Nearly done....

Christmas bonnet!!

Well.....nearly done for this year! I can't believe that it's coming up to the end of the year...and I also can't believe that I haven't 'blogged' for at least a month - slack or what?!

So much to say, but where to start....first things first...Merry Christmas everyone! This computer is balancing on my lap, and considering I have just eaten my second massive roast dinner in two days, the typing is a bit ropey as I can't really see past my stomach...sorry for any typo's!!



Just Dance!!

 Christmas lunch was 'epic' (apparently - according to our resident teenager- that's the 'in' word of the moment) and we had the usual roast turkey with sausages and stuffing and a huge variety of veg - roast potatoes, roast parsnips, pureed butternut squash with sweet potato, nutmeg and black pepper, red cabbage, sprouts, carrots...and my husband had the audacity to ask where the peas were.....he very nearly wore them........but the best bit of Christmas was watching the out-laws trying out the new Wii game - 'Just Dance 3' - 'mint'! (another 'in' word!!)

Presents were good......and followed a bit of a theme...Chris, Cass and I all had new hats....I wouldn't normally mind, but I have just spent £58 having my hi-lights done.....why do I want to cover them up..........
Cass's hat is fab, unfortunately, Mali, our springer spaniel has a taste for chasing squirrels, so has a particular liking for Cass's new head wear - see photo!!

The best Christmas news however, was the announcement from Tim and SarahJane, that they are engaged!! Yay!! Or as Chris says, 'mental'.........



The Future Mr and Mrs Homer Simpson



...you try wearing  a hat like this and your face will go funny too....

...squirrel in the tree.....

So....exercise.....hmmmm...I need to do some to work of this goose fat....not mine personally, but the stuff that was dripping off the potatoes......Nigella's recipe...boy, is she one domestic goddess!! All goose fat and semolina crispy crunch potato-ness.....getting carried away again....back to exercise.

I have five months until I am expected to powerwalk around London in my BRA for breast cancer, and I don't want my goose fat showing...goosebumps maybe, goose fat not! SS and I are still doing our Pilate's twice a week - so dedicated are we, we now have our own mats (thanks SS, love you x) and our own fitness weighted balls (thanks scary Heather, love you, not)....and we are still walking....I just need to do a little more...SS packs the miles in each week...I have to go to work...Bah!
Mind you, I have been good, and have started dragging myself out to body attack on a Tuesday evening...which is exactly what it says on the tin.....I really feel like I have been attacked.......and when I can I go to body pump...which I  think should be renamed body attack.....and SS and I still do the gym faithfully every Wednesday morning where we do half and hour on the treadmill and half an hour of weight training. One thing I have discovered though, is that the button that says 'random' on the treadmill is lying.......it's not 'random'...every week I press it, expecting something different, and something, well, random, and instead....every week I get the biggest, steepest hill known to treadmills....

Well .....tomorrow is another day off, so I may do a bit of training......I'm nearly done......on these Ferrero Rocher........

Merry Christmas!

Food, glorious food......

I have been asked what motivates me to exercise....and, after considerable thought, I came up with the answer - food!

It used to be the thought of a nice 'shiny' at the end of a race, a lovely medal sparkling in the sunshine, but now it's just food.

Whatever event SS and I do, whatever walk we consider, it is motivated by food. We need to know what we are getting, and when we are getting it.

We are connoisseurs of all the local cafe's and coffee shops within a 20 mile radius of Newbury, we know the best energy giving food on the planet......suffice to say, we know the best wind inducing food on the planet..but that story will keep!

In fact, I have come to the conclusion that we exercise, mainly, so that we can have our cake, and eat it!

This, that, and Zumba!

It's been ages since I posted on here! I have had nearly two weeks away from work using up my overtime hours, but I haven't had a minute to sit down and type!

I've been doing this, that, and zumba!!

The 'this' and 'that' was nice, normal, 'catchy-up-with-stuff' stuff, zumba was, well, different...but I'll come to that in a mo....

Firstly, as it was half term, Chris and Cassia went on a jolly to Belgium, leaving me at home dog-sitting, and it apparently had nothing to do with the fact that the 'in-laws' were coming for a few days...
Mom and dad arrived on Friday, and stayed until Wednesday lunchtime (Chris was home by tea-time??!!) and we had a great few days - I even got dad to do a 1/3 of a marathon with me and mom, poor chap, we walked along the canal from Kintbury to Hungerford, had lunch at the Tuttipole, and then when Ma and Pa suggested getting the train back to Kintbury it was 'NO', and off we trotted!
1/3 marathon - well done dad - London with SJ next!
Several friends in the nursing sector have mentioned abuse and 'safe-guarding vulnerable adults'..but I bought them lunch.....

Anyways....once they returned to the safety of their own home, and Chris and Cass had been home to dump their dirty washing, eat tea, collect clean washing and head to Brum, all in the space of a few hours - leaving me dog sitting again......I could then do whatever I wanted!

So I did!

I tried various classes at the gym which I haven't done in ages, such as Body Attack, and I now know why I havent' done it in ages......the sickness from all the bouncing is gradually wearing off, and I have ordered a new sports bra - with scaffholding!

And then I got roped into Zumba.

If you haven't tried it, I suggest you do, just once, as it's an experience....

I have no sense of rhythm, I don't know my left from my right, I am very self-conscious, I HATE dancing.....but this they pretend is an exercise class, so you go, just once, to see what the fuss is about!

Simon from church had mentioned he might go...and it was with some relief that he wasn't there on the Thursday evening, I could change my mind after seeing the fit, hip-wriggling others coming into the class, and I could leg it into the gym.....unfortunately Angie from work saw me, and was highly delighted that I had 'finally joined her' - damn!!

So, I spent an hour, sashaying, cha-cha-cha-ing, shimmy-ing, salsa-ing, hip-hopping, turning around when everyone else was going forwards, going left when everyone else was going right, looking completely blank.....but I must have burnt up a trillion calories as the sweat was pouring off me, and I could hardly catch my breath.
So, Zumba..it's not for the faint-hearted, it's not for the unfit, it's not for me really...but I can say I did it!
I'd rather do a 1/3 of a marathon with my dad any day!

Marge and Homer.......

On Sunday I had Marge and Homer Simpson come for tea.
 For those not familiar with the Simpsons, Marge is lovely bubbly with curly, wurly hair, and Homer is nice but dim with a bit of a belly.
Actually, I'm lying.
 I had Tim-my brother, and his girlfriend SJ come over, but when it was suggested that they were like Marge and Homer...well....if the cap fits etc etc!!
Tim had been on a jolly with his bike, and equally nutty friend 'Chris-orange', on a cycle ride to the Isle of Wight, round the Isle of Wight, and back to our house, to meet up with SJ, and grab a tasty meal (if I do say so myself!!), so it was great to catch up with them.......and to check out Tim's butt.....

What?? I hear you ask! If you remember, in a previous blog, I mentioned that Tim had done the mammoth task of cycling from Paris to Brest to Paris, 700 miles in something like 77 hours non-stop - all for charity - and had acquired butt blisters in the process.
I've never met anyone who has had butt blisters before...foot blisters aplenty..butt blisters sadly no!
I didn't actually check out the said blisters, but I did want to see if Tim could sit down properly.

