Reasons to be Cheerful: Roses and Guinea Pigs #R2BC

This is my last week hosting until August as the original hostess with the mostest Michelle is back in charge next month. It has been lovely to read and share all your posts in June and I hope you spread the word! Here are my reasons this week:
1) Exploring Kendal
I love all the little ginnels and yards that run off the main roads in the centre of Kendal. They are a fascinating peek into the history of the town. This one is Angel Yard:

The plaque on the wall reads:

Angel Yard is all that is left of the Angel Inn which stood on this site until the 1980s. Once one of Kendal's oldest hostelries, its premises, brewhouse, stabling and outbuildings ran behind Lowther Street, an area now occupied by outh Lakeland District Council's offices and car park. The Angel Inn is said to have taken its name from 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops passed through the town. Some soldiers broke into the Inn and the occupants fled, leaving behind a little child. On seeing an angel standing beside the child brandishing a drawn sword the soldiers ran away in fear of divine punishment

2) Furry Family

My daughter has two guinea pigs and often when I go out in the garden they come to the front of their hutch and try to get my attention:

3) Roses

So many glorious roses in my own garden and further afield:

4) Proud Mum

I have lots of proud mum moments to make me cheerful this week:

• my 9 year old defending his big sister against older bullies in the swimming pool
• my daughter performing brilliantly for her grade 1 singing exam
• my son being picked for the school athletics team
• my daughter being very calm dealing with a first aid incident whilst marshalling at parkrun

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Reasons to be Cheerful: Fun with Friends #R2BC

oops I accidentally wrote over this post but don't want to lose the comments or linkers! Will just put the correct photos back...

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#FitnessFriday A mixed bag

Well my lack of running over recent weeks (due to weekends away and work) really showed when I ran the 10 k Race for Life on Sunday (full post). It was hot and even though my legs were willing my body wasn't and my 9 year old beat me by 21 minutes with a time of 53 minutes!! Wish I had his boundless energy - although he is still recovering bless him.

On Wednesday I was working at a school where the class do a daily mile by walking or running for 15 minutes around the playground. Having discovered this on a previous visit I remembered to wear a sports bra and take my running shoes... I was the only person who ran for the whole 15 minutes although two boys sprinted a lot of it and walked the rest. Such a great idea to give children a brain break and to help their fitness.

In the evening it was my son's fell running training night up on the Helm:

As an adult helper I don't run as much as the children but we do have to do some quite steep bits to get to where they are doing their training! My favourite bit is the run back down to the road:

This morning I just had to get out and run following the election result! It was just my mile route that I hadn't run since January but it meant I could go for the speed rather than go steady.. Have to say it was tough going and I wasn't anywhere near the pace I managed in mid October but it was a sub 10 minute mile which hasn't happened for a long time:

Think I was pleased with myself:

Tomorrow is my first parkrun April (I am shocked its been that long!) so lets see how I go over 5k as we celebrate a belated Christmas event! 

Reasons to be Cheerful: Caterpillars, Roses and Odd Socks #R2BC

It was great to read so many happy posts again and welcome some new linkers, hopefully some regulars will be back this week if their lives aren't so crazy! Here are my reasons this week:
1) Garden Surprises
Whilst weeding the garden I discovered that we had lots of Cinnabar moth caterpillars on the ragwort. Of course this means I daren't remove all of this invasive and poisonous plant but the moths are worth saving:

2) Roses

These are one of my favourite flowers and at the moment they are just looking stunning everywhere. This is one that belongs to a neighbour:

#CountryKids Preston Race For Life 10k

Today I drove down to Preston so that my son and I could take part in the Race for Life 10k event - as children aren't supposed to run over 5k too often it was an opportunity for him to test out his stamina!

