Gingerbread Life - April 2021

Am I A Runner now?

I have A LOT of free time now.....  it’s taken me a while to decided what to do to fill my days.  I have fostering admin (courses, meetings, diaries), life admin (never had the luxury of this before) and house admin (juts a posh name for cleaning).  Never before in my adult life have I had free time during the day, when things are open and places aren’t busy. I haven’t been sleeping well and I realised that while I am able to relax and take my time with things (I still haven’t been able to nap) I am not using my body as much, I used to do 7000 steps by lunchtime, now I struggle to do that in a couple of days.  I have decided to try running.

I will just let that sit there, I have chosen to run.  I am going to to the couch to 5K running schedule.  Historically I don’t get passed week three so I am hoping that documenting it will make me more accountable (it worked for the walking). I have a spot by the river that I have decided to use, I walk on the bumpy bits and run on the flat.  Let’s see how this goes...

Bank Holiday Shenanigans - Part 3

Bank holiday Monday is always a treat, not only does it make the weekend a three day weekend, it also makes the following week a four day week.  

Precious time together

Normally the Oxford May Day celebrations are a major event, which means that the tiny pub the G.O manages opens up very, very, very early (5 am) to provide sustenance for the many jolly individuals taking part in the celebrations.  This year the celebrations went off without a hitch (or so they say), and with May day being on the Friday before bank holiday Monday, it meant G.O was able to spend the day with me.

Bright and breezy on the Monday we set off for the big smoke, parked the car in the usual car park.  It is such good value for your money £3.00 until 4am the next day, and there is a security guard.  Got onto the Metropolitan (my 'home' tubeline for 6 years) and headed on the longest tube journey in the world (obvious exaggeration),  it only took an hour but it takes you past all of the landmark stops and onto the Dockland Light Railway (DLR), which in my opinion is one of the greatest transport inventions of all times.  I have some very fond memories of the DLR, in what was a horrendous time I had a blast.  We arrived at Custom house and it was buzzing.

Watching one of the live sessions - George Clarke's Amazing Space Woman

G.O had purchased ticket to the Grand Designs Live show, it an three day event based on the TV show of the same name.  While G.O are in no position to build, renovate or even buy our own home at this time, I love visiting the show because you never know who or what you will see/meet. At last years show not only did I meet The Renovation Man himself, we also watched a live Italian Cookery show.  "You can make it yourself itsa eezee!  Only flour, egg and water".  Each stall holder is trying to, obviously, get your custom.  I enjoy floating past them with "sorry I don't have a house!"  Why are you here? they all ask.  Reasonable enough question.  

Behind all of the architect, builders, solar panel, hot tub stalls is the food and lifestyle section.  All manner of companies are there and all are giving away free samples.  G.O and I will go past our favourite stalls three of four times and the booty we have at the end is phenomenal.  We don't ever bring or buy our lunch, if you are savvy you can be fed and watered by the stall holders themselves.  We had cheese, wine, sausages, crackers, yogurt, bread, and ice cream all given to us by the companies.  It is a veritable smorgasbord.  Not only is there food to try, there are new gadgets that have just come on to the market.  We were suckered into buying glass cleaner fluid that made my ring sparkle (I later realised it was just the lighting, hey ho), a heated back massager that is amazing at getting rid of all the knots in your neck, back and shoulders and also gives the best hand massage (no double entendre here).

Building a house inside the Exhibition centre

After about six hours of wandering around picking up freebies here and there, we decided to hit one of our new favourite places to eat My Old Dutch in Kensington, on our last visit I had overdone it a tad on the Kaasballen, so this time I knew it was all about moderation, and as always it was delicious. It was the perfect end to what has to be one of the greatest Bank Holiday weekends of my life. 

 A Hoisin Duck Pancake

It was only the tube ride back that I had a feeling of de ja vu, it was exactly a year ago that I went into the Headteacher's office at the Little Village school and offically handed my notice in.  I had told the head that I was thinking about resigning in the April (three hours before Ofsted called to say the were going to pop in and see us), but that weekend, I had no stress and had had an amazing time with G.O so I decided that I wanted a better work life balance which I wouldn't be able to achieve at that school.  Also I wanted to move, but that is another story.

This was me not overdoing it!

Bank Holiday Shenanigans - Part 1

Getting some fresh air

So G.O and I had managed to arrange to spend a bank holiday weekend together, sort of (more on that later) and we were going to make the most of it. 

Then as is usual for us, Saturday rolled around and we were both exhaustimacated, we don't often get to spend the weekends together and aren't really sure of the protocol.  Do we go somewhere big an flashy or local, do we stay in and potter?

In the end I decided to just chillax at home, we hadn't done that together in a while.  I went downstairs to make a healthyish breakfast muffins bacon cooked in the oven (for crispyness) and scrambled eggs (eat your heart out McD's), while his lordship caught up on his beauty sleep (god only knows he needed it having worked about 1000 hours in the past few weeks).