Actually, Tim's butt did get quite an airing...not literally before you start wondering what sort of an establishment I might have, but in the verbal sense!
SS and I have often chatted about Tim's mad endeavours when we are doing one of our own, so SS knew the results of his cycle ride and his butt blisters, so when we were at Pilates, and the instructor said "clench the buttocks" SS said she could only think of Tim's butt.
So now, when the instructor says "clench the buttocks", I think of SS thinking of my brothers butt...as I told SJ about it on Sunday...she is now thinking about me thinking about SS thinking about Tim's butt...and poor Tim is wondering why ANYONE is remotely interested in his butt at all!

Anyways, moving on, we got onto the subject of challenges!
Tim reckons his next one is going to be good...cycling London to Edinburgh to London......
SJ's is pretty impressive...she has a place in the London marathon - go girl....
but I reckon I win....
I've got a place in the 2012 London Moonwalk - 26.2 miles around London in just a bra - beat that!!

Nuts and bolts!

I'm extremely pleased to see that the new Stryker building has finally opened its doors in Hambridge Road, Newbury!
....for those not familiar with Stryker, they are a company, or should I say a Corporation, with headquarters in Newbury, and they are, I quote from their website "leaders in the worldwide orthopaedic market......one of the world's largest medical device companies, including joint replacement"...which is absolutely fantastic, as for Christmas, top of my wish list, is a new left hip and right knee.....and if they could throw in a couple of their famous titanium nuts and bolts, there is the odd screw loose here and there.........

Exercise is meant to do you good, but SS and I have become to suspect that the more we actually do, the more we actually fall apart at the seams, or at least feel as if we are!!. It has been suggested (and how very dare they!!) that it could be age related ie older you get = longer recovery time, but I don't know.....I just take the cod liver oil, the glucosimine, the chrondotin, the ibuprofen...... and hope that the joints last a little longer!

Pilates is making a difference. It still hurts...not as much....but strengthening 'the core' helps with the marathons we do, we breezed through a 32 miles last Saturday, in a surprising 25 degrees heatwave, and I  still had the energy to take Golda and Mali for a 3 mile circuit when I got home, and a quick 6 miles on Sunday!
What finished me off was a new class on Monday........

I haven't tried body pump for a while......for those not familiar with body pump it's basically choreographed weightlifting - but not for sissies!!
I'd read in a sports magazine that your muscles become very complacent with the same regular exercise, week in, week out, and that you need to challenge yourself. So I did.
And I could hardly move on Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or Thursday. Or Friday.
In fact, it took until today (Monday) for me to get to the gym again!! And guess what I did?!

So...please Father Christmas......may I have a new hip??

The Cotswold Challenge...

The word 'challenge' in the title is an understatement, it should have been called the Cotswold 'ouch', or the Costwold ' argh'!
I have never, ever done such a hilly marathon, and SS and I have done some hilly silly (stupid) courses in our walking history - this was the toughest!

It was what us professionals would term an a/e type of course...or for those less initiated, an 'arse over elbow' type of course, the ascents were vertical, the descents ( and there were not that many!) sheer drops into almost oblivion, and the little bits of flat in between were covered in either stinging nettles, cow pats or noxious quagmires!

The challenge started at Birdlip village hall, and was a circular route taking in other beacons in the area, for example, Haresfield and Painswick.
The scenery was stunning, especially from Haresfield beacon when the sun finally broke through the clouds and gave us a fantastic view across Gloucestershire.
The checkpoints were in either bus stops, National trust car parks, or a golf course (4th one!), and followed the theme of McVities ginger cake and homemade bread pudding...the last checkpoint was back at Birdlip village hall to a plate of quiche and coleslaw, followed by tinned rice and tinned peaches ( how awesome is that?!) but.....in order to get that quiche  you had to do a last mile of lung-bursting uphill awfulness that is the WORST that we have ever done!
 For the last 5 miles, everyone we passed kept saying things such as " we're getting closer to THAT mile"...or "not long until THAT hill"....and, to be honest, I did think 'it's only Birdlip'.....I've been down and up, and up and down in the car, and yes it's bad, and yes, O2 masks drop from the ceiling, but it's only a hill........but ...we didn't do THAT route...
Oh No!! The route organiser's took us up a sheer ascent, not the nice curvy road way!
THEY took us up through the woods, and up, and up and up and up.......

SS and I did 4,447 metres of ascent, we didn't stop, and we overtook a lot of gasping people (mainly men!!) on the route.....we earned our quiche!

We came in with the first 60 out of 150 entrants....and felt decidedly smug!

But, on Tuesday, as I am editing this, my butt cheeks are still on fire, and my thigh muscles are screaming - the Cotswold challenge - OUCH!!!

Body Unbalanced.....

At the end of our 3rd Pilates session yesterday, SS and I asked the instructor if it was meant to hurt sooo much. We explained that our stomachs were protesting, that our ribs felt like they had been kicked, and our hips stretched...she looked at us in that pitying way that all fit, blonde instructors do, and said..'no'!!

Apparently, we are using muscles which have had 'little or no use before', and it 'will get easier'...yeah right!

To be honest..we are enjoying this Pilates lark..we are still pounding the treadmill, and lifting weights (proper stuff) but this 'airy fairy' stuff isn't too bad! I was definately under the impression that it was an easy option, a bit of hippy dippy relaxation and stretching to work some inner core, but this is tough stuff too.

My stomach muscles don't know what's hit them, but if this core work will help with our marathon missions, then it's got to be worth it, especially as we have our 'Cotswold challenge' on Saturday - will blog about that later.

I thought that I would give Body Balalnce a go on Sunday afternoon, well, if  I can do pilates, why not??
It's, well...different! You need a body, and you need balance.
Body? check.
Balance? you have got to be kidding!!
Stand on one leg and focus?.....no way!! I spent most of the class on my butt knuckle, and not intentionally!

Body balance?.......More like Body Unbalanced!

Pilates...

Today was the day I tried something new.

I gave pilates 'a go'.....and I never new it could hurt so much!
I was under the impression that this was a class to improve 'core stability' and perhaps strengthen my achey back, but...well... I've strengthened muscle in places I didn't expect to have muscles!

Of course it was SS's idea (when will I learn??)

We met and did our usual Wednesday morning gym routine of treadmill (I did a MASSIVE hill climb in preparation for the Cotswold Challenge), weights and coffee, and then SS had talked me into trying an hour of said Pilates.."it will be fun"...

I knew something was amiss when the instructor walked in, she looked, and sounded very scary, asked who was new, and said   'inhale and exhale, but only when I tell you to' - what?? I need permission to breathe??

It was a little confusing to start with as she kept telling us to "rock on your 'sit down bone'" ...'sit down bone'??? where in the body is the 'sit down bone'?....I had to take a sneaky peak at SS and see that she was sat on her butt knuckle....arhhh, know I know what she's on about.....and well, I survived an hour...

But it was tough! I stretched, and pulled and curled muscles that I had forgotten existed, I had to squeeze a ball with my inner thigh muscles, and stretch a glorified elastic band above my head...I had to hold my breath, and puff and pant.....and well.....an hour passed really quick...but do I ache or what!

I'm editing this blog on Friday....my ribs feel bruised, I can hardly sit on my 'sit down bone' and my legs are like jelly....when I moan, sorry, mention it to anyone who will listen, I'm told that at least it worked.......

Will I listen to SS and try it again.......probably........

Beaches and Bakes.....

I've just spent a lovely week in South Wales with the family, and despite it being a holiday, I've managed to fit some training in ready for the 'Cotswold Challenge' that SS and I have entered on the 24th September.

