Running and walking #R2BC

Well it is now Friday so I am day late! Good job I'm the boss of the linky so won't get fired... Thanks for everyone who joined in last week. For anyone new to the linky we have a few relaxed instructions: 

 

What do you have to do? Simple: 

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy 

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to 

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too? 

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. 

Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week: 

1) Socially Distanced Run

I made the most of the relaxed lockdown rules in England to do my virtual parkrun with a friend at 2m distance. I've missed being able to chat as I run:

2) Pool Time

I got back in the pool again for first time in over a week. It was only 19C but it was lovely to cool off:

3) Socially Distanced Dog Walk

I met my mum and her dog for a walk around parts of Kendal I didn't know existed. Honestly he loved it:

It's a marathon not a sprint - Days 37-41 #R2BC

My brain has been in a bit of mush this week but at least I have realised that today is Thursday. Thanks for everyone sharing your happy moments last week, I loved reading them. I hope you will join in again this week and encourage others to do so. For anyone new to the linky we have a few relaxed instructions:
What do you have to do? Simple:

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week:

1) Marathon
I didn't want to let down my charity will all my events cancelled. So I used the 2.6 challenge on Sunday as an excuse to run my marathon mostly in my back garden:  

With laps of 30 yards it was hard work and after 20 miles I did head out into the countryside to finish it off. The last mile was the hardest and I had to be encouraged by my friends via Facebook. You can see how ecstatic I was to finish:

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A post shared by Becky Willoughby (@lakessinglemum) on Apr 26, 2020 at 1:54pm PDT

2) Take away

With impeccable timing our local Chinese has re-opened after putting in social distancing measures. After my marathon my son was able to nip round and collect the meal we had ordered the day before:

Good to be able to support a local business and get a big treat too!

3) Little touches

The downstairs loo still needs some little bits. One of these was to replace the broken towel holder.

Pool and prizes - Days 35 & 36

As we are going to be stuck at home for the foreseeable future I bought us a replacement pool which arrived in the morning. I set it up in the garden and my neighbour let me fill it up with her hose. Whilst the water was warming in the sun we walked up the Helm:

This time we went all the way along the ridge and met friends on the way. When we got back I was so hot I tested out the still freezing cold pool:

I had to let the water out whilst in it as the pool was on too much of a slope! My son brought me tea whilst I was there:

Motivation and treats #R2BC

Apologies I sort of lost Thursday this week! Never mind this is the most laid back linky so a day late is not the end of the world. Please carry on making others smile by joining in!
What do you have to do? Simple:

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too?

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week:

1) Almost finished loo
The loo is now a pleasant place to use! I have a few bits to finish off, including painting the skirting boards, but I am very pleased with what I have managed:

2) Motivational messages

On our walks around Kendal we have come across some fabulous messages painted on rocks. Great to come across things like this on our daily exercise:

3) Beautiful places

I know that we are very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world and to be able to walk to stunning spots such as Cunswick Fell with views to the Lakeland Fells:

Memories and Painting - Day 34

I started off my day with a quick game of frisbee with Jason:

@lakessinglemum Frisbee with Jason ##frisbee ##single ##mumsoftiktok ##over40 ##fypage
♬ Let's Do It Again - J Boog

Then I had a couple of hours of maths tutoring which was very rewarding. My Asda grocery delivery also arrived early (thanks to the driver living in my street!) so I could take pet food up to my parents'

I was reminded once again about the amazing race I filmed on Cat Bells 2 years ago:

@lakessinglemum

A taste of my fell running videos https://www.youtube.com/user/bw1310 ##fellrunning ##fellrace ##keswickac ##mumsoftiktok##fyp ##cumbria

♬ Run Run Run - Dumpy's Rusty Nuts

This then inspired me to try and recreate a photo I took that day to update my lounge window:

Tiling done and a local hike - Day 32

Having discovered the Green Screen effect on TikTok I had a go at being Moana before breakfast:

