The Daily Daisy

7 comments

It’s my last day of being a lady of leisure. I’m going to miss getting up and going for a run, as I have done every day except Monday this week.

Today’s run was cut short as there were two dodgy looking women in the park. Apart from the fact that they were wearing matching red fleeces and one was sitting on the bench and the other was standing a few feet away, I don’t know why I thought they were dodgy but I took a detour rather than go past them and went home.

Before I went home though I did take another pic of a daisy. This one is particularly impressive because it’s pink.

And my attempts at taking a pic of a blackbird today were again ruined by the camera shy blackbirds flying off any time I stopped and got my camera out but I did manage to get a shot of this one that was too busy eating to notice me.

When I got home my cat has done a shit that Gillian McKeith would be proud of. What she wouldn’t be proud of, however, is the fact that she’s done it in the bath. I spent five hours cleaning yesterday and my evil git of a cat has pooed in my nice clean and shiny bath. I was going to buy her a new feeding bowl and litter tray today but I don’t think she deserves it now. Bad kitty.

Today’s route

Stats:
Miles: 1.99
Total time: 24:51
Average pace: 12:29 minute/mile
Total calories: 221
Pink daisies: lots
Blackbirds eating: 1
Dodgy looking women in matching red fleeces: 2
Cats pooing in bath: 1
Things done from to do list (out of 13): 9
Music:
Albert Hammond Jr – In Transit
Adam Ant – Beautiful Dream
Dollar – Hand Held In Black and White
XTC – Respectable Street
Cardiacs – Hello Mr Sparrow
Adam And The Ants – Hello I Love You
Black Wire – Hung Up
Cardiacs – A Bus For A Bus On The Bus

Going round in circles

3 comments

I woke up this morning and thought I won’t go running today, I’ll get on with cleaning the house straight away.  So I got into my running gear, grabbed my Garmin, iPod, personal alarm and camera and went over the park and then thought I shouldn’t have bothered bringing my camera, there’s nothing to take pictures of over the park.  I did a lap of the park then went up to the sports field where there’s even less things to take photos of and took a picture of a daisy because it was there.

Then I went back to the park and saw a blackbird.   Each time I tried to take its picture the little git kept flying away and hiding in trees, so it became a matter of principle that I got its picture.

Also in the park were two old men sitting on a bench.  Not talking but just sitting.  On the third lap of the park, one of them looked up and on the fourth and final lap, the other one looked up too.  Maybe they were sad at the news that John Inman died this morning.  I find that quite sad too.

Now I have to go and clean the house.  But in true procrastinator stylee, I have to have my breakfast first.  Although it’s practically lunchtime, so maybe I should have lunch.  Oh, decisions decisions.  It’s a hard life being a lady of leisure.

Today’s route


Stats:
Miles: 3.15
Total time: 34:40
Average pace: 11:01 minute/mile
Total calories: 287
Daisies: lots
Blackbirds hiding in trees: 1
Old men sitting on benches not talking: 2
Dead actors: 1
Things done from to do list (out of 13): 8
Music:
The Bravery – An Honest Mistake
The Fiery Furnaces – South Is Only A Home
Adam and the Ants – Dog Eat Dog
Disco Ensemble – Drop Dead, Casanova
The Fiery Furnaces – In My Thatched Little Hut
The Fiery Furnaces – Sweet Spots
Kaiser Chiefs – The Angry Mob

My new kitchen floor

3 comments

When I went to the carpet shop on Monday and chose my new kitchen floor to replace the one that B&Q ripped, the man said that someone would be round today (Wednesday) pm to fit it. I took that to mean from 12 noon onwards and so I sacrificed a small shopping trip to get a new bin and new cat litter tray and bowl to put on my new kitchen floor in case I wasn’t back in time for 12 noon and only went to the cashpoint to get the floor man’s ninety English pounds and then waited in from 12 noon onwards.

I waited until 4:15pm and then phoned the shop and said someone’s supposed to be coming to fit my kitchen floor but no one’s here yet, are they still coming? The man on the phone said yes, they should be, let me see, what’s your name? I told him my name and he said yes, you are booked for pm, so they should be with you before the day’s out. I said ok then, I’ll be patient.

It got to 5:20 and I thought no workmen types work this late, no one’s coming to fit my new floor and I’ve moved the bin, litter tray and cat bowl out of the kitchen for no reason and my cat’s confused for no reason and I ring the shop again and no one answers and I think bastards, they’re as bad as B&Q and I’ve wasted a whole afternoon since 12 noon just sitting here waiting and now the day has gone and I go upstairs to play on the internet and then my mobile rings and because I think it might be the carpet shop I answer it, because I don’t usually answer my phone, and it is the floor man and he says he’s on his way and will be about 20 minutes.

He turns up at about 5:45 and I say I’d given up on you. He says sorry, I’ve had a bad day and you’ve ended up being the last.

He finishes the floor about 7pm and I go and have a look and it looks very nice and I say it looks great, thank you, it’s much better than the one before, they did a crap job. He says was it from the same people? I resist saying, duh, no, why would I pay the same people to come back and do another crap job? He asks me had the floor been down for long? I say no, but B&Q ripped it so they have to pay for a new one. He says well then you got a result, a new bit of lino and B&Q to pay for it.

I like my new floor although I’m still pissed off with B&Q for ripping the floor in my new kitchen. Although it’s not actually new, it’s about three years old but here’s what my kitchen used to look like. I lived with this for over two years. Eek.

And now my kitchen looks like this.

Which is why I didn’t appreciate B&Q coming round and ripping the floor. Grr. Will I ever be untraumatised by B&Q? I still love my new kitchen even though it’s three years old. I couldn’t give a toss about my new bathroom.

Bah.

A lady of leisure, day 3

4 comments

Oh yes, it’s nice being a lady of leisure. My leisurely ladyness this week has comprised cleaning the outside of the house (what are the little cocoony things?), sorting out the bathroom cupboard (it’s a floor to ceiling fitted cupboard and full of junk; do I really need two spare sets of straighteners and a waterproof fish shaped radio that doesn’t work?), sorting out under the stairs (I still can’t bear to part with my orange DMs even though I stopped wearing leather years ago), defrosting the freezer and shopping. The shopping was necessary as I needed a new kitchen blind and a new bathroom blind. And I put them up myself instead of waiting for Mark to come round and do it. And it wouldn’t be a week off work if it didn’t involve waiting in for deliveries or workmen so this afternoon I’ll be waiting for the floor man to come and put down a new kitchen floor.

I had planned to go to the gym this morning but thought I might not get back in time for the floor man, especially as I forgot to go to the cashpoint yesterday and he’ll probably want paying as workmen are funny like that, so I went for a quick run instead.

I did the route that takes me over the scary footbridge and past the horses but the horses weren’t out today, so maybe they went to visit the cows or something, and when I got to the other side of the bridge where two women have been attacked there was a dead pigeon. Although I’m not sure it was dead. It didn’t look like it was injured but just having a little sleep with its head under its wing but I couldn’t see it breathing. Poor pigeon.

Then when I go to the last stretch, there was a man taking a picture of an action man or some other kind of toy figure that he’d placed on the fence round the reservoir. Weird.

Today’s route:

Stats:
Miles: 3.06
Total time: 31:42
Average pace: 10:22 minute/mile
Total calories: 276
Dead or sleeping pigeons: 1
Weird men taking pictures of action men: 1
Things done from to do list (out of 13): 8
Search engine query of the day: soggy goose
Music:
Manic Street Preachers – The Intense Humming Of Evil
Placebo – Infrared
The Bravery – An Honest Mistake
Adam and the Ants – Kick
Heaven 17 – Penthouse and Pavement
Stereo Total – Le Diable
Scissor Sisters – Available (For You)
Cardiacs – Faster Than Snakes With A Ball And A Chain

A lady of leisure

3 comments

I’ve got the week off work, yah!

