My Springtime Challenge – Week 3

When you set yourself a 4 week challenge, time really marches on. Week 3 already. To catch up on the story, here are  Week 1 and Week 2. All of a sudden, I am aware that I am halfway through my challenge.

So to summarise how things have been going… I have been pretty good at eating well. My exercise levels were better in Week 1 than Week 2, so I hope to boost them again in Week 3. I am trying to change my habits, so no more wasting my time on silly games on my iPad, but more blogging and more creating things. It is all about working out how I want to spend my time and stop getting involved in things that are a sap of my energy, I do them only because I should rather than because I enjoy them. It is also about clearing out, mentally and physically – leaving room for new things to emerge. I have definitely done some things that I have been putting off (cleaning the patio and drive – now completed, cleaning the garage – work in progress, cleaning cupboards and wardrobes – not even started, making more things – work in progress!)

Day 15 – Sunday 29th April

Sunday was good and really hard all at the same time. We changed the type of stone sealant we were using (5 litres for less than we paid for 4 litres a few days ago, but with better coverage). Same firm, it seemed just as good. I suspect it will work just as well. The problem was that it was a different consistency to the other sealant, with the result that one of our rollers didn’t work well. So, being the perfectionist that I am, I decided the best way forward was to paint the driveway blocks by hand. As mentioned somewhere else, the drive is 90 sq m. So picture the scene –  this slightly overweight retiree, down on her hands and knees, painting away furiously for some hours, while husband used the other roller. (My choice, I hasten to add) I sort of got into the rhythm, and I was working faster than the roller. But, boy, was I tired when I finished. Fortunately the evening meal was already prepared, so all we had to do was ‘press the button’.

We did provide a little community entertainment, as quite a few of our neighbours stopped to pass the time of day, and ask what on earth we were doing! We also met up with a couple who had moved in nearby a while back but we hadn’t spoken to them yet.

Doesn’t it look good?

Good: Loads of exercise. I might have only recorded 2,185 steps, but much more than several hours of physical exercise. To be fair to my pedometer, it spent several hours sitting on a table, as I was worried it would fall out of my pocket. I already have a cracked screen, another fall onto stone might be fatal for it!

Bad: I had a delicious bacon toastie when I finished – and I enjoyed every bite!

Day 16 – Monday 30th April

Monday as mentioned before is Club Day. I rarely do much in the morning, but leave the house by 12:45 to pick up 1 or 2 friends, to get to the club by 1:30. Today was good in one way – I sorted out a vast amount of stones, into ‘selling’ buckets. We have been in this club room for a couple of years, and there were boxes of stones hidden everywhere. The fixer / sorter in me just wanted to tidy them all up. I have already done a lot in this area, but today I had a real breakthrough. Instead of categorising the stones by type, many of the stones were really ‘to sell’. As a club we can only use a small amount for training purposes, and we already have kilos of those set aside. So I separated them into stones for £1, £3, £5 etc, regardless of their type.

Afterwards, we had a positive meeting on what we were going to do about a long term home for our club. (the premises we are in have been sold, so we have about 18 months to find somewhere else)

Good: 9,552 steps – just short of my 10k target, but within the range.

Bad: Nothing really, apart from sneaking a few biscuits when I was at the club. No other ‘rubbish’. However, despite being pretty good for the last 2 weeks, the scales are not yet showing the benefit…

Day 17 – Tuesday 1st May

Up bright and cheerful and out of the house at 9am, – I was helping with a lapidary training course. This is a borderline activity. Yes, I am happy to do it, but at the same time, I take more than my fair share of training courses and workshops, so I need to think about that. Especially as I have signed up to help with one next Monday too. (Warning bells ringing!)  I returned home at tea-time pretty knackered. Fortunately tea was prepared and ready to go. As I write this, I am spending the evening tidying up a blog about my recent trip to the Hebrides, so lots of good thoughts! Here’s a taster. This is St Clements Church built around 1549.Doesn’t it look amazing.

Good: 8,145 steps. Less than 10k steps, but I also spent 6 hours on my feet, so I think this compensates. On the club side, I am so chuffed to have completed the majority of the ‘stone sorting’. Everything now has an easy access place. A relief in itself.

Bad: I had a carb binge at the club and ate quite a few biscuits!

Day 18 – Wednesday 2nd May

This morning I went for a walk, and I wasn’t that far into it when the heavens opened, soaking me even through my coat. I had to change when I get back – everything got rather wet! I took a slightly shorter route, but I am not too concerned because I have an hour of Pilates tonight, although I am still a bit stiff from Sunday. Started a bit of a clear out today, but plenty more to do. Little steps….

Good: A friend stopped by, so I had a good chat. One hour of Pilates, and 10,865 steps

Bad: Clear conscience today!

Day 19 – Thursday 3rd May

Thursday is Spanish day. I read a few chapters of my Spanish book, and then I had a few things to do at the club I attend, so I did some walking between bus stops, sorted out the things I had to do and then headed to my Spanish class, with a bit more walking on the way home.

Good: 8763 steps – a bit shy of my target, but definitely not a sedentary day

Bad: Pretty good day all round

 

Day 15 – Friday 4th May

Friday was a creative day. I started work on some copper poppies for my friend. She is taking part in a church initiative to drape 10,000 poppies down their church tower in November for the Centenary of the first armistice day 11th November 1918. I am planning to use enamel to colour them red. I have offered to make 6 out of recycled copper, and have been playing with options on how I might make them so they can be pinned to the main decoration, and then sold for church / British Legion funds, for use as garden decorations later. Good fun. The copper is recycled from an old water tank which used to power my mothers solar water heat, so it all has to be cleaned up first. I tried a couple of prototypes. One using a copper spike drilled through the copper, the other using a wooden spike inserted into a bit of copper tube on the back of the poppy. Both work

Good: Did my weekly Spanish conversation class. 8103 steps. Cut a lot of copper

Bad: ate rubbish and drank wine in the evening!

Day 15 – Saturday 5th May

I woke up thinking about my challenge on making the poppies, and had a bright idea, to try glue and car paint. So I now have 3 prototypes. My husband and I walked up to the local shops instead of our usual walk around the fields, and bought some cans of spray paint, red, black and white! I enamelled a couple, but decided that it was going to be very labour intensive to make plenty.  They were an awkward shape to enamel, and each one needed at least 5 firings. However the good news was that the car paint version worked really well and looks good. (They provided the petal shape). I found some old orchid supports that fitted my copper tube well, so I now know what I am going to mass produce tomorrow

Good: I felt I had a really creative day. I also did 10,427 steps. So a win win

Bad: We bought sweets while we were at the shops, so we devoured a bag between us!

 

Week 3 – Summary

I still smile every time I walk on the drive or the patio. While not as bright as when they were first laid twenty years ago, at least I know they are as clean as they can be. A total of 58,478 steps, but a bit lower because I didn’t carry my pedometer for most of Sunday, otherwise it would have matched last week.

I really enjoyed being creative again, and working from a blank sheet of paper. I enjoyed the mechanics of how to fit everything together in the optimal way. Spoiler alert – the poppies, en-masse look great! Picture in next week’s post.

The only thing I haven’t done is any great amount of clearing out. I will have to focus on that next week. While I have been eating better and walking plenty, I could still do more.

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