Well, doesn't time fly when your having fun. Here we are, 52 weeks since I started this little adventure into blogging and I'm still going strong. When I started all those weeks ago I never really intended this to be a weekly blog, more of an occasional glimpse into my life and the things I get up too. As with many things though, it's evolved as the weeks have passed and become more of a journal, or diary, of my weekly gallivanting and pottering than anything else. Whilst there's been plenty of dull, often mundane stuff, with most of my weekends taking on a predictable, running, cycling, allotment, format, there's been the odd bit of excitement thrown in. No where near as much excitement as I'd like mind, and adventures have been somewhat curtailed this year by the old Coronavirus palaver and that never to be mentioned word (work) constantly getting in the way! Looking back there's been some highlights over the past year, a few that spring to mind are the Downslink Ultra Marathon. Running in the early morning heat in Singapore. The absolute peace and tranquility of being out on the bike during the early days of lockdown, when all the idiots in their penis extensions were off the roads. The odd night bivvying out, and sitting in the van with a cold beer, watching the sun go down after a good day out to name but a few. There's been some hard days too. Being out in the cold and rain in the winters often not much fun. There was a day back in January where I really thought I was doomed. My hands were so cold that when I got back home after a long run I couldn't get my key in the door. After a few minutes of trying and getting more and more frustrated with my inability to complete such a simple task, I really started wondering what I was going to do. Surely there's got to be a better end than hypothermia on your own doorstep? There's been lots of days where it's been hard to find the motivation to get out there too. Coronavirus has stopped all the organised fun, there's no running or Audax events to look forward to, or give you something to aim towards. My "Marathon a Month" efforts have helped to a degree, but even keeping that going has been hard work sometimes. 26 miles is a long way when your on your own, as is 200Km on the bike with no cafe stops to look forward too, or fellow idiots to talk too. We're getting there though, and now the summers pretty much over there's my favorite season to look forward too. Autumn always holds a special place in my heart. I don't know why, the springs brilliant, with all the new life and the world waking up after the long winter. The summer's always a bit of a wash out and a let down and by now everything looks a bit strangely and brown. The winters just cold and wet with nothing much to look forward too except sitting by the fire and getting out in the mud for a bit of cross country. But the autumn's got all those beautiful colours on the trees, there's still plenty of days when the sun shines, but they all start with a heavy dew and the mist hanging heavy on the fields and rivers. There's the promise of the first frosts, the allotment will still be going strong with the end of the summer veg and the start of the winter greens. There's Sloes to pick for Sloe Gin, there's conkers to prize lovingly from their shells to feel their shiny smoothness and there's mushrooms poking their heads through the dew soaked grass on the verges. Yep, the Autumn's the one for me! More importantly, what have I been up to this weekend? Well, being a bank holiday, obviously the weathers not been much to write home about and after a week of howling wind and torrential rain storms, Saturday didn't look too promising either. My initial plan for the weekend had been to get away on the bike, but that idea didn't look so appealing considering the weather, so Saturday started with a cheeky little 13 mile jaunt around the roads at home and then progressed onto a bit of shed door painting, followed by a couple of hours on the allotment. I thought that I'd better get the potatoes out of the ground on the allotment before it gets too wet, and to be honest I wish I hadn't bothered. I'm guessing that it's just been too wet, then far too dry, as we would have been better off just keeping the seed potatoes and eating them. What few tubers I have harvested are small and if we were relying on these to see us through the winter we would be in trouble. Luckily for me (although not for "The Emma") the Parsnips look like they are doing a lot better, so I'll be fine and the fussy one will just have to go hungry! Sunday, things were looking a lot better, although with the wind blowing strongly from the North the temperature had taken a decided turn for the worse. Nothing an extra layer and pair of gloves can't cope with though (long gloves and 3 layers in August, what's that all about?). Although nothing, worth writing about, it's another 75 miles to go towards the years total and it was nice to be out, as it always is, the sun even managed to break through the clouds towards the end. As I mentioned earlier the Autumn is definitely just around the corner and the Horse Chestnut trees have already turned brown and started loosing their leaves, the majority of the cereal crops have been harvested, and not wanting to hang around most of the fields have been harrowed and resown ready for the next crop. It's lovely to watch the changing of the seasons from the saddle of your bike as you pass through and there's always so much to look at and admire if you take the time to look around. It certainly doesn't seem like 12 months have passed since we were at this stage last year. I guess that's part of getting old. The time goes too quickly and there's not enough of it, what was it Confucius said "You've only got 2 lives and the second doesn't start until the first finishes"? A night in the van Sunday night set things up nicely for a bit of early morning running on Bank Holiday Monday. Nothing too serious, just a gentle planned 18 miles from Alresford up towards home and then back to pick up the van again. I say a planned 18 miles as I ended up doing a bit more due to being clever and thinking I knew where I was going. All I've got to do is follow the line on the GPS. How hard can it be? Very it would seem, when you think you know where your going and aren't paying attention. Not to worry though, my little diversion only added another 2 uphill miles. Free Phys as they say! One last thing before I wrap up for this week. Last year we had a bumper Plum harvest from the front garden orchard (or "Pauls apple sticks" as "The Emma" insists on calling it). Interestingly, this year they were no where near as prolific and the Plum harvest finished last week with the wind destroying the last of the crops. Last year though there were far to many to eat, and if we look back though the mists of time, we'll find my first ever blog post centered on turning the excess harvest into Plum Gin. Well, it's been sat in the back of the cupboard for a year now, slowly doing it's stuff and this seems like as good an opportunity as any to get it out again and give it a try. Filtered through some muslin and decanted into a couple of bottles, we're left with some amazingly tasty, gin soaked Plums, they'll not go to waste, either being snaffled whenever I think about them or added to cakes and puddings over the winter. But, the main event? We'll you'll just have to make some yourself and find out, because your not having any of mine!
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Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
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