I was going to do the four mile route but the sun came out and I decided to further explore the marshes and decided that I was glad I was over there and not at work. This is a better view than I get from my office overlooking High Holborn.

I don’t see any boats in Holborn, either.

I only discovered the marshes when I started running. I knew they were there as I could see them from the train but I didn’t know exactly where they were. I knew there was a park at the bottom of my road but I hadn’t been in there either ’til I started running.

My little detour in the marshes only took me back to where the cows used to live so I left the marshes and explored outside and found a little park then continued my journey by road forgetting that I was going to have to go past B&Q. Boo hiss. Here it is, it’s the one in Lea Bridge Road, if you go past it, throw bricks at it please.

Then just as I’m getting nearer to where I live, I turn round the corner and there’s another big yellow sign. I don’t like it when I see the big yellow signs. I think that’s about six now in six months. Grr.

I gave up getting in dodgy taxis. One of my better decisions I think.

And with the marshes being quite marshy today, my new shoes are now muddy. Hurrah.

Now I’m going back to being a lady of leisure although I have a to do list, which I actually did four things from yesterday. Woo, go me. My to do list usually gets ignored but yesterday I did get a quote for my kitchen floor that B&Q ripped and they’re (not B&Q, those bastards are coming nowhere near my house ever ever again) coming to fit my new floor tomorrow. The man said it’ll cost £70 including fitting. I said that’s really cheap. He said that’s because we buy so much flooring. I said does that include moving the fridge and taking up the existing floor? He said no, that’s another £40. I said you’d better put that down then. It’s still cheaper than the floor I had down originally. Tracey’s friend Maureen paid £1,000 for her kitchen floor. Next time she wants a new floor, I’ll give her the number of these guys.

Also from my to do list I bought a new bathroom blind and a new bin for the bathroom. On my to do list is to clean the house, so when I’ve cleaned my new bathroom, I’ll post a pic of it in all its completedness glory. Although, if I had the money, I’d pay for someone to come round, rip it out, and do it all over again and get rid of any trace of B&Q.

I also defrosted the freezer and bought some new clothes. Ok, the new clothes weren’t on the list but if a shop’s going to sell a stripy purple t-shirt, then I’ve got to buy it haven’t I?

Today I’m going to sweep outside. Why do all the leaves collect in the front of my house and no one elses? Or do people sweep their front gardens every day? Surely not. And I’m going to attempt to get rid of all the cobwebs and stuff from around the front door. No one else seems to have them either. Why have I got the dirtiest house in the street?

And at some point this week I want to run 7 miles because that’s how far my work is and now I have my new running rucksack, I want to run home one day next week. Although according to the AA routeplanner, it’s 7.4 miles but I’ll worry about the .4 later. Or get the bus.

Today’s route:

Stats:
Miles: 5.66
Total time: 1:04:49
Average pace: 11:26 minute/mile
Total calories: 527
Big yellow signs: 1
Things done from to do list (out of 13): 5
Music:
Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
The Police – The Bed’s Too Big Without You
Cristina – Is That All There Is?
Abba – Summer Night City
Babyshambles – Loyalty Song
Manic Street Preachers – Born To End
Adam and The Ants – 21 B-Side Baby
Peter Bjorn and John – Objects Of My Affection
Ludes – Dead Man’s Music
The Kooks – Match Box
P J Harvey – Rub It ‘Til It Bleeds
The Young Knives – She’s Attracted To
Courtney Love – I’ll Do Anything
Cardiacs – Is This The Life
Soft Cell – Insecure Me

London Heathside 5 race update

5 comments

I’ve never been to Finsbury Park sober before. I’ve only ever been to see bands there and know where the bands play, not where people run. So armed with my map of the park I set off in the direction of where I think the start is. After a while I see a girl dressed in running gear also looking at a map so I run over to her and say are you as lost as I am? She says yes, but the marshall said it was this way, so we carry on walking up the path and get to a main road. I say I don’t think it’s this far. We look at the map again and decide we’ve walked round to the other side of the park and see a man jogging down the path wearing a race number and ask him if he knows where the start line is. He says yes, it’s down there, you should see an orange line on the ground. We say we just walked from there, we didn’t see anything. He says you were probably a bit early. We walk back down and see some runners standing about and with only 5 minutes to go I stuff my fleece in my new rucksack that I’ve brought out for a practice run and turn on my Garmin. My Garmin still hasn’t picked up a signal when the starting gun goes off and I think bugger, I can’t run without my Garmin to tell me how much longer I’ve got to go but it gets a signal after about a minute. Yah.

