Christmas comes to the Common

As Commando and I headed across the Common to parkrun, on 11 December 2021, we thought the pandemic was all but over. Well, I did anyway. Of course, we were still all wearing masks in shops and things, and washing our hands every five minutes. Ok, so that might just have been me too, but you get the picture. There was an annoying little variant called Omicron, in the news, but it sounded fairly innocuous, nothing but a bad cold really. The first case had hit our shores at the end of November, but no one was especially worried about it. Well, I wasn’t. It sounded to me as if the virus was doing what viruses generally do, getting weaker. In fact I thought it might be good news.

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A new ship in town and a birthday party

8 November 2016

With our Icelandic adventure imminent, It occurred to me I should probably be thinking about getting some Christmas presents this week. Frankly, I’m a little bah humbug about the whole Christmas thing. When the boys were little it was fun but, these days, it all seems too much like an excuse to spend money on things people probably don’t even want and eat too much. To my mind we should all buy one Christmas present for ourselves and leave it at that. Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn’t agree with me though so this morning was mostly about buying presents.  Continue reading A new ship in town and a birthday party

Another day, another race, the Akamas Multiterrain Half Marathon

26 November 2016

Today we had an even earlier start. A coach picked us up from the hotel at 7:45, still struggling to digest our hasty breakfast. Sue seemed none the worse for her tumble yesterday and was as chirpy and giggly as ever. We were headed for the mountains again, this time for the Akamas Multiterrain Half Marathon. The journey was long but the views from the coach window kept boredom at bay. White painted cuboid houses with terracotta tiled roofs and shady balconies gave way to craggy rock formations dotted with stunted trees, contorted and bowed down by the weight of the relentlessly beating sun. Every inch of flat space was covered with bananas, pomegranates, oranges, cabbages or fruit bushes in rows. What I wouldn’t have given to walk the interesting looking trails we passed. Continue reading Another day, another race, the Akamas Multiterrain Half Marathon