Competitions of a more acaedemic kind.

Today I entered two competitions in The First News, this is a newspaper for children and it is good. One of the competitions was a sudoku and the other was a crossword. You had to write in the answers and send them to the First News House. We put them in two envelopes and cycled to the post box to post them. I hope I win! Rosie, My Mum, Lucy and I all went on the cycle, Lucy ran, she did not have a bike.
By Freya

“All of us are guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress.” Tennessee Williams...... I like this idea

Today, a day of quiet contemplation and inward reflection….
As if! Kicked off with Pony Club (after administering emergency First Aid to Snuffles the guinea pig who had apparently gone AWOL but was found to have slipped into a box and was upside down considerably shocked…this shock was then intensified by the rescue party who had to be calmed down….alot. After she had recovered, had a drink and restorative piece of carrot, and was restored to her pals Snowy Bunny and Daisy Guinea Pig, I had to self administer my inhaler to offset the ominous chest tightening that is my usual response to Guinea Pigs. Rosie had given me Piriton in the throes of the triage situation, some of which now is contributing to Snuffles’ new spiky sticky hair style). After lunch Rosie and I went for a little run and learnt what our legs feel like running up a small incline whilst the rest went cycling. This was somewhat short lived as Garret got a puncture….well, his bike did and they had to return. Now Toby and Garret have gone to play tennis (Toby is convinced that the new lightweight racquet that we bought him will lead to a slaughtering of the Pater Familias) and the girls are designing posters for a competition to advertise Seafood Week at the Oyster Bar.

...and there's more

1.Fee starting the run
2.Garret finish line
3.Fee and a wee pal
4.Fee finishing line...finally!!
5.All done till next year.







A great day was had by all (once it was all over that is!)and we were all smiley people about our times in general. Well, would like to have done better in the swim and would definatly liked to have gone faster in the cycle but did okay at the run is a more honest assessment but hey! there is always next year....

"If triathlon was easy, they would have called it football"

1. All ready to go
2. Fee Transition one from Pool to Bike
3. Ditto Garret
4. Fee back from Cycle
5. Garret striding out

A rear end view

This was sent by Elizabeth Clarke, here last week for a few days. The house is being viewed from the forest track running along the back of our land. In front of the house you can see the view from the north looking windows in all rooms.

“I believe that every human has a finite number of heart-beats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises”. Buzz Aldrin

If this is so then I have used up a good quota of mine over the last week either in that unpleasant zone of nervousness that causes the heart to pitter patter away and/or by partaking in a ridiculously large amount of exercise over the weekend in Aberfeldy at the afore mentioned Ladies only training weekend. Noses were pointing firmly in the direction of ExerciseVille the whole time, when not doing any we talked about the best way of doing it and how to eat, recover from and prepare for it. All good fun but did result in a very smelly and weary return home to the happy Family Home on Sunday. The highlight was being videoed above and below the water so that our swimming styles could be analysed later and hence any illusions that we were okayish swimmers were shattered into a million small shiny pieces! Actually, very helpful although the new style is hard on the arms so I think I shall have to avoid ironing duties for a while…I will run that by Garret sometime. Have to say I have done okay on that score recently as Linda (Garret’s mum) did a huge pile over the weekend and an even Huger (so massive it has to have a capitol H) pile on Monday night when she was baby sitting Freya. What great value for money, does not expect payment and does the ironing. So the week is progressing as weeks do and the Triathlon creeps ever nearer and the heartbeat is beginning to rise again unbidden. Garret and I sneaked off on Monday whilst T and R were at Athletics club to do a swim in our gear (actually Garret wore his drag shorts and so this is obviously why I was able to beat him). I did a mixture of old and new styles and felt okay (this is no indication of performance on the day as I can easily swallow half the pool in a panic and not breathe for the first three lengths), I did learn that the tri suit needs to be zipped right up to the neck otherwise it instantly fills with water creating my very own little drag device. Okay, enough Triathlon talk, off to get ready for lunch out in The George with my lovely pal Caroline up from Ayr for the night for a bit of horse riding therapy.


