This weekend

So this weekend I ran my first half marathon race. Yay!! It was the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon. We had to get up about 5.30am to leave at 6.30. We got there in plenty of time to register, get ourselves warmed up and use the facilities ( I say we as my other half suffered with me!). We positioned ourselves near the back and off we went. It was a stupidly hilly course - people were walking up the hills in the first mile, but we made it round. We ran for the first 7 miles and then the hills got the better of us and we ran/walked the rest. Our time wasn't amazing, but we got round and considering the state of my shins two weeks ago that in itself is pretty amazing I think.

I took the day off today to recover and relax. Instead I've kept myself very busy. But I did pop down to John Lewis on Oxford Street and discovered they have an amazing haberdashery section - it's brilliant!! So I picked up some new knitting needles as I broke my last ones. All in all a lovely and satisfying weekend.

I hope you all had a great weekend, whatever you got up to. Please let me know.

xx

Trying something new

This week I went to the shops and found these

Romanesco. I thought they looked interesting and I always like trying something new so I brought them home and then looked into what I could do with them. Apparently they're similar to broccoli and cauliflower, and of the cauliflower family. I simply boiled them as I would cauliflower and they were lovely. Good for making your plate look exciting when you have guests round and to bring some lovely colour to the plate

 This weekend I'm going to try something else new and attempt a half marathon race. I'm training for the Brighton Marathon in April, and thought this would be good training. I'm sure it will be, but it's very daunting at the moment. A whole 13.1 miles with people watching, and others racing past. Fingers crossed I make it round ok and before they re-open the roads. Fingers crossed I wont have to drop out and get their van to take me to the finish line. I'll let you all know how I get on.

I hope that you all get the chance to try something new this weekend.

Have a fabulous time,
xx

Valentine's

Ok, I know Valentine's Day was last week. But I wanted to wait until the finished product was ready. David and I went ceramic painting last week. It was my first ever time and I loved it. We chose to paint wine goblets, and had great fun doing it. Here's some of the photos

 And drumroll please.....Here's the finished glasses

I think the daffodils really complement them and a sure sign that spring is here.

Have a happy Tuesday everyone.

Kirstin xx

Birthday fun

This weekend I took David to the British Museum to see the exhibition on the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead for his birthday (he wanted to go, it wasn't a selfish present!). It was a thoroughly interesting and informative exhibition. For anyone that can go see it before it ends on the 6th March, I would really recommend it. I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside the exhibition, but here are a few others that I took around.

In other news I managed to go out for 11.7 miles today - I had to walk a lot of it due to my shins splints but I'm really glad that I could do that distance, my longest to date.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Take care,
Kirstin xx

Spring is on its way!

Unfortunately I've not been very well today. This meant that I couldn't go for my long run that I had planned this morning and have stayed at home, feeling a little sorry for myself all day. The sun has been shining, and the blue sky taunting me as I lay on the couch. So I thought I'd use the opportunity to take a few pictures of my new garden in this glorious sunshine

There's some beautiful flowers growing which I'm taking as a sure sign that spring is on it's way

Have a happy Tuesday,

Kirstin xx

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. My aim is to share what I get up to with all of you lovely people here. I'm currently training for a marathon and will keep you up to date with my progress. I've also recently moved into a new flat with my partner, and want to learn new crafts and skills as I become a 21st Century homemaker. I look forward to sharing my journey with you.

Take care,
Kirstin xx

PS. Here's a couple of photos of the cakes I have recently made, and my arrangement for my Sri Lanka cloth.