Weekend 23 & 24 June 2012

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On Saturday morning, I took Luc to Danbury.

Whilst Luc was doing the high ropes, I paddled my kayak on the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation at Paper Mill Lock. I was a bit better than last time but was struggling to get comfortable. I thought it was down to the bar at the end of the kayak needing adjustment but actually it was down to my big feet in trainers not reaching the bar. I also bumped into Barry from Bramston Canoe Club who was leading a group of school children and suggested that I came along to one of their Monday night sessions in Witham.

In the afternoon, we went to the Pumpkins Nursery School summer fete. There was a sponsored walk which Luc, Julie and Georgina. The children had temporary tattoos, played hook the duck, named the bear and entered raffles and tombollas.

Luc has decided to take up painting and yused my mother's old water colour set which was virtually unused as she preferred oils. He did some nice paintings of beaches and fields.

In the evening I watched Spain beat France easily at the Euros.

On Sunday, I took part in the Horndon-on-the-Hill 10k and recorded a reasonable time of 60 minutes and 7 seconds. It's by no means my best ever time but it is a good come back to running.

In the afternoon, I did some gardening and the threatened continuous rain forecast for the day turned out to be 2 quick showers so I was disappointed that we didn't go to the Blackwater Show.

Luc did some more pictures and I'll feature them on his website in the next few days.

In the evening I watched the inevitable England defeat to Italy in the quarter final of the European Championships on penalties. England were hopeless in normal time which finished 0-0 and barely strung 2 passes together.

Weekend 16 & 17 June 2012

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On Saturday, Luc and I went to Danbury Outdoor Centre. Whilst Luc did "Problem Solving" which he described as like being on a game show and the Obstacle Course, I ran from Paper Mill Lock to the Outdoor Centre and back. At least that was the plan. In the event, I ran up the hill to the Outdoor Centre in 37 minutes 16 seconds and was feeling a bit sluggish on the return for about 15 minutes when I had an overwhelming need to stop running - so I did. I walked back to the car which was parked at the bridge at Paper Mill Lock. The whole trip took me 1 hour 30 minutes and 50 seconds. I saw Tony, my boss at Ruggles & Jeffery who was there to pick up his children.

Julie took Georgina off to a party at the Paddocks when we got back whilst Luc did Lego.It appeared that the Entertainer at the party upset most of the children and got the hump with one child in particular. Julie reckoned that he made at least half the children cry so better than most.

In the Euros, Poland and Russia failed to qualify whilst  surprisingly Greece and Czech Republic got through. I had a low fat sausage casserolle based on a hairy bikers recipe for dinner.

On Sunday morning I went to the recycling centre (tip) to dispose of the old kitchen units and lots of off-cuts from the new one. It took me ages to unload but once again the trailer has proved invaluable.

The Castle Point Show had been postponed because of the weather so we went to the Weald Country Park show near Brentwood. It was excellent with a reenactment of the War of the Roses, dog exhibition, bouncy castles, kite making, lots of vintage cars, deers to feed and water zorbing.  The park itself is really nice and Buddy enjoyed socialising with lots of other dogs including 4 King Charles Cavaliers. Georgie was not too keen on the water zorbing but Luc was excellent at it.

Saturday 26 May 2012

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Another Saturday morning trip to Danbury where Luc did orienteering and bush man skills. He  really enjoyed it. I went for a short run as it was so hot.

I took Luc to Spencer's football party in the afternoon and he had a great time. He wasn't looking forward to it but had really enjoyed himself. Meanwhile I went to the Yacht Club to try to put my kayak there for the summer but I need to make some calls first. I took Georgie to Canvey Marsh for the RSPB Open Day.

Luc, Georgie and I all went in the pool for the first time. The pool was warm enough and deep enough for me to swim in it.

Watched England play Norway in an international friendly. England played ok, but Gerard the new England should have been sent off for a typical act of thuggery.