Patterns

True to one pattern, I re-started blogging strongly but then tailed off.  However, I'm not letting it go this time, even if I might not post daily as I did at the start.  

The same is true of my re-started diet.  Yet another pattern re-emerges.  I do well for several days - exercising and eating sensibly - then have a bad/great weekend and pile a few lbs back on before starting back at the beginning the following week.

So, scores on the doors?  I managed an actual whole lb off last week before the latest big weekend and now I'm clawing that off and hoping to drop another one this week.  Baby steps eh?

This last weekend was fun.  We went to the Wednesday match away at Doncaster on Saturday afternoon.  Donny's ground is in the middle of a retail and industrial park on the outskirts of the town so there are no decent pubs around.  The Beefeater pub was rammed and had no tables for food so we ended up in Pizza Hut!  I haven't been to a Pizza Hut for 10 years or more!  We were absolutely stuffed although I suppose we didn't have any beer calories so that is a sliver of a silver lining....

After the footie - which was a very satisfying 3-1 win - we dashed over to Lincoln for my father's 90th birthday celebration.  He's not ready for going out too much but we managed to persuade him that a family meal in his local pub would be fine.  And it was.  A cracking meal, great chat and laughs and 4 generations of our family all having fun together.  Priceless.  It was just lovely to see my dad cuddling my niece's daughter Evie - 2 souls 90 years less 10 weeks apart.  

Then it was straight home as our panto is starting.  Sunday was the technical rehearsal which was dreadful as usual and went on and on and last night was the dress rehearsal which, thankfully, was much better!  We're doing Little Red Riding Hood and I'm playing the Big Bad Wolf.  It is great fun to be back panto-ing, especially after a wait of 2 years.  We have been very nervous that the performances might have to be cancelled due to covid but now we are here, on the eve of the run, and all is set fair (fingers crossed).

We have a night off today so it is the calm before the storm.  I took advantage and went swimming this morning.  I should have been on Monday and Friday but the pool was closed both days due to first high winds and then local flooding.  It was very chilly this morning but we soon warmed up and I managed a respectable 40 lengths in 30 minutes so I'm set up nicely for the day.

Below are some wet and chilly pics from a walk last week down Tideswell Dale and Cressbrook Dale.  It is a beautiful area and Gary can rave madly through the stream and woods as there are no sheep and, at the moment, no ground nesting birds.  Pure heaven for woman and dog alike.

A lot of ash trees have sadly been felled in the dale die to Ash Dieback.  What a wretched disease!

The Mill at Cressbrook, now posh flats of course.

 

The sun peeked through for a brief time so I headed up Bellamy's Bank towards to Ravenstor.  Bellamy Bank is named after the magnificent David Bellamy, who had a picnic there when he was a child and was inspired by the wildflowers to become the great biologist and naturalist that he became.

The detour meant that we didn't get back to the car before the sun disappeared and rain re-appeared!  A very typical Derbyshire walk.