Yoga/Pilates

In my attempt to finish this year noticeably lighter than when it started, I am doing all sorts of new things.  One of these is yoga/pilates.  I had seen posters around Padiham for a new class starting on 17th April just across the road at Katy's school.  I decided that this was something I ought to try as I am already doing more aerobic exercise and felt I ought to balance this out with some controlled strengthening exercise.  Yesterday was the first class.

I had mentioned this in conversation to my sister in law Liz, and she thought she'd give it a try too. So last night we trotted off, not quite knowing what to expect.  We got to the school and there were a few ladies waiting already.  The previous Zumba class hadn't quite finished which left us with a few minutes to sit and chat.  The receptionist took us up to the room when it was ready.

At this point I would like you to close your eyes and just imagine what you think a yoga/pilates teacher looks like.  Have you got it in your mind's eye?  Well, we were greeted by a very red face, sweaty lady who looked to be in her early thirties with scrapped back brown hair and wobbly belly bits, in very typical chav exercise gear and saying in a strong Lancashire accent "welcome ladies, I'm very sweaty, I've got to go and change my top" (she had taken the previously mentioned Zumba class).  The room itself was very warm from the sweaty bodies that had been in there before it.  Liz suggested that we were starting off with a sauna.

When we were ready to start the class she explained what it was going to be, as it wasn't just yoga or pilates it was going to be a new fusion of the two as she had wanted to teach something more up to date and different so had taken a course to learn how to do this.  She advised us to work in bare feet and kept saying that she liked to be in bare feet to feel the wood against her skin as it was a natural element and made her feel more connected and grounded (remember, this is all in a Lancashire accent).

The class started and it was very soon apparent that this was going to be quite strenuous. It wasn't long before I was "glowing" like a lady had never "glowed" before. Our trainers favourite word was "ladies".  She must have said it over a hundred times in the hour we were there.  "Now ladies, what we're going to do next ladies is....", for every movement we did for a whole hour!

We did one movement that involved having our arms pressed together from palms to elbows in front of us and then raising them up and lifting our chests.  I think our arms might have been intertwined in some way also.  Now, I'm a very short person and the distance between my neck and my ample chest is very short, and well, to be honest I almost strangled myself with this move.

I did actually surprise myself a little too.  We had to balance on one leg, lift our other leg and hold onto our ankle, then we had to stretch our raised leg straight out behind us to 90 degrees and hold, and then stretch our arms straight out in front of us so that our whole body was out flat, and hold the position.  Our teacher suggested that we use the wall for balance if we wanted to, but I decided to try and be hardcore and do it properly, and the surprise was that I did it with very little wobble and didn't lose my balance at all.  Not bad eh?

So are we going back next week?  I think I'll give it another go.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was a little different this year.  My newest great niece Amelia Rose Hathaway was being blessed in Lincoln.  "A great niece?" I hear you say?  "But you don't look old enough to have a great niece". Why thank you, but it's true, and not only that but I have been a great aunt for 21 years.  All that aside, we decided that this would be a great opportunity for a family trip to meet up with everyone else who was going to be there, and thanks to Rebekah who works part time for Holiday Inn, we were able to get hotel rooms at ridiculously good prices for everyone, so we were able to travel down the night before.

As there were too many of us for one car, Robert drove down with mum, dad, Jim and Katy.  I set off later with Kirsty and Rebekah, and Kim came by train from London.  Robert's party arrived late afternoon so went over to Mark and Kate's house and spent a few hours with everyone there.  Everyone being Len, Mary, Rachel, Phil, Ben, Dan, Jake, Amy and of course Mark, Kate, Oscar and Amelia. I think the last time we were together was when Oscar was blessed three years ago.  It's amazing how quickly time goes by without you realising it.  We got there about 9:30 and a hungry Kim arrived just after 10:30 so we all had a little share of the pizza she tucked into at the hotel.

Kirsty was concerned that as the next day was Easter Sunday, and our normal family tradition was to have an Easter Egg hunt, what would happen in the morning.  She was also concerned that the Easter Bunny wouldn't know that she was in Lincoln and wouldn't know where to deliver her eggs.  We did discuss the possibility of having an egg hunt in the hotel but decided that this wouldn't go down well with the other guests on a Sunday morning, and as Rebekah worked for the company it wouldn't look good for her.  As it turned out, the Easter Bunny knows all and knew exactly which rooms to deliver eggs to in the morning.