@lakessinglemum Moana ##moana ##howfarillgo ##mumsoftiktok ##over40 ##fyp
♬ How Far I'll Go - From "Moana" - Heartfire

Once I had eaten it was time to tackle the last of the tiling around the loo. Its so hard (without a proper measuring tool) to accurately cut the tiles. Any how it looks a lot better than the old lino:

My reward was a penalty shoot out with Jason, have to admit I actually missed the goal on my first shot:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Running, Tulips, DIY and Winning #R2BC

At least I have remembered what day of the week it is this week so that I am ready for hosting! I am enjoying reading and sharing your posts this month and look forward to it again this week. Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:
1) Up and running
After a visit to the podiatrist I have been told to not give up running! I have new insoles to correct my flat feet and pigeon toes which should hopefully sort out my painful heel. So I was delighted to head over to Lancaster parkrun for a Run Mummy Run meet and our annual tourist trip to Williamson Park:

2) Winning things

I have won 2 Facebook competitions this week. First of all I have won a Haynes manual for the NASA Skylab:

Secondly I have won a burlesque photoshoot - ooh er missus - a chance to get primped, preened and try out a corset! Not sure if the results of that will be appearing on here...

3) Overdue DIY

The Cupboard of Doom

Since we moved in just over a year ago the under stairs cupboard has been christened the "cupboard of doom" as its where things got chucked when we didn't know where else to put them! The back of it was used for my Usborne books and stands but these are no longer there... So I decided today was a good day to tackle the issue once and for all...

Of course there was no where really to put it apart from the kitchen floor:

I live videoed the progress over the day and then I put them altogether into this video (it includes me once again demonstrating I am not good at something - this time putting up shelves):

It does look so much better though:

Improving the Garden - latest updates

With the horrible weather in the late summer and autumn all the work on improving our garden ground to a halt…. Over the last few weeks my mum has been around doing some much needed gardening and other little projects have started to make a difference too.

The only original flower bed plus the extra section that was dug out last year are starting to look like a proper bit of garden again:

She had discovered a hidden patio under the weeds and now the slabs have been removed it has had some spare plants put in from her garden:

So with my mum working so hard we had to carry on with some of the projects we had started last year. My daughter had upcycled some garden chairs we were given just using some tester pots of wood paint:

As there was a little bit over she had decided to start painting the shed door but had run out of paint..

The littlest room in the house

Before we fully moved into our Housing Association home we just had time to carpet and decorate most of the rooms in the house. One room that is still virtually untouched, but is in desperate need, is the downstairs bathroom. We are lucky to still have one as many residents have knocked theirs through to make a decent size kitchen! I have to say that the state of this room means that I will avoid using it and always suggest visitors go upstairs... it is only my children and their friends who tend to make use of it.

All we have managed to do is put in some Ikea Algot shelving for camping gear and our large collection of sports shoes:

A family day out to Ikea!

I'm a parent who really knows how to show her kids a great time in the school holidays... Today I loaded mine up in the car for an hour plus journey down the M6 to the joys of Ikea in Warrington. My daughter couldn't remember her last trip when we went to the Lightwater branch and my son was just a baby so it must have been a long time ago...


Before we left Kendal I made sure that they were sufficiently fed and watered to keep them happy on the drive down. I gave my 8 year old the road atlas and instructions on telling me to get off at junction 22. There was a slight issue that the page for junction 22 didn't have the start of our journey on it but it made her feel important to have the map. My 5 year old had the job of reading the junction numbers as we went to see how far we had to go (I was impressed at how well he subtracted them). A bit of a sing song also helped to pass the time. Once we got off the motorway my daughter used the Maps function on my phone to navigate the last stretch. 


On arrival at the store I was pleased how easy it was to find a parking space before we headed inside for lunch. I don't remember the funky multi layered cafe trollies that allowed more than one tray to be carried by one person. I do remember long zig zag queues but they did seem to move fairly quickly. We all opted for a kids' portion of meatballs but had a mix up of which ones had gravy on but eventually we all sat down to our Swedish lunch: