Goal reached with my fitbit

I decided on the 6th of January or thereabouts that since Christmas I had managed to achieve 10k steps a day that I would continue throughout January. 

I made myself a promise to do an Average 10k steps a day and apart from 4 days (3 of which were this week!) which were short of target on balance I have surpassed the remit. 

Yesterday and today I had to get my average up for this week so walked 15k steps yesterday in the bright sunshine and wind (before lunch) and 12k steps today no wind but constant drizzle (before lunch).

As fitbit only does a rolling 28 days I can't tell you exactly how many steps I have walked in the month but

1/1/16 to 3/1/16
assume min 3x10k 30,000
04/1/16 to 10/1/16  93,314
11/1/16 to 17/1/16  76,276
18/1/16 to 24/1/16  77,585
25/1/16 to 31/1/16  74,875 (and still counting)


Total steps 352,050 not bad for a couch potato!
I have exceeded my goal by approximately 42k steps!!!

For the rest of this year I no longer need to absolutely achieve the 10k steps (phew) but I will probably continue with the daily walk.  It has been good to get out in the fresh air over the winter and I haven't gone stir crazy. Plus in March I have agreed to join a bunch of women in walking the Wey and Arun Canal so I need to keep myself walking (match) fit.

So overall I would recommend to anyone that they get a fitbit of some description as the benefit of having a small dictator object making you get up and go is immeasurable. 

I used to be a time and motion kind of person
now
when I am at work I make a trip per teabag to the bin!
I don't try and carry 3 mugs of tea back from the kitchen but make two trips.
I take one item up the stairs instead of collecting up an armful.
When I visit the boat I park a long way away and walk
When I go shopping I walk the long way round town to get to the shops.  Or park at the farthest end of the store carpark - plenty of spaces out there in the sticks! 
I have discovered little alleyways I never knew were there.

And competing with family and friends always helps.

60th Wedding Anniversary

clearly not mine!

My parents have just celebrated their 60 years together.  As they were married in deepest darkest africa the Queen was not aware of this fact so no card from her.

We had a lovely family party over the weekend despite this omission by Her Majesty and my mother excelled herself with the catering as usual. 

My sister was disappointed to discover that there was no cake for tea.  Small boy and I had had the last of the latest offering when we arrived the day before and with all the cooking my mother was doing, baking took a back seat.  Only shop bought biscuits on offer too.  Horrors.  :)

I have started a stained glass workshop and two nights in I realise perhaps 40 pieces of glass to cut is a tad optimistic on my part.  We only have 5 nights altogether and one person has already started to copper foil her pieces.  I can see me having to maybe finish the soldering at home?

My designs were all very ornate and I chose the simplest to do.  You can imagine at 40 pieces for the simplest what the others were like!  However I am still going to do these designs by painting them direct onto my portholes.  Bobcat will be very pretty in 2016.

January 2016

Well I have decided that I will attempt to write at least one post every month.  Then I looked back at last year and discovered that I had actually done that!  Except for January 2015.

Well what can I say.  I woke up this morning and there was frost on the ground and the cars.  Now this is my first frost of the winter and I liked the fact that it was also on the first day of 2016.  There may have been a frost in November as I believe there was also snow but I was in New Zealand enjoying the sunshine so as far as I am concerned it didn't happen.  Dearly beloved is still living it large in New Zealand and for once was one of those who get to see the New Year in first.

He had his birthday out there and we decided that he hadn't got a year older until his birthday had passed here in England.  The things we do to cling on to our Youf.

While I was down on the south coast and then in London over Christmas we enjoyed dry warm weather and I escaped on Christmas day morning and did a two hour walk up and down the Thames on both sides.  Up to Putney over on the footbridge and back on the South Side I got my narrowboat fix as there was one looking so tiddy tied to one of the enormous boats.  Just before Wandsworth Bridge I got a call from my mother to say hurry back we were due at my Brother's earlier than expected!  Needless to say I got back at 12pm (half an hour after the call and was washed and changed in 5 minutes) and we arrived on time.  Others arrived later.  So glad I had missed out on the kitchen dramas and my Dad whittling about when to leave.

It therefore came as a shock to read about the floods up north. 

A friend of mine is looking after a farmhouse up on the hills above Hebden Bridge - I don't know whether anyone has taken up her offer of a dry place to stay but as it is a bit awkward to get to probably not.

and York what a disaster.  So sad the Jorvik centre got flooded but glad they managed to hold off the water and save the precious artifacts.  I remember taking my son around it when he was little and finding the smell of the pigsty preferable to that of the hovel!

While in NZ we travelled around the treetops near Rotarua on zip wires.  Loved it.  Hopefully we will head to Wales and play on the one there sometime this year.

I don't often visit the canal forum website these days but I had a quick peak yesterday to see if there was anything about the floods and boats since the news don't really focus on that aspect and was very surprised to see a photograph of Bobcat so that a newby could see how to get a motorbike onto a narrowboat! 

I is famoose at last!

Hopefully since himself is finally retired he and I will travel together more this year and the motorbike will finally make itself useful.

So there we have it the first post for 2016

May it be a fun year all round.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE