Running, Swimming and Instagram ... !!!

Well hello everybody! It has been some time since my last post, but for those of you grieving my absence ... if any ... fear not. I have been out and about fulfilling my New Year's Resolutions and generally trying to make my life rather better.

I reached Christmas a blubbery version of my former self and decided that enough was enough. Since Christmas I have been running every other day, eating far less and I have really got into photography. Since I finished my Degree I have been in a kind of limbo, waiting for my next project and feeling a little bit without direction.

I have to tell you that I am loving my running. Don't get me wrong ... I have a very long way to go before I get back to full fitness, but I have seen a difference in my body and my fitness in the last month. I have gone from blubbering along, bursting out of my running trousers and having to stop to walk rather often ... to being able to run for much longer each time. And I feel comfortable. I went through a stage last year when I was very unhappy at work and I would get palpitations and I seriously worried that if I did much exercise I would keel over with a heart attack. Luckily this year is a whole new ball game and I am so happy with my job. All chest pains have gone and I feel great!!

So ... so far I have lost 6 pounds in the last month since Christmas and I aim to lose another 20 pounds. Its a big ask, but I hope that I can lead a healthy life from now on. I have been loving going out in the snow and following my nose. For the first time in about 5 years, since I ran the London Marathon, I am enjoying my runs rather than enduring them.

I have also discovered Instagram. My children are appalled, but I love it. For those of you who don't know, it is an app for your phone so you can take photos, edit them and share online. It is tickling my artistic bones at the moment and I am constantly taking photos. I love it!! You can see my photos if you look on my right hand tool bar and my user name, funnily enough, is @secrethousewife .

Instagram is a world of photos ... everything from really gorgeous shots to dreadful ones, but I love finding photographers from all over the world and seeing what they do each day. I follow people from all over the world - from the Klondike to the Lake District, from Italy to Australia ...

So that's what I'm up to ... running, swimming, eating healthily, photographing the world around me and I feel happy. I walked to work today through the snow and I can't wait to go running tomorrow, swimming on Wednesday. this new lifestyle might mean I don't blog quite as much, but I hope you will still come by and read when I do!!! Oh, and maybe you can join me with the photography? If you do then let me know you came from my blog ... xxx

Gardening Club Summer Picnic.

Since May half term I have been helping to run a gardening club at my work. Each week we have met, planted lettuces, herbs, marigolds, sunflowers, tomatoes ... Between us we have taught the children about planting and weeding, watering and caring for the plants. They have enthusiastically pinched out tomato side shoots and pulled weeds from between paving slabs.

Today we had our end of term summer gardening club picnic and it was just wonderful.We set up a long table in our garden courtyard and served the children pizza garnished with our homegrown oregano. We made salad with our lettuces and poured glasses of water that sparkled in the sunshine.

It was so uplifting to see such a happy scene - so simple and yet, I hope, something that will be remembered.

A recipe for happiness ... it works for me anyway.

There is nothing better for clearing my mind than to spend time outside. When I was thinner and fitter I would go for a run and let the wind rushing through my hair blow the cobwebs and the frustrations of the day away.I am still hoping that my running days are not over! Nowadays though you are more likely to find me escaping either into my garden or my allotment to clear my head.

No matter what has happened in my day there is something about being outdoors, alone, in the sunshine and the breeze that empties my head of my worries or my sadness. The quiet trek from water butt to vegetable beds, with water from my watering can slopping onto my feet, becomes a process of meditation. My only companions are the birds and the insects and somehow my mind reaches a quiet place - a place of contentment and happiness.

There is much to be said for being able to find that place. I don't have to be anything I am not. There is no expectation to be anything other than the carrier of water for my plants.

I crouch in the dust of my pathways, slowly making my way around my plot, weeding and tidying and slowly emptying my mind of the day's happenings. I probably spend about 45 minutes each day doing this and although it will never change the world it changes me. I choose to put away everything negative and just concentrate on making my plants healthy, my plot spotless.

We have eaten two of my lettuces now and each day I go there are changes to everything. The runner beans are shooting up the canes and the redcurrants are turning into scarlet jewels, nestled amongst the shading leaves. Spring onions are pushing their way up through the earth to protect my carrots. And the bush I thought was another red currant is now laden with ... gooseberries!

