Halfway

My 111 day 'Running Streak' for Alzheimer's Research UK

Today is my 56th birthday which marks the halfway point of my running streak and so I have just got another 55 days to go.

To celebrate I decided to run a local 10k race I've never done before.  My chest is feeling particularly gunky with asthma at the moment so I didn't really have any expectations but I ran well and got a shiny new pb in the process - 53:41 by my watch.  I even managed a negative split; which means that I ran the second half faster than the first.

I ran .5 mile to warm up then 6.22 miles in the race so my total for today was 6.72 and the total miles for my streak so far is 354.79.  My total mileage for the year to date is 802.29 which is slightly higher than last year at this stage.  It will be interesting to see what my total is at the end of the year.

Asthma

For anyone reading who suffers from asthma I must mention that I am still getting crippling night cramps in my legs even though I have been using the Turbohaler for 12 months now.  

Last night I woke up at 4am screaming in agony as my right calf muscle felt as if someone was crushing it with an iron rod.  It took Mike ages of pressing against it before it settled down and I could still feel it the next day, although it didn't cause me any problems whilst I was running (thank goodness!).

I've mentioned it to the doctor and to the nurse in the asthma clinic and they both say the cramps are unrelated to the medication.  As I have never suffered from them before taking the medication and it is mentioned in the turbohaler blurb as a possible side-effect I find this rather strange!

Crocheting along

I've got back into my crochet club stuff and have completed 2 of the Bandi triangles and 2 of these pretty Mosaic squares.  I enjoy using beads in crochet and I liked all the colour changes.  They still have to be blocked but I think they'll be the right size.

Love the colours!

Bead detail

For the next few days I will be taking a break from this as I have another secret project to crochet before Thursday.  Actually, Thursday itself is an exciting day but I can't write about it yet.

Baby birds

Everywhere I look at the moment I see birds too-ing and fro-ing either to a nest full of baby birds or with the fledglings in tow, mouths open, demanding food non-stop!

I knew there was a nest in then barn as the blue tits nest in there every year, usually at the back.  This year though they built their nest at the front and the babies have been so noisy.  The poor parents must be exhausted keeping them well fed and happy.

Last night I spotted 3 little faces at the hole in the eaves and they even squeal at me whenever I go near the barn!

3 little faces

On my run the other day I encountered a rook fledgling sitting in the middle of the lane.  His parent was shouting at him from up in a tree but he just sat there.

As I got nearer he started walking quickly and then ran a bit flapping his wings.  He managed to take off for about 3 feet but then landed and just stood there again, bless him.

I haven't quite mastered the flying part yet you know

Eventually he hopped into the hedgerow where I think he would have been safe until he learnt to use his wings effectively.

Back home the whole garden is full of rooks, crows and jackdaws, all with young in tow.  They do a good job of getting rid of the leatherjackets in the grass so are most welcome.  Leatherjackets are the larvae of the Crane Fly (aka Daddy Longlegs) and the damp conditions have really favoured them so we are going to be overrun with them soon.

Mum and 2 babies

Feed me!

A young rook exploring his new world

The ducklings are both growing well and Quackers' wings are quite well developed now.  Even Titch is showing tiny stumps.

Tiny wings developing

Last but not least we have the ducks queueing to drink from the watering can.  We were sitting on the sun-loungers the other evening as it was really warm and they were pottering around as usual and then they just waddled over the patio and formed a queue by the water butt!

Me next, me next!

Mostly Flora and Fauna (with some running and crochet for good measure)

Catching up on crochet

Now all my baby knitting and crochet is out of the way (except for the cuddle cocoon) I thought I'd better get back to my crochet club project.

So yesterday evening we sat outside and I lost myself in crochet whilst Mike read a book.  The birds provided our music and various other garden visitors kept us amused.

