Sodbury Slog

And...



She finishes!



A bit muddy....



...but nowhere near as bad as it was before running through the Pig Trough.

Today was the 13th annual Sodbury Slog, which takes place in the muddy fields around Chipping Sodbury every Remembrance Day. I can't quite remember why I signed up and I was absolutely terrified that I wouldn't make it, since a variety of excuses (laziness being top of the list) had kept me from doing the training I should have done. I did a nearly-4-miler with hills a couple of weeks ago, but this is nine miles across fields. I had no business being there, really.

Oh, and the mud! So much mud. I lost my trainers twice. I have a variety of scratches and mysterious bruises from falling in the mud, reaching out to prevent myself falling in the mud and grabbing brambles, and a variety of other mud-related injuries. There are a couple of special bits, including the aforementioned Pig Trough - where you run in a stream for a hundred yards - and the Sheep Dip, which involves jumping into waist-deep pool and wading through. As I got out of that one I nearly slipped in the mud and a spectating little girl recoiled in horror at the thought of being spattered.

The marshals and back markers were extremely supportive and helpful, handing out water, jelly beans and encouragement, even as my legs slowly gave out and slow jog turned into purposeful stride. I was the very last to finish, after two and a half hours, for which I was rewarded with a bottle of fizz and my name being announced over the tannoy. Not that there were many people around to hear it by then.

Muddy it may have been, but it was a gorgeous day for it (still feel guilty for making Mr Z give up such a beautiful golf day to come and hang around for me - thank you Mr Z) and at one point I saw a whole field covered in spider silk which was pretty glorious. I would definitely do it again. But, I would train more first.

Goals for November

• Finish knitting the hat for my Nan
• Get a good whack of Christmas jumper done for Parpy Jo's son
• Begin knitting Mother Hand's Christmas present
• Make a list of Christmas presents to get for people
• Bake the Christmas cake
• Pass the ski course (Milton Keynes, next weekend - eek!)
• Complete the Sodbury Slog (TOMORROW - double eek)
• Do 10 minutes of tidying/cleaning/decluttering a day. This has been going well thus far.

With the exception of the ski course, there are no work goals on this list - and long may this continue.

Fave Friday

This is The Bunny. He is new. We have taken him in from Mr Z's colleague, because he didn't play nicely with his rabbit buddies. He's been living at Bunny Towers for about three weeks now and has basically ruined our already questionable-in-quality back lawn.

I am prepared to let him off though, because he is both cute and clever. He is a free range bunny really, but we weren't sure as to the security of the back garden so we have been cautious. When I let him out for the first time he went directly to his most favourite nomming spot, under the triffid rosemary bush, and when I attempted to evict him, gently, with a golf club, he tried to bite the golf club, and when that didn't work he grabbed the golf club with his mouth and moved it decisively out of the way.

Then, a week later, when the shed had been demolished and the chance of escape was quite high, he actually had me chasing him around the garden as he frolicked towards the massive gap in the fence and then feinted away. Smart. He was desperate to get out that day, as he'd been shut in for three days, and when I entered the garden he started butting his head against the door. Mr Z thinks we should get him a tin cup to rattle against the cage. I reckon he'd do it, too. He has excellent hearing - everytime I go to the back door he is instantly at the house end of the cage, watching me.

He thinks our garden is paradise. He has come from a place where everything is neat and there's only grass and up-high plants, to a garden that has not seen the business end of a gardening implement for roughly 2 years. When he gets out for his run, I can only liken him to Charlie when he arrived at the chocolate factory. He runs from plant to plant, nomming wildly. His favourite, after the rosemary, is the bramble. Win.

He doesn't have a name yet, as his name is Willow but everyone knows that's a cat's name*. We've tried out Conan, and Brahms, and are flirting with Nero. Haven't quite found the right fit yet, though.

The Mitten is displeased. She tried to attack him in the garden yesterday but I wouldn't fancy her chances because he's probably about the same size as her.


* I used to have a cat named Willow.

Today I wish I was....

...back in Iceland.

On the day this picture was taken I was ill. I don't think I look particularly ill, because the air is so good and I had been hiking about in the cold. But, I had eaten something that did not agree with me and could not move far from the very cold toilet near this beautiful waterfall. So, I didn't go and stand underneath where it was falling and get wet, because I was not in the mood. I'd really like to go back and have a go! Also they are very good at heating their indoor spaces and creating warm clothes in Iceland. That is very tempting this week.

I had some pictures printed at the end of the summer and keep a little stack on my desk, changing the one at the front periodically. This is adorning my desk this week. It was such an enjoyable trip, despite the illness.

The air was so cold that the spray from the falling water turned to snow. Very bizarre and very beautiful.