The 'Cotswold Challenge' (a marathon) starts and ends at Birdlip village hall (so there should be cake!!)and if you don't know where it is, I shall inform you that it is VERY high up in Gloucestershire.....high up as in hill not posh......

It is on a beacon, and the 'challenge' takes in several beacons so the route is going to be 'undulating' to say the least, hence the need for some training whilst on holiday.....

We holidayed on the Gower , staying at Caswell Bay, and this is fast becoming my favourite UK holiday spot, dare I say it, perhaps beating Aberdovey...which was my number one...
In fact, according to the National Trust Magazine that I read in the Coffee shop at Three Cliffs Bay, Rhossili Beach on the Gower has just been voted Britain's Best Beach for 2011, beating Tresco on the Scilly Isles...it was in the Cadburys Flake beach awards, but you can't argue with Cadburys now can you?

Rhossili Bay, The Gower.

Caswell Bay, and coast path.

No Surf!!

Segfredo coffee....mmmmmm!!

Anyways, Caswell has a lovely bay with a coast path leading to the next bay at Langland and a route along this, and round the golf course back to our chalet is about 3.5 miles, so I ran it 4 mornings and walked it twice, what made it more worthwhile, apart from the spectacular views, was the coffee shop on the sea front which served Segfredo coffee and the best Welsh cakes I've ever tasted...

I even had a go at surfing...just to get some more exercise in...and this was .....well......pants really! We waited all week for the waves to pick up but the sea was soooo flat! On Thursday we went in anyway and tried a few waves but we resorted back to the bodyboards and just kicked our legs.....I have  never known the sea so still, a big contrast to when we where last there in February......mind you, all that salt water is still thirsty work so it's a good job there's a coffee shop on the beach.....

So, a weeks holiday, and now back home to washing, ironing, and meeting up with SS on Monday to start training again......however...we did have one last day of 'holiday' in the form of a 30th birthday party this afternoon!

It was our friend Lissie's 30th, and she was having an 'afternoon tea party'. Her mum had spent the last few days cooking everything in the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, so it was, as they say, a 'veritable feast' of goodies....... and very educational........
I learnt, for instance, that Anna, a Duchess, introduced afternoon tea as she got rather peckish between lunch at midday and dinner in the evening.....wanting a cuppa and a sarnie......this then led on to 'High Tea' which was to become something 'more substantial'.....cake, cake, cake,cake....

Substantial has always been good in my book, so I tried, rocky road, red velvet cup cake, lavender cup cake, lemon drizzle cake, and something with rice crispies and marshmellows which was scrummy......Lissie and Christine I thank you, but fear I may not be able to run or even walk for a few days......!!

The Shipton Star

I'm sat typing this blog with tears streaming down my face....not because I'm sad, but because 'something' out there has irritated my eyes sooooo much that they won't stop running!!

I'm telling you this because a) I want some sympathy and b) I need to apologise for the awful spelling etc, because I can't see what I am typing.

SS and I have spent 26 miles plodding along Salisbury Plain (yes, MILITARY Salisbury Plain), and whether it's pollen, dust, or just plain old bullets, there is 'something' out there which has got us....she has sniffed and snuffled all day, I've just cried.....

We entered the 'Shipton Star', a marathon based around the village of Shipton Bellinger in the heart of Salisbury Plain. It didn't bode too well when we couldn't find the start at 7.45am this morning though.....

The website instructions told us that the start was from the village hall, in Shipton, and the organisor, a man who I shall call Fred, as his name was Fred, told us it was on the High Street. So we drove up the High Street, and down, and down the High Street and up, and there was no village hall. So I phoned Fred....who was VERY grumpy and he told me it was definately on the high street and that I "couldn't possibly miss it'.....

So SS and I drove up the High Street again.....and down the High Street....and by way of a change we parked the car and WALKED up the High Street, and guess what?? Yep, no village hall! So we asked a local...... and the village hall was up the High Street, turn left  onto Bulford Road, and then a sharp right...poor Fred, not only was he VERY grumpy, he was also geographically challenged!!

I was going to tell him too, until we got to the village hall, parked and actually met him, he was very tall,  and very scary looking.....

Anyways, SS and I checked in, got our first route map and headed off....

You had a choice of route for this marathon - you could either do eight smaller loops, each returning to the central checkpoint, or 4 longer routes, of roughly 10-11km each, so we opted for those - less time with Fred!
The terrain was very varied, chalk tracks, gravel tracks, long grass, shooting ranges, wooded copses, forests, steep ascents, scary slippery descents-at one point 18%, boggy clay puddles, but it was fantastic, the sun shone all day, and even though we could hear the tanks and the soldiers on the shooting ranges - we survived to tell the tale.

Mind you, the last bullet was a little close.....so we were  the first ones back!

We have certificates, badges, and even a few empty cartridges to prove our near misses, what a great day out!

A challenge....

As I  type this, sat on my comfy office chair, I can't help but think of my brothers butt......strange yes, but very true.....he has been sat on a very thin bike saddle since Sunday afternoon - ouch - and is only halfway through his epic challenge of cycling 750 miles in 90 hours from Paris to Brest and back to Paris again.

Why is he doing this?? I reckon it's to prove to me that cycling is tougher than walking or something equally nonsensical...but Tim reckons he is raising money for a well in Kenya!
You can check out how he is doing through his website, and more importantly, donate some cash to 'Tim's well'. ( don't let on, but I am secretly rather impressed by him   shhh)

http://www.challengemenace/

Anyways....Tim doing this has given me itchy feet...I need a new challenge! Last Wednesday SS and I did  a 'mini challenge'. We did an old route to Hungerford and back along the canal which was great, and after 23-24 miles, I collected Golda and Mali and did  a small loop of the common taking me up to 26+ miles which is marathon distance - and that felt good. I mentioned that I had done a marathon when at a BBQ on Sunday evening, and a couple from church who had given me sponsor money to 'stop' doing events wanted a refund - I had to explain that this was a training event, and I'd only stopped doing 'mad distances'!!

I've had an hour in the gym this morning, ready for an event that SS and I have tomorrow called the Shipton Star which is a 25 mile event on the edge of Salisbury Plain. It starts at a village hall, and we all know that village halls =cake!! It sounds like a good event as you start off at a main check point and return to it at the end of each leg of the journey, creating, in effect, the 'star' of the name, and hopefully, collecting a piece of cake.......

But, I still need a challenge.......we have 40 miles in May to look forward to, but we need something before then.....maybe I'm going have to take up this cycling lark.....750 miles, it's not that far is it??!!!!

Simples.....

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted on here and it's because life has been hectic....I was going to say I haven't had time but 'time' or my lack of it has been debated in a previous blog and I hate to repeat myself.....

I have been away on a church camp with 46  'little dahlings' to Corfe Castle, near Swanage, something that Chris and I have done for the last 4 years. Chris originally volunteered us ( I hit him, VERY hard), and apart from the fact that I HATE camping, and don't particularly 'get children',  I just about manage to last the week. Also, it was pointed out to me that I was doing the Lords work so should do it willingly, so that stopped me from complaining ( at least a little bit).
Anyways, camp was good, the weather was good, food was good, company was good, (being nurse I didn't poison or kill anyone, always a bonus) -  albeit very hard work.

And then I have had another birthday, so that's quite hard work, opening the stack of cards, responding to fan mail etc etc........