Running streak update (with a sweety)

I can hardly believe it but I'm nearly halfway through my 111 running challenge.  Yesterday was day 50 and so far I've run 325.85 miles just during those days.  I must look up my total for the year to date as it must be a bit higher than usual - since I started running marathons 8 years ago my annual total has been around 1500 miles each year so it will be interesting to see if it's more or less this year.

I'm still feeling OK (touch wood!) and at the weekend it will change from a minimum of 5.5 miles a day to 5.6 miles a day as I'll be 56.

So why is there a photo of a sweety in my hand?

The other day I took a run up to the beautiful gardens of Great Dixter.  Not to see the gardens but just because it's a nice cross-country route up a hill and back down again.

Whilst I was there I decided to have a mooch around their plant nursery to see if there was anything of interest, which there usually is.  As we are now in the main tourist season there were coach loads of people milling around and I did get some strange looks because of my attire - doesn't everybody walk around in a charity vest and lycra shorts?!!!!

Anyway, I heard someone say "Alzheimer's, can you take my father with you?" and I turned round to see a middle-aged man and an elderly gentleman who must have been his father.  We spoke for a few moments and the elderly gentleman was very placid and smiley, although he didn't speak at all.  Finally I shook hands with his son/carer and I touched his father gently on his arm to say good-bye whereupon he reached into his pocket and gave me a sweety.  I was so touched by this simple little gesture and I really had to fight back the tears.

Wildlife in the garden

We've had lots of sunshine over the last few days and so I have been up with the lark and spending as much time as possible in the garden.  Everything is growing so quickly and it's a joy so potter around amidst the wildlife.

Baby bunny by the garage

Mrs Duck with Titch and Quackers (anyone else remember them?)

I disturbed this lovely spider when I was digging and she held her egg sack so tightly I just had to help her find a new hidey-hole

This spider's web in the grass sparkled in the early morning sunlight

Look at the colours on this beautiful Demoiselle in the grass by the pond

Flora in close-up

At the moment I am obsessed with looking into the centre of flowers in the garden and am increasingly excited by the beautiful shapes and patterns I find therein.  Here are a few of the beauties I've spotted:

Pink Hawthorn

White Hawthorn - I love the smell of this but some people hate it.    There are 2 chemicals involved; Amygdalin (which smell of marzipan) attracts the bees but the other smells like rotting flesh (I can't remember what that's called) to attract flies to help in pollination

Very similar to Hawthorn flowers aren't they, but this is the blossom of an Acer (see the leaves below) but I don't know which one it is.

Some form of Acer.  We have several of these trees growing near one of the ponds so it may be an introduced variety rather than an English native tree such as Acer Campestre which you find in many hedgerows

Allium schoenoprasum (aka Chives)

Allium Globemaster has a massive pompom made up of these beautiful star-shaped flowers

Vibrant poppy with papery petals

A bit out of focus, but this is what the top of the seedpod looks like when the petals have dropped

Laurus Nobilis (aka Bay)

A magnificent species tree peony (it has beautiful seed pods later in the year too)

The speckly flowers of Saxifraga 'Southside Seedling' ( I have several different plants which must have hybridised as each bears different flowers)

Well done to anyone who knows what this one is (it's the inside of Nectaroscordum Siculum aka the ornamental onion) whose flowers hang down so you don't really see much of the inside

The fluffy seedheads of the dandelion whose seeds are dispersed by the wind

Pulsatilla (aka the Pasque flower), one of our native wildflowers

Beautiful seedheads of the Pulsatilla

Inside a tulip flower

Last but not least here's a little vase of flowers I pruned from a variegated weigela that I was prettifying before I took it to a plant sale in aid of our village church.  They were just too pretty to throw straight onto the compost heap!

Mellow Yellow

Sunshine yellow actually

Can you guess what I was doing this weekend, just from looking at my old running shoes?  

I'm wearing knee pads 'cos I've been scrambling around on my knees, which is a useful clue.

