There is a moment, no a whole time, when you can feel that ‘I can’t do this, I don’t even want to do this’ creep over you. That was me yesterday. I spent the entire day dreading the idea of the run in the evening with Attila. The last decent (for decent read more than 100 yards) run I did was with him at the end of October, hmmmmm a wee while ago. Let us also remember the amount of pringles, chardonnay and the like that has mysteriously found its way into my person in this time – way too much as my beloved pink jeans can attest.

So it is with something akin to glee that I notice that it’s raining at 4pm and send the man a message to remind him of said weather conditions and possibility of flash floods, tsunami type waves etc. Blackberry doesn’t cooperate (obviously in the pay of Attila) and won’t oblige by sending the message.

Am now faced with fashion dilemma (Oh God not again!). Do I wear my joggers and sweatshirt and risk getting wet, or do I opt for T shirt and waterproof. Both options hide the flab but it’s a case of weather now, what a to-do! Try on the latter and head for the door. Bloody cold outside so back upstairs to take off the t shirt and don the sweatshirt and the jacket due to rain.

Check phone and still not sent message and no nice message from Mr A to say that plan is rained off. There is nothing for it I have to go.

Drive to town and wait by the running track. Now realise that I’m already a tad warm in my sweatshirt/waterproof combo but can’t do without the jacket as raining. The simple solution would be to take off jacket, remove sweatshirt and replace jacket. That thought did cross my mind but was swiftly deleted when I remembered I was in Tigger and a 2 seater sports car is not the best place for an impromptu striptease. Nor was the fact that I was parked at the side of the main road a help in the circumstances. I just knew there would be a security camera trained on my car and I’d end up on one of those dreadful tv shows where some unfortunate is caught doing something perfectly innocent that looks a tad dodgy. Decide discretion better part and all that stuff and stay with the full outfit.

Attila arrives and I feel it is only fair to point out that I am very unfit (need I say this, the guy isn’t blind after all) and only want to run 4k. Will run to the 2k marker and back. He agrees and we set off at what I would call a brisk pace and he would probably call a crawl.

After the first five minutes I am panting but determined to keep up. The rain is being pretty determined too and I’m glad of the waterproof and the cap (did I mention the cap, oh yes I am all for the full prat look when running), am actually congratulating myself (silently of course don’t want Attila to think I am totally mad) on my choice of outfit.

Maybe I am now a tad over confident but when we reach the 2k marker I gasp that we should carry on. After what seems like an age and I feel sure the marker has been lost in the fast fading light I croak (yes I’m down to croaking now) that we really MUST turn at the 3k point and head for home. Attila smirks and says we are almost there.

A few steps (staggers) further on and I see the marker painted on the side of the track, strangely enough it says 4k and not 3k. Good Lord we ran right past the 3k marker and I didn’t even notice. More to the point Mr A didn’t bother to tell me.

Turn on heel try to hit Attila over head and haven’t the strength and we start the long run homeward.

Buoyed up by my achievement it takes me a little while to realise I am now sweating like the proverbial piggy and really, really hot. Whinge about this to A. Take off your hat is his advice. Point out that it is not my head that is dripping but rest of me. I am ignored. Take off hat and am surprised at the lovely cool breeze and how nice the rain feels on my sweaty hot face. Strangely the wet hat in my hand is cooling too and almost comforting to hold. Realise I am getting delusional and apply self to the job at hand. It is now sheer slog and a gritty determination is my only coping mechanism. That and the little mantra I am sing songing in my head. Won’t embarrass myself completely here but suffice to say it is something about being fit and fabulous.

We run on and it is now dark. You can see the houses outlines ahead and welcoming lights of the main road. They are like a lighthouse, a beacon drawing me in. The final push up the hill almost kills me and I feel like one of those tired out horses in the Cheltenham Gold Cup race struggling up the famous hill to the finishing line while the commentator points out that it looks like the poos beast is going backwards. I am that horse, I am going backwards.

We make it. We did it. I find enough strength to high five and jump about a bit. I’m as red as a radish and as sweaty as a pig, but by God I did it. A full 8k run, not bad for one whose only sporting activity for past three months has been popping the proverbial pringle tube.

I am now determined to run regularly again. I’ve got my mojo back. Wow it feels good.

Sorry to drivel on today but it feels so good, and I honestly didn’t think I could do this again.

Have a great weekend whatever you’re up to.

Karon x

Uuuurgghhhhh it has got to be done, no It Has Got To Be Done. There in capitals, more pronounced, might force it into my head better.

Running tonight, being dragged out by the dreaded Attila The Run for first run of the year, So not looking forward to this.

As I’ve said, it really has got to be done. Clothes not fitting and all that. Having had quite a busy week of being out and about I have had to dress slightly better than I normally do in the house. This of course means delving into the wardrobe and rather stupidly assuming that everything still fits perfectly when you know damn well that basking on the sofa armed with Chardonnay and Pringles does not a sylph like maiden make.

I was okay on Sunday for our flight down to Birmingham. Got the smartish casual look down pat and even managed to pull off that difficult outdoors/indoors combo of wearing a jacket and not either sweltering or freezing or carrying the damn thing around all day. I was rather proud of myself.

Obviously this went to my head as when I headed off for Glasgow on Tuesday and it was pouring with rain I rather missed the mark fashion-wise. As it was raining and I knew I’d be marching about in town I thought jeans, boots and long coat would be a good choice. It would have been a good choice if my long coat (read only coat) wasn’t quite so long and flappy. Rain in Scotland (especially here in the west) usually comes with a friend, Mr Wind, or his delightful girlfriend Gusty Gale. My long (overly so) coat was just the thing not to wear in the windy city. I almost took off like a kite and I’m quite sure passers by were not impressed as my sheets of canvas slapped at their legs like sails on an errant pirate ship.

You can also add to that the fact that even tho it was raining where I live, in the city itself it was dry. Ergo I looked a complete prat in my head to toe dry-s-a-bone gear and was sweating like the proverbial porker by lunch time.

Yesterday I had a meeting in town and decided that all was well as this was a jump in and out of car event and so no nasty coat required. Jackets I can cope with. The problem was that I decided to wear a dress. Nothing over the top, not a ball gown or anything, just a simple dress.

All went well until I stepped lightly (gazelle like of course) from the car outside the office in question and noticed that the weather was a tad blowy (yes dear Gusty Gale was out again). I realised just how windy it was when my dress flew up to waist level and my scarf took a vertical impulse and turned into a miniature tornado with my head inside. Couldn’t see a damn thing, knew (and felt) lower parts being exposed to the world at large and was generally in a flap.

Did I panic dear reader?

Yes.

By the time I had managed to capture the scarf and see what was happening, grab the dress and pull it down whilst still clutching scarf/bag and folder combo with other hand and kick Tigger’s door shut, I was well and truly flustered, red in the face and yes, sweating like a porker again.

Sartorial elegance is obviously not for me.

Running tonight, oh yes it has gotta-be-done, at least if I get some weight off there will be less of me to expose when encountering my usual fashion faux pas.

Karon x

PS I’m guest blogging over at the fabulous Mabel’s Log today, go take a look, you will love this site.

I was in town to do my bit at BBC Radio Scotland talking about how to save money on your shopping, holidays, cleaning and food bills.

As it was pancake day there was much munching and calorie quaffing. It would have been rude to refuse, you know me reader, manners before waistline! I indulged in the glorious sweetness and then felt obliged to walk it off. Hence hiking round Glasgow and taking photos.

Actually there was a bit of an ulterior motive here, I couldn’t go home because there was no electricity between 8am and 5pm. Oh dear just have to stay in Glasgow and look at the shops….

Footwear seemed to spring at me from everywhere. I go from one extreme to the other, sidewalk abandonment to designer delights. Even though I could never see myself tripping the light fantastic in a pair of these beauties I can at least applaud their sparkle and for a moment imagine myself as that gorgeous creature who flits and frolics in such a frivolous footy confection.

Funny the things you notice in town when you just have the time to wander and look and take things in.

I loved this graffiti, the sentiment and the amazing colour of the wall. High drama at its best.

It’s a long day. A lot of walking, a lot of looking. No shopping! Aren’t you proud of me, tempted as I was the hands stayed firmly in the pockets and the purse in the bag. Oh but I bought things in my mind, fabulous shoes, that silken scarf, a set of plates that would make the bank manager tremble. Oh I shopped in my mind just not in my wallet.

Street lamps go on early when the sky is still in afternoon light, they paint a wonderfully sunset image when none is actually there.

It’s all illusion wherever you go…

Good day out but knackered again. Honestly feel like all this walking must really be making up for my lack of running of late. Surely the weight is falling off me by the minute.

Karon x

What a birthday! Sue and I flew down to Birmingham yesterday morning in the brightest sunshine. A beautiful day straight out of Spring, couldn’t have been better if I’d put in a special order for the weather. Maybe I did, can’t remember.

Anyway we were off to visit the big Craft and Stitch Fair at the NEC and I have to admit, we were like two teenagers let loose at their first disco. Over excited, us? What a question, of course we were!

Anyone with the remotest interest in crafting would be bowled over by the sheer mass of product on display. Ribbons, trims, wool, threads, paints, inks, tools, gizmos, gadgets and books.

The place was heaving with shop owners and makers. Too many people for a couple of country bumpkins like us. We were suffering from overwhelm within the first half hour. But we bumpkins are made of strong stuff and overwhelmed or not we were there for the duration and soldiered on for the next five hours.

Here’s Sue with the slightly wilted look of a woman who has seen maybe just one too many thread stands.

I loved this giant paper mache cat and his tiny friend. Now that would have been fun to bring home on our little mini propeller driven plane!

It’s all colour, all inspiring, all just a wee bit too much. Food was called for. Sustenance was required…..

Obviously we chose a sensible, high fibre, health and vitamin packed low calorie option.

Get real ladies, it was my birthday!

Damn but it was good.

A long day, a fun day, a wonderful day.

A two hour delay for the flight home.

What the hell.

Thanks Sue I had the bestest birthday ever.

Karon x

PS  no blogging tomorrow as we’ll have no power all day, the hamsters are throwing in the towel and refusing to run round the wheel.

What a colour combo! Doesn’t that just cheer up your computer screen in an instant. These gorgeous hyacinths are certainly cheering up my kitchen just now, oh and the smell, just wonderful.

Anyway enough of the pretty stuff, what’s been happening chez moi.

Hmmmmm it has been a week of dental appointments. I had to go to the dental hospital on Wednesday which is something that always fills me with the sort of dread one normally reserves for a minor amputation procedure.

Yuck gum and teeth issues, let’s not even go there darlings!

It’s an age and hereditary thing apparently. Oh don’t you just hate it when someone says words like that. You almost feel the clanging knell of doom and just a whiff of the ‘Thank God it’s her and not me’ coming from the protagonist/speaker.

The ‘procedure’ (another word I’m not keen on) lasted a whopping 1 1/2 hours, a tad longer than the ‘about 30 minutes’ I had been promised. I left the building with a frozen expression and a curiously flushed look. Must have looked seriously scary when I tried to smile at an old lady, she scuttled off like a scalded cat muttering something best kept to herself.

Still the outing was not wasted as I took myself off to the lovely Cath Kidston shop and spent a happy hour browsing and admiring pretty things before catching the train home. I even treated myself to my birthday prezzie to me – a frock! Oh yes, I shall be a lady this summer and show the legs (lower only of course, don’t want to frighten the horses do we) and float about in a country livingesque cloud of perfection. Reality, reality, what the heck is reality?

Quick burst of flowers to raise the tone again. Mmmmm smell that joy!

Anyway yesterday was another D for Dental day. This time it was Idgy in the firing line/dentist’s chair. This was a good appointment at the orthodontist where she has been getting braces fitted/removed/put on/taken off/adjusted/altered/new ones/weird coloured ones/night ones/permanent ones all sorts of ‘ones’ in the braces dept for the past two years. Bless her she has been a star about it all.

Well yesterday I saw her gorgeous straight white teeth sans braces for the first time in two years and I cried. She looked so damn gorgeous my girl. My little girl with a big even fabulously grown up looking smile. Oh and smile she did.