Actually, I had the BEST present ever this year...a MASSIVE thank you to SS and family! I absolutely adore meerkats, long before the Simples adverts came out on TV, and ages before my brother Tim liked them, even though he would have you believe otherwise....
 SS and co have bought me an 'adopt a meerkat' gift box, - I get to adopt my very own South African meerkat - how cool is that??!!
And, my out-laws have bought me the autobiography of Aleksandr Orlov, the meerkat behind the compare-the-market.com adverts.....I recommend that everyone reads this book, it's awesome!!

So that hasn't really left much time for exercise!! In the last two weeks I have done one training session, and that was yesterday with SS. Before spending the day with Chris to celebrate my birthday, and knowing that a lot of cake and chocolate was heading my way...I thought I ought to do something, so SS and I met at the top of the road and headed off to Greenham common for a circuit..in the rain. It hadn't changed much! We did our circuit, and headed straight to Costas for a birthday bacon buttie and planned tactics for future training sessions.
Even though I have said I'm not doing any 'mad distances' anymore, we still want to keep our training up, and SS is always looking for a mad challenge for herself, so we plan to walk to Hungerford next week, and hope to enter a 25 mile event the week after...and after that...lets see....

Anyways, I must finish this post with my favourite quote from my new book by Aleksandr, he has my way of thinking.....

"Telling peoples what to do is one of my favourite hobbies,
so job comes naturals."
Simples!

Four down....how many more???

Four toenails have now dropped off...how many more d'ya reckon will? Those that remain have had several coats of silver nail polish to help stick them in place, but if they're gonna go, then they're gonna go!
I had my finger nails done today and I casually asked if I would get a discount for only 3/4's of a pedicure, the nail technician just stared at me in a sad sort of way..(it may have been that she was Chinese and didn't understand me)..no sense of humour!

 - I did also mention on facebook that I was going to make a necklace with my four toenails...again....you lot have no sense of humour...as if I would.....

Life appears to be back to normal nearly a month on from the 'big race', I'm back at the gym regularly, and apart from the toenails, nothing else has dropped off!
I met SS yesterday for our usual Wednesday workout, mainly treadmill and weights. For a change I did a hill climb and this felt great rather than plodding on the flat. Today, as I had the morning off, I again went to the gym, and did a bit more cardio.
It was great to do a bit more hill climbing (accompanied by The Killers), some cross-training and some rowing, and again a circuit of weights.
Whilst there I did see a notice for 'Boxing Circuits' so might investigate that further as it sounds interesting!! And might help me keep Chris in order......

SS  and I haven't got anything planned, and that worries me a little.......I need something planned to keep me training......no goal and I find it easy to slow down a little!! In previous blogs I have said I'm not doing anything as daft as 85 miles again...but it would be nice to have something to aim for.....a few shiny medals for some marathons might be good....

It's  also quiet at home at the moment as 'the lodger' has now moved into his own new lodgings, and took 'lodger number two' with him.
'Lodger number two' you might ask.....was a friend of 'lodger number one' who came to stay but got the dates wrong....( yes, I know calendars came out with the Romans, but he was from 'up North' and knew 'nowt') and ended up lodging with us for a week as well. Actually, as a point of interest...well, to me anyway....he is the only student I have ever met who is soooooo anti-vegetarian it's untrue, I was tempted to put a carrot on his plate just to see what would happen......
Anyways, 'the lodger' has been back a couple of times for his tea...not sure whether its for the stimulating conversation regarding my toenails, or my cooking skills......I think I washed my hands after fiddling with my feet.........

Back on track!

Three weeks on..and I made it to the gym!! It was great to see SS, so that I could hit her hard for making me do the centurion race!!

I was a little dubious about being there, I was desperate to start exercising again, (and I think the family wanted me to run off some of my bad mood!) but I was a little worried that it might actually hurt...so it was with some trepidation that I stepped on to the treadmill - in my shiny new asics I might add!!

I wasn't actually certain what I would be able to do, so started off with a low incline power walk, which felt OK, nothing fell off, so I pushed the speed up, and up, and up until I was running, and that hurt a bit, so I dropped down again and stuck with power walking for 25 minutes, until I thought 'what the heck' and sprinted for the last 5 minutes which actually felt OK by then.....or did until I stopped and then I was very wobbly!!

My feet, which everyone expects me to be suffering with, especially as I have lost 3 toenails, don't bother me at all, but currently I am ready for bilateral hip replacements and a knee replacement!!
Anyways, as I was in the gym, I thought I might as well get my moneys worth, so SS and I did a circuit of weights too. I always worry that without exercise I am going to slip backwards quickly, as it is surprising how quickly muscle tone disappears, but I was able to lift the same weights as 'pre Surrey' so 'resting on my laurels' wasn't quite as damaging as I was envisioning....perhaps the donuts were though as my shorts were a tad tight......

Saturday morning was a 'walk free' morning. Chris had organised a BBQ and 'sleepover' with the youth group kids, but due to our typically British weather the sleepover didn't happen....I had already mentioned to SS that I couldn't walk.....I suppose that I could have phoned her Friday evening and  said plans had changed......but....well.....no excuse really...I wanted a lie in!!

I did however go to the gym Saturday.....I was sooooooo stiff Thursday and Friday that the word 'GYM' was not a nice word but by Saturday I felt good enough to go again and was able to do a lot more -

30 mins run treadmill
10 mins X trainer
5 mins rowing (1000 metres in 5.02 seconds - is this good or not, as I don't really have any idea, I know I can do it a bit quicker, but what should it be???? )and then a circuit of weights, and this felt good, definitely back on track!!

So good in fact, that I took the dogs out when I got home. Poor Chris has been chief dog walker for the past 3 weeks as I've been out of action, but as I'm now able to get to the gym, I can't really expect him to carry on!!
Mali, Golda and I headed up to Greenham common, and had a run, we only did the small loop ( the look on Mali's face was a real "is that it??" sort of look,) but it was enough for Golda and me, and as I said, I feel back on track......

Not that back on track though, that I said yes to SS when she asked if I wanted to do the 'Humber Hell' or the 'Death March' walks with her......mmmmmm, the names sort of give it away a little........!!!

Toenails.....

Two weeks ago, at the end of my 'big race' I was quite proud of the fact that I had all ten toenails, especially as SS had lost one of hers.....but, alas, I am now down to eight.....do you think I would get a reduced rate pedicure???

It's amazing the bits of you that drop off or wear out when you race walk....my right knee is still aching like crazy, I have done as I was told by the consultant and rested for a fortnight, (to be honest I couldn't do anything else!!) but even now I still feel tired and know that I did too much.....but how long does it take to recover??

Sitting still for too long and you get stiff and lose muscle tone....training too soon and you damage muscle fibre.....plus, I'm getting 'twitchy'...I'm getting to that stage where I really need to be 'doing something'. So...the consultant said two weeks.....it's two and a half on Wednesday...so I'm going to meet SS at the gym and try a little jog on the treadmill and see how it goes........I might need a week off afterwards, I might be fine....at any rate, it's about time we had a Costas....hey, I might be twitchy due to the caffeine withdrawal...

I am also very keen to try my new trainers!! I bought them last week, when my feet were still a tad swollen, so haven't actually tried them on yet......they are my faithful friends, good old asics 1160's.....it's a bit sad...but I keep taking them out of the box to look at them...see, I definately need to get out more.....

