Skip to main content

The tribe

Happy days - I love the weekend, particularly in the moments (sometimes it feels like it's a glimpse, other times it's hours) where everyone is in equilibrium. This week has been massively busy but also full of privilege. On Friday my role at Oxford University resulted in a day where we were shown round some of the oldest and newest libraries, both stunningly different in their architecture and history. We were also given a talk on some of the University's oldest governance records, including the earliest report of the University's inception dating from the early 1200s. What was funny was the realisation that some of the subjects being discussed in the 1930s are still up for debate today in the audit committee - life at Oxford doesn't move that fast!

This morning Glenn is out in his new enduro bike - apparently the last one (sold about 6 months ago) was 'never right' and this one is much better. I'm not sure whether he was disappointed or reassured when he asked my opinion, to which I replied "good colour" - I think they're all orange aren't they? The good news is that this change of bike is due to a change of plan and no racing this year - hooray! Glenn decided that him being away 6-8 long weekends in the year was too much for all of us and so the race bike has gone and the enduro riding, a fort nightly Sunday morning local ride is back and much more convenient. Can't say I'm at all sad about the new plan.

So what else is new - well, no silver bullet on my knee I'm afraid. After sport massage therapy (code for modern toture), gait analysis and many conversations we've concluded that it's ITBS that is causing the problems. The good news is that there is an immediate and total cure. The bad news is that this is not to run. I've 99.9% accepted this means no Barcelona marathon, although a very small part of me is harbouring hope of a final miracle. One suggestion has been to train like a triathlete and do 'brick' sessions where I do the required amount and effort of cardio work, but in a mix of a running session followed immediately by a bike session. So I tried this yesterday and did an hour of running with no knee problems (as expected, the pain kicks in after about 90 mins), then straight onto the spin bike. I managed a measly 30 mins before giving up through a mix of boredom and concern that the amount of sweat on the floor would be enough to allow me to swim at the end of this. It's certainly not for the faint hearted and I can see it would give me the fitness and stamina, if not the knee strength. I'm not sure I've enough time to rescue the situation anyway, but that 0.01% of me is clinging on for a week or so more if I'm honest.

On a final note we are beginning our plans for the new garden room which will become the official 'kids tat hosting centre' from here on. I can't wait, although I do worry I'll make all the effort to turn the playroom into a halfway decent space, only for it to immediately be turned back into a school / hospital / nursery before my eyes. At least if we've put the tat somewhere else it can't all make its way back into the house in one go... can it?!?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Snow!

After a beautiful day of sunshine yesterday, today it snowed... but more of that in a minute. Yesterday actually felt like a day of much progress. Despite Covid we managed to arrange a visit to Taunton School to have a look around with the girls and to meet the Headmaster. This was a massive relief as I had got to the point of thinking we would have to accept a place without ever stepping foot inside the school. In the end we had a very comprehensive, if a little deserted, tour of the school and the kids loved it, as did we. There may even be a small chance they might squeeze us in if we are there by the summer term - that is of course if the kids are back into school by then. The other news was that I managed to speak to Mr &Mrs Tucker - the people buying our house - and we tentatively agreed that we will try and complete during the Easter holidays which could have us moving in the third week of April. This does require everyone to have got all of what they need done, and that of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Busy, busy, busy

Full English brunch for these two! Life is VERY busy and I don't feel like we have stopped for weeks (or is that months?) It seems like the 'to-do' list is endless and while I know we don't have to do it all at once, I have taken on the unenviable task of trying to get the Muppet to finish all the work he promised / we have paid for and that has been like pushing a mountain of water up a very steep hill. We've got to the point where I think we have got all of what we are likely to get and the rest we'd rather finish ourselves anyway. The electric gates are clearly a work of his imagination based on the gates / the electric cables he spec'd and the cheapo motor mechanism - there is no way they'll work so we have decided to not bother and source proper gates that do the job and look better as well. Knowing that we are almost at a point where we sever the ties feels very liberating. Looking back this last 6 months has been incredibly stressful and just didn...
Post a Comment
Read more

Decluttering

Girls buying baby clothes - this could get addictive! It's Easter weekend already and we still haven't completed!! However we have made some progress, most importantly with the paperwork which has not been Steve the Builder's forte throughout this process. Stags finally got their act together and got in touch with the planning office and got an update from the Planning Officer. Apparently she is broadly happy with the application, and is prepared to pass it with only a few minor modifications which we are completely comfortable with. The Building Control Officer also came and did all of what he needed to, which means the final certificate should be issued which allows the warranty to also be issued. On our side we finally tracked down the paperwork (or more correctly got the BC Officer to come out again and do a second assessment) for the outstanding BCC on our windows (which went in 6 years ago but due to an admin error were never registered) - nothing is straightforward i...
Post a Comment
Read more