It wasn't a great night's sleep in the hotel as the mattress was very bouncy and the pillows were all wrong. One wasn't enough and two was too many, so it was a bit difficult to get comfortable.  I don't think it's right that you wake up more tired than you were when you went to sleep, especially when you have to drive back home later in the afternoon.

Breakfast in the hotel was ok. I'd gone down before putting on my makeup so had to go back to my room to complete the finishing touches.  I was sitting with Robert, Jim and Katy and told them I was going back upstairs to make myself more beautiful.  Perfect response from my dear husband who said "is that even possible?" and from my brother "you've only got 40 minutes", thanks Jim.

We had been warned by Mark that we would have to get to church early to get a seat so we all piled into the chapel and between all the visitors that were there for the blessing, we took up three pews. We knew at some point that the people who normally sat in those seats would come in and have to find somewhere else to sit, and it was obvious from the look on their faces who they were. It wasn't a problem, but you know what it's like at church, people are creatures of habit and tend to sit in the same places every week, and sometimes there are visitors and you can't sit in your usual place and then you have a moment when you're not quite sure what to do next.

Oscar sat on Robert's lap during Sacrament meeting and had great fun playing on his iPad.  Finally all those silly little games he downloads came in useful as they kept a 3 year old amused quite nicely.  The girls and I didn't fancy going into the rest of the classes so we spent the next two hours hanging out in the corridor, but as this was also with Phil and the boys this was a very good part of the day.  Phil and my girls are so funny when they are together.  Kim put her bar skills to use by cutting up lemons and limes for the punch that was being made ready for the buffet and Rebekah helped by grating cheese (some for the bowl and some for Bekah).  The smells in the kitchen were making us all hungry.

The buffet was totally yummy as always, and it was nice to finally all be together and do some catching up.  I love all my family and it's such a shame that distance and time make it difficult to be together more often.  They make me laugh, and they make my girls laugh and that's not always easy, so when it happens and we're all together it's a very special time.  Kirsty and Rebekah admitted to being broody when they were holding Amelia, which was news to me but as I get older I am starting to accept that maybe it would be ok to be a grandma, but only maybe.

Amelia who we all came to see

Oscar the big brother

Kim had to catch her train back to London at 3 so left a little earlier than the rest of us.  We knew we had to get on our way home but were reluctant to leave.  It seems we were pretty much the last ones there.  No one had any family events coming up to create another time for us to be together so we've pretty much decided that it's down to Kirsty to get married so that we can see each other again as she's the next oldest, and let's face it, it's about time.

Kirsty, Phil and Amy and a little of grandma's hands (mum)

Mum with ear problems, Kirsty, Rebekah, Kim and someone making a point

Kirsty holding Amelia with my dad

Rebekah being a little broody with Amelia

Despite being tired, the journey home was uneventful and safe, and we made good time.  We all had a great day that meant a lot to us.

The one with the argument about Monica's apartment

Last night there was nothing on tv and neither of us could be bothered to change the channel so we ended up watching a very early first series episode of Friends.  It was an episode where they discovered that there was someone with a telescope who was looking into their apartment.  Joey was also complaining that this person was looking into his apartment too.

Robert made a remark that the person with the telescope couldn't possibly see into both apartments from where they were because the windows were not on the same side.  I disagreed with him and explained how the windows in the two apartments were both on the same side of the building.

The next fifteen minutes or so were then taken up by me explaining how when you went into Monica's apartment, you turned left into the kitchen, and past the kitchen was the bathroom and you then came to the window. I also explained that as you came into the apartment, directly opposite the front door was the wall with the television and the doors to the two bedrooms.  The programme was still on and I kept saying "look, at the tv, it's right in front of you".  Of course, because the camera angle kept changing it was difficult to get a full picture.

Robert was telling me that as you came into the apartment you went in a straight line to the window, and as he tried to draw this on the carpet he was making a diagonal line with his finger from the "door" to the "window", but kept telling me it was a straight line.

He couldn't see in his mind what I was trying to explain to him.  I was getting frustrated because he wasn't listening to me and he went online to find a plan of the apartment to see who was right.  I already knew who was right, and carried on trying to explain the layout, but by this time he was refusing to listen to me until he had found a plan.

He was struggling to find such a layout, so he then suggested that we both draw what we thought the layout was.  This is Robert's drawing. The apartment on the right is his idea of Monica's and the one on the left is Joey's.

Robert's inaccurate drawing

Here is my drawing of the two apartments.  Again, Monica's on the right and Joey's on the left.

