This and That Thursday

Hello!

I thought it was time for a non bookish update.

Walking

This week I have been on half term so I haven’t had school. This has meant more free time and I have made the most of it by going on some lovely walks. I am really enjoying the start of the lighter evenings and I am looking forward to going on some evening walks once I am back at school. My husband and myself are also taking part in the Conqueror Lord of the Rings Challenges and we are now half way through earning our second medal, fingers crossed we get to the end soon.

Yummy Treats

We have managed to go out for some treats recently. Last week we went out for a lovely meal where I tried my first ever Baked Alaska. It is so nice to go out for the odd treat. I also cooked a roast on Sunday which I rarely get to do because we generally don’t have enough time on a Sunday due to work commitments. I will be honest the Yorkshire puddings are the best ones I have ever made, sadly they caught slightly on the one side but they were huge!

Card Making

I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday making some Easter cards. I am really enjoying my bits of crafting at the moment and have loads of ideas. I just need to find more time to work on my ideas!

So there are a few of my non bookish activities. We are hoping to go out for an adventure tomorrow but we haven’t decided what yet.

Happy Reading!

Etsy

This and That Thursday

Hello!

So what have I been up to during lockdown that isn’t reading wonderful books.

Studying

Over these last few weeks I have been doing a lot of studying and assignment writing but I must admit I am rather excited that soon I can begin work on planning what I want to do for my dissertation. The freedom of choosing my own topic is both exciting and terrifying!

Music

I have been regularly practising the piano and trying to do at least half an hour a day and I have been loving it. I must admit that for a few reasons I had fallen out of love with the piano and sometimes music in general but lockdown has done me some good and I have fallen back in love with it all. The challenge of learning new pieces is fantastic and the memory skills that had lapsed are coming back and it is all falling back into place. The Ukulele also continues and hopefully this year I will finally manage to take an exam.

Exercise and Walking

Exercise is still going and I am loving it. I am a complete kettlebell addict and I also love latin dance workouts. I am now finding myself looking forward to my exercise which I never thought would happen. It is a perfect break from studying and teaching and I love how each week I am getting better at the workouts and stronger. We continue with our walking but only when it isn’t raining. I am no good when it is raining as it sets off my asthma. I also love a good dance workout with glow sticks and the disco ball.

Cooking

I have now been planning all dinners a week in advance for over a month and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I no longer have to think what to make for dinner each evening but know exactly what I am making. This planning means I am trying lots of new recipes that we have never had before which has been great fun.

Not much going on really but I have been very happy. I have realised that usually I spend my time racing around from one job to the other and it is rather nice to have a quieter time which doesn’t involve so much racing around.

This and That Thursday

Hello!

I hope everyone is well.

I haven’t done one of these posts for a while so I thought I would post an update of what I have been up to.

Walking

We have been trying to do more walking again but I must admit if it is too cold I tend to chicken out. This was taken the other day where the water splashed up from cars had frozen on the hedge.

Exercise

Over the last four weeks I have been exercising 5 days a week and trying out lots of different workouts on the platform Own Your Goals and I must admit I am thoroughly enjoying the Latin Dance workouts and the other dance workouts. I always tend to stick to strength training so it is nice to mix it up a bit. When I did a later workout I got out the disco ball and the glow sticks and really went crazy. I workout in the conservatory so the neighbours might have been wondering what was going on if they noticed.

Cooking

We have been trying new recipes over the last few weeks because I was desperate for some different meals. We have tried a smoked trout pasta bake and this included me trying a cheese I had never tried before which was Emmental. We have also tried spaghetti puttanesca which is definitely a new favourite in our house.

The rest of the time has been taken up with studying and music and teaching.

I hope everyone has had a good week so far.

Happy Reading

This and That Thursday

Happy Thursday!

This week has been a great week. I’ve had another student return and start online lessons and all my students have been working hard learning new pieces and preparing for exams. I am also loving my blog and reading everyone else’s blog and making new friends.

So here is what I have been up to this week…

Exercise

The exercise is still going strong, I have been using the app FitOn for some new workouts and I gave Zumba a go! I love dance workouts but I must admit Zumba is scarily fast. Also as I was attempting to dance and waving my arms around and trying not to fall over our neighbour walked past the window to post the village newsletter and saw me. I dread to think what she thought about me.

Belly Dancing

I’ve done my second Belly Dancing session and thankfully I wasn’t the only one in the class today. I learnt some new moves and another little routine and didn’t fall over! Always a plus sign. Eeyore is loving the Belly Dancing hip scarf.

Dog Walking

This week I have managed to take my dog Coco for two walks. On Sunday I spent the morning with my mom watching our church service online and then I took Coco for a walk and today I also took her for a walk and had lots of cuddles. Coco is technically my dog but when I moved in with my husband Coco had to stay with my parents because my husband has cats. Also there is no way my dad would have let me take her. This means I have been missing Coco like mad during lockdown as I usually get to see her three times a week so it has been so nice to spend some time with her.

Walking

We are still going for our daily walks and this week we drove to a new location for a walk and got horribly lost but it was still a lot of fun.

Finding new exciting ways to eat courgettes!

My dad always grows a lot of veg but this year he seems to have really gone overboard on the courgette front. So I have been researching recipes to use it in. I’ve done courgette chocolate brownies before and using it instead of spaghetti so wanted something different. This has lead to me discovering my new favourite courgette dish ‘Creamy courgette and bacon pasta’ it was amazing! I added sweetcorn because I add sweetcorn to all my food. Here is the recipe on BBC Goodfood

So there is my week. I hope everyone has also had a good week so far.

This and That Thursday

Happy Thursday!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I have been up to my usual activities this week.

Walking

This week we have been up to some more walks and we ventured to a National Trust walk for the first time since lockdown. It was really nice to go somewhere different this week and thankfully it wasn’t too busy. Also I am still playing Pokemon Go and hatching lots of eggs with all the walking.

Gardening

This week we have been trying to fight the ever increasing battle with the weeds and we have also trimmed a few of the hedges. The weeds sadly are not taking the hint they are not welcome. Here are a few snaps from the garden.

Music

This week I have been working a lot on my ukulele playing and have really been enjoying learning Ziggy Stardust.

Cooking

We also tried a new recipe this week from Davina McCall’s Fakeaway recipes. I am still self shielding so we are trying some new recipes to simulate eating out. It was a very yummy recipe.

Lord of the Rings

We have also started watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I just love the films and they were what started my Tolkien obsession.

That is my week so far. I hope everyone is having a good week.

This and That Thursday

Hello!

I hope this post finds everyone well and safe. So here is what I have got up to this week other than reading.

Jigsaw

I have started another Jigsaw and now just have the sky left, I always find the sky to be the worst part in a jigsaw.

Cooking and Baking

I have been trying to do a recipe each week that I have never made before and this week was spaghetti carbonara, it was very yummy. I also made one of my favourites, rhubarb crumble with soya custard.

Walking

We are still going on daily walks and regularly go and see these three sheep we have affectionately nicknamed the Three Amigos!

Flute

I have been really enjoying practising the flute everyday for at least an hour, it is so nice to enjoy playing again.

New Skill

I bought a Ukulele and so today I started learning how to play it. Thankfully, I used to play the guitar so it is all coming back. I’m really enjoying learning a new skill so will see how it goes.

So, that is what I have been up to this week. Please drop me a comment with what you have been up to as well.