Right, I've had to admit defeat. Well, not so much defeat as just face up to the realities of life and admit that I'm bloody tired. Not just the old, late night, not sleeping very well, feeling a bit sleepy in the afternoon type of tired. But, more of a deep down, tired to the very centre of your soul type of tired. Whilst, unusually, I didn't actually have anything specific planned for this weekend, I did come up with a bit of a scheme for getting some decent bike miles in on Friday night. But, as the week wore on that started to seem more like a chore than the enjoyable fun it should be, so sense prevailed and I've actually had a weekend at home for a change. And I must admit I feel a lot better for it too. I know that I've been kicking the backside out of it for a while now. In fact a quick flick back through my diary shows that I've not had a weekend where I've been at home all weekend, since the 19th Feb. That's 11 weekends on the trot where I've either been away cycling, running, or both in a row, it's not surprising I'm tired! I've done some miles in that time too. In fact in April I managed 1516 miles on the bike and another 203 miles of running. Numbers which include my 500 mile Easter bike adventure and the 72 mile Brenda Parker Way run. As I said at the start I've been tired and lethargic all week. I ran home from work on Monday (10 miles) and ended up walking the last mile as I just didn't have the energy to get all the way back, and the run back to work on Tuesday morning was the slowest it's ever been and seemed like a real chore. I took my running kit in Thursday and Friday too, planning lunchtime runs from work, but never left the office. And despite having sorted out stuff for a night on the bike Friday, when I actually got up on Friday morning I just couldn't face it. I'm guessing that with nothing specific planned for this weekend my body's just said “enough, lets have a bit of rest and recovery time”. A weekend at home it was then, and with it the chance to start catching up on all the other things that I've been neglecting whilst I've been gallivanting around. So what have I been up to this weekend then? Well for a starters I spent most of Saturday up on the allotment, where, considering it's the middle of May, things seem a bit behind. I've given up on what should have been the summer bedding plants which I sowed from seed at the start of March. Most of them sprouted and then either got scorched away by the early spring sun, or just sat there looking miserable and doing nothing. At this point in the year the greenhouse staging would normally be groaning under the weight of seed trays by now and I'd be desperate to get them outside to make room for the Tomatoes, but this year, nothing! And when I say nothing, I really mean it. It's been so bad that I've had to go out and buy bedding plants to go in the hanging baskets at home. It's not just me either, talking to my fellow plot holder's everyone's faced the same problems, so I don't know what's going on there. The weather hasn't seemed that unusual and I've not done anything different to previous years. I guess we will just have to put this one down to experience and try again next year. In better news the barriers that I added to the bottom of the fruit cage net a few weeks ago seem to have done the trick and no more holes have appeared, so hopefully that ones a success. And more importantly the Broad Beans seem to be thriving now that the weather has warmed up a bit and the Strawberries don't seem to be too far behind. Broad Bean and Pea Risotto made with allotment fresh Beans and Peas is for me a real taste of summer and one of the highlights of allotment veg. Risotto, washed down with a handful of fresh Strawberries and a glass of homebrew, life doesn't get any better than that, and fingers crossed it's only a few weeks away! After Saturdays restful pottering's on the allotment, an evening of doing not very much with "The Emma" and a great nights sleep, I awoke on Sunday morning feeling fully refreshed, to the sound of the birds singing and rain falling gently on the ground outside. By the time I'd had a brew (or two) and a bit of breakfast the rain had stopped and whilst it wasn't the magnificent wall to wall sunshine of Saturday, things didn't look too bad. Considerably happier than I had been on Friday and feeling back to my more normal self, I dug out an old pair of running shoes, grabbed my running vest from the van and was just disappearing out the back door to put my newly reinvigorated legs to the test when "The Emma" got up. I wasn't hanging around though, so with shouts of "the kettles on" , "I haven't got any keys, so don't lock me out" and "I'll be back for lunch" I headed out into the cool, damp and humid morning. Running on fresh legs made a real change from the normal tired struggle for the first few miles and with quiet streets, deserted roads (well it was only just after 08:00 still) and full of the joys of spring I headed away from home to pick up one of my favourite off road trails. Nothing too serious or strenuous, but with no time pressures, no racing, no chance of getting lost and fresh legs a slow plod was just what I needed. The miles ticked happily along, I walked a few uphill bits, enjoyed the freedom of running down hill, stopped to watch a kite in full soaring mode, said hello to some Cow's watching intently from their field as I passed and generally enjoyed myself. And how could I fail to enjoy myself when I was out in the fresh air, admiring the green and verdant landscape at what is undoubtedly one of the best times of the year. Everything is so fresh, green and pleasant at this time of year, and after the nights rain, everything seemed so fresh and alive. In fact, with the miles passing happily along, lost in my own thoughts, it seemed almost too soon that I found myself back home, having been out for a couple of hours and added another 16 miles to the years total. There's no doubt about the fact that this weekends rest has worked wonders and you'll be pleased to know that whilst rain put a stop to my planned activities for Sunday afternoon, I've not been idle. In fact amongst other things I've been planning my next adventure. So watch this space, because I'm fully revitalised and I've got plenty of plans up my sleeve for the rest of the year! Just as a bit of an addendum, there's a few pictures of the garden below too, which even if I do say so myself is looking pretty good this year.
Next job to add to the never ending list is to make some more Sparrow bird houses so I can evict the ones that have been nesting in the roof for the last couple of years once they've fledged their young. I'm hoping that if I put up some nest box's at the same time as sealing up the big crack in the roof that they're currently living in, then they might just move home for me? But that can wait untill the Autumn when they're definitely finished with their nest and in the mean time we'll just enjoy their company as they flit around the garden and chatter happily to each other.
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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
March 2024
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