My new rucksack is rubbing my neck so much I think I’m either going to get my neck sawn off or it’s going to look like I’ve got a lovebite, neither scenario being particularly appealing, so after a mile and a half, I stop and get my fleece out and put it on and aaah, relief, now my rucksack is comfy and fits better and I continue on my run but no one told me someone had broken into the park overnight and planted a hill. Bastards. I have to stop again and walk up the hill. Then I have to stop again and get my water bottle out. Then I stopped again and got my water bottle out. Then I stopped again and got my water bottle out and ran with it thinking why didn’t I just do that in the first place? Duh.

The marshalls weren’t as bouncy and happy clappy as the ones from last week but that was probably because they were mostly in their 50s, not their 20s, but they did start to smile on my third lap, probably because they thought to themselves thank fuck she’s almost finished, I can go home now.

When I got to the hill on the third and final lap I was determined to not stop and walk it but to run – however slowly – up it, but I failed miserably and walked up it again. I got to the final stretch and the marshall said only 400m to go and I thought yay but, fuck me, that 400m must be the longest 400m I’ve ever done, I almost had to stop and walk again. Might as well have done a sponsored bloody walk the way I ran today.

But despite the rain, my rucksack trying to kill me, my thirst getting the better of me and that bastard hill, I still enjoyed this run far more than last week’s race. Got a better t-shirt than last week too, here it is:

So I went off with my new t-shirt and asked a man if he knew which way was Finsbury Park tube station. He said that’s where I’m going, I think it’s that way. I said oh, I thought it was the other way, I’ll follow you then. He said have you just done the run? I said yes, have you? He said yes, how did you do? I said I think I came last. He said nooooo, you won’t have been last, there’s always someone behind you. I said but someone has to be last and I think this time it was me. We chatted on our way to the tube and then he gave me his phone number. Heh, result 😉

Stats:
Miles: 4.96
Total time: 53:57
Average pace: 10:52 minute/mile
Total calories: 438
Rucksacks trying to kill me: 1
Phone numbers: 1
Music:
Belle and Sebastian – Sleep The Clock Around
Catatonia – Londinium
The Cult – Rise
Daisy Chainsaw – Natural Man
Dandy Warhols – Everyday Should Be A Holiday
Divine Comedy – Becoming More Like Alfie
Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster – Chicken
Elysian Fields – Bend Your Mind
Franz Ferdinand & Scissor Sisters – Suffragette City

Race day again

One comment

Yikes, what’s this, another early Sunday morning?  Must be getting old or something but I’m off to the London Heathside 5 today to go and run 3 and a half times round Finsbury Park.  I’ve checked the tubes are running to Finsbury Park this morning and according to the Transport for London Real-Time Map which bizarrely shows the working stations as the greyed out ones, the Victoria Line is running to Finsbury Park today.  Which means I don’t have to get on the peasant wagon.  Hurrah.

Hopefully there’ll be more people to run with this morning, as last week at the IC Marrow Fun Run in Hyde Park, I might as well have just gone out for a run on my own as there was no one near me for the entire 5 miles except for a couple of other runners in the distance who I was trying not to lose as they were helping me to not go the wrong way.

I will update later.

Today’s free gift

5 comments

I got up early yesterday and went to the Post Office on my way to work but my parcel from Start Fitness wasn’t there. Bah. I said to the man behind the counter but it’s been two days, he said I’ve been waiting for stuff to come back from last week, you can try later, we’re open ’til 7 today. I didn’t want to go back after work as I wanted to go to the gym and thought that my parcel from Start Fitness probably wouldn’t be back that evening anyway and so I ran up there this morning, hoping and praying on the way that I wasn’t going to have a wasted journey as I could have had a nice run round the marshes and up the river instead of a run up the road dodging chavs, buses and people spitting.