While I was waiting for everything to cook (Healtyish and easy) the post arrived. There was amongst the junk and party political rubbish a letter for G.O, I didn't recognise the postmark.  I raced upstairs and have home the letter.  Urging him to open it, it might be something exciting, It was, kind of.

I had signed G.O up on the mailing list for his favourite cider, which unbeknownst to us also sold my favourite garden wines.  The Lyme Bay company.  I've never tried the cider but the wine has a kick and a half and a flavour to suit every palet (no I'm not on commission).  I've had the wine before and a couple of glasses and I am out like a light.

He excitedly looked at the catalogue, while I finished breakfast. After everything had been devoured, and G.O was cleaning up, I read the catalogue.  "Did you know that mead is supposed to help boost your fertility!"  I announced. "Nope!" Came the slightly disinterested reply.  "But they sell the cider I like in the Bicester garden centre you like!" Within the hour were in the garden centre pushing a trolley of exotically flavoured ciders and a garden mead to the check out. Bang goes our chilling out at home time.

As we drove back home, going the country way for a change.  I decided to make a pit stop.  

Beautiful Bluebells

I pulled into the Boarstall Duck Decoy, my intention was only to show Stuart where it was, excitement overtook me.  I changed into my boots and began to show G.O the beautiful sights and sounds of Boarstall.  "I came here before, on my own.  I was driving by and just thought I'd pop in, a bit like now!"

We spent a very long time looking at and photographing the amazing Bluebells, it's a shame I can't bottle the aroma it was intoxicating, sweet but very subtle.

Our first stop was the duck hide, we had the place to ourselves and were able to just sit in the hide and watch the water listening to the birds and take lots of

photos.

As we left the hide, I was shocked to see someone standing about twenty metres away just watching us.  S/he didn't move, wave or acknowledge us in anyway, they just stood on the path hands behind their back.  G.O was oblivious as he was too busy taking more photos of the Bluebells, he must have hundreds of them.

We carried on round the route and came to a fallen tree, which I decided was left for people to climb on, so I did.  

The view from the top of the tree

I felt very high up and wobbly, when I looked at the video G.O took I realise I was about 1.5 metres off the ground, but added to my height that's over 3 metres.  

Alright I climbed a tree that had already fallen down!

I jumped off, retrieved my bag from the natural bag holder and carried on.  I could hear other people behind us and didn't want them to bump into us when I was stuck up a tree, so to speak.

Natural Bag holder

As we scurried away I decided to leave them a false clue, just in case they were following us (you never know). I have been watching a lot of Man tracker and Survive That! recently.  I'm all about surviving in the wilderness and not leaving a trace behind me.  I'm not quite there yet!

Setting a false lead - which way did we go?

We carried around the bend, and bumped into the observer again, I still couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman.  As we got closer SHE shouted to us "clock tower, has four faces, see!" She grabbed me and pulled me closer to a flower that did look like it had four faces.  

"New princess is a girl, isn't it?" I agreed, and said how I had hoped it would be a princess, nice and even (didn't realise that had happened).  She didn't seem to want us to leave, so I distracted her by asking G.O to photograph the flowers and began to walk away.  I couldn't decide whether she was a guide just passing time or a very weird lonely individual.  Either way I made my way around the pond, sharpish.

We hopped back in to the car.  "Before we go home I just want to check something!"  The last time I had been here I had also been to the Boarstall Tower, it couldn't hurt to see if they were letting visitors in.

Meditation as an art

We visited the Global Retreat Centre for a session on the art of Meditiation.  I have included a copy of my session notes.

Talk to enable the restoration of balance and focus in life. 

Thought is not a problem when improving yourself, it is a creative energy that needs to be understood.  We want to change three things about thought;

1) the quality of thought is all about environmental influences, we need to elevate thought beyond the physical experiences. 

2) the speed of thought, if we burnout out we can't function and we always need to have a break. 

3) the direction of our thoughts, they tend to go out if our bodies in words and we need to direct our thoughts inwards.

Your name is that who you are? 

There is more to me than this body, I am not just a human, I am a human being and before that I was a spirit being.

"We live in a world of human doings and we can't always live in the moment!"

We need to tap into the energy of being! The soul and the spirit carries that energy.

We need to be honest on our journey of becoming a human being, we need to stay honest to the questions in our life.  Humility is being sincerely and genuinely open to learning.

Meditation as an artform?

Lots of pressure from the outside can turn off our inner voices, we need to seek out good company it always helps to nourish our inner voices. Silence is a harmonious energy, it is not the absence of noise or sound.  Harmonious sounds invite us in.

I have a body I am not the body.

I have a name it is the name of the body.

I, the being, has a name it is eternal.

The body perishes, yet I the spirit lives on.

I have a form, I have a name it is different from the body.

Soul, spirit, self!

I am made up of the energy of love joy and peace. We need to keep our energies up to connect us with the fresh new energies of self.

Fill me from within rather than externally in materialistic ways.