I am very lucky to have my little sanctuary. It may not change the world, it may not be very interesting to anyone else, but I love it and it makes me happy on days when I could have been sad.

Oh bliss!!

I know I go on a bit about the whole allotment thing. Some of you probably find it a bit dull... but I cannot tell you how happy it makes me. I was down there yesterday evening, just watering and weeding and as I made my way around the beds I felt just wonderful. There is something lovely about being alone in the sunshine with only the birds, the breeze and the insects for company.

I cannot believe how much the plot has changed since we got it. I spend ages googling and reading about crop rotation, how to earth up potatoes, how to use companion planting. The satisfaction in learning about plants, the satisfaction gained by making sure my beds are weed free and watered well is just worth its weight in gold.

Changing the subject completely.... I had my hair done today. Its now short and startlingly blonde!! Oh my goodness!!!

Latest allotment photos and progress!!

Sorry - its allotment time again!! I went down there yesterday and also this afternoon. I can tell you that my least favourite thing in the world right now is ... roots!! I am digging and digging. Yesterday I dug for an hour and a bit and all I did was this...

Today I went down and managed to get further with the bed and add manure to it...

You can see how poor the soil is. I also sewed some green manure seeds, raked them and watered them in.

They are in the bed closest to the camera. Hopefully after a few weeks they will grow and I can dig them into the bed to enrich the soil.

My next and quite pressing job is to plant the raspberry canes a fellow allotment holder gave me along the new bed at the back. I have started keeping a journal of my progress with details as to jobs done, jobs planned and plants planted. Hopefully that way I can keep track of everything.

I have downloaded the form to apply for permission to put a shed on. It will be along the fence behind the oil barrel that I use for burning. Then I won't have to lug everything up there each time I go!!

Still, I am pleased with the progress, especially when you think that this time last year it looked like this...!!

Onwards and upwards!!

Birthday Girl.

Its my birthday today!! I had to just pop by to say that I am having a lovely day. I went into work and my teacher had got all the children to make me a Birthday Book which was so sweet. Other friends came laden with fresh eggs from their chickens, cava, flowers, chocolates and a gorgeous shawl.

I spent the afternoon in the garden, raking up leaves and making the place look neat and tidy. I planted primroses and pruned my clematis and roses.

When the boys came home from school I opened presents from them and my Man - fab smelling Yankee candles. We ate chocolate cake and drank tea. Tonight I am out for a meal with my Man and then back in time to watch a film - The Girl who Played with Fire.

I have been so touched by the wonderful birthday wishes from everyone. I love birthdays. I cannot believe I am 47 now. Its strange, but the number of years just doesn't matter to me. Its the quality rather than quantity!! I am so fortunate.

Mr Secret Housewife bought me a Kindle. Yippeeeee!!!

Mr Secret Housewife surprised me today with a romantic gift - the gift of a Kindle! I am so thrilled and have been enjoying playing with it. I am partial to a gadget as you may know and this means that I no longer have to go on holiday with the majority of my weight allowance taken up with books!

It is sleek and lightweight and clever Mr S.H. has also bought me a nifty case for it so I can carry my library around in my handbag.So far I have downloaded the Complete Works of Charles Dickens for an astounding £2.15. Yes - you read correctly - £2.15.

If only I didn't have a 2000 word essay to write I would be on it browsing Amazon right now for like bargains!! I even found the Mysteries of Udolpho, a nineteenth century gothic novel mentioned in Northanger Abbey.

I am so excited and so grateful.I do however have an essay to write so I must get off here and write away. You will be glad to know that I re-wrote my entire essay plan last night in an attempt to reach clarity and enthusiasm. Wish me luck!!

And as an after thought... my lovely husband and I have now been with each other for more years ( 24 ) than we were without each other (23 ). And I have loved every moment.

Happy New Year from Secret Housewife!!

Here we are... January 1st, 2011. I remember when I was a child, thinking that when the year 2000 came around I would be the grand old age of 35. And here I am, 11 years past that landmark. I spent last night surrounded by friends and family, happy, dancing, singing, totally at ease with myself and those around me.