We had an hour between the first appointment to remove the fixed brace and the fitting for the removable clear plastic brace that she has to wear all the time for the next while and just take off to eat and clean the gnashers. Well our hour was not wasted. We shot off to the fruit market and she grabbed the biggest reddest apple and chomped right through it on the high street. Then off for coffee (me) and an obscenely large hot chocolate covered in marshmallows for her. Biting into apples has been a past time she has missed so much, and the marshmallows, well who wouldn’t miss those guys.

We smiled at each other not stop. No we grinned.

Back to the dentists for the clear brace, and it really is completely invisible. Wow what a girl. I’m so pleased for her, so proud of her. It made all my horrible ongoing dental stuff fall away to nothing, just seeing her gorgeous smile now lights up my day.

Note to self, remember to buy more apples.

Have a great weekend.

Karon x

Way too much of this.

Alas, too much of this.

And nowhere near enough of this.

And Oh dear and what the hell is this, can’t remember.

The winter has taken it’s toll on my body. I feel sluggish and my jeans don’t fit. This is not good, something MUST be done.

That is IT. I am going on the healthy eating and running again as of Monday. No, no, this is not a cop-out, it’s my birthday on Sunday and I’m off to Birmingham with Sue to have a look-see at a trade fair and have a night at Rosemary’s as well this weekend, so it is all girly celebrations and the odd calorie or two.

Hmmmmmm Monday.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………..

Karon x

Yesterday I threw together this hearty soup and it was seriously moreish!

3 carrots

1 sweet potato

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

small celery stick

2 teaspoons of fresh thyme (1 if using dried)

chili flakes and olive oil to garnish

salt and pepper

1 liter chicken stock

Peel the veg and just roughly chop.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pot and add the onions first to sweat them. Then add the garlic for 2 minutes before adding all other veggies.

Pour in the stock and add the thyme. Season to taste.

Simmer for half an hour and then whazz up with a blender stick.

Serve with a swirl of good olive oil and a sprinkling of chili flakes.

Yum!

Karon x

Valentines Day.

Love is all around. It can be a hellish day for some though. Those not in a romantic relationship can feel hurt and ostracized very easily when all around are loved up and in coupledom.

I think Valentines Day should be more about Love in all its forms and not just romance.

It is family love. A parent to a child. A brother to a sister. Aunts and uncles, grand parents and long lost cousins.

It is friendship. Friends both near and far. Those we see daily, those we see maybe once or twice a year. Those special friends we ‘see’ every day online.

It is the love we feel for a beloved pet. Our four legged friends who romance us with their antics no matter what day it is.

Surround yourself with love today.

This is my Valentine to all of you.

Karon x

Morning everyone, Monday again.

The winner of this month’s Book Giveaway is (big drumroll etc here, brrrrbrrrrdrrrrrrr)

A J who wrote

“I am inspired by beautiful objects, gorgeous places and all the creative people who I meet”.

So many of you are inspired by nature, your kids, colours. It was wonderful to read all the messages. I really do love doing these giveaways.

There will be another book giveaway on the first Monday of March.

Hope your Monday marks the start to a great week. Alas I will be heading to the dentist as a tooth broke last night, grr.

Karon x

Friday morning. Non-uniform day at school as last day before the half term holiday. Eeek, another holiday, already. Where has the time gone?

“Can you do my hair please Mum?”

I get the styling brush (yes one of those heated things as you are talking to Non-Hairdresser-Of-The-Year here) and set to work. Smooth some curls, wave out others. We are both pleased with the results. She trots off to school looking pretty and happy. I wonder why the hell I can’t do that with my own hair.

But the hair thing throws me right back. Way back.

Back to my Grannie tying my hair up in raggy ringlets whenever she came round on a Sunday for dinner and me hating every minute of it. “How old fashioned” I’d moan as she twisted the scraps of fabric and wound my long red (yes it used to be bright red) hair round each one and tied it in a knot on my scalp. It pulled and itched. I’d have to sleep with this bobbly feeling head and wake in the morning to have Mum unwind all the rags leaving me with all these ringlets. Golden ringlets my Mum called them.

Funny how you can be thrown right back with a memory. I can almost feel the tightness in my head as I write this, I can hear my Grannies voice. I am back there in my mind. Dare I look in the mirror and see a face four decades older, now nearer to my Grandmother than myself as that child.

Time flies doesn’t it.

Have a great weekend.

Results of the giveaway on Monday.

Karon x