The yellow came from the beautiful buttercups in the meadow by the orchard.  It's taken years of weeding, getting rid of brambles/docks/sow thistles/creeping thistles to allow the wildflowers to take hold and this is the first year that the buttercups have looked so splendid.

It truly is a sea of golden yellow and it's so uplifting.

Why was I scrambling around on my knees in the midst of them?  I was planting these beautiful Camassia Quamash.  The bees love them.

They don't show up yet in the photo but the beautiful blue set amongst the bright yellow looks stunning.

I'm hoping that they will be happy in their situation and if they are then they will self seed so in  a few years it should look amazing.  The beauty of them is that when they've flowered the leaves just die back and so the grass can be cut without damaging them.

A special lady

This post is a special thank you to Glenys who lives in our village.

I've pinched this off your website Glenys; hope you don't mind!

Glenys is  a very talented artist and craftswoman. She paints beautiful watercolours of animals, birds and scenery and has a website here showing examples of her wonderful work. She is also a talented needlewoman and she hosts out knit and natter sessions once a month and plies us with tea and cake.

As well as being a great artist, she is also a lovely person and is always at the centre of village life, organising events to bring people together.  The first time I ran the London marathon whilst knitting she created this lovely card for me complete with teeny-weeny knitting!

She produced loads of little fliers about the coffee morning to distribute to the villagers but not only did she deliver them to our village, she also delivered them for miles around. I think this is one of the reasons our event was so successful. On the day itself she donated one of her beautiful prints and then took charge of organising the raffle ticket stubs.

Thanks Glenys, you are a star. See you later for a bit of knitting and nattering. Love and hugs, Susie xxx

Other bits and bobs

Normal-sized ladies

Yesterday I popped round to see Ann and Katy to thank them again for their splendid support at the coffee morning and found them having a coffee break.

I must point out, however, that Katy is a devil-child as she baked the most delicious shortbread I have ever tasted.  It was so moreish that I found myself snaffling 3 pieces before I put a stop to my gluttony.  If I lived with her I would end up the size of  a house in no time!

Thanks ladies, you rock!

2 lovely ladies (now normal sized!)

Esther

It's hard being big-boned and  a hefty breed, especially when you are prone to laminitis, as is the pretty Esther.  I keep a close watch on her weight, not just by eye but using a weight tape.  Her front feet are feeling a bit hot and she has arthritis in her near-side fetlock so I really need to restrict her grazing to the bare minimum in an attempt to keep her weight down, even though she isn't overweight at the moment.  

She hates it when  Kizzy disappears from view when she's shut in the field shelter so I thought we'd try her with  a grazing muzzle.

It looks like a gas mask mum!

Hey, I can't eat much grass with this on.....

I'll try eating trees then!

Ducklings and other duck business

We hadn't had any duckling on the pond nearest the house this season so I was very pleased when Mrs Duck brought these little beauties to see us before taking them off to the pond.  There had been plenty of attempts as the ducks had been busy doing their business but we'd found lots of empty, broken eggs around which the magpies and crows must have stolen.

What's unusual about the first photo is that Mr Duck is with them.  Usually it's just the mummy duck and babies but I suspect he might have been allowed along to protect them.  She was very wary and alert, more so than usual, and on the look-put for danger all the time so it made me wonder if she'd had her previous clutches of eggs, or even her tiny ducklings, stolen.

Meet the family

After they'd had their fill of corn they headed off to the pond where I watched them chasing around catching midges.

Awwwwh!

For several days they all came up to see us 3 times a day but then one day they didn't come up until early evening and sadly they weren't all there.  She'd lost 2 of her babies and of the 2 remaining one of them had a damaged leg and was hopping along - it was the 3rd one from Mrs Duck and he's much smaller than the others so it's amazing he survived.

As the tiny one was injured we weren't hopeful that he would survive for long but amazingly he's still with us 5 days later so I'm keeping my fingers crossed he makes it.

Watchful mum (look at the difference in size of the ducklings)

And then there were two