After my last post Bozena commented that life should be spent singing and dancing the way you would if nobody was watching.I took her words to heart and last night I did just that.I was not the most gorgeous, the slimmest, the youngest woman at the party, but I may well have been the happiest.My friend sang Mustang Sally and asked for 5 women to come on stage and dance. I was up there like a shot with 3 of my friends and danced with a smile on my face as wide as the Pacific.My husband sang and had the whole party up and dancing - I was so incredibly proud of him!

Who knows what 2011 will bring.I know that I will write about my life this year and there will be times when I am miserable. There will be times when I am frustrated or bored, but hopefully there will also be more times when I feel the way I feel tonight, comfortable in myself and actually aware of how bloody lucky I am.

I have a beautiful, kind man who loves me and I have 2 boys who are just lovely.I have good friends who accept me for who I am. I know that I am far from perfect. I am impatient and insecure at times. I am lazy and obsessive. But I am also kind and funny, aware of my failings and of course hugely modest!! I have come a long way from the woman who started writing this blog 4 years ago.

I hope that the New Year brings you happiness and comfort in your own skin. I hope that we are able to cope with whatever the year brings us - let's hope its good things!

A week of spooky happiness.

I have had a good week this week, complete with spookiness, friendliness and success. I have tidied my house and this in turn inspired my lovely husband to follow suit. The houses is neat, tidy, clean and uncluttered. We have, as a family, decided to put things away when we have used them and to keep everything looking as neat as possible.

At work all is lovely and I even had a spooky moment! I was in a room with a colleague when she went to leave. She reached for the door knob, but before she could touch it it was opened from the other side of the door. I saw the handle go down and she moved away from the door to let the person in .... only there was nobody there. After a second or two she opened the door and the corridor was empty.We just looked at each other...

Something happened today at work which was lovely. I was due to be there until the end of the day when news came through that my son's cross country competition was starting earlier than planned. My immediate thought was that I would have to sort out a lift for him and miss his race, but my colleagues leapt straight in before I could say anything. They offered to cover for me so I could leave early. How kind is that? I was so touched by the way they wouldn't hear of me missing his race. Lovely.

And the success? Well, that came in the form of my son. He ran in a cross country race and ran a blinder. Absolutely fantastic to see him both enjoying the run and doing so well. He was thrilled too as he and his team  did brilliantly.My throat is sore from shouting him and his team mates on and I am sitting here feeling relaxed and happy.

So... maybe my week is not the stuff of film scripts and thrillers, but it suited me fine!

Back from my holidays in Turkey...

view from coffee deck

Well... I am back.In case you wondered why I hadn't been blogging over the last 2 weeks or so, the reason was because I was in.... Turkey!!

We stayed in Bodrum in a place about 15 minutes from the town centre.It was absolutely gorgeous!! We went from rainy old England with temperatures of about 12'C to Turkish temperatures of about 42'C. I have decided that I am definitely a hot weather girl!!

the view from my sunbed.

view of the pool from restaurant.

Its a long time since I went to Turkey - over 20 years - and I cannot believe how much it has changed. Before it was very rural and not unusual to see women working in the fields, using scythes and horses and carts. Now it is heading at break neck speed towards modernity.

Our hotel was gorgeous... incredibly clean and full of very friendly and attentive staff. Every now and then someone would wander by with a basket of warm, freshly baked rolls and feta cheese for guests to eat. At 5pm each day we would wander down to the seafront bar for a cold beer and a plate of cakes - delicious. The children would feed the fish with our crumbs while we enjoyed the last of the sun's rays and watched the boats head home to Bodrum. Just lovely!

Our hotel was the Ersan Resort and Spa and I would go again.One of my favourite things that we did was to take the dolmus ( a little public mini bus ) into Bodrum.It only cost £1 each and took you straight into Bodrum town centre with its beautiful streets, shops and harbour.I could have spent hours wandering round the place - it was just fab.

I think the next time we go I would like to spend the holiday on one of these gulets, sailing around the coastline. mmmmmm......

We are now beginner allotment holders... with sore muscles!!

On Wednesday I received the keys to my allotment.When my husband came home the four of us trooped up there and set to work. When we first saw it I could see my Man thinking 'Oh good grief!!!What has she done now??!!' We couldn't even see the boundaries of the garden because it was so overgrown with nettles, couch grass and brambles...

