Cold!

Cold, cold,cold!

My second outdoor swim.

Water temp 4 degrees.  Air temp 0 degrees.

Toes similar temperature. 

But very exciting and something I have never done before. 

There were about 20 hardy souls out there, many of whom didn't wear a wetsuit. 

It is currently snowing here in Nottinghamshire and the temperature is set to plummet, so who knows what next weeks swim will bring. 

Hypothermia possibly?!?

My Goals

I have been thinking about my goals.  In fact, I took myself on a lone trip to London last week for a nice treat.  I took the train down which gave me the perfect chance to sit and write and think about what I want.

To be honest, I am a bit confused about what I want out of life.  Or rather, I want to do so much and they are not always compatible.

But these are some of my goals which I am putting here to I can refer back to them and see how I am getting on............

Say Yes more - I find myself automatically saying No, without even thinking.

Be open to experiences.

Swim outdoors all year round.

Swim in a river. 

Run the Lincoln 10k in April.

Have a weekly Saturday date night with my lovely husband.  

Spend regular time with each child separately and together.

Achieve my fitness goal by August.

Teach archery and bushcraft.

Work on the Tea Room and increase my business by 20 percent.

Get my camp licence with Girl Guides

Really get on top of my finances and budget.


They are all achievable but will need me to put effort in!  So this is here to remind me to get off my backside and do something!!!

New Year and a New Challenge!

Happy New Year to all!

I have been away for far too long, but am back now.

It is the new year and I have got myself a new challenge.......

I have signed up for Winter Swim Club, which is basically learning to swim through the winter!  The swims take place in an old gravel pit in Lincolnshire.

It is going to be cold.

Very cold.

But I think it will be fun too!

Right now I am just concentrating on the fun!

I will let you know how it goes.

Our London Break

Because of my new little business has been keeping me busy every day, we have not had chance to go away this year as a family.

Now things have quietened down at work we thought we would take the children to London for a few days.

I did some research and got a great deal for 2 days at Legoland and a night in a hotel.

So we spent two very happy days wandering around Legoland.  It was a bit dull and damp, but quite mild there, but the best part was because it is October and not all schools are on holidays this week there were no queues!  Most things we just walked straight on which makes things much easier!

We left Legoland and headed to stay with our best friends for a night and had the chance to meet their beautiful new miracle baby boy -ahhhh so broody now!

Wednesday we headed into London by train for a lovely day or mooching around the Natural History Museum  (which has a fantastic restaurant by the way), followed by seeing the sights on an open topped bus, then heading to Covent Garden to drop our stuff off at the hotel, then head into Leicester Square for dinner.

I worked for some time in Covent Garden, so it was great to go back and see the old places again and do all the touristy things I never got round to doing whilst I was there.

But my favourite day has to be today.  We had booked the London Eye as my son was desperate to have a go. It was a bit misty but fine.  But when we nipped into the new Jubilee toilets by the Eye, the lady in there said that the Queen was coming later that morning to officially open the Jubilee Gardens. So we waited 10 minutes and then she and her entourage arrived!

We were amazed.  I have never seen the Queen and then there she was.  Soooo excited!

A Simple Sunday

I usually work on a Sunday at the Tea Rooms.  Today I had someone in working but I needed to be close by in case we got really busy.  Turns out I wasn't needed afterall.

I had a lovely family day at home instead.

This was my Simple Sunday.......

• Giving the bedrooms and bathrooms a good clean - there is satisfaction in getting a job done and seeing a tidy room. 

• Sitting with the children doing their reading and writing.

• Stepping out of the back door to pick our apples to make into an apple crumble

• The weather still just about warm enough to hang out the washing. 

• Making a Roast dinner for my family 

• Watching the children play nicely together (this is quite rare!)

• Children in the bath.  Pyjamas warming by the log burner.  

• Ironing whilst watching Darling Buds of May.  

• Now sitting in the kitchen catching up on things I need to do for the week. 

Satisfaction in simple things. 

At the Country Show

Every year our village holds a Country Show.  It is a wonderful event and has been running for 161 years.  It  has all the usual ploughing, horse events and the main ring hosts displays of working dogs, falconry and so much more.

We love it.  This years show was held last Saturday.  It was a beautiful day and so sunny all day.

As well as the other displays, there is also the produce and home crafts marquee.  This year I thought I would have a go and put some things in the baking section.

I decided to enter seven things then spent a couple of slightly stressful days baking - it turns out that I am really bad at making jam tarts! Plus my first attempt at a lemon cake looked decidedly unappetizing.

I stuck at it and by Saturday morning I had all my entries ready.  My husband had also entered the 'Man in the Kitchen' competition and made a beautiful Victoria sponge.

When we returned later that day after judging, we were amazed to see that husband had won first prize for his cake and I had won 3 Firsts, 1 Second and a Third, meaning we both won a trophy!



This is us very surprised with our spoils!

I think we might have annoyed some of the older locals who win every year - he he he!

It made a wonderful day even better!

My charity shop bargain

A lovely friend and I went for a mooch around the local charity shops this week.

I am usually terrible at finding anything in charity shops - I see the wracks of things and my mind goes blank - I just can't see anything decent in amongst all the stuff.  Perhaps it is something that needs practice!

But, this time, the first shop I went into I saw a long dress on the rail, pulled it out and there was the most beautiful 40's style Monsoon dress.  It was a size 10.  I tried it on and it fitted like a glove - yeah (the healthy eating is working)!  Not sure when I am going to wear it, but I love it!

I also picked up a really nice light jacket to wear now the days are getting cooler.

After that, I couldn't find a single decent thing, but it didn't matter.

Next time I wear it, I will take a photo.  Now to get hubby to take me somewhere fancy so I put on my new frock!   (I love that word).