I would like to say that I had used my two weeks of non-training wisely...that I had caught up with jobs around the home.....sorted my South Africa photos.....read my new book on Nelson Mandela..but I haven't....I've been pooped - I've worked, come home, cooked tea, and been in bed by 8pm.

 The most productive thing I have done is cut my toenails, and now, as mentioned, two of those, alas, are no more.......

Bemused...

Today I was given £20 sponsor money....not for the walk I did, but for saying that I was 'done' with long distance race walks......and even though people have said 'well done' for what I did, more people are impressed that I'm not doing it any more and are glad that I've 'seen sense'.....does anyone else find that a bit odd or is it just me??!!

Yes, I know my distances have been a bit extreme, but that's where the word 'challenge' comes in.....no-ones going to cough up a fiver for something that's easy are they......everyone bungee jumps..... or 'races for life'......how many can you name that have walked 85 miles (in one go, and not SAS!) for charity eh?!

But I am surprised how many people out there have thought that I am mental over the years....but haven't told me...apart from my brother Tim (nice bit on your blog, thanks bro - www.challengemenace.blogspot
)who is always questioning my psychological well being, and suggesting that I take up cycling.....??

Talking of exercise...I haven't been able to do anything...absolutely zilch....my leg is still extremely painful, the swelling has subsided but the muscle cramps/spasms which seem to extend from my right butt cheek all the way down to my calf muscle are excruciating! Normally I would have put my trainers on and 'run the knots' out, but at the moment I am very wary of causing more damage to the muscle fibres...this, unfortunately, doesn't help ones 'ambience' either.......I NEED to run for my sanity ( and for the sanity of those around me!!) - it keeps me sane, it releases the endorphins, those little 'happy hormones' that stop me snapping at people......(Chris, read this as an apology, it's as good as you're gonna get!!!)

Anyways, I might be a nutcase, but with gift aid, it's nearly £700 for Happy's, I think that was worth an achey leg

Done....

I can't believe it's a week since I last added a post...I could say it's taken me this long to find the time to sit and type, but in all honesty, its taken me this long to be able to climb the stairs to the attic to retrieve my computer.....

No....I didn't finish the hundred miles.

Disappointed? a little. I felt that I had really trained for this race, and to be honest, if I had  trained any more I don't think that  I could of improved my timings or distance...and I think it's also a case of how much you 'want' something. If I'm being honest, I was really narked when SS sped off into the distance on the first lap, but that is the difference between us, she has the hunger for the prize, I want to finish a race preferably not dead!
So, well done to my friend SS, who not only completed the 100 miles, but is also now a member of the elite Centurion Club and has the number 1094.
Me, I walked for a solid 23 hours and 55 minutes and covered a distance of 85 miles, without stopping once, OK, I did go to the loo  but that doesn't really count.

Did I enjoy it? The camaraderie is awesome each time you pass the checkpoint which comes around every 1.92 km, here you are handed drinks and encouraged to have snacks (if anyone offers me a fairy cake ever again I shall heave) but I found it a very lonely, boring walk...particularly at night. At midnight the temperature dropped, a mist came up and there was a spooky silence. I'm convinced I started hallucinating as I kept picking my feet up thinking I was stepping over boxes or rabbits....so did I enjoy it....no...not really.
What kept me going was knowing that I was doing this for the kids at Happy's and that it wasn't about me. When I felt low I turned my iPod on and listened to my Zulu music...I reminded myself how fortunate I was that I had two legs and I was walking....and I kept telling myself I was done...this was the last big race.......

2PM on Sunday came, and as said I had literally walked my feet off doing 85 miles, it was great seeing Chris at the finish line as there was no way I could have found my way home, SS decided on another night at The Marriott Hotel - which, incidentally, if you are ever at Lingfield Park, is a super duper hotel!( have the scrambled eggs for breakfast -yummy!)

Once home, the damage was assessed, and apart from 2 blisters (biggies) one to my Rt big toe, and one to my Lt 2nd toe, my feet felt fine, I even had a full complement of toenails-woohoo- what was causing me a problem was my Rt calf muscle and thigh which was so cramped I didn't know what to do. By the end of a mornings work on Tuesday, my calf felt like it was going to explode!

Being in the right place, I asked a colleague to have a look.....even though I knew I wasn't a risk for a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) I was showing all the clinical features - shiny swollen calf, cold numb toes, cramp, pain.....so to err on the side of caution I had a blood test to test for something called a d-dimer which can be an indicator of something going on......normal comes back as a reading under 500......mine was 1616.......uh oh!!

So.. heparin injection into the stomach.... and off to the hospital for a scan, especially with the history that I had recently flown to and from South Africa which is also a risk factor for DVT....

Anyway, a happy ending....the scan revealed no blood clots...the consultant told me that severe trauma had obviously raised my d-dimer levels and that I was a 'bit of an idiot' to walk 85 miles in one day, she did however soften when I said it was for charity.(could have given me a fiver for said charity...)
So, home, with instructions to 'elevate to reduce swelling' and 'mobilise as able' but I suppose not at the same time??
The pain is incredible...so it's taught me another lesson that some people, probably those wheelchair-bound kids at Happy's ,experience this limb rigidity and spasticity all the time,` and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Will I race walk again? I've promised SS I will do the 50th Ridgeway40 with her next May, and yes I will, 40 miles is a piece of cake (!!!), but for anything longer, I am definitely done...I have nothing to prove, but want my legs to last a lot longer.

I have always said that running is easier, and as I enjoy that I will do more of it, especially as Mali is good company.......don't worry SS, I will still do the Gym on a Wed and will still walk on a Saturday, you can't keep the Costa's out of a girl....I'll do all of that......as soon as I can bend down to get my trainers back on.......

This is it!!

This is it.....no more training....and just two days to go until 'IT'!! How scary is that??!!

SS and I did our 'last blast' yesterday..except it wasn't really a blast, more of an amble on the treadmill, just to keep our legs moving. We couldn't NOT do anything as we are so twitchy with adrenaline...but can't overdo it either, so an amble it was - although I must admit to doing an eight minute sprint halfway through to stretch my legs out!!...and I'm sure I saw SS push the button to put her speed up a tad.

But...this is is it...we are done...trained to the hilt..as ready as we will ever be....lean, mean, walking machines!
Surrey Centurion here we come......oh, and for those following this blog, I'm number 5 not 6! But if number 6 finishes and I don't, then I'm number 6!

And, one last instruction, if you haven't coughed up yet, why not??
www.justgiving.com/teaandblisters

Ta muchly.

Time is flying.....

 I am going to sound incredibly old here, but time is flying by at an alarming speed!
 It only seems like five minutes ago when SS suggested a hundred mile walk was a good idea ....I must have agreed to it at some time...and here I am, 5 days away from actually walking them...
,
I always seem to be moaning that I don't have enough time in my life to finish my never ending 'list of to-do's'...but when talking about this in South Africa, we came to the conclusion that God thinks we have enough time, he created the days, hours, minutes, and gave each of us exactly the same amount of time, so I guess it's all down to time management.....or priorities, so, if I was organised and prioritised, I shouldn't have a problem at all!

I'm not sure if I'm organised or prioritised for these hundred miles....I've got my food bag packed (most essential as there isn't a Costa or Starbucks in sight, I've googled!!), my trainers are ready and I've researched socks......but that's about it...have we trained enough???Have we carb loaded enough???I was going to ask the question 'are we mental enough????' but thought that might be misinterpreted!! Apparently, 10% of a race is physical, 90% is mental effort......and we are mental to be doing this!!