My accurate drawing

Obviously this was now of vital importance to prove who was right. Robert was still searching online for a layout, and he finally found one that was a cartoon drawing of Monica's apartment.  Because it was only a drawing he tried to claim that maybe it wasn't correct.  I asked him whose drawing was like the online picture.  He couldn't look me in the eye when he reluctantly said "yours is".

The programme was still on, and roundabout the same time, someone came through the front door and stayed by the kitchen counter so I was able to prove without doubt that the kitchen was on the left of the front door and Robert finally gave in.  Victory was mine mwahahaha.  Quite frankly, I don't know why he ever bothers to argue with me.

Anniversary Plus One

This was our last day in London and on the agenda was a trip to the famous Camden market.  On Friday I had spoken to Kim and we had arranged to meet up for some lunch today.  We made contact with her at around midday and she promptly told us that she was dead after getting in at 8am.  Even the offer of a free lunch couldn't rouse her so we didn't get to see her this time round.

We checked out of the hotel and dropped off our luggage at Euston before going to the market.  Not sure what was going on but there seemed to be a few people in fancy dress.  Passed a superman, two farm animals and a girl dressed as a Grecian.

Let me say right now that Camden market is amazing and enormous.  The Stables market used to be where they stabled the horses that pulled barges on the nearby canal.  There are so many turns and round every corner was another section with all sorts of stalls.  A lot of them are built into the old bridge arches and are really quite large inside.  It's hard to describe as there was so much to it.  I bought a silver ring from the first stall we stopped at and the stall holder re-sized it for me while we waited.

One very small part of the stables market

We met a lady who had a second hand clothes stall who seemed intent on telling us her life story.  Although it sounded interesting, I was afraid to ask her any questions as if I had I think we would have been there all day.

I had to photograph this stall because the colours were amazing.

Loved this stall

I was on a mission to find some vintage clothing because Katy needed a hippy style outfit for her show in May.  I wasn't sure what number it was for so we had to text her to check I was looking for the right style.  I found a few stalls and outfits but until she got back to me I wasn't sure if they would be right.  When she finally replied she told me it was for the Sweet Charity number.  By the time I got the answer we had wandered quite a way round the market.  Good job I have a decent sense of direction as I found my way back to he stall with the best outfits quite easily and managed to get two from a sale rail.  Perfect original sixties clothing.  However, because Katy hadn't answered straight away, we had also texted her dance teacher, and much later that night she got back to me and told me it needed to be seventies kaftan hippy style.  Hmm, that's not Sweet Charity.

There were some wonderful smells coming from all the food stalls.  Every time we went past one selling Chinese food they were offering samples.  We had resisted all afternoon until nearly tea time when we were both hungry.  We gave in and took a sample and we were hooked.  Noodles and three different toppings for four pounds, and it was totally yum.  Practically next door was a stall selling crepes so that was dessert taken care of.  Unfortunately the toppings I had asked for made it very difficult and messy to eat.  The chocolate and coconut were fine, it was the cream that caused the problem. 

By this time we had wandered as far as Camden lock and the crowds were getting thicker.  

Can't really see it on the photo but this tree is covered in blue fairy lights

We arrived at the lock just as a barge was approaching, so we got to see it in action.

Camden lock in action

Time to make our way back to Euston for the train home.  It was only three stops on the tube, which isn't very far so I had the idea to walk.  Glad we did because it was a lovely day.  We saw some proper punks, with all the gear and hair.  Drain pipes, studs, lots of black, very large spiky hair and piercings.  Would love to have got a photo but thought it best not to try and photograph proper punks as I don't think they would have been too pleased.

By the time we got to Euston we found we actually had an hour to wait for our train so we took advantage of the first class lounge as we'd paid for a first class weekend upgrade for the journey home.  The lounge is split into two sections, one of which is a quiet zone.  I now know I'm turning into a grumpy old woman because I don't think it's appropriate to take your snotty nosed toddler who just wants to run around and slap the glass tables, into the quiet zone.  I also don't think it's appropriate to get out your Ipad and watch a football match without earphones in the quiet zone.  It's called a quiet zone for a reason people who either can't read signs or have no regard for them.

The rest of the journey home was quieter, and I beat Robert at Scrabble again.

 

Anniversary

I can't remember what time we woke up this morning, but as this was our actual anniversary day we were both eager to open the presents we had been hiding from each other in our luggage.  My present included chocolate so I was happy.

The plan for today was to go to London Zoo because neither of us had been before and in recent years we had done a lot of the other touristy things so we thought this would be something different. Rain was forecast so I made sure I had a brolly with me. We got off the tube at Regent's Park and according to the announcement on the train we should look for bus stand C for buses to the zoo.  After walking up and down the road we couldn't find stand C, and neither could other people who had been on the same train as us.  We even asked a bus driver, who didn't seem to understand the question and then pointed us in totally the wrong direction.  At this point we opted for walking through Regent's Park as the zoo was only at the other side and wasn't that far.

