That weekend update post thing I promised
Today I am feeling much better and I have plans to go into London for supper with my sister, yarn trawling in John Lewis (yay!) and possibly a quick stop in the British Library so that I can say that I've been. I have also spent the morning bagging up a huge stack of magazines for the tip. Go me!
So, weekend.
Friday night was my work leaving do and it was great fun. I'm not normally one for going to lots of work dos, but as this one was in my honour I couldn't quite escape! I did end up a few minutes late because I was trying desperately to finish the handover - oops. Still, the do was brilliant fun. We had a few drinks in the pub so that those who couldn't get to the meal afterwards could pop along and then 20 of us toddled off to Old Orleans for food and more drinks. It was just the right thing and I got a bit of a surprise when Da Boss announced that the company was paying. Thank you so much, Da Boss, that was a really lovely surprise :-)
Needless to say, we all got silly and happy and had a fab time and I realised just how much I'll miss them all.
I listened to Pottercasts on the way home and reflected on the irony of the FM transmitter I bought to play my iPod through my car radio only starting to work properly two weeks before I leave. Bah.
Saturday morning involved a very early start so that I could catch a train up to York. The train journey was lovely and relaxing and I met historyterry only five minutes late. We drank coffee in the station coffee shop and then wandered into the heat of outdoors (oh god, the heat!) to walk into the city centre. We split up at the Minster, T to find us a suitable lunching venue and me to explore the Minster. That turned out to be a great choice because I enjoyed spending the time quietly exploring, taking photos and having the freedom to sit and think a while as well. I've always found my faith to be a quiet, private thing and I think that I would have felt awkward having company for that trip.
Hundreds of photos of stained glass will be posted tomorrow.
T found us a real ale pub to eat in and I was starving by the time I met him for lunch so it worked out perfectly. After lunch, we wandered through the Shambles and found a vegan tapas bar that I must remember for future visits. There was also fudge, lots of it, and we got to watch them make the most fabulous chocolate orange fudge ever.
OK, yes, I brought some home with me :-)
Then it was onto the train for a trip home that turned out to be an epic trip thanks to faulty trains, cancelled trains and other shenanigans. There was a lovely moment, though, when the chaps across the aisle called out and handed me the Guardian supplement for the day: Mazzmatazz's Rebel Knitters Guide! I'd taken the wool for my sister's blanket with me and it proved to be a talking pointed on the train in the nicest way possible.
Having arrived home rather late, I still had to get up early the next day for the club championships at my archery club. I'd been planning to compete for months so I had no intention of letting a silly thing like complete exhaustion stop me!
It turned out to be a blazingly hot day and, despite being outside for eight hours, I only have the tiniest bit of sunburn on one arm to show for it. Phew! Mostly I'm just looking a little more tanned than usual.
It was an all day shoot, six dozen arrows before lunch and another six dozen after. I was shooting a Bristol III which was six dozen arrows at 50 yards, four dozen at 40 yards and two dozen at 30 yards. For some reason competitions bring out my best work so I ended up shooting a personal best. Yay! As icing on the cake, I also got a medal for 2nd place in the handicap adjusted score category so I felt really pleased with my performance. Unlike the last time I competed, all that physio and hiking has paid off because I didn't ache at all afterwards.
When I finally trailed home from the champs, my sister and father had cooked a lovely vege sausage and mash dinner so we ate that while watching the final three stages of the Tour de France. Despite a couple of drug-related upsets, this has been a great Tour and I'm so glad that I got to see the end. I had a feeling that the yellow jersey would bring out something special in Sastre, so it was great to see him retain the jersey through the time trial (what the hell happened to Evans out there, anyway?) and pull it on in Paris. A great end to a fabulous weekend.
Photos from Wales and York will be up tomorrow and now I must grab some lunch before I dash for my train.
So, weekend.
Friday night was my work leaving do and it was great fun. I'm not normally one for going to lots of work dos, but as this one was in my honour I couldn't quite escape! I did end up a few minutes late because I was trying desperately to finish the handover - oops. Still, the do was brilliant fun. We had a few drinks in the pub so that those who couldn't get to the meal afterwards could pop along and then 20 of us toddled off to Old Orleans for food and more drinks. It was just the right thing and I got a bit of a surprise when Da Boss announced that the company was paying. Thank you so much, Da Boss, that was a really lovely surprise :-)
Needless to say, we all got silly and happy and had a fab time and I realised just how much I'll miss them all.
I listened to Pottercasts on the way home and reflected on the irony of the FM transmitter I bought to play my iPod through my car radio only starting to work properly two weeks before I leave. Bah.
Saturday morning involved a very early start so that I could catch a train up to York. The train journey was lovely and relaxing and I met historyterry only five minutes late. We drank coffee in the station coffee shop and then wandered into the heat of outdoors (oh god, the heat!) to walk into the city centre. We split up at the Minster, T to find us a suitable lunching venue and me to explore the Minster. That turned out to be a great choice because I enjoyed spending the time quietly exploring, taking photos and having the freedom to sit and think a while as well. I've always found my faith to be a quiet, private thing and I think that I would have felt awkward having company for that trip.
Hundreds of photos of stained glass will be posted tomorrow.
T found us a real ale pub to eat in and I was starving by the time I met him for lunch so it worked out perfectly. After lunch, we wandered through the Shambles and found a vegan tapas bar that I must remember for future visits. There was also fudge, lots of it, and we got to watch them make the most fabulous chocolate orange fudge ever.
OK, yes, I brought some home with me :-)
Then it was onto the train for a trip home that turned out to be an epic trip thanks to faulty trains, cancelled trains and other shenanigans. There was a lovely moment, though, when the chaps across the aisle called out and handed me the Guardian supplement for the day: Mazzmatazz's Rebel Knitters Guide! I'd taken the wool for my sister's blanket with me and it proved to be a talking pointed on the train in the nicest way possible.
Having arrived home rather late, I still had to get up early the next day for the club championships at my archery club. I'd been planning to compete for months so I had no intention of letting a silly thing like complete exhaustion stop me!
It turned out to be a blazingly hot day and, despite being outside for eight hours, I only have the tiniest bit of sunburn on one arm to show for it. Phew! Mostly I'm just looking a little more tanned than usual.
It was an all day shoot, six dozen arrows before lunch and another six dozen after. I was shooting a Bristol III which was six dozen arrows at 50 yards, four dozen at 40 yards and two dozen at 30 yards. For some reason competitions bring out my best work so I ended up shooting a personal best. Yay! As icing on the cake, I also got a medal for 2nd place in the handicap adjusted score category so I felt really pleased with my performance. Unlike the last time I competed, all that physio and hiking has paid off because I didn't ache at all afterwards.
When I finally trailed home from the champs, my sister and father had cooked a lovely vege sausage and mash dinner so we ate that while watching the final three stages of the Tour de France. Despite a couple of drug-related upsets, this has been a great Tour and I'm so glad that I got to see the end. I had a feeling that the yellow jersey would bring out something special in Sastre, so it was great to see him retain the jersey through the time trial (what the hell happened to Evans out there, anyway?) and pull it on in Paris. A great end to a fabulous weekend.
Photos from Wales and York will be up tomorrow and now I must grab some lunch before I dash for my train.