I think we are fit enough, and SS and I were discussing this after our penultimate gym session today. We have trained, and trained and trained. We have been out walking nearly every weekend, covering distances between 8 miles at the absolute minimum and 40 miles maximum, we do weights at the gym every Wednesday as well as a cardio workout, and individually we both do more 2 or 3 times a week.....yes, we are fit enough.......but will our heads let us do 100 miles????

Today in the gym was hard...it was hot, and it was stuffy, and we both knew we had to take it steady as we are conserving energy for Saturday.....we gave weights a miss and just did 30 mins on the treadmill, and we've decided that we will do this on Wednesday as well, just to keep the legs moving, and to release the 'happy hormones'. Ideally, we should be having a 'rest week' but both SS and I get very twitchy if we do  no exercise....I was like this over the weekend...

We went to Aberdovey, and after being stuck in  a car all the way to Wales, and seeing rain on Saturday morning, I was desperate to get out for a run....so Saturday, mid morning, Mali and I grabbed our running shoes (that's me not Mali) and headed for the beach. Once again Mali thought it was a dualathlon and decided to add swimming in (I declined) and headed for the opposite beach,  after a lot of yelling (again from me and not Mali) Mali was back on track, we did a respectable 3 miles and ended up in the coffee shop for a spot of carb loading. On Sunday morning I seemed to do the carb loading first, so needed to go and run it off, again Mali decided to Swim before run.....but we both managed a fairly fast and decent 3 miles again...not bad considering we were resting.....

And here we are.....5 days away from the big 100......I've looked at the route map, I've looked at my number - 6 if you're interested- I've seen where the toilets are, I've checked out the hotel for Friday night....all looks ok......so I guess we are relatively organised....but have I done everything on my 'to do list'...or am I still running out of time???

Well...Chris has walked the the dogs today so that can be ticked off, the lodger has put all my South Africa photos into one album for me and done some techy stuff and found  'lost' photos for me  (what a star) so that can be ticked off, hmmm.....work emails....those can wait.......ironing....same.....it's 10.22pm, time is flying........

Technology....

I've just had a new iPhone. It's very nice and shiny...and does lots of weird and wonderful things.....apparently.
I have come to the conclusion that you need a degree in iPhone-ology, or at least have a ten year old nearby if you want to know how to use it..they are sooooo complicated...technology...pah!

Surprisingly, in South Africa, even though they have very little in the way of material possessions, clothing, shoes, food, they all seem to have mobiles attached to themselves. They all seem to be the blocky nokia variety.....the sort I wanted until telephone techy guy talked me out of it. After his spiel on adenoids (or was it androids??) and waps I was completely baffled until he said the words 'free' and 'iPhone' in the same sentence. And, as Cass has been harping on about iPhones I knew that they must be OK, so nodded my head and signed on the dotted line.
Fortunately, our lodger (Chris has said I can't keep referring to him as 'the lodger' I must call him Dan, but for blogging purposes I think 'the lodger' reads better) is a bit of a dab hand at anything techy and has set it up....I can't work it other than answer it when it rings, send a text, and eventually find facebook with a lot of Zulu cursing - hey, its cultural - and I guess that will suit me fine.....I don't always recognise the ring tone either...
SS and I walked on Saturday, and most of our exercise was hunting in our pockets when a phone beeped accompanied by one of us saying 'was that me or you?'!
On Saturday we met at 7am and did our usual circuit of the common before breakfast at Costas. Neither of us wanted to be out walking. SS was suffering with sinusitis and I was knackered after my two and a half weeks in Africa and two full on days at work (8.20pm finish Thurs, 7am start Fri), so we moaned and griped some, but a cappuccino and a plate of toast perked us up enough to go around the common again and head towards the canal at Thornford park end, and into town, ultimately ending in Starbucks before the heavens opened, again!
We knew we had to walk as this was our last 'big' training session before the 'centurion' race on 1-2nd July. Our 100 miles in Surrey...raising money for the children at Happy's school in uMlaze, Durban. We aim to buy more wheelchairs for these children, and, after visiting there, I know how desperate they are for them, and for money to upkeep the ones they have.....we must give this race our best shot!
So, we managed 20 miles before we parted company, and then I went and collected Mali and Golda and did another 3 miles, before having to do the ironing...the last remnants from my time away!

SS and I are very grateful to all who have sponsored us so far, but if you haven't, and you could spare a little, please visit our justgiving page....
www.justgiving.com/teaandblisters

It's very easy to do..despite the technology.....!

A meerkat called 'Happy'....

It's Wednesday evening...I have been in the UK a little over 24 hours, and yes, its good to be home..but I'm feeling a little flat...
I keep thinking 'this time two weeks ago I was doing......' and 'this time last week I was doing....' - but hey, life goes on, and I've got to put into practice everything I have learnt!

I put my culinary skills into practice and made bunny chow for supper last night, and did 'zulu chicken and dumplings' tonight, no-one's been sick yet....

I've remembered 'blessed are the peacemakers' and I haven't decked Chris for taking in a lodger ( who is very nice and house-trained)...( that's the lodger not Chris...although Chris is both nice and house-trained)....

I've got back into the gym swing -of- things, and met SS at 8.30am this morning, an hour of that nearly killed me....and then I remembered that I'm training to do a race on the 1-2nd July to raise money for the kids at Happys'...I should be doing this willingly not grudgingly......but boy did my legs ache......even more after  I ran a circuit of the common with Mali and Golda too. Saying that, it was nice to be outside doing some exercise....even though I have lifted kids for two weeks, I haven't felt like I have really done anything to get the joints or muscles moving, so it was great..even if a little tiring..to be out running.

And now I'm off to bed..where my cuddly meerkat is  on the pillow! I bought this meercat at the airport in Johannesburg and it's gorgeous! I had a few Rand left, and when I saw it for sale, I thought, why not! I'd worked hard for the last couple of weeks, looking after these people, and disabled kids, I needed a treat, and perhaps a reminder of my time here! And a meerkat too! My favourite animal. So I bought this lovely, furry toy, and put him in pride of place on my pillow. When I went to bed last night, and showed Chris my meerkat, it was only then that we noticed my meerkat only had one eye!! Can you believe it....a disabled meerkat.......we decided to call it HAPPY.....................

Ngiyaphila

You may be wondering at the title of this particular post....
Ngiyaphila (pronounced 'N -gee- a- peel- a) is a zulu word and means "I am alive".....and this is how South Africa has made me feel.......alive, and happy to be so!

I have just a few minutes before I leave Westville, heading towards the airport, and ultimately the UK, and it's a time for reflection on my time here.

Two weeks isn't long enough. Yes, I've missed Chris and Cassia heaps, but I've loved every single minute of being here. I've loved the work, I've loved the people, the culture,  the food, in fact there isn't anything that I haven't liked......(perhaps it could have been warmer....perhaps I could have shot the Ibis), I could quite easily stay here...in fact I would definitely consider returning to do more of the same.

The biggest change I've felt here, I think, is in me as a person. By nature I know that I am very set in my ways ( I can see Chris nodding), and incredibly selfish with my time ( I can see Chris nodding again but I will mention golf), but I can return home with a different perspective towards life, and thank God, that I do have opportunity in my life that others don't have....I have seen poverty, I have seen illness, I have seen desperation in some of the people here.....yet I have also seen courage and determination to live to the best of their ability - and to praise and thank God for it.

