Blue skies and smiles

Posted on November 27, 2016 by thepogblog

When you have spent half of every weekend for the last five weeks sorting out all the crap in your house and driving huge quantities to the tip in preparation for moving on an unknown date, there’s not much better than taking a day off work and having a three day weekend that doesn’t involve filling the car to the brim and having the lovely men at the tip inform you that ‘no, that’s scrap metal’ and ‘the timber until is the other end, love’.

…Except getting to share your day off with someone and doing a bit of exploring with new eyes.

….And have the weather actually work in your favour and give you a gorgeous blue skied autumn day.

How’s this for a lovely bit of Bumpkinsville? (This is where I am lucky enough to run most Saturdays, but I’m usually more focussed on breathing than photo opportunities.)

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It doesn't show up, but this tree is split in the middle so we climbed inside....

It doesn’t show up, but this tree is split in the middle so we climbed inside….

....like kids...

….like kids…

...for this rather lovely view.

…for this rather lovely view.

Everyone should get an extra day off work in autumn on a blue sky day to just enjoy it :o)

This is in the back of Pog Towers, and I thought was rather pretty with the colours and shadows:

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And this one is from two years ago, and just makes me laugh. The fake fire was new and panicked Norman when he came through the curtains and forgot it was there :o)

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Not quite the plan, but…

Posted on November 20, 2016 by thepogblog

What do you do when you have spent 4 weeks preparing, 1 week mildly panicking, 24 hours properly panicking, then wake up at 4.45am thanks to the torrential rain, make it to the coach for 7am to go and run your first ever 10km, only to find out it’s cancelled due to dangerous conditions 5 minutes before the coach is about to leave?

Well it turns out, you thank your lucky stars that you are surrounded by some very determined ladies and a brilliant coach who all decide that one small cancellation is not going to get between us and our intended run.

Which is why I might not have a medal to show for it, but I have just run my first ever 10km, 8 months after never, ever having run before. I’ve also done the washing, the ironing and a spot of cleaning. All before 11am. I think I might be on a bit of a high :o)

And now I am off to meet some of those other lovely runners for a lunch, and possibly a small white wine spritzer. Because I think I deserve that today :o)

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A stupid idea

Posted on November 18, 2016 by thepogblog

For the last three weeks I’ve been getting up even earlier than I usually do when I go running to join an ‘increase your speed’ running course.  I’m not sure I’ve got anywhere close to increasing my speed – the first week I had to be thrown over a wall and have my back pummeled in an attempt to stop me coughing before I broke a rib.  The second week I pulled a hamstring and it was a bit ouchy to do the speed work properly.  Last week I misheard the plan; I thought we were running up three hills (which I wasn’t very impressed by, but figured it wouldn’t kill me).  It turned out we were running three sets of hills, and it nearly did kill me.  It was also peeing down with rain.  This is what I looked like by the time I got back to my car:

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Tomorrow is the final part of the course and we’ll be doing something involving foam rollers.  I don’t understand either, but I’m trusting all will become clear at 8.30am.

Why have I put myself through this?  Because I am a complete idiot and on a high after finishing the beginners running course a few months back, a group of us thought it would be fun to sign up to the Brighton 10km; worse case we could walk it together.  How many of them will be going to Brighton on Sunday?  Just me.  And a lot of other runners from the wider group, many who don’t bat an eyelid at the thought of running 10km.

I, however, and having a mini meltdown.  The furthest I have ever run without stopping for a rest or to walk is 8km, and that was pushing it.  In fact, when I signed up I had to enter my expected finish time.  I contacted the group as there wasn’t a ‘Monday Morning’ option…

So anyway, if all is quiet on the blog front next week, you’ll know it’s because I am still limping along Brighton seafront in the wind and rain (because of course, the weather forecast is lovely tomorrow…and then it changes).   But if I make it – even if it is Monday –  I’m going to be very, very happy.  If you have any spare happy thoughts to propel me along on Sunday please do send them over – I think I might be needing them :o)

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Little Pea, me, penguins and brightness

Posted on November 15, 2016 by thepogblog

It’s been so long since my last Little Pea and Me day that he’s practically a grown up.  Well, he’s still three, but he is certainly growing up.  I picked him up after a very cold and soggy hill running session on Saturday morning (what the hell happened to me?  Cold, wet and  I went running.  Up hills.) and told him I was a bit cold.  ‘You have a shower when we get to your house’ he told me ‘that will warm you up.’  He’s a clever thing.

Due to the weather our usual outside adventure was out, but we found a few things to do instead.  We learned from a book about how Daddy penguins look after the Mummy penguins egg while they look for food.  This is Little Pea being a Daddy Penguin:

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We had a picnic lunch (although there seemed to be a bit of confusion over the number of blankets required and where they should go):

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Then Little Pea found my head torch and used it to inspect the washing:

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But apparently you can never have enough torches, and he found my bike lights too.  We went out like this – to the local scout jumble sale in fact – where many people complimented Little Pea on his….brightness (shortly before he blinded them with the head torch).

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We bought a toy car at the jumble sale, and obviously a car needs a garage, so when we got home we made one.  But the good thing about a garage is that it has multiple uses.  Here it’s being a knight’s helmet.  Norman was just confused.

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It wasn’t quite our usual adventure, but I think we both had a pretty good time for a rainy Saturday :o)

 

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Remembrance art

Posted on November 11, 2016 by thepogblog

At 10 am this morning someone from Facilities in a different office to mine sent me an email to inform that they have no tannoy system and the fire alarm was malfunctioning and once on is difficult to turn off.  From this, I was apparently supposed to understand that 1) this meant they could not announce the 2 minutes silence at 11am and 2) that I needed to fix the situation.  As I’m not qualified to fix fire alarms or indeed install tannoy systems, and was slightly unsure why it was my problem anyway, I just wrote back ‘OK.  How would you like me to help you?’.  I never got a response, but I did work out a sort of solution and all was good in the office of faulty fire alarms and no tannoy.  Because it might not have been my problem, but Remembrance Day is important.

For the last week and a bit there has been a ‘Remembrance Art Trail‘ at Canary Wharf.  Arty stuff is not usually my thing, but I really wanted to take a look, so earlier this week I took a late lunch break to wander around.  Each of the exhibits had a guide to tell you about it, but you can read the details they told me here – this information really makes it all come to life.  It wasn’t exactly enjoyable, but it was thought provoking and something I’m glad I found time to do.

There are better photos on the website, but I’ve named the ones below so you can match them to the description (then find a better version on the site!)

ANA:

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Fallen Soldier:

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Lost Armies:

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Point of Everyman’s Land:

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Brothers in Arms:

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Boots on the Ground:

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Lost Soldiers:

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The exhibition is on until 6pm on Sunday.  If you’re around the area and have an hour or so to spare, take a look. :o)

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Table for two?

Posted on November 8, 2016 by thepogblog

It’s often a bit of an effort to raise a smile first thing on a Monday morning, isn’t it?  Yesterday morning was different: I got the giggles before 8am.

A month or so back, for no apparent reason, one an area of the office flooded.  Floor tiles were taken up and lots of drying was done for a few weeks.  Presumably everything is ok as its been put back together, but again for no apparent reason, a light has stayed on, dimmed, in the stationary / water cooler / printer area.  One team have since decided to make this dimmed little corner a ‘feature’.  When I walked past yesterday morning, I saw this:

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I’m told that different members of the team have taken it upon themselves to build this out.  It started with cutlery, then a table cloth was added, then drinks, flowers, reserved sign….

I’ve worked from home today – I’m looking forward to seeing if any more has been added when I get in tomorrow.  I love the people I work with :o)

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Guarding raindrops

Posted on November 4, 2016 by thepogblog

It’s Friday.  It’s the end of the week.  It’s raining.  But the week is nearly over and the relaxation can almost start.  Until you realise that the dripping of that rain on the conservatory isn’t just outside.  It’s inside and there are 10 minutes before your next meeting starts.

A bowl was found, a phone call to the conservatory man was made, and Norman got a bit panicked:

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But then he got brave and made sure all drips were falling where they should:

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And I was able to take my meeting as though I wasn’t concerned the roof might cave in. (It’s still leaking but conservatory man assured me the roof wont fall in and will come and resolve the issue next week).

Norman got a bit bored of guarding the situation though.  This is one of the reasons I can’t use my webcam for meetings:

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Happy weekend, leak free to you :o)

PS: Thanks to my inconsiderate neighbours who decided to set off fireworks a few feet from my house I had a bit of a scary time this evening when I thought Norman might be too scared to ever come back, having bolted at the first bang.  Please let your neighbors know if you are having fireworks (particularly if you practically live on top of them).  I’m not a kill joy, but I would have locked the cat flap and made sure Norman was as far from the noise as possible and saved us all a bit of panicking.  He’s back now.  He’s hiding under the bed, but I guess between drip and bangs, it’s been quite an eventful day for a small (ish) furball.