Room in the mind- a tool to aid meditation

The mind is the room, go into the room, it is full of memories

Organise the room, keep the precious memories, those that are important to you and discard those that hurt or cause harm.

As you tidy the room you notice a door at the back of the room.

Open the door going in to the room it is clean, fresh, and all white.

Step into the room, there is a white rug in the room and in the centre there is a table on the table is a candle. The rays touch all four corners of the room. 

If thoughts begin to pop up, make sure you have closed the door.

Become one with the candle allow it to become an energy that is light and free.

The self is a beautiful being of pure light it is in the body but it is not the body.

Things to think about

The I is forever

The spirit is me

In my mind is the devil and Angel are battling which will win the one that I feed.

Be separate from anything inside me that is not part of the true divining being.

Do we have the same colour blood, tears, smile, that is in the brotherhood no matter our external differences the soul is always the same.

Peace is the original religion of the soul, 

peace is who we really are, meditation helps you to break through the pollution and get you to the pure water self at the bottom of the pond.  The energy of our anger doesn't fit, it doesn't suit us we need to get back to the original divinity.

Meditation is not an art, this is a surgery value the energy of thought.

Guy Fawkes

Only in Britain do people pay to stand in a cold, wet, rainy field and watch fireworks to remember/celebrate a failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. 

That is exactly what G.O and I did this evening, usually we just watch out of the window but his year as we were home together, we decided to go to the local school and watch the display.

We wrapped our selves up so we would be nice and warm and at twenty past five we set off for the school, gates opened at 5.30pm.  

On the way it began to rain (typical) and some plank drove through a puddle and drenched us, although I didn't make much difference.  We arrived at the school and paid our entry fee and then found out that the display started at 7pm.

 We had to wait and hour and a half in a school field with only music students wailing to entertain us.  We some how managed to keep ourselves amused, even if it was only shining a torch on the kids who were playing hide and seek.  We did share a hog roast roll with crackling and yes it was salty and dry but it was delicious.

The display itself only lasted a quarter of an hour but it was awesome.  

As I said to G.O the local firework display was always going to be amazing when we had a firework company headquarters down the road.

After the show we toddled back home where we planned to have some mulled wine and baked Camembert and watched the X Factor, bliss.

Date nightarama

I couldn't be bothered to cook this evening, I'm still fighting my way through this blooming cold.  Harvester is a great no nonsense, meal out without the fuss kind of place.  I love it, especially the salad bar.  I was looking forward to it all day.

As I waited for G.O to get ready, he couldn't wear the first outfit because the shirt was too creased. G.O wondered whether the Gourmet Society had connections with Harvester, they didn't but the BeefEater chain did and there was one round the corner.  Off we went into pastures new...

It turns out that BeefEater restaurants are just like my beloved Harvesters.  I began a mental comparison between the two establishments. 

Harvester has;

A salad bar

Free pop refills

Jack Daniels sauce

Beefeater;

Doesn't have the above, but what was this?  Baked Camembert, and free refills (although we had already ordered cokes) this was looking promising. 

"There's a fifteen minute wait for the Camembert, is that alright?"  Asked Tomaz our pleasant Polish waiter.  It was alright by me.  It arrived fourteen minutes later and it was well worth the wait.

It arrived on a bread board with sliced rye bread and onion marmalade.  And was yummy.

Starter finished we waited for our main course, a simple round of steak and chips.  The ever attentive waiter came over and said, that he had a surprise for us.  From behind his back he produced a balloon dog!

What a random moment.  We were still giggling when our steaks arrived, as is now the case the chips were separate in their own little container.  When did food stop being served on one plate?

As we finished we were asked if we wanted desert, I'm not much if a desert person, so we decided to share a sundae.  The popcorn and caramel sundae sounded awesome.  "So one large sharing sundae?" Yes.

When it arrived it was massive, it took over half an hour to eat it and I could only manage a few spoonful but G.O persevered and finally we finished it.

Through gritted teeth and with a fake smile plastered  G.O whispered "he's coming back.  He's coming back!"  Just then the waiter arrived back and brandished a purple sword!!!

It was a fun evening and I am definitely going to go back to the Beefeater again. Although I imagine to balloons were just a one off.

Breakfast Date

As G.O often works evening and weekend shifts and I'm a usual Monday to Friday 9-5 (ish), it's often hard for us to fit in quality time away from TTC.

Recently we have been going on breakfast dates, we get up early on a Sunday (I know) and head into town for a breakfast and coffee, then he goes to work and I bimble around.

Bill's is a favourite venue of ours, and also of the of other people up and about at sparrows fart. 

After we have parted I have take strolling around town, before it gets busy with students and tourists.

Oxford is a lovely town, full of history and beautiful architecture.

One of my favourite places to go in Oxford is the covered market.

 It is full of little shops, cafés and Boutiques.

It's like a secret place away from the rest of the world.

Apart from all of the tourists and students  all know about it.

It is a little piece of heaven on Earth.