't like the noise-isolating type headphones for running or commuting - they just don't seem safe.  And I like regular Apple ear buds, but they sometimes fall out when I'm running.  And I'd read so many reviews that said how great these were!

I sent of a photo of my ear (yes, that's what yurbuds needs to fit them) and very quickly my new pair arrived. The sound quality is great and the silicone bits just rotate into your ear, no problem.  BUT... I just can't seem to get my ears broken in... they just ache after about 20 min. I keep trying, but today I just finally decided they really don't work for me. Bummer! I feel a bit bad that someone with better shaped ears didn't win the contest!

But I just looked at RunnerDude's blog again and he suggested that someone else with trouble contact them to see about getting a different size... so I will! So I'm hopeful again that these yrubuds may be the solution for me.