There was quite a lot going on in the park with dog walkers and joggers, people playing football, parents with kids and my particular favourite, a group of people doing Thai Chi. I wasn't brave enough to take a photo of them, but it just reminded me of a film.

London zoo is quite small, and I have to say, it's not as good as Chester zoo but there were a few highlights.  There was a little display going on with some of the smaller animals and I loved having the owls fly right over my head.

Bob the burrowing owl

One of my favourite places was the butterfly house.  They were just flying around all over the place.  Some of them were huge and very beautiful.  There was one particular blue variety that took a liking to my colourful coat and kept landing on me.

The blue one that liked my coat

This is the coat they liked.

My colourful butterfly attracting coat

We are totally on the penguin band wagon and arrived at their enclosure just before feeding time.  Here is my favourite character from our zoo day.  He is called Ricky the Rock-hopper.  We failed to get a video of him doing this but Robert was bending down by the glass and moving his finger around.  Ricky followed its movements intently just like a cat would.  We found it highly amusing.  He has his own Facebook page.

Ricky the Rock-hopper

By this time it had started to rain. I was fine under by brolly but Robert was getting wet, so he stopped at one of the little shops and bought himself a penguin umbrella.  It was bigger than mine and I thought about asking him to swap, but decided to be nice and let him have the big umbrella.  After all, he'd need it for his sticky out ears.

It was late afternoon and we were getting pretty hungry, so we left the zoo and walked back through the park in the rain.  It wasn't too heavy or cold and the walk was quite pleasant.  Just before we reached the other end Robert made a school boy error.  "At least it's not been torrential rain" he said.  About five minutes later, guess what.  That's right, an absolute downpour.  Luckily we were fairly near the tube station, but we still got substantially wetter.

We had booked to go and see The Ladykillers in the evening, and after a nice leisurely dinner we made our way to the theatre.

The Gielgud Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue

Our seats were in the dress circle and were very good.  Two ladies came to sit next to me with anoraks and humbugs.  After much fussing with coats and bags and elbow banging (my elbow) they settled down for a nice chatter which I thought wasn't going to stop even when the play started, but they did eventually behave themselves, apart from the very noisy humbug sharing about two thirds of the way through the first half.  They went out at the interval and didn't bother coming back for the second half which was fine by me but I don't understand how you can pay so much for a ticket and then not bother to get your monies worth. 

The theatre is just round the corner from the tube station we needed at Piccadilly, and also just round the corner is a Cinnabon shop.  I'd heard about these but never had one, so as this was an "anything goes" kind of weekend, we bought four bite size ones, and took them back to the hotel.  There were very nice indeed and definitely lived up to their reputation.

Anniversary Minus One

If I had had my way and a bit more money to spend, we would have been going to Paris for our wedding anniversary this year, but alas it was not to be, so instead we organised a weekend in London.  It was the end of the half term holidays so Katy went to stay with her grandma, and after dropping her off in Leyland we went to Preston to catch the train.  After arriving at the station a bit early, we found we had time for a nice hot chocolate in the cafe.  There was a group of men chattering and drinking coffee, and after a bit more sneaky looking, we decided they were definitely train spotters.  Bobble hats, anoraks, note books and coffee, all sure giveaways, and also the fact they there was a bit more chatter and some quick note taking when a particular train went past.

Couldn't afford first class on the way down, so the next best thing was the quiet carriage.  Soon after we set off, a mobile phone rang and a young man began a relatively noisy conversation.  He didn't seem to notice that the lady sitting next to him was glaring at him (I wasn't the lady).  The guard on the train was also fairly noisy as he came through checking tickets.  He was trying to be a bit of a comedian and was whistling.  I have to use quite a lot of self control when I hear people whistling because it makes me want to rip their heads off.

By the time I had thrashed Robert at Scrabble we were very close to London and after arriving at Euston, it was just another short ride to our hotel in Maida Vale.  The room was quite nice as we expected because we had stayed there before, but I was a little disappointed with the bathroom.  The toilet roll holder was broken, the grouting around the bath was quite dirty in places and there were buttons missing from the shower controls. Nothing drastic, but it did take the shine off it a bit.  I wouldn't have said anything, but reception rang our room to see if everything was ok, so we mentioned the bathroom, and were immediately upgraded to a room on the executive floor, which was much nicer and had a better view.

After a short rest, we ventured into town to find somewhere nice to eat in Covent Garden.  We were torn between two places we had both eaten at before, a Greek restaurant called Sofra and a bistro called Cote.  We ended up flipping a coin to decide and ate at Cote.  This turned out to be a good choice as our meal was lovely and I tried crab for the first time ever.

After the meal we walked back to Picadilly Circus to catch the tube to the hotel.  It was about a 15 minute walk, and as always it was still teeming with people even though it was around 10 o'clock.  The picture below doesn't show teeming people, but this was the quietest part of the walk.

Covent Garden

While we were walking through Covent Garden I heard what sounded like a Canadian accent behind me.  I looked round and there was a woman in a very nice gold evening dress talking with her friends who were also all dressed up.  I decided she must be Canadian because to me she sounded just like Tricia Ross.

Our route back to the tube station took us through Leicester Square which was very crowded.  I was attracted to the bright lights and colours of one particular store and wanted to go in but Robert wouldn't let me, and I'm still not sure why he didn't want to go into M&M World.  It made me a little sad.

I've walked past this statue/fountain several times, but this was the first time I had stopped to take a photo even though it always impresses me because you just come across at the corner of a normal looking building.  We had to wait quite a while for a gap in the crowds in order to get a clear view of it.  You can see a bronze plaque telling you about it but I didn't read it because it was very busy and I was rather self conscious.

Fountain near Picadilly Station

Due to the peculiarities of my teeth I sometimes have problems with food getting stuck in very small gaps that can only be got out using floss, and if I don't get it out then the pressure builds up and gives me a headache.  The one thing I forgot to pack was floss, and now I needed it.  Just down from the hotel is a Tesco Express so we hurried there, but they didn't have any, so we spent the next fifteen  minutes walking up Kilburn High Road until we found somewhere selling it.  Back at the hotel calm was restored after I flossed.

We have a bit of a tradition when we stay in hotels, and that is to find a channel showing Road Wars and watch cops catching naughty people before we go to sleep.  Luckily we found one.

The First Boo Boo

I have two daughters who are at university at the moment.  When Rebekah started at Manchester Met. she decided, during Freshers Week, to join the ladies rugby team.  I had mixed feelings about this as although I could see the fitness and social benefits of playing rugby, I was quite scared for her pretty face.   I was even more scared when after her first match she told me she got body slammed and heard all her bones crack as she went down.  Rebekah plays second row forward which requires her to wear a helmet to protect her head during the scrums.  However, I am proud that her team have won every single match they have played so far, by very large margins.  In fact you could say they slaughter any opposition.

One of the matches they played was against UCLAN where Kirsty is studying, and where this photograph was taken.

Bekah in her rugby gear

Kirsty went along to watch, and got so caught up in it all that she also decided to join her university's rugby team.  This decision did not last long however as Kirsty has problems with her spleen and with rugby being such a high contact sport it was decided that maybe this was not the best idea. When she first started at university she did think about joining the hockey team but hadn't got round to doing anything about it.  After seeing Bekah and deciding against rugby, she renewed her enthusiasm for hockey and tried out for the team.

She got into the second team and had her very first match yesterday.  I had been out during the day so hadn't been online at all, but when I checked Facebook in the evening I saw a post from Kirsty that said "I've broken it".  This of course concerned me so I made contact with her and found out that during the match she had gone to tackle a girl on the other team, and at the same time another player came to tackle her.  Kirsty got crushed between the two of them, got her legs caught up in the hockey sticks and hit the deck.  She banged her head and wasn't feeling good so she she was taken off the pitch.

While she was sitting on the sidelines she noticed that her hand was hurting rather a lot and then it started to swell up quite badly.  There was a physio person around who took a look at it for her and sent her packing off to hospital to get it checked out.  When I spoke to her she was still at the hospital waiting to have an x-ray.

I got an update a few hours later to let me know that she had broken a bone on the right side of her middle knuckle on her right hand.  The doctor said that it was a weird break and had no idea how she had managed to do it.

Kirsty's broken finger

Kirsty is doing a foundation course in art and design and is right handed, so this is going to be a bit of a problem for her.  She has a life drawing class this morning, which will be impossible and she has a project due in on Friday that she was supposed to be doing a photo shoot for today, which is also not going to happen.  Her tutor will hopefully give her an extension on this.

Kirsty is weirdly proud of her injury as she is the first of my daughters to break a bone.  If I was a betting person I would have put money on it being Bekah playing rugby, but it turns out that hockey has proved more dangerous.