2014!

Happy 2014! 

I can't quite believe how quickly 2013 zipped by. It's been a good year for us. We went to South Africa at Easter. An epic trip (as daughter would say :)), far, far better than I would ever have imagined; I turned 40; he turned 40; we went camping with my cousin, best friend and the kids to a farm in the Peaks with a stream as the star attraction; the hubby and I cycled to and around Guernsey on our little folder bikes; at Halloween the girlie and I went to visit my brother and his newbaby twins in Chicago eating much frozen yogurt (froyo :)) and Dunkin' dogs and went on a cupcake tour where I dressed as a bumblebee. I'm sure we did loads more but those were some serious highlights.

Now it's time for me too take a good look at myself, get organised, sort out my eating and fitness and get myself healthy. New year, new start eh?!

We've no plans to go anywhere big this year as we are going to finally extend the house. It'll be exciting and definitely awful at the time as we live in a terrace and everything will have to come through the house, including the dirt. It WILL be worth it though!

A very happy new year to anyone who may be reading - fingers crossed for a good'un!  Xxx

My new favourite place

Colour Accents

For my BIG birthday I have been lucky enough to get two pressies.  One is a smashing swinging hammock, something I have always wanted (reminds me of swinging up my parents back garden in the Summer reading a book, and of my folk's BBQ parties too :) ).  It's currently sitting in the shed in it's box waiting for the sunshine to be put up. I guess it's a bit old fashioned, but I prefer to think of it as 'retro' (along with my new addiction to crazy paving)!  The other is a quality 'point and shoot' camera.  I've ordered a refurbished, factory sealed Canon S95 which although a few years old now gets great reviews and takes exactly the sort of pictures I want to take - it also allows me to take fully manual photos too.  During my investigations into which camera I want, I found info on using the colour accent facility on my old Canon IXUS - much fun has been had this morning!

 

The Nature Reserve

It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend - perfect temp, sunny and a slight breeze. We spent most of the day in the garden sorting it out (nothing like party preparation to get you tidying), it now looks really, really lovely (pics to follow when I'm totally finished). Anyway the hubster and I decided to got for a wander around the local nature reserve in the evening. This is at about 8pm....


....gorgeous!

Feet travels

I saw an idea in a photography magazine where you take photos of your feet in the interesting places you have been. Like a kind of travels journal. I really liked that idea so here is my first entry. As I haven't actually been anywhere this weekend - just spending the time in the glorious weather making my back garden look lovely, this is where my first piccy is from.

The Folder Trials

We went to collect the hubbies bike on Saturday and popped to Rother Valley Country Park on the way back to test them out. Fab!  So light and comfortable. We followed the mountain bike map that you can pick up there which certainly gave them a workout but also gave us some gorgeous views.

Things I really liked were steep hills were easy to push your bike up, steps down I practically carried the bike and it felt like you were supposed to mooch along on them looking at the scenery which meant the hubby meandered along with me rather than racing ahead :) . It was a gorgeous day weather wise as well, what more could you ask for? Can't wait for my jollies now!



Parked up for a spot of lunch on a bench

The view from the lunch bench.  Rother Valley Country Park is actually rather lovely!

Folders!

I went and bought another bike :) The hubby and I have made plans for a bit of touring. We have a plan to hop on and off of various types of transport and cycle around when we get to wherever we are going. For this we decided we needed folding bikes :) ! I looked around at some of the great and classic folders and even managed to sit on a few, but as they are usually unisex some didn't feel comfortable and some were downright uncomfortable! Dahon, while being said to be one of the best, and though hubby liked it, it really didn't fit me (too short in the arm department). Bromptons are way beyond our budget and others such as Tern (just didn't like it) and Raleigh (too heavy) weren't right either. So what to get? In the end I chose a Hoptown 5 from Decathlon. Not the most popular or coveted folder but it seems great so far - it got good reviews and is supposed to have links with Dahon (though it still needs a proper test drive, so time will tell).  Hubs likes it too, not too girlie either, this one had to fit me comfortably and be function over form (though I do like how it looks too!).

My lovely little B'twin folder

I've ordered a pannier rack for it and i need to find some baggage and we're good to go!

The hubby has also chosen a bike, a Carrerra Transport which we pick up on Sat - watch this space :)