Friday, April 27, 2012

Saturday 21 April - Going to the dogs



Current location: Wimbledon
 11.11am, At the dogs. Literally. It’s Emma’s birthday celebration so we all went to the dog racing in Wimbledon to do some betting, some shouting, some drinking… I managed to win the first race that had amazing odds thanks to the dog being supposedly pretty rubbish (but actually pretty awesome) and then watched everyone else bet for a while. There were some epic wins, some almost wins, some definite losses and lots of cheering, and a burger. Then we went to the pub to drink our winnings (or drown our sorrows). Such a fun night – I would definitely recommend a trip to the dogs!

(Picture taken from Andy’s blog).
 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Monday 16 April - Scooters, parks, hills, fun


Current location: Helston, Cornwall
11.11am, Playing in the skate park. I was with my nephews (Zac, 3, and Vinny, 5), who had scooters for Christmas and both absolutely love scooting around. They were pretty impressive, actually, nipping up and down the smaller ramps but, sensibly, didn't try and hurtle down the half pipe. Instead, they came up with a much better option of using the half pipe as a slide. They couldn't actually get up it, being pretty little, so used me as a ladder and then slid down to the middle. It was pretty awesome, until the 'real' skaters turned up and we had to vacate our home-made playground.

(Picture of half pipe/slide taken from Fairfax County)

Monday, April 23, 2012

Saturday 14 April - Beach and family



Current location: Perranuthnoe beach, Cornwall
 11.11am, On the beach with all my sisters, their partners, my niece, my nephews and my parents. Pretty good family get-together! We came home this weekend instead of last so were having a late Easter celebration. I am so lucky to have such an awesome family.

Sunday 8 April - Happy Easter (Lent is over!)


Current location: Brighton
11.11pm, Drinking wiiiiiiine! Not the most traditional way to celebrate Easter, sure, but I had already been to church, been to see a Passion play and done an Easter-egg hunt. And I was so happy to be drinking wine because I gave it up for Lent 40 days ago. I found it pretty difficult, sadly. Anyway tonight, Mum and I cooked a big, amazing roast beef dinner for Andy and Dad and we all sat around chatting, watching TV, eating... and drinking wine.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Friday 6 April - Cider walk


Current location: At Glynde station
11.11am, Meeting lots of people I hadn't seen for a while, on a train platform.
It was our friend Jools' birthday and he organised an amazing day of cider, sunshine and good people. About 15-20 of us met at the station, which was about 20 minutes outside of Brighton, in the morning and were greeted with blue skies and warm sun. We headed off to the pub for our first pint of the day and to plan our route, as well as begin some long-overdue catch ups with friends I hadn't seen in years.
Over the next eight hours, we walked over the hills, through fields, along paths, across roads and through villages. We stopped for lunch at Middle Farm, which is an amazing cider farm (among other things). There were over 100 ciders to sample and we did our best to get through them between us, taking some away with us to keep us hydrated on our walk – resulting in a slightly wobbly but very fun afternoon! We finally ended up at the station for a train to take us back to Jools and Louise's house/mansion for a barbecue as the sun went down.
It was one of those amazing days that comes about as a result of sunshine, the great outdoors and, most importantly, people that are good for the soul.

This picture is pinched from Andy's blog, which has a much more detailed account of the day as well as some stunning pictures – go and check it out!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Sunday 1 April - Horniman museum





Current location: Dulwich, London
11.11am, At the Horniman Museum, running around in the gardens with my lovely niece Ella and my sister, Kate, and brother-in-law, Jim. The Rees family. They are all blinking amazing and I love living in the same city as them. Ella was full of beans, running, flying, jumping, poking, dancing, eating, banging and generally having all the fun a two-year-old should be having. I'd never been to the Horniman before, and it's a really cool museum. 'Museum' actually seems like too fusty a word for this place; it's so much fun and actively encourages kids to shout, play, bang around and generally enjoy themselves. There is also a pretty awesome taxidermy exhibition, which includes a walrus that was brought over from Canada in the early 19th century and promptly overstuffed to get rid of the wrinkles.

Saturday 31 March - We won! We won! We won!



Current location: Hither Green
11.11am, On the platform, waiting for a train to take me to netball. I was playing my last matches of the season: one for the first team, and one for the second team immediately after. I love my club a lot...but though we've had a lot of fun this season, we (the second team) have also failed to ever win a match we were determined to go down fighting!

First up was the match for the first team, and we played Chislehurst. It was a pretty good start; I played WD and ran around quite a lot with my arms flailing. We ended the first quarter a few goals up... and at the end of the hour, we were still a few goals up, winning 38-33! Yippee, I was so happy as it was the first game I had ever won with Blackheath Wanderers!

I didn't have much time to celebrate though, as the second-team game against Swanley was about to start. I got to recover a bit and sit on the sidelines until half time, by which point we were up by 2 goals... a very rare occurrence for our team! We had loads of supporters and the atmosphere was great. All the girls were playing so well and, when I came on at half time as WA, everyone was so determined to win. We were matching Swanley almost goal for goal and, with 15 minutes left, were drawing 30-all.

Cue a rousing pep talk from our amazing coach Laura and a lot of serious game faces... We played our little hearts out, making lots of interceptions and shooting pretty much every goal on target and (as you might be able to guess by the title of this blog post) WE WON!! We won, we won!

As the final whistle went, we all cheered at the result, 40-32 (a big improvement on the last time we played Swanley, when they won by 16 goals!). We've improved so much this season and it's ace to see all our efforts going into actually winning a game! Laura has been a huuuuuge help with her awesome coaching, as has the dedication of Team 2 every week at training.

Yippee!! Well done lovely Blackheath Wanderers! x

Wednesday 28 March - Trees, blossom, sunshine





Current location: Soho
11.11am, Deciding which park to go to at lunch. Since this week has been so beautifully sunny, I've been taking full advantage and eating lunch outdoors every day. The blossom is out, the trees are looking green and healthy and the sky is cloudless and blue. I know this city isn't always thought of as a particularly beautiful place but, considering all the above pictures were taken in central London, I think it's pretty lovely.

Tuesday 27 March - Spring is springing!



Current location: Soho
11.11am, At my desk, grinning. It's soooooo sunny and warm and today I wore a summer dress and NO JACKET. I remember this day last year (a bit earlier in the year though) and it's so lovely to know that summer isn't too far away. After work I went to meet my best friends from uni for a sunny drink on the Southbank and a tasty dinner but, before that, I managed to squeeze in a quick drink in the sunshine with work friends. Summer is going to be so good for my soul and so bad for my liver.

Sunday 25 March - A new park near my house!


Current location: Lewisham
11.11am, At home, being lazy. Then the sun came out and I felt guilty for doing nothing so, after a quick jaunt to the gym, I went to seek out a park that's near my house. A friend had told me about it and, as I consulted the map and set off in the sunshine, I realised I actually cycle past it every week on the way to and from netball. Today, Manor House Gardens was bathed in sunshine and full of happy families playing, picnicking and making the most of the weather (not that it looks like it in the picture above). There is also a big pond, pretty flowerbeds, a cafe and lots of trees, perfect for reading under. I'm pretty glad I found this place; it's supposed to be lovely weather this week so we might even come for an evening picnic?