Monday 1 June 2009

Busy bee

These are some photos from my weekend back in Lincolnshire. A bit different to my usual hilly shots from Derbyshire but I do love the big flat expanses of Lincolnshire too. Once you tune into it, there is a lot to see and the light can be beautiful.

Our first walk across the fields to Boothby Graffoe and under the ubiquitous pylons! My friendfrom Boothby tells me they were very handy when she used to hunt as they could always find their way home by following the pylons!

Is this the rockiest field in the world?

Very tired dogs in the pub.

Beautiful hawthorn blossom.

Coleby church where I got married all those years ago. The Vulcans from RAF Waddington used to fly so low over the spire as it had a light on it and they were so loud. I can't believe I'm nostalgic about them now!

Minty, tired again, copping a rest under a hedge.


An old-fashioned scarecrow outside Harmston. The houses behind were built on the site of an old Hospital for the Mentally Handicapped (an asylum really) which shut down 20 years ago. I worked there as a nursing auxiliary to make money for my year out between school and University. My first job as a 17 year old. It was an eye-opener but good experience!

Here you can see a corner of a field totally eaten by rabbits! Shelagh and Minty have a high old time chasing them in the evenings but there were none out playing in the morning.


Don't know what these flowers are but when I came close to take the photo I could hear loud and constant hum from the all the bees and insects feeding from them.

A pretty lane. There are not many of these in intensively farmed Lincolnshire I'm afraid.

Flat flat flat....great for running!

So pretty - the colours just zinging out at you!



My God, it's June already! I knew this TV programme thingy would take up time and make me busy but it is also having the effetc of giving me more energy so that I can fit more in - a mixed blessing. I remember that feeling from LL days - you're hardly eating anything but conversely feel like you can take on armies! Now I'm eating a bit more but exercising more to and I have definitely experienced that surge in energy in the last weekor so.

Below is mostly taken from my email to the Psych guy as, despite what i say above, I'm literally falling asleep as I type.


Anyway, feeling very upbeat and in control today. And feeling fitter and thinner too. This is not going to be a long post, partly 'cos there's not much to tell but mostly because I've been on the go solidly since 7am and am v v tired.

Stats:

Weight - 13 stone 13. Happy with that. That's a 3 lb loss for the week.

Exercise - stellar. I went for a 40 minute hilly run with the dogs when I got home from work. It's the same run I have been doing quite a bit recently but now I do it in 40 minutes rather than 45! Then straight after that I went to my personal trainer for an hour's workout. He has been away on holiday and before that I was in Ireland so we've only had one session in the last 3 weeks. It was great to be back sweating and working hard. We really pushed the weights tonight as I had already done the cardio stuff and I felt so strong and much more toned than a few weeks ago. I can even see the difference in my body shape in his very unforgiving mirrors!


Food - excellent. Just not had time to think about it. I've eaten sensibly and not bothered about food in between meals at all. One gripe was that I grabbed a Mcdonalds salad and water before a meeting knowing I would be able to eat it outdoors at Rother Valley Country Park after my meeting. That was great just to have 20 minutes in the sunshine. But, when I opened the salad which should have been grilled chicken at 245 calories, they had given me breaded chicken at 485 calories! Grrr I picked of most of the breading and fed it to the geese but even so, it's irritating being thwarted when you are making good choices. And I had stressed the grilled chicken thing to the guy about 3 times! Dumkopf!!


Head - fine. I've been going from one thing to the next to the next today so no time to stress and my chimp has been loving the discipline and challenges I think. I like the odd hectic day like this but wouldn't want it to continue indefinitely.


What have I done differently?

Wel I have stuck up some new motivational phrases in the kitchen. After a while you start not to notice the ones that have been there so I stuck up "Would you do it for £1million?" and "You've got all night to recover, just do it!" (a nod to Nike there).


I've also been thinking about what is important to my chimp. Now, I'm not sure if this is me or her but I've realised that I really like the outdoors. If I don't get out and about when the weather is nice or over a weekend for whatever reason I feel cranky and as though I've "wasted" my weekend. I always choose to sit outside in pubs or restaurants if possible and, during the summer months, I have nearly all my meals at home on the patio if it's not raining or freezing and I struggle to stay indoors on a nice night during the summer. There must be something there I can use.

At the moment, it is mitigating against me going on the Wattbike as often as I might. When it comes down to it, I would 10x rather go for a run in the open air. I'm going to buy a bike this weekend so at least I can go outdoors on a bike in future. Trouble with that is, I can't take the dogs with me and then I feel guilty not giving them their evening exercise when I've been out all day (although they do get walked every day by the dog walkers). So, it's not that I don't want to exercise or that I don't like the bike but I just much prefer being outdoors and seeing the views, hearing the birdsong and seeing the flowers, birds and animals.


I think the love of the outdoors is linked to my chimp's love of her own space. I also feel very cranky if I haven't had time on my own for a while. I loved my long walk last night - 3 hours of aimless solitude (with the dogs of course) and outdoors in perfect sunshine too! It really was heavenly. Not saying I want to be alone all the time but I do like it.


Anyway, time for bed now. Hope you're all doing well and enjoying the fine weather.

2 comments:

Peridot said...

All sounds amazing - as ever. V annoying about the salad though, I share your grrrr'dness.

love
Peridot x

Claire said...

I know exactly what you mean. I can go for an hour or two's walk and enjoy every minute - or do 20 mins on the treadmill and be bored! Which is why this weather is fab as you get much more tempted outside.