Week Off

Today is the first day of my week off (including Easter, that's a total of 11 days off work).  I'm not going away but I'm not going to do nothing either.  I have a long list of stuff I want to get done, stuff which has been hanging around for ages and needs to be sorted.  I thought it would be interesting to see how much I get done.  Here's my plan:

• Friday 26th - Exercise DVD, food shopping, 3 hours clearing loft, 3 hours knitting
• Saturday 27th - Exercise DVD, make soup to freeze, 3 hours clearing loft, 3 hours knitting
• Sunday 28th - Yoga class, make chilli to freeze, 3 hours clearing loft, 3 hours knitting
• Monday 29th - Go for a run, shopping with Mary, spinning class, 3 hours knitting
• Tuesday 30th - Exercise DVD, bike service, 3 hours cleaning, cinema trip with girls
• Wednesday 31st - Go for a run, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting, make shepherd's pie to freeze
• Thursday 1st - Upgrade phone, exercise DVD, massage, Circle AGM, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting
• Friday 2nd - Go for a run, make goulash to freeze, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting
• Saturday 3rd - Exercise DVD, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting, make casserole to freeze
• Sunday 4th - Yoga class, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting
• Monday 5th - Go for a run, 3 hours cleaning, 3 hours knitting

As you can see that's a lot to pack in.  The loft does need clearing out, it's full of my stuff from when I moved in.  I'm going to go through all the boxes, throw stuff out, keep stuff and sort stuff for a car boot later in the year.  I'm also going to spring clean the house, I'm a bit lax on the cleaning usually but a full blitz is needed to make the weekly cleans easier and more effective.  I'm also going to fill the freezer with healthy food, I'm usually too knackered during the week to cook anything from scratch so having a freezer full of meals is great.

I'll post again at the end of the week to see what I actually managed to do.

Right it's time for my exercise DVD so I'd better get dressed!

Relaxation and even more knitting

I've just come back from a gorgeous weekend at Ragdale Hall, a spa near Melton Mowbray.  It's become a tradition in my family, we've been going there once a year for about 7 years and every year I love it even more.  The atmosphere completely relaxes you as soon as you walk in the door, everyone serenely wanders around in white bath robes and slippers, people doze in comfy chairs, even the resident cat is chilled out.  The treatments are the best I've ever had, I've never had a bad experience there, all the girls are cheerful and polite, each treatment is perfectly done and I float out of each one even more relaxed than before.  In case you hadn't noticed, I can't recommend this place enough.

Back to the real world and back to knitting, which has become my life recently.  I've done 22 squares of my 30 square blanket, so close I can almost smell the finished article.  I've learned to cable, which was easier than I thought and I love the effect of it, it makes the squares nice and chunky.  My plan is to finish the last 8 squares in the next 2 weeks, then start blocking them (wetting, pinning and letting them dry so they become all the same size) and then sewing them together which will be very exciting as that's when they properly become a blanket.  Then it's just the border to finish and sew on.  I'm hoping to finish everything in 7 weeks which takes me up to mid-May.  Just in time for my niece who should arrive on 17th May (give or take a bit).

I've been a bit lax with my cycling recently, I've had a week off but am raring to get back to it.  I'm starting my running training in a few weeks, ready for Race for Life in July.  Pete, as ever, is doing so much more exercise than me.  His JOGLE training is going well, he had a week off work and cycled over 100km each day which is unbelievable and fantastic.  Tomorrow is the Reading Half Marathon which I'll be watching from Madjeski Stadium (might take my knitting).  Good luck to everyone who's running it including Pete, Gail, Fiona, Harry and Gill.