All posts filed under: Life Adventures

I tried Surfset and I loved it!

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  Surfset is a brand new workout in my world and I couldn’t wait to try it.  Look, you just sit on a wobbly board and take photos in the mirror.  Easy peasy!  Not so much with the easy peasy, nor the camera for that matter!  This is an all over workout and is so much fun, you forget that your arms/core/legs are starting to ache!  I took this photo post class and here I am with legs as wobbly as the board that made them that way.   We are lucky enough to be getting a new studio opening here in snowy Brentwood in the new year which will also include TRX classes and Real Ryder cycle classes.  I am already a fan of TRX (straps which hang from the ceiling and provide a major core workout), but I am keen to try the new bikes which have moving handlebars which I may well fall right off! Talking of falling off, I only fell off the board a couple of times while ‘surfing’, you …

Weeky Photos 46/52. 2014

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          1.  Clover flowers I picked this week from the side of the road! 2.  Great clouds with red trees. 3.  My first mail from the Sew Crafty Snail Mail group. 4.  We started to make a snow man in the little bit of snow we got yesterday,  then paused for a quick snow/mud angel! 5. Snowy leaves taken on the Hipstamatic app for iPhone. Happy Monday!  Let’s make it a great week.  

Questions four you!

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I picked up these questions from Alison at the fabulous Writing Wishing blog.  So here is a bit about me.  Grab the questions at the end of the post and play along if you want. Four names that people call me, other than my real name. Clara (most times this is what people seem to hear when I tell them my name in this country, I blame accent confusion) MUUUUUUUUM! Clare Bear was the nearest I got to a nickname. Clack (I honestly once got a coffee in Starbucks and this was written on the cup as my name!) Four jobs I have had (not counting current jobs) Usher at Nottingham Playhouse. Saturday girl at Lincoln Box Office. Bell Ringer at the village church (I think we got 5p per practice and if we rang for a wedding we got 10p!) Directory Enquiries at British Telecom. Four movies I have watched more than once The Incredibles A Bug’s Life The Nightmare Before Christmas Cinema Paradiso Four books I’d recommend Where’d You Go Bernadette? Tell the …

Let’s talk about Advent Calendars.

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Do you have an Advent Calendar and do you manage to get it all set up in time?  I am pretty convinced that the days speed up right after Halloween and the 1st of December creeps up with little notice.  A simple flip of the diary and boom, there it is, the month of Christmas celebrations and the first day of Advent right there, at the beginning.  Did you remember the calendar?! I always like the chocolate calendars with the chocolate behind the window whose appropriate number takes about 20 minutes to find every morning.  I really think the numbers move every night, maybe it is the Elf on the stupid Shelf who is responsible…. Just remember not to shake up the chocolate calendars, just in case all of the chocs fall to the bottom on the inside of the lovely calendar and they will not make an appearance behind the window and the foil when required.  All the chocolate treats will be languishing in a heap at the bottom of the calendar. When I …

An Afternoon in the Woods taken with Hipstamatic.

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  Do you still use Hipstamatic on your phone to take photos with an instant funky look?  Hipstamatic was one of the first photo apps I got for my phone and I still really like it.  You never quite know what you are going to get, but it usually a fun photo.   I love all the films and lenses to mess about with. I downloaded the new Dalston Hipstapak this weekend and used it to take some photos while we were exploring in the woods today.  We donned our wellies and trudged about in the undergrowth and the creek, we made a dam and picked up some old creek glass and pottery shards which have been worn smooth by the water over many years. We stood and watched a little woodpecker make his way up a tree pecking out bugs as he went. I hope you managed to get outside for a while this weekend.      

‘I like’ Fridays.

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For the month of November and maybe forever after, I am going to do a Friday post with a few things I like.  ‘I like’ Fridays,  see what I did there! What are you liking this fine Friday?  Let me know in the comments. This week I have been liking these things Reading – ‘Us’ by David Nicholls, I am only just starting this book, but I really like it.  I had better hurry up because it is from the library and I only have two weeks to read it which is not my usual speed.  My usual speed is about two months per book! Watching – Project Runway Allstars season 4.  We have no cable (thinking of ditching it altogether) at the minute, so I am catching up online on Fridays.  My little Friday treat.  I have to admit that I don’t like Allstars as much as regular Runway.  Heidi and Tim, I miss you! Listening – Serial podcast.  I am obsessed with it, I can hardly wait from week to week.  If you …

Learning a new language. Still.

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I have lived in the States for 11 years now and I still sometimes forget to translate words into ‘American’. Good job I don’t live in France or Germany! I wouldn’t be communicating so well if I did. When I moved here I knew that some words were different but nothing to confuse, right?  Wrong. Lots to confuse and no, watching every episode of ‘Friends’ and ‘Sex in the City’ does not equip you with enough language ability to manage in the big wide Mid West world. Some differences are pretty well known both sides of the pond and cause no problems like candy/sweets and Mom/Mum although I still don’t use Mom ever, I am a Mum all the way! So let’s look at some more of these words which don’t match.  Clothing always confuses me, should I wear a vest if I want to be warm or cool?  Don’t get your pants mixed up with your trousers!  Always remember to wear your fanny-pack on your bum. I have had some very interesting conversations which …

Weekly Photos 43/52 2014

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1.  Mushrooms are few and far between at the minute, so I was happy to see this bunch nestled in an old fallen tree. 2.  There was a partial eclipse of the sun this week, but it was around sunset, so the sun was disappearing as it got eclipsed and it was cloudy too!  So, all I managed to glimpse was a very pretty sunset with a partially eclipsed sun behind some clouds! 3.  Our local YMCA has a Halloween ‘Spooktacular’ every year and the kids get to go in a canoe and fish a pumpkin out of the diving well of the pool.  I love the colour of the pumpkins against the water. 4.  The old Shoe International Company building in St Louis city, looking good against the blue October sky and with the yellow tree too. 5.  We picked up a vintage postcard and this is what is said on the back.  I think all trips should be ‘swell’ and ‘elegant’. 6.  Art on Cherokee St in St Louis. We had a good …

What I am wearing on this Autumn day.

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I bought a new long cardigan this week, so I thought I would share it with you!  Boots and socks are favourite and long cardigans are too. Long cardi’s are just right for the cooler but not freezing weather and I am sure I can add a scarf, a hat and some gloves when it gets cold. Did someone say scarf? I got this scarf because it makes me think of old fashioned travel blankets like the ones my Grandma and Grandad kept in their red Mini.   It could also be worn as a lovely shawl as it is pretty big, but it is lightweight, soft and warm and I love it.  In order to make it look less like a blanket, I grabbed a corner to make it diagonal before putting it on.  This gives a cascade effect rather than a solid look. What are your Autumn favourites?  Can you believe how grey my hair is?  Honestly, I can’t, I don’t hate it, but I was a little taken aback at my own …

The Art of Looking.

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Do you think that if you are looking for something, you will find it sooner or later?  I am not  talking about envisioning a suitcase full of money and eventually it will show up, but if you try that, let me know how it goes!  Nor do I mean that you find everything you think of, blimey that would be a hectic time wouldn’t it. I mean if you are thinking of someone lots they might show up in the same aisle as you at the grocery store, or they may call.  Have you ever called in on someone and they said ‘I was just thinking about you’.  That has happened to me many times. I like the heart rock search as a great example.  Have you ever found heart shaped rocks on the beach or in the fields?  Have you looked?  People have collections of heart rocks and I always thought it so amazing that they are just found, right there, under our noses.  I had never seen a heart rock and I am …