My daughter brought her friend along to keep her company and assist in taking photos of the event in Avenham Park. We knew we were in the right place when we spotted all the pink:

Our arrival was timed to perfection as there weren't huge queues for the portaloos so we were very quickly ready to go:

#CountryKids Single with Kids camp at Stourport on Severn

Last weekend we took a drive of over 3 hours on the Friday night to Stourport on Severn for another camping weekend with Single with Kids. In the rain it took us a while to pitch everything but by 9:45 we were all set up:

We were then able to go over to the party tent for company and marshmallows around the fire:

There was a campsite noise curfew after 11 PM but the children were able to still have fun with glow sticks:

#Review Ravensburger What If? Puzzles No 8 The Racehorse

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I was sent a Ravensburger WHAT IF? No. 8 - The Racehorse 1000pc Jigsaw Puzzle (affiliate link) to review:

These puzzles are extra challenging as the picture on the box is not the jigsaw you have to make! Instead you have to use the clues from the picture to find out what happens next:

So the main characters are wearing the same outfits but doing something different but related to the box picture. It takes a lot longer to work it out without too much help:

The pieces have Softclick™ Technology so that the pieces go together really easily when you are putting the right ones together. Like all the Ravensburger cartoon style jigsaws it is full of fun little details like this:

The puzzle is lot more of a challenge than the last one we reviewed. It is something that is stretching my brain! I would recommend it to those who prefer not to have the picture as a guide.

#CountryKids Grasmere Gallop 2016 #FitnessFriday

We took full advantage of our inclusive breakfast at the Macdonald Old England to fuel us for the Grasmere Gallop. Not only was there a continental buffet but a full cooked English as well which I failed to finish:

My son went for a simpler version but just had too have a bit of fun with it:

The advantage of being in Bowness meant that it was a much shorter drive up to the Grasmere Sports' site where we registered and met up with friends (Four Pairs of Trainers). This year the race had gone hi-tech and we had ankle timing chips:

Reasons to be Cheerful: A Prize Weekend in Bowness #R2BC

Thank you everyone who joined in last week even though it was the school holidays for many of us. Looking forward to reading and sharing more posts again. Here are my reasons this week:
1) A room with a view
I won one of those comment on a Facebook status weekend breaks at the Macdonald Old England Hotel in Bowness on the shores of Windermere. So it wasn't a long way to go and they let me bring both children instead of just an adult plus one. This was the view from our room which made us all very happy:

2) Posh dinner

The second bit of the weekend to make my daughter and I smile was the dinner that was included in the prize. A lush 3 courses in which we both chose the lamb:

3) Grasmere Gallop

The weekend coincided with my son and I running the Grasmere Gallop on a very hot day. He was a gazelle and 5th to finish and first under 10. I was a lot slower but still 2nd in my age category:

4) Pampering

The other extra part of the prize was a trip to the spa for treatments for 2 of us. I opted for a full body massage which was amazing. My daughter had her first proper manicure and loved it. Luckily my son was happy to watch TV in the room whilst we were being treated!

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Reasons to be Cheerful: A sunny May Half Term #R2BC

Thank you Michelle for hosting in May, it was great having you back and encouraging some old friends back to the linky. Now its June and I will be looking after the linky for the month - with pokes from folks to remind me its a Wednesday night! Here are my reasons this week:
1) Proud Mum
My daughter had her hair chopped off this week and was able to donate her long pony tail to charity to help make wigs for children who have lost their own hair:

2) NSPCC Board Game Day
On Friday night my children and I hosted a Board Game session with friends to help raise money for the NSPCC. We had a lot of fun and raised some money too:

3) Fun in the Cumbrian sun

I have already blogged about our camping weekend in Dent.  We all came back sun tanned and relaxed after enjoying this beautiful little corner of Cumbria which was bathed in sunshine for most of our stay:

4) Medieval Flashback

A friend was visiting the Isle of Wight and spotted this photograph of me in the newspaper:

It was taken in front of Appuldurcombe House during a medieval event. We were there twice with the Medieval Siege Society and based upon my son's age and my shape this was 2009! Amazing that they are using an photo from that long ago.  <
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