Ngiyaphila - I am alive....and extremely grateful.

At Clermont Township, the kids were fascinated by the trailer! SJ covered in face paints!



Tired..but happy!



Clermont Clean-up!

Painted on the wall outside Clermont community centre.

Again it was an early start - no Sunday lie-ins here! We were at Clermont township teaching Sunday school at 8.30am, and 24 children turned up for Zulu singing, and a 'life-lesson' based on the theme we used at Happy's on Friday, of  'making the best of any situation you are in'.

For the rest of Sunday we spent our time 'cleaning up at Clermont'. Jude, Char and the other volunteers had organised a community work day. This was to give the community centre a 'face lift' - cleaning the building inside and outside, removing rubble from behind the building, and removing rubbish from all areas surrounding the building.

One thing I have noticed here in South Africa is the amount of litter, literally everywhere. On the roadsides, in the gutters, and especially in all of the townships, piles and piles of rubbish.
Dustbin men, or if I'm being politically correct, refuse collectors, hardly ever visit the townships so rubbish piles up. The locals are unable to take their rubbish to the tips as most don't drive, and even if they do, they can't afford transport. Animals peck amongst the rubbish, children play barefoot amongst the rubbish...to a 'clean-freak' like me..it makes my toes curl, and I think of all the diseases these children have probably got ( and then they cough and sneeze on me.....).

My jobs today involved cleaning the windows, which firstly meant I had to go and collect my own water from the standpipe...and then get it back without spilling too much of it....cleaning the chairs.....doing lunch for what seemed like hundreds of kids.....and helping to attach a metal dustbin to a post so it didn't get nicked - if things aren't bolted down here, you won't see them again!!

It stopped raining for the day, so we were able to complete this work in sunshine which was a blessing as  Clermont is surrounded by mud and would have been a nightmare in the rain!!

The evening was spent writing and reading emails and downloading photos, and reflecting on the last two weeks.....two weeks...how quick has the time gone??!

Tomorrow we start the journey home. Our first flight is 16.55 from Durban and is just a hop to Joberg...we then have  just over ten hours on a flight to Madrid, and then another hop over to the UK, and, all being well, and luggage arrival permitting etc etc....we should arrive back in the UK for 10.05am on Tuesday.........
And I get to see whether Chris has fixed the cooker....and meet the new lodger.....

Did I say 'new lodger'...yes I did...it's amazing what happens when you leave home......

I was going to be narked that Chris had taken in a 'waif and stray'...but then I read back through some of my blogs and thought that actually......I'm meant to be learning from my experiences here, and learning about giving and sharing, and compassion, and if someone from one of our churches in a different part of the UK has asked for help for their son who is moving to Newbury, then we should help......I'm still gonna hit Chris  (hard)though, coz his timing is pants!

Happy.....

Today (Saturday) was a day off, but we were still up early as we were going to Essingwood market in Durban centre to buy our souvenir's for home! This market closes at 11am, so we needed to 'get moving'!

The market was quite small, set out under some huge trees, with the first third of it being entirely devoted to food.....couldn't do anything until I'd had a box of donuts! These they sprinkled with honey, cinnamon and chopped almonds.....I did feel a little guilty, as, being a Saturday, I knew that SS would be hard training at home, walking the common, as we have our race on 1-2nd July.
The feeling soon passed! And anyway, we are raising money for Happy's, and I'm here in person, doing some work at Happy's..........

Anyways.....the market had a lot of 'Africa crafts' and I was able to find some lovely things to bring home to remind me of my time in this beautiful country.

Once back at Westville, it was deemed my turn to cook this evening, so I prepared food ready for supper, and then the rest of the day was my own. I decided to sit and sort my photo's and emails.
Below are a collection of photos of the children at Happy's, who always are happy - big grins every time - smiles even in times of adversity.

Rain!

If anyone else tells me that it doesn't usually 'rain like this in South Africa' I shall hit them! It has been torrential for the past 24 hours.....we even had thunder and lightning overnight.

At Westville hall, the garden is beginning to look a little sorry for itself, leaves blowing across the lawn and puddles dotted around..... but at Happy's school, and at Lamontville, another township I visited this afternoon....the puddles are more like ponds, and the grassy patches (you can't call them lawns!) have turned to churned up muddy patches. The children are still outside, playing, or running to one anothers houses, most are barefoot.....I am in my coat, sweatshirt, t-shirt, scarf and trainers - I think it's awful, they all have big smiles!

This morning was spent shopping and writing my lesson for the children at Happy's school as I was teaching there this afternoon. I had a class of 24 children, and my life lesson today was 'make the best of any situation you are in' - which these children certainly do...the lesson they are teaching me with everything they do, is certainly more powerful than what I could ever teach them.

In fact, I was having this conversation with Simon, the other English volunteer, as we were driving home from Nosipho's  last night. Being here for 2 weeks, I don't know whether I have made a different to these people I have met. I don't know whether I have changed anything for them. And I can see that sometimes, changing things, putting our view on 'what's good for them' can actually be harmful......what these 2 weeks have done is change me...it has changed my perspective, and I hope it has made me a better person.

So, I taught these children, and based my lesson around the bible story of King David and what he did, and had to contend with, and how he had to make the best of the situations he got himself into -reiterating the memory verse that the children had learnt last week of Psalm 37 v 5, and then we had lots of colouring and cuddles!
I had also taken my camera in to Happy's as the children love having their photos taken, especially when they can see themselves on the monitor afterwards! Apart from the young man who was translating for me..he didn't like his photo, and I ended up taking his four times until he was happy with it!!

From Happy's I went with Jude straight to the township of Lamontville, about ten minutes away from Happy's school, where the COPT had built another community centre. On a Friday evening, Jude runs a youth club. Tonight she had 22 children. We played 'beetle drive' with them for an hour which they really enjoyed, and then spent half an hour talking about a 'life lesson'. This week it was based on  'Love your neighbour' - and explored who is your neighbour, and what is love, and peace. These kids where very bright, all Zulu's, and all spoke very highly of wanting peace in their lives. In true teenage fashion, they then all proceeded to argue with one another...!

At 7pm we left for home....and as a treat at the end of a busy week, we booked ourselves into a local restaurant called 'Nourish' - as no-one wanted to cook, and I had snot and dribble over me so no-one wanted me to cook!

'Nourish' is famous for it's steaks and chicken, but after spending 2 weeks here, and seeing chickens cooped up in cages at the sides of  roads, or squashed on roads, and insides of animals, just hung outside of animals from any hook, anywhere,  or goats wandering here,  there and anywhere, I am practically vegetarian! I stuck with the butternut, pecan, and feta  pasta - delicious.

Chicken or goat? I'm staying vegetarian!

Food for thought..

Shops like this one in Marionhill are dotted around all the townships, and sell anything from apples and bread, to beer, sweets and crisps - if you have the money.

Another early start, but worth getting up as Char, one of the South Africans working for COPT, had made pancakes!
They serve them 'over here' smaller than in the UK, but with maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon...delicious...I ate four......all this work is making me incredibly hungry... and my jeans very tight!

Food doesn't appear to be a problem over here, for some reason I thought it might be...there is plenty of it, the problem is that the poor don't have the money to buy it.
COPT, as a charity, doesn't give out money when people ask for it...and you get asked a lot....(if you stop at road junctions for example....instead they give out food. All cars have packets and packets of dried noodles or what we would call 'pot noodles'. Apparently these are classed as nutritious and they eat them dry with the flavouring sprinkled on them like crisps, apparently they are also very filling. The other option is to give out slices of brown bread.