However, after a couple of minutes I could see his mind starting to work... I could see him accepting the challenge and beginning to get excited!We discussed what sort of tools we needed for the job, other than those we had brought along, and he went off to get them. Meanwhile son #2 and I started to work.My Man must have been away for nearly an hour and I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I had mis-read him... maybe he had gone off to the pub...

But no... he came back laden with thick gloves, a petrol strimmer, scythe and weed blankets.We worked for another 3 hours and by the end we had cut down and cleared the plot.Of course, when I say cleared I mean we got rid of the surface stuff.We found a huge pile of rubbish - plastic, steel barrels, bottles, old wheel barrows, carpet... horrid. And also a massive pile of garden rubbish right in the middle.

But we also found amazing things - like this slow worm.We found 4 of these in just those short hours. I have only ever seen one before in my life! They are legless lizards I think...

We went back yesterday and the day before and used the thick plastic sheeting we had found to cover the area we cleared.My Man started to burn the garden waste in one of the old barrels we found.I love the way we have been able to recycle - instead of going out to buy a burner. All this stuff was dumped, but we are using it.

One of the other plot holders came over to chat and gave us some runner beans as a welcome gift! Our next job is to start digging. As the weed blankets/plastic slowly kill off the grass we will work on small sections, digging out the roots of everything bad.

We have a long journey ahead of us, but we are doing it together.My sons are loving it and my youngest especially has been working like a trojan!! My husband wants it to be the best allotment in the garden and I have started carrying a garden fork and gloves in my car at all times in case I want to have a quick dig!!

I did film the plot, but it won't upload. I will keep posting photos though!!

Exam Results are in & Secret Housewife is smiling!!!

This is just a short post, but I wanted to let you know that my exam results are in!! They were due on Friday of this week, but I had heard rumours that they would be posted on the web site so I went to look.And... I got a Grade 2 pass which I am thrilled with!!!

My exam result was on a par with my essay results so I ended up with an average of 76%.Who would have thought only a little while ago that I would have got through this course?? When I first looked at the essay titles I didn't even understand them!

Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement through my doubting times.I have an enormous smile on my face and a renewed determination to do well with AA316 The Nineteenth Century Novel.xx

I thought you might like this, my love ...

You are just not going to believe what my husband did for me today... He popped out to the shops or so I thought  and came back with a package... Then he gave it to me and said that he had bought me something because he was proud of me. He said he had watched me work on my Open University course all year... watched me write my blog.... and he said that he knew how frustrated I got with our wind up clockwork computer...

And he had bought me my very own ... laptop!!! Blimey O'Reilly!!! I just burst into tears! You could have knocked me over with a feather and I shook as I unwrapped it.It is just beautiful.

I cannot believe he has done this.He didn't need to, but he did.He is so kind and so thoughtful. There have been times when I have not been able to get to the computer because he is in bed ( he works nights ) and I have needed to write an assignment, so this will be a massive help to me this year.

I feel thrilled to have it, but also a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable. I know this is silly, but nobody has ever bought me anything like this before. It seems so massive...

I am so grateful and so touched that he is so proud of my efforts. It spurs me on to work really hard. There will be no stopping me now!!! Thank you my darling.

I have an allotment ... so excited I couldn't sleep!!!

Ok... I know that sounds a bit... well, very sad.But its true! I went to see my allotment yesterday with the lady from the council and I fell in love with it....

For those of you who don't know allotments are areas of land set aside by local authorities for local people.You pay a small rent for the land ( mine will be £18 per year ) and on it you can grow fruit and veg.Mine is 75 square metres. It is completely overgrown, but I feel inspired to take it on!! Ask me again in about 2 weeks and I may feel differently!!!

I didn't have my camera with me when I went to see it, but if you look up the top on my Secret Allotment page.... you will see a photo of one very similar.I plan to keep a photo diary of the garden on that page, so you can see my progress!

When I was little ( oh, and there's a photo of that on my Secret Housewife the story so far page - yes I have been a busy girl ) we had quite a large garden with a vegetable garden at the top of the plot.I remember sitting under the gooseberry bushes eating sweet sweet fruit in the summer time.Just delicious!!

