Stripping walls and striding walks!

I know it's a good two weeks since my last post and that is rather deliberate.  Those two weeks seem to have drifted by with very little to report!  In my mind, when I look back, all that we seemed to have done was strip wallpaper and gone out for walks!

BUT....as it turns out, there are other bits and pieces to tell you!  Let me explain.  When I sit down at my computer to write these posts, the first thing I do, is upload any photos I've taken since writing the last one.  Then I go through them, deciding which ones I'm going to include and finally, I write the blog around those pictures. 

So, by way of example, until I saw the photos, I had completely forgotten that we had had this little visitor last week....

Now Danny is generally fearless when it comes to removing "creatures" but even he was reluctant to touch this horrible fella.  Clearly some sort of centipede but Danny couldn't be sure he wasn't poisonous.  So, he was carried out with glass and paper to carry on his life outdoors!  Fortunately we haven't seen him since.....the centipede that is, not Danny!!!

As I've said, we've spent a fair amount of time stripping wallpaper off the lounge walls.  The top layer comes off very easily but it leaves behind a backing paper which must have been put on with a very strong adhesive as it takes a lot of soaking and scraping to get it off.  Nonetheless, we try to do some most days and slowly but surely we're getting there!  Here are a couple of photos to prove it!

Since taking this photo, Danny has in fact finished stripping this particular wall and next week, all being well, he will start on the adjacent wall.  We are thinking of changing the tall radiator you see in the second photo above, to a smaller one.  To do this, the system will need to be drained and it is really too cold right now to contemplate such a thing!  So we are taking our time with the wallpaper stripping in the hope that we will be able to change the radiator early in March.  (Last year, the weather in early March was glorious.  I recall us sitting outside enjoying apéritifs in the sunshine!).

As the title of this post suggests, I've been continuing with my walks.  If you're following My Peak Challenge Diary, you'll know that I can now walk well over the 5km I set as my original goal.  Earlier today I walked 5.8km!  When I first conquered the 5km distance, I wasn't sure whether to carry on trying to walk further or to improve my speed doing the original 5km.  Given that I usually take one of the dogs with me and that they each walk at different paces, the latter would have been quite difficult.  I asked advice of the Personal Trainer involved in the "My Peak Challenge" event,  and he has advised that I do both!  So, from now on, at his suggestion, on one day a week, I shall go out walking on my own, without any of the dogs, and will seek to improve my time of walking just the original distance of 5km.  On other days, I shall continue to walk a bit further each time, revising my goal accordingly.  And of course I will continue to take one of the dogs with me - I honestly don't think they'll let me get away with not doing so now! 

You may remember that this is not just about getting fit; it is also about raising money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research in the hope that one day no one will die from blood cancer.  So I have decided that for every extra kilometre I can walk over and above my original 5km goal, by 14th March, I will donate an extra £10.00.  I would be delighted if others were willing to support me by giving too.  If you'd like to donate, you can do so at www.justgiving.com/MyPeakChallenge.  You can do so anonymously if you wish, but it would be good if you mentioned my name!

And on the subject of my walks, here is a photo I took with my phone when I was out on one of my walks last week.  Despite being cold, you can see it was a beautifully sunny day with a fabulous blue sky...

Of course, as well as Danny's wallpaper stripping and my walking, we have our routine and other tasks to do.  For example, pretty much every other day finds Danny refilling bird feeders now.  Obviously word has got round the bird population of the area and the garden is always  full of hungry birds!  Here is Danny, battling against the elements yet again...

(as usual, with his red helper!)

 

And if he has any time left after all these activities, he is still working on his model of a London bus.  Recently he painted all the components which will make the seats...

 



And finally, to end on a very positive note, here is a photo I took earlier today of the first show of crocus.  This part of the south-facing front garden is quite a sun-trap and I think the bulbs have been fooled into thinking it is the beginning of spring!  Still, let's hope it's not too long away!

Until next time then, à bientôt!