Again, after eating 4 pancakes this morning, and not having to worry about where my next meal is coming from, does put these peoples lives, and mine into perspective.

On this blog I was also going to moan about how cold I am at night....our room is quite damp, and the bed linen feels very damp, bordering on wet in the morning. I sleep in my pyjamas, a t-shirt, sweatshirt and socks. My family will tell you how high I have the heating turned up at home (yes, even in the summer months, even though I turn it down before Chris gets home!), here there isn't any heating...I just have a very hot coffee before I get into bed, and one as soon as I get up....in fact, I try to spend as little time in bed as possible as it really is a cold damp place.....
I'm doing two weeks of this, then I get to go home, to comfort.

Am I spoilt...or just lucky?
Compared to most of the people  I am seeing here, I am extremely well blessed.

The rest of my day was spent with Nosipho, the young lady with rheumatoid arthritis. As promised, Simon and I returned to take her shopping as she needed some new clothes and toiletries.

We collected her from her care home, and drove her to a shopping mall, about 20 minutes away. The extremes between rich and poor were very obvious here...you have expensive shops in the mall, yet on the freeway just outside, you have beggars trying to sell you trinkets or even plastic coat-hangers for R1 (10pence).
It was an experience shopping with Nosipho, she was looking for a jacket, and did want to try them on, but being unable to move her arms independently, or even lift them above shoulder height with help was a challenge, we persevered, and a few hours later, we had not one jacket but two, and a pair of jeans, a pair of pumps and some toiletries. We had a tired Simon, a thirsty Nosipho and a bemused me...this was the first time I had ever been shopping and not bought me anything!!

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.....

Yet another early start - 6am.....pitch dark and raining.....but at least it meant the Ibis wasn't up!

Today we were taking the Marionhill creche kids to the Zoo for their school trip - an activity sponsored by COPT. We were to be the taxi drivers and helpers, needing to be at the creche for 7.45am to 'load the kids'.

Health and safety seems a little slack in South Africa, and so I had 2 adults and 6 kids and me crammed into the car with 5 seat belts between us......

The zoo was in the centre of Durban city...about half an hours drive away from the township....and was a hair-raising experience!

Driving in Durban is a case of 'anything goes'. The infrastructure is basically ok, the freeways are pretty well maintained...the roads in and out of the townships are full of potholes and I did get stuck once...but traffic lights have no logic to them!! Firstly the locals call them 'robots' so I have no idea what they are on about.....and the rule is...if they are green you go....if they are red, and you think it's safe, you can go...if it's night and they are red, you can go.....if they are red and flashing, you can go, and they have no amber....????

Secondly, the car I am driving is a Toyota avanza.....and I'm not a car snob ( we have a skoda!!!), but c'mon.....this is a manual, with a top speed of 40 kph....it's pants, and I still managed to make a kid puke three times!

Anyway, we got to the zoo, 18 children and 7 helpers, and did have a great morning there, dodging the rain...and the wild monkeys which come and go as they please in and around Durban....these monkeys helped themselves to the kids picnic, running off with a yogurt, a sandwich and half a banana, healthy monkeys!

The highlight of the day was seeing my favourite animals...the meerkats....oh, and of course the smiles on the children's faces!
By early afternoon they were all shattered and ready to go back to the township for a rest, so they were all bundled back into the car.

Sicky kid was given a plastic bag specially for the journey home...but typically didn't puke....he wee'd instead!!

Once home, and after suitable refreshment at Westville 'Mugg&Bean' (cheese and bacon muffin!) I headed with Jude, the English volunteer to Clermont township where we held the after school club for an hour.

The room we used is larger than most of the houses in the township and has electricity. It is made of cinder blocks and has a tin roof. When we got there, it was pouring with rain, so much so that it had come through the roof, into the lights, so we couldn't use the electricity.....the floor was wet, and the building was damp......this was one of the better houses in the township......made from cinder blocks, not wood....with a tin roof, not cardboard......food for thought eh?
I spent an hour in that room....these people live like this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.......

The evening was spent in Marionhill Township where a couple had cooked a meal for us volunteers....Pinder had told us what a superb cook his wife Vesta was, and she had invited us round to show us.....and she was! We had some Zulu specialities, including a chicken curry, a potato salad and a spicy bean salad - scrummy.
This was followed by a English/Zulu class with lots more Zulu songs and slapping and clapping to end a very long day!

A couple more new Zulu words for today;
Siyabonga - 'thanks' in general - on behalf of lots of people, or to lots of people
Yabonga - 'thank you' specifically to one person.

Four eyes.....

Being a 'specky four-eyes' has it's disadvantages ...the kids here seem to absolutely love my glasses...they prod them, they poke them, they bash them, they pull, lick, smear and even snot on them.......revolting!

So far I have a chipped lens, a loose screw (or a screw loose?!) and a wonky ear piece. I start the day being able to see clearly, and finish the day in a smeary, foggy haze.

Today I didn't see any children until mid-morning as first thing we were at the HIV/TB clinic at Kwadebeka again to serve tea and coffee to the waiting patients.
It amuses me that sugar is added to the pots of tea and coffee before they are poured out, when I asked why this was done, I was told it was to make it fair, and to treat everyone the same, as when the sugar was handed out separately, one patient had taken 13 spoons of sugar!



Marionhill Township and creche (COPT funded)

 Once tea had been served, it was then time to move to Marionhill township to see the Gogo's (Zulu for Granny's) and the children in the creche. Again the children were so excited to see the 'white faces' so there were cuddles and squeezes all round...and more pokes to the glasses!

During the afternoon I went with Simon, (the English volunteer from Kingsclere) to Queensburgh to visit a young lady called Nosipho. Nosipho was an ex-resident from Happy's home, who had moved on, after completing her education at Happy's, into a care home - Chesire care home.

Nosipho is wheelchair dependant, suffering with rheumatoid arthritis which was first diagnosed when she was 9 years old. She is now 33 years old. She is unable to feed herself or perform any personal hygiene, relying on others for all her daily needs, yet she has the best sense of humour, and the brightest smile I have seen in a long time..a truly remarkable young woman.
Whilst Simon did Nosipho's ironing....with Nosipho correcting him all the way (!!), I painted her toenails silver, massaged her feet, legs, hands, arms, shoulders, neck and head, and  had a great chat with this inspiring lady.
It was hard tearing ourselves away...but we have promised to return to take Nosipho clothes shopping before the end of the week which should be fun......

The day finished, with Jude, the other English volunteer, in Clermont township, at a bible reading group in the evening. 26 Zulus turned up at 7pm for a read and chat based around a bible lesson. This started with lots of Zulu singing, which was amazing!
I have absolutely no idea what they were saying, but it sounded great, and I joined in with the clapping and slapping, as you do!
I had gone to Clermont, as I was the designated 'taxi' driver. Part of  COPT (community outreach programme trust) is to provide transport for those wishing to attend activities provided by COPT. I was given a manual avanza car, and 5 Zulu's and given instructions to get them to Clermont and back.....
......hmmmmm......only a few probs.......I don't drive a manual car......and how the heck do you get to Clermont??

So, with 5 Zulu's giving me instructions in Zulu.."this right, no, other right, here right"....we DID make it there, and back.....as for the car......might need a new clutch!!