LOTS TO CATCH UP ON

Life has been an array of outings, training, proud moments, organising, dancing, racing and generally just doing for the last month. Never a dull moment it has to be said here at Maid in Cornwall.

Website is so very close to going live now, still some final touches – why are there so many final touches??!! – it is looking great and I am very proud of it, hope to be able to introduce you soon!!

JT became an orange belt in ju jitsu at the end of May and alongside many mum’s and dad’s there that day, an enormous wave of pride came over me when his name was called to go and receive his belt and certificate from Sensei Tony. Alongside his ju jitsu, JT has been progressing really well with his swimming and enjoyed taking part in his school’s swim gala. All the children are so very supportive of each other,from Reception to Year 6 they are cheering their house’s on all the way through. Good to know that JT’s points went some way to helping yellow house to come 1^st this year!!!

We are coming to the end of the half term and we have certainly filled it with fun times for both the children and Mr T and myself.

At the beginning of the break, myself, Claire and www.thedaytodavis.co.uk took ourselves off to Bristol to enjoy the Dot to Dot music festival. An amazing mixture of bands in various venues in Bristol playing from 3pm to 3am. Thanks to the awe inspiring organisational skills of Mrs Neal we had made a list of bands we were keen to see and made sure we knew the venues and how long we had between sessions – we also made sure we were able to book a table at Zerodegrees for another taste of their pizza and doughballs!! The Naked and Famous were by far the main event for me, with some great surprises along the way. Trophy Wife played in Thekla ( an amazing venue in itself) and I really was blown away by them. Made me realise how much I want to hear more of these emerging bands and will endeavour to do so as much as time and money allow!!

Was great to be back in Bristol after our girls weekend there back in November, although it did feel strange without Helen and www.ayres-rocks.blogspot.com beside us – here’s to Cardiff ladies!!!

I managed to meet up with the gorgeous Sian www.wealllovepost.blogspot.com at Zerodegrees and catch upon her news in Bristol,although The Naked and Famous did drag me away rather more quickly than I would have liked.

The following day, www.thedaytodavis.co.uk and myself headed off to the bright lights of London town whilst Claire returned home. Katie and I were running in the Bupa London 10K on the bank holiday Monday and had arranged to meet our hubbie’s at Waterloo when their train arrived just after ours. Was great to have some time with Mr T on our own as my mum had kindly said she would have the boys whilst we took a 2 night break in London. Was blissful.

Mo Farah and the elite men

There's Paula!

Katie, Kit, Mr T and myself had booked into Joel Robuchon’s restaurant in Covent Garden on the Sunday evening and we enjoyed a wonderfully relaxed evening of fine dining and great company, as well as an overindulgent stab at the cocktail list. Paula Radcliffe would not have been necking back French 75’s as if they were going out of fashion the night before her race, but then I’m not Paula Radcliffe and I was doing just that. There is nothing like spoiling yourself is there, but I think the cigar at £37 that Kit and Mr T decided to purchase was mind blowing!! A great night was had by all.

The next morning was a complete surprise to me, I awoke feeling good and really looking forward to the race. Thought I would have had a headache at least, thankfully not – my alcohol drinking schedule had been going rather well of late! Had a good breakfast at the hotel and as we were only a 15 minute walk away from the start line I decided to warm up by running some of the way there – I know I couldn’t believe it either, think French 75’s are going to be my pre race hydration of choice from now on!!! Felt great at the start, we were set off in waves and the atmosphere was amazing, very friendly and highly energetic. The whole route was lined with supporters and it felt like a carnival atmosphere, weather was warmer than anticipated,although the drink stations were really well manned and I used them at both points. Felt great running over the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace at 55.37 minutes.

As soon as I had finished I phoned my mum to speak to the boys, really miss not having them at the end as love seeing them. They were excited to know that mummy was only a stone’s throw from the Queens house!! Mr T and I really want to take both boys to London at the back end of the year as now that TJ is nearly 4 I know that it would be a great family experience. Felt weird when we went to London with JT as TJ stayed with my mum. He was still in a pushchair and anyone who has encountered London with a pushchair will tell you – never again! Now he is able to walk a fair way and is generally much more receptive to adventures, we will return to the city soon.