My plan with the allotment is to clear it well, make beds, put up a shed, make paths and maybe actually plant some stuff! I would like potatoes, onions, garlic, lettuces for definite and also a fruit section - with raspberries, strawberries and... you guessed... gooseberries!

An Unbirthday gift from my brother - I will be the Allotment Queen!!

I arrived home from work today to find a parcel on the mat.I assumed it was for my hubbie as its his birthday next week... but no... it was for me!! How exciting!! I love pressies.I abandoned all thoughts of any other activity and immediately ripped it open. I am not one of your 'feeble, dainty, save the wrapping paper types'. I am a full blooded' rip the thing open as quick as you can and see what's inside' types instead.

And inside... joy unbounded... was a book.It was from my brother and his wife and is called 'Keeping an allotment' by Kevin Forbes.(Yes - I know... not this one, but I couldn't find my book anywhere for a picture...be patient!!)

I crumpled slowly onto the sofa as I started to read, dropping car keys and hand bag and any idea of lunch that I might have entertained...What a fab book! It is an 'unbirthday present' - so named because of a book we used to read when we were little, called 'The Unbirthday Present'. My brother and his wife had listened to me warbling on about an allotment I am going to see on Friday and had seen the book and thought ... 'perfect!'

And perfect it is. I know nothing about allotments or veg gardening, but this will help me through.At the moment its pages are creamy and pristine, but I imagine that in a few months time it will be dog eared, slightly muddy in a chic kind of a way, with remnants of allotment sandwich crumbs and tea stains from my new allotment flask...

How marvellous!! And how kind!! I am going to have to take that bloody allotment now...

Am I weird - I loved my exam??!!

Well... my exam is done and dusted.A whole year of work completed.According to my husband and two friends I am, officially, a weirdo..... because I really enjoyed the exam.I arrived nice and early and read through my poems, then went in to find the loos.

It was a nice clean building with good parking and I felt pretty relaxed! I do admit that my heart was beating a little faster than usual, but I was excited and eager to begin rather than scared. I met my fellow students from my tutor group and then we were off.

I had practised timed questions in the week before and I wrote down my plan for each question - which, I am pleased to say, I stuck to.The first question was a passage from Henry V which I had to comment on - discussing theme, language and performance. The next question was about how men are represented in two of our Literature and Gender works - I chose The Color Purple and A Jury of her Peers.And finally I had to say whether I agreed that 'confinement' was a major theme in women's poetry, drawing from a range of poems.I wrote about 5 poems and finished with 5 minutes to spare.

I left the examination hall with a feeling of exhilaration and satisfaction that was just lovely.Various other students wanted to dissect and discuss the paper, but I avoided them and walked out to the sunshine.I learned a long time ago that there is absolutely no point in even thinking about an exam after - never mind discussing it. What will be, will be.You have done what you can and you could as well forget it until the results arrive.

So - that will be in August. Who knows how I have done! For now I am having a week off and then I will start on my next courses reading list. I will be studying The Nineteenth Century Novel - course AA316 - and I can't wait!!

Secret Housewife is auntie to triplets!!!! Yippeeeeee!!!!

I am so thrilled today!! I haven't mentioned this before on my blog, but today my brother's wife gave birth to triplets!!! Three healthy, bouncing boys - identical twins and their triplet brother!! My sister-in-law went in this morning and had them by caesarian section. They are 6 weeks early, but they are strong and healthy and screaming the hospital down!!

My brother and his wife will make such lovely parents - they are just wonderful people. These are their first babies and I think they are a little shell shocked to say the least!! We as a family have waited with baited breath through their pregnancy, hoping beyond hope that they would all be well and make it through to the end - and they have. Today is a good day and I can't wait to meet them!!Welcome to the world our little princes.

Home movies of times gone by...

I am just in from a run.For those of you new to my ramblings I have been running on and off, but mostly on for the last 10 years... My goodness... is it really 10 years?? You would think that I might have got a bit better by now!! Anyway - my running blog is linked to down my right hand side bar. Having watched the London Marathon this weekend it brought back lots of happy memories.Right now... well, not exactly right now, but at this moment in time I am running a 2 mile circuit so the thought that I was once capable of running 26 miles is close to incredible!