PS Re Decathlon...Did not the Plank (but did discover what it is and how to do it in an emergency.....) however did do the Corkscrew (25m, see last entry for exact and far too graphic details of this torture) for the greater good of my team. The mid Argyllers swept the board with the other girls coming first in the decathlon and Lizzie and I and our other team member Debbie coming in Silver position. Debbie was a true star at the Plank an incredible 6 minutes!!! And Liz amongst other things got up there on her toes for the single leg stand as we both knew that I would last a nanno second. Watching me balancing on one foot is like watching a weeble. They wobble and wobble and then they fall DOWN.

A weekend in Aberfeldy

Time for a very quick blogette. Well, the stomach is churning good and proper and I am light headed with nerves. No, not another run/triathlon as such but a ladies only training weekend in Aberfeldy with Lizzie and some others from the Lochgilphead area. There is a very comprehensive programme including a decathlon competition. The list of events for this include something called the plank push up…hmmm no thanks, another one for the old heave ho by me is the “Corkscrew”. This, apparently is when you swim doing one stroke of front crawl and then one of back crawl. I practised this particular torture during the week. Apart from swallowing almost the entire contents of the pool I finished the length (and this is in a 15m diddy pool) in a state of semi collapse. All those carefully balanced systems that we posses as a result of careful and thoughtful evolution by our ancestors do not like being spun round and squeezed like a dish cloth and registered this dislike by attempting to force the contents of my stomach through my mouth and nose. Being a lady I did not give in and merely lay comatose for a while whilst being observed not very surreptitiously by a family also using the leisure centre facilities. To be honest I think that they thought I was a bit disturbed…….Perhaps one event I could suggest for next year is how well you cope with the emotional blackmail laid on one by the offspring when they say goodbye. My girls (Toby is still at school)hung out of the car windows arms outstretched and pleading shouting “Don’t go Mum, Don’t go” in the time honoured way that children have of punishing their parents for daring to have a life. They are now teaching Dad how to give swimming lessons. I just hope that Liz will be here before they get back or I may weaken and send Garret in my place.

Thirty days hath September

September has arrived and along with the summer the B and B guests are slowly drifting away. The weekend was busy, busy with the Connect folk, all very well behaved and nice guests. Actually scratch that, I hate “nice” and so will go with “lovely”. There is something about “nice” which gets my dander up, it is such a nothing word. Anyway, back to the weekend, all seemed to go well at the festival, especially good reports of the food and extras available. We have had several attempts at bookings for next year’s event. We have made a unanimous decision not to take any reservations for that weekend until into the New Year. This is for several reasons, not the least of which is that we will not have a diary until then…I know, the technological age has yet to hit us here in full.
So, the season has quietened and last night we had our first empty night in months, which enabled me to go running with Liz in Lochgilphead. She, poor girl fell her length along the canal path grazing hands, nose and knee. I was able comfort her though as she lay there by pointing out that she would get loads of sympathy from her children, as there was blood present. There is nothing like a bit of blood to get the comfort chip going in a child, swellings…nah, broken bones…nah but the red stuff impresses them every time. Even if you can only squeeze out a little bit I can recommend it when you are in need of a bit of unconditional love and attention. Back to Liz then, she was up and off (dripping blood as she went) again pretty quick and so we did a gentle run along the canal instead of flogging ourselves to get back to the pool in time for a swim. We then went our separate ways, she to tea and sympathy at the hairdressers and me to Jewson’s on errands for Garret. We all have our own special niches in life. Tonight we have two lovely Italian love birds on their honeymoon staying who are very well behaved (so far).

Re the title. I was looking for a really poignant quote for this lovely month designed to impress (and preferably one that I could pass off as my own) but could only find a load of old depressing choss about being sad and going back to school (“September means school and effort” who needs that sort of pious reminder?) and stuff so I decided to go with the first one that sprang to my mind irrelevant though it is!