Fish Face

I woke up this morning with a sandpapery feeling in my eyes.



this is not my cat

To discover the cat was licking my eyebrows and sockets with fervour.  I screwed up my eyes for fear she should lick off the top two surfaces of my eyeballs and tried to brave it out, as it is truly an honour that a cat should deign to take a break from licking it's own arse to give you a wash and brush up too. 

But the red raw skin and fish odour was too much for me and I took off to the bathroom with my eyes closed, bumping off the walls all the way to find a wet wipe.

Phew.

It has been a long time since my last blog post.  Things have happened, but as they slip into dim and distant memories, it seems less vital to bother to blog about them.  But I will give it a go, as I do find my blog a useful record of 'stuff done'.

In no particular order:

I found that I actually enjoy running after the confessed loathing of competitive athletics which I undertook in my teens.  I have been puffing my way around 2-3 miles since January with very little improvement in pace or fitness, but after slowing my pace down considerably it suddenly dawned on me that I liked pootling along with my own thoughts, and that I could run 4-6 miles with an improvement in both pace and fitness.

To this end I went along with Mark one Saturday to Killerton House to do their weekly Park Run.  This is the first 'race' I have attempted in over 25 years - a real milestone for me as I thought I would NEVER want to do it again.  I came 118th out of 250 ish runners, and was 25th female overall.  Not bad, but am aiming to do better this Saturday.

I found a lump in my breast.

This was a sudden discovery, and a heart-stopping moment.  Thus followed a trip to the Docs and three hospital visits, all within the space of a couple of weeks to discover it was a 'whopping' blood-filled cyst which they showed me on ultrasound before sticking in a needle and sucking it all out.

Flippin eck.

I am so glad it is all done and dusted - grateful to the NHS for their speed and care and fully appreciative of the fact I have been able to walk away from this with a big sense of relief when many others would not have that luxury.

Thank you thank you thank you.

We rejoined the National Trust (again) and had a lovely trip out to Coleton  Fishacre.  I bought a Jazz-age CD and it fills me full of Sunday afternoon melancholy when I listen to it.  Lovely.

 

There is a walk down from the house to the coast - truly wonderful on a good day.

 

Mark and I attended a book signing at Torre Abbey with Sophie Hannah, who has written the new Poirot story - The Monogram Murders.  Having discovered her by accident over the last year and read her avidly, I was thrilled to bits that she was given permission by the Agatha Christie estate to write a new Poirot.  The Agatha die-hards are whining endlessly over the fact that she killed off Poirot in Curtain, but this book just slots neatly into a gap where there were about four years where Poirot did not appear, between 1929 and 1932.

Apparently. 

So there.

I haven't read it yet.  And it cost me £18.99 which I resent enormously.  But there you go.  And I met her and managed a conversation without drying up or stammering, so that's Good.

The new school term has started (is it just me, or did the Summer just pass in a blur this year??) with a vengeance and I have upped Oliver's 'work'.  I am pushing him more this year, as I am hugely conscious of the GSCE factor looming on the horizon and if he does end up wanting to go on to Further Education, I have to be thinking about it now....

OH - MIDORI!!!!!

I sold my Filofax on ebay - for £80, can you believe, so I got myself some leather and notebooks, and made myself this:

It is very me, very satisfyingly chunky and full of the bits I need, and I love it.  Happy days.  I am going to make a 'Traveller size' one, and fill it full of holiday ephemera.

The Tour Of Britain passed through Exeter.  I have NO interest whatsoever in cycling, I find it yawn-tastic to the nth degree, but an event is an event is an event, so we trundled along for a look-see.

It was boring waiting,  and so entertained ourselves with selfies.

 

The event was all over in a matter of minutes, and for me the most exciting part was the volume of police motorcycles whizzing by.

 

That is all.