I have been watching my old home movies over the last couple of days. I have never sat down to watch them before and I have to admit that as a family we are all addicted! To see my boys as little ones - playing, talking, having birthdays and Christmas, falling asleep in high chairs and dancing around our lounge - is just wonderful.

Part of me longs for them. I know that I have them now and I love them, but I wish I could just step into the tv and hold those little fellas in my arms again... If anything, watching them is making all of us very loving towards each other.I think we all appreciate how special those times were and, indeed, that the times we live in now are just as special.We want to savour every minute.My overall impression of our family life back then is, and this is wonderful, how very happy we look.Now that is better than winning the lottery.

Cooking, skiing and having fun...

To write down all the stuff that has been going on in my life over the last 3 weeks since I was on here last would take about 3 weeks more! We have been so busy.We had the Easter holidays which were great.The boys and I were on our own as my Man was fortunate enough to be able to fly out to Augusta, Georgia to watch the Masters. He has a very lovely friend who treated him to the week out there. They played golf, watched golf and generally had the best time ever.

We, on the other hand did not have too shabby a time of it ourselves! The boys were booked on a skiing course at an indoor snow centre, so each day we drove up there and they learned to ski while I watched them through a massive window. I sat and wrote my essay on Ibsen's A Doll's House whilst sipping lattes and was amazed to see their progress. By the end of the week they had both passed their course and are able now to ski recreationally with us.

photo of butterfly taken by #1 son

I have been really into baking during the holidays and have made a succession of delights such as cup cakes, chocolate raspberry fudge cake, Granny Boyd's biscuits and more. There is something oh so relaxing about shutting the door of my kitchen, turning on the radio and baking.I also had the girls over and made a yummy red thai curry with rice and a thai cucumber salad.

Yesterday we all went skiing as a family.It was such good fun. The boys skied beautifully.I thought that we would all start with gentle snow ploughs, curving our way down the slope, but no... my husband went first and just shot down the hill like Franz Klammer.The boys followed suit.I am pleased to say that after the initial enthusiasm they all tried hard to improve technique and were under control. I suppose boys will be boys.

So... now I am about to go and play football. I was up early to take son #1 to play his match and my Man is playing baseball as we  speak. We have been snuggled watching our old home videos of the boys when they were tiny.Wow... they were so adorable.I wish I had appreciated them fully when they were young. I spent so much of my time feeling miserable because of PND that I found motherhood very difficult.It makes me want to try even harder now to be a good mum and makes their lives lovely. I am so lucky to have them.

Master Chef - inspiring tv, but blimey it looks like hard work!!

I have been inspired lately to cook. The tv these days seems full of cookery programmes - Come Dine with me, Raymond Blanc, Gordon Ramsay... but my favourite by far is Master Chef.As soon as I see the previews for it my televisual juices start to flow in anticipation! Amateur cooks attempting to reach levels of culinary perfection that most of us can only dream of.

I love to see the contestants faced with ingredients on a table and then being told that they have an hour to cook something delicious.It reminds me of an average tea time round my house... open the fridge, look what's inside and hope you can muddle something edible together! I love seeing them wait with child like expectation as the two judges, Greg and John, give their verdict on dishes.

This year my favourite has been Alex - a 26 year old food blogger who immediately showed a flare and imagination that marked him above the pack.His ravioli filled with liquid pea was a revelation and a thing of beauty! I was rooting for him, willing him to win and feel deflated that he lost at the final test.But the winner, Dhruv, was magnificent.To see his final dessert of ice cream coated in gold was something special.And, not only did his food look good, it apparently tasted marvellous too.

I love cooking and have been inspired by these amateur chefs to try new recipes and be more adventurous with my attempts.I could never put myself through what they do though.I like cooking for friends and family, but the thought of working in a professional kitchen makes my blood run cold!! The pressure they have to work under, the long, long hours of exhausting and exacting work...

I am rather happier at the thought of eating in their restaurants when they eventually reach those dizzy heights.If you would like to try some of the recipes Alex cooked on Master Chef then do follow the link above to his blog Just cook it or indeed this one!! Ho hum. Can't believe I have to wait another whole year before the next series...