Had a great time away but was so good to see the boys again, they always look taller somehow! They had had a great time with mum and Mike, spent most of their time with their cousins which is a recipe for a very enjoyable experience for all.

MRS GRUMPY

I know not a fantastic title for a new post on my blog but stick with me!





I don’t know whether it is just me, but I have been in the doldrums lately and have been waiting to come out of them for over a week. I have been feeling tired, without a particularly good reason for it, the children are sleeping well and I am not stressed about anything. So why so grumpy?

The only thing I can put it down to is my inability to recover from a hangover in anything less than 2 days and my increasing inability to run with legs that feel like lead. I even took myself to bed in the afternoon recently, which, quite frankly, appalls me even now ( the shame).

Praise be to the higher beings that are sports massage therapists, without you I would be circling within the doldrums for another week for certain!! The niggles in my knees, calves and ankles were becoming a concern to me as I have some great races coming up within the next month and I don’t have an injury on my training plan in any of those 4 weeks. I have learnt, through experience with injuries previously, to listen to what your body is telling you and take appropriate action earlier rather than later. I visited Sarah Miller, a recent graduate of the London School of Massage, who inevitably made me wince several times during my hour session, who explained how some simple exercises could be done at home after my run to help combat the tightness I was experiencing and informed me that I needed to concentrate on my glut control. Well, I never knew my gluts were out of control, must have been due to that impromptu session in Bar 35 last weekend!!!

Further to my massage I have been taking a cold, hard look at my eating habits recently and to be perfectly honest, they too could do with a stock take. M&S teacakes are oh so nice but are not nutritionally beneficial in any way to my training. Neither are the Aero bars I buy ( for JT) to then pick at once he has gone to bed and the packet of chocolate digestives which I bought the other day was almost asking for trouble. Lesson for today, the colour brown features a lot within my diet at the moment ( read chocolate), colours such as red’s, yellow’s and green’s should be taking precedence over the colours of cakes and chocolate.

Today was the day of change, I needed to inject some fresh, vitamin packed colours into my food diary, I am actively encouraging the boys to enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables, which as far as 7 and 3 year old boys go, they do very well. JT eats lettuce and spinach like they are going out of fashion, TJ recently decided to “like” strawberries after a life time of “hating” them. Their mother needed to look to them for her lead.

I think it will also help when our very own fruit and veg store “opens for business” soon, our veggie patch is looking lively now and we have seen the first fruits of Mr T’s labours – strawberries!!! As the controversial lady herself said – you are what you eat. I no longer wish to be green and bubbly on the inside and brown on the outside but radiant, delicious and healthy!!! Think Mr T would approve of that too!

Mr T's pride & joy

A LITTLE CRAFTY

I have been procrastinating when it comes to sewing recently as there never seems to be enough time to just sit and start a project, let alone finish one. Last weekend was a rare occurrence but one that filled me with joy and when Mr T commented in a positive way I knew the girl had done good!! I love getting a lovely bit of fabric and working it into something I am proud of and that will adorn a corner of my home or someone else’s.

I was inspired by my recent visit to Rosemoor Gardens Craft Fair near Torrington, where http://aminnybouquet.co.uk/ was exhibiting her wonderful crafts, making me want to shut myself away in my room to explore the stacks of fabric I have accumulated. Last weekend I spent an hour at my much neglected and has to be said dusty machine - I know I should make a cover for it, that is project number 2!!!



Gorgeous fabric!




Trusted if somewhat dusty friend



This wonderfully vintage fabric was picked up in a charity shop well over 6 months ago.  In it’s previous life it was a set of curtains, but I had other plans for it!  It has now been re-worked and is going to be winging it’s way to a lovely little someone, sometime soon as there are what seems to be an influx of birthday’s in June. I will not show you the finished piece as it may be viewed by people who are going to be receiving, hence the photo of just the fabric itself, but what a fine piece of fabric it is!!

Not only is it Mr T’s and JT’s birthday’s, my father, my niece, my brother in law, many friend’s at the boys school and pre school have birthday’s as well as it being Father’s Day in amongst that lot. In order to keep ahead of the game, I was able to spend some time at the machine last weekend to check one present off the list – phew!