Protein Powder Reviews: Amazing Meal

Since I joined the Green Monster bandwagon, I have become a reader of labels and a purchaser of protein powders. I read in a magazine (ergo it must be true) that adding a protein powder to a fruit smoothie was a good way to limit the sugar spike from the fruit. I have a lot of diabetes in my family and I'm overweight so anything that will help to keep my blood sugar constant is A Good Idea.

I must say that I cobble most of my ideas together from magazines, bits I read on websites and my own common sense (!) so it might all be hokum. But when I started adding protein to my shakes I discovered I didn't have to eat again until lunch, which is frankly amazing as the morning is my hungriest time of day.

I did a little research. I picked the brains of the forum I frequent and of this lovely lady (who definitely knows a thing or two about protein). I decided to avoid whey because I don't like milk and it doesn't make me feel well; I perused Holland and Barrett and picked up their vanilla soya protein purely because it was in the smallest tub. It was OK. Reasonable.

But now, I am branching out!



Here's my latest collection. I like to be prepared. I thought I would review them from a normal-person viewpoint; I am looking specifically at taste, texture and fill-up-ability. I suppose there should also be a consideration of how much protein is in each serving - though this is covered by the fill-up-ability really - and other nutritional info; but we'll see how it goes. Basically I'm just making it up as I go along. Again.

Amazing Meal Original

This was expensive. It was £2.99 for a sachet that was smaller than my regular scoop - I think 22g instead of 30. But it came recommended and it was chocful of excellent, healthy substances. I mean, just look at that nutritional infor - 80% RDA of Vitamin A! Can't be bad, right?

It was very green. I found this a bit offputting, but then it was going into a smoothie the colour of mud so, yknow. Whatever.

It didn't taste particularly bad in the smoothie - kind of gritty, and not at all sweet - but it had an unpleasant aftertaste. I drink my smoothie on the way to work and during the last 15 minutes of my journey a bitter after-taste developed to the point where I needed to break out the Extra just to get rid of it. I have never had that with a smoothie before.

I was very hungry by breaktime. Hungry enough to require a slice of cake.

Overall, I would give this only one muscle on the five muscle scale. It may be extremely good for me, but it just didn't taste good or keep me full enough for me to fork out that much for it again.

Tuesday Ten

This week's List It Tuesday is lines from movies.

1. "Do, or do not - there is no try" - Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

2. "'Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious,' according to Oscar Wilde. [Hummel strikes him, and he falls to his knees] Thank you for making my point" - John Mason, in The Rock (I love this film far too much)

3. "THAT'S Sandy Frink?! What the hell was I thinking?" - Heather, Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion (completely sums up, in one sentence, that whole thing teenagers do when they blow something completely out of proportion and then, as adults, cannot understand what the fuss was about.)

4. "A life lived in fear is a life half lived" - basically every character in Strictly Ballroom at some point.

5. 'THAT'S MY WIFE, CRONE!" - the Sheriff of Nottingham, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (this is essential ski trip coach viewing and this line always gets yelled the loudest).

6. "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything" - again, various characters, in various incarnations of Back to the Future.

7. "Oh, I'm afraid that book was accidentally destroyed maliciously" and also, "Small one, from Vegas" - both Gru from Despicable Me. Gru is based on Mr Z. I tend to use that second quote quite often, though nobody really gets it.

8. "Archaeology is the search for fact... not truth. If it's truth you're looking for, Dr. Tyree's philosophy class is right down the hall" - Indiana Jones, on his Last Crusade - I use this line quite a lot in class (replacing archaeology with history), especially when teaching 9/11 to students fresh from the conspiracy theorists. 

9. "Better a silly girl with a flower than a silly boy with a horse and a stick" - Jocelyn, A Knight's Tale ("It's called a lance! Dur!")

10. "It's not funny!" "It's a little funny" - Matt and Danielle in The Girl Next Door. I use this one a lot too.

Fun trying to think of these! I also spent far too much of my evening watching Despicable Me again. "IT'S SO FLUFFFYYYYY!!" 

Weekend FO

BIG SQUIDGY MITTENS



Alright...not actually mittens. They were meant to be mittens but there wasn't quite enough yarn, and then I thought it was probably better to make them fingerless mittens instead, anyway, because the yarn is so heavy that full mittens would be a bit hot for me.



You'll remember my stash enrichment post about this yarn - Maipo from Araucania. I picked two stitch patterns from my cables Stitchionary, picked a needle two sizes smaller than recommended and got to work, squandering an entire skein of it on each mitt. The result is pleasing, and very snug. The only problem I have so far is that the yarn is shedding quite a lot, already.



The wrist part is wide enough to fit over the top of my coat sleeves, thus creating an ultra-warm seal for those chilly mornings - they were finished just in time, it's been bitter today. Meanwhile the hand part is knitted tight enough in a slip stitch weave to keep out the drafts.



I will write up the pattern for them some time this month.