I got to the Post Office and joined the queue and everyone before me was getting their parcels so I thought my parcel must be in there too, everyone else is getting their parcels and I gave the man my card that said sorry I was out and he went off to look for my parcel and he was taking his time and kept wandering around looking at various shelves and I was thinking oh no, my parcel’s not here yet, bummer, but then he came back with a big grey parcel so hurrah, now I have my new stuff.

Here’s my new rucksack. It was supposed to be my new everyday rucksack, as the zips have broken on the last two I’ve had in the last six months but it’s not big enough for my gym stuff and breakfast and lunch containers and other various crap essentials I carry around with me but it’s also going to be my running commute rucksack when I make the plunge and attempt a run home so it should be big enough for that as I will be travelling light that day.

And here are my new gloves for the gym so I don’t keep getting blisters from the rowing machine.

And here’s my free gift. There is no way I’m wearing a baseball cap. Joggerblogger? You still want my free gift? It’s yours.

And while I’ve been happily spending away this month, I have forgotten that I’m going to Germany in two weeks and need to pay for that. Oops.

Stats:
Miles: 2.25
Total time: 23:24
Average pace: 10:23 minute/mile
Total calories: 198
New rucksacks: 1
New gloves: 1
Free gifts from Start Fitness: 1
Money I will have left to spend in Germany: About a fiver
Music:
Auf der Maur – Real A Lie
Muse – Sober
Pixies – Gouge Away
P J Harvey – Maniac
Power Station – Harvest For The World
Prodigy – Jericho
Prodigy – Out Of Space

Can’t think of a title

2 comments

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to cancel on NYE Bloke and when I got in, I went for a run instead and get some value for money from my new expensive running shoes. Maybe the man in the shop wasn’t lying when he said they’ll make me a better runner (although for those of you who think I was being serious when I asked the man in the shop if the expensive shoes would make me a better runner: I WAS JOKING) as tonight I ran 10:30(ish) minute miles. Hurrah. Ok, so there were only two of my 10:30(ish) minute miles and I did take the relatively traffic/side road free route down the market (after seven years of living here I’ve eventually found a benefit of living next to the crappiest longest street market in Europe) but still, my Garmin says I did 10:30(ish) minute miles so yay for me.

Which has marginally cheered me up after the news that I can’t watch Lost anymore due to Richard Branson not forking out 3p for Sky One. I suppose I’ll just have to download it from somewhere wait for it to come out on DVD. I don’t watch anything else on the telly and I haven’t got over Channel 4 axeing Brookie yet either. Woe is me.

And on my run I went past a man doing strange things (no, not those kind of strange things) in the green bit next to the bus garage and I nearly tripped over a woman who was dressed head to toe in black, kneeling on the ground with her hand outstretched begging for money. I thought about suggesting to her that she might be better off wearing bright colours and standing up if she wanted people to see her and then she might make more money but I thought better of it and continued with my 10:30(ish) minute miles.

Tomorrow I have to try and get up early and go and retrieve my parcel from Start Fitness from the Post Office. Start Fitness‘s advert in the Runner’s World magazine says that you get a free gift with every purchase, and I got a free gift last time, but Joggerblogger didn’t. I hope they don’t forget my free gift this time.

Search engine query of the day: I want to be a fitter for b&q

If I ever have kids and I hear them utter those words, or I see them type them into a search engine, they’re getting a slap.

Stats:
Miles: 1.99
Total time: 20:58
Average pace: 10:32 minute/mile
Total calories: 185
Men doing strange things on the green bit next to the bus garage: 1
Women begging in the dark dressed head to toe in black: 1
Music:
Toyah – Voodoo Doll
Simian – We Are Your Friends
Pixies – Velouria
Wasted Youth – Caveman

1 … 95 96 97 98 99 … 118