 

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The Lycra look

Posted on November 1, 2016 by thepogblog

You know how when you do exercise you tend to look… pretty terrible, really? It’s not just me, is it?

Well, people at least look different in lycra to their usual clothes (cue me doing the obvious in Tesco the other night when I spotted a lady from fitball who looked so stunning in her ‘real life’ clothes that I informed her – and everyone in the vicinity – that she looked completely different with clothes on.)

I thought I looked pretty different too.  I have a shower and flatten my hair before I run with my Saturday group, but I don’t put on make up and I kind of assumed that I had an exercise look (terrible) and a ‘real life’ look (passable).  But a few weeks ago I was bought down to earth with a bump.  Half way though our run I suddenly realised that one of the other ladies is someone I used to get the coach to work with – we’d chatted quite a few times as we waited.  ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t recognise you before’ I said ‘you look completely different in your running stuff’.  Her response?

‘Oh, I recognised you the first time I saw you here – you don’t look any different at all.’

Now, I’m hopeful that means I look great when I go running, but I do own a mirror and I suspect that wasn’t what she was saying at all…  I don’t care though.  I might not look great (at any point of any day!), but while out doing my Shrek style lollop this morning, I had to stop to take this picture.  At least something looked gorgeous :o)

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Discoveries of the week

Posted on October 28, 2016 by thepogblog

This week I discovered that:

  • You can eat a mint imperial, cough and bits of mint imperial will come out your nose.
  • You can have bits of mint imperial come out your nose, blow your nose and spent 30 minutes at your desk then wander through the office before you catch your reflection and realise that some (quite large) bits of mint escaped and are welded to your chin.
  • The remnants of a dunked biscuit in your cup of tea can look like a small creature died in your mug.
  • That screaming in the communal kitchen at work then explaining it was because you thought there was a dead mouse in your mug  earns you strange looks.
  • Sister 1 can find something I didn’t know I have in my cupboards.  Custard?  When would I ever have wanted custard?!:

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I can’t even find things I know I have in places I am sure I put them.

  • This year you can buy mulled wine toilet roll.  Why you would want to is beyond me, I didn’t rip the pack (promise), but I can confirm it did smell kind of realistic…

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Thank goodness it’s Friday :o)

 

 

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A different sort of weekend

Posted on October 25, 2016 by thepogblog

This weekend was my annual visit to stay with the Lovely Nut in her lovely house (pictures here if you’d like to take a look).  It wasn’t quite as relaxing as it usually is, right from the start.  The Lovely Nut got stuck in traffic, meaning when I got there she was still on her way.  Having suddenly got security conscious she had given me the code to a newly installed lock on her first gate, but forgot to tell me about the second gate, a mile down a track which was locked with a key.  That was in her car.

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Anyway, we both finally got in the house, had dinner and went to bed.  And about 10 minutes after falling asleep I was woken my floodlights filling the room.  It took me a while to realise that it was the security lights that had come on, and a little bit longer to realise that in the middle of a field the fact they had come on suggested that there may be some people wandering around outside.  Then it dawned on me that I was the responsible adult in this situation and it was down to me to find out if we had intruders.  I peeked around the blind at the window, to find….a number of rabbits who clearly viewed the lights as their personal spotlights and were practically dancing for their audience….which happily was just me.  I went back to bed.  The lights went off.  The whole thing repeated over and over again….

the rabbits stage

the rabbits’ stage

The next day The Lovely Nut asked me to check something in the attic.  I managed to get the ladder down under instructions that I had to ‘slide and click things’ to extend the sections.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take much notice of what I was sliding and clicking and didn’t do what she felt was needed to put the thing back up safely.  After 20 minutes, I was just pleased that we’d got everything back where it should be, and pretty convinced that there was only one way to do it, so it must be ok.  Apparently a notice was required though:

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The slightly odd thing about this is that nobody else lives there, so I’m not entirely sure who it is aimed at…

That told me.  And things kind of carried on like that.  It was a ….different weekend.

Norman decided to continue with the differentness when I got home after another night of spotlit dancing rabbits.  He decided his new favourite place to sit is my tomato box:

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Well, I guess it would be very boring if all weekends were the same :o)

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