and there went another week!

wednesday 22nd august
back on the bike this morning, trying to visualise cycling nearly 20k! and a hilly 20k at that!

watched the excuse that passed for a football game that england played tonight. well, i only watched a small part of the game. m was taping a tv program and our set-up means that you have to watch the same channel that you’re taping from, so, whilst in our local grocery store i noticed they had their tv’s tuned into the game – had to leave after a while though as shouting was about to happen – ok if you’re in the confines of your own home but not so ok in the aisle of the local supermarket!

tuesday 21st august
still hyper from my lesson yesterday and my violin practice tonight was SO much better – i bet the neighbours noticed the difference too! with my possible potential mammoth (!) cycle in mind i was motivated to get back on the bike today!

monday 20th august
my panic at the thought of my violin lesson was totally unnecessary (as it usually is), my tutor is lovely and once i told her where i was struggling she pointed me in the right direction and i had a bit of a eureka moment – like, oh of course, now that makes it so much easier and, more importantly, so much more pleasing to the ear!

scoped a potential cycle route, or a possible potential cycle route considering that it is an 11.7 mile (or 18.8 kilometres) round trip. ok, this probably doesn’t sound much to the cyclists out there but to someone who has been cycling for 15 mins at a time on a trainer in the kitchen …

wow, that was a quick weekend!

left work at one on friday to head to oban (which, i would like to point out, is just shy of 100 miles from where we live) to collect m who had decided on a whim to cycle there (as you do!). so, despite a lay-off of nearly a month with a stress fracture a hundred mile cycle was a cinch! oh i feel so lazy and unfit, this is great motivation to keep training on the bike.

then followed a weekend of mostly rain and greyness which meant not much outdoor activity but resulted in felt making, painting, and jewellery making (along with the boring stuff like housework). how lovely.

have a violin lesson tonight, which i'm not really looking forward to as i don't feel i have progressed very far from my last lesson. still, it gives my neighbours ears a rest!

it's the weeeeeeeekend !!!

two and a half days of freedom and fun :)

flapjack recipe

not much happening on the bike or violin front last night, m was off shift so we had a lovely walk and then watched 'the host'.

here's a recipe for flapjacks, these are great for post-exercise recovery! (think i got this recipe from the bbc website but have since tweaked it a little).

basic flapjack recipe

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50g caster sugar (golden caster sugar is nicer!)
• 50ml clear honey
• 200g oats

oats - increase to 300g if using additional ingredients
honey - try 100ml if increasing the oats and adding additional ingredients

• preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6
• line a baking sheet with greaseproof baking paper
• heat the butter and honey slightly - this makes it easier to mix together with the dry ingredients
• mix all the dry ingredients together
• add the butter and honey
• add any additional ingredients *
• spoon onto baking sheet
• cook for 10 mins
• leave to cool slightly, maybe five mins
• freeze for five mins (this makes it easier to cut it into slices)
• then cut and enjoy!

* additional ingredients, try adding

• unsalted nuts and raisins
• chopped crystallized ginger with chopped dark chocolate, sounds odd, but try it :)

probably best to make the basic recipe first to get a feel for the right consistency then play around to your heart's content, remember though any additional ingredients will mean more oats to balance it and more honey to bind it.

try leaving out the sugar if you find this too sweet.

a virtuoso in the making

so, not only did i manage two training sessions on the aforementioned bike, followed by weights and stretching yesterday, i also picked up my violin again (much to the auditory discomfort of my neighbours no doubt). have had two or three lessons to date and am really enjoying discovering my so far undiscovered musical talent! progress has been fairly slow but, given the fact that i can't read music and haven't really played any instruments, i'm quite happy with where i am. and i've also been inspired to pick up the whistle and beginners book that m bought me a couple of years ago, which i'm sure is a real treat for the neighbours. still, we put up with their loud music, parties, screaming feral children, bagpipes, drums ...

cycling with lebowski

well, i finally got back on the bike last night. i dragged said bike and trainer into the living room so i could cycle whilst watching 'the big lebowski'. we're going to the lebowski fest in edinburgh soon and i'm starting to fret on the costume front! would like to dress up but deciding upon a costume is proving tricky given the dearth of female characters in the film, well those wearing anything remotely resembling anything i would like to be traipsing around edinburgh in at any rate!

find lebowski fest at http://lebowskifest.com/default.asp