The Birthday Post

Hello everyone, and happy birthday to me.

I've been having a lovely relaxed day, reading stories, eating cake... my new purple trews (Cancer Research, £4.25, Per Una!!) were lovely and comfy and now feel a wee bit snug. I've run out of cake now though. Oh, hang on... no I haven't. Huzzah!

I've had some really lovely presents. Most practical are the new purple DMs bought for me by OH. My old tartan ones are getting recycled into flowerpots.

It's not been a terribly frugal weekend. I know, I've let the sisterhood down! But I don't care.

I had a Taste card on trial, and that came in very useful. OH took me for a gorgeous meal at a hotel near us, and all the food was 50% off.

The weather is all crappy and rainy at the moment, but while the sun was shining, I went swimming, and I cycled all the way to Spratton. This was where the Women's Tour did their Queen of the Mountains stage on their second leg through Northamptonshire, so very much a challenge. I coped with the first big hill but not the second... I had to get off and push the last bit. But what a beautiful village to end up in! I took a breather at B23 cafe, which is part of the King's Head pub.

My annoying head music that I regale to anyone listening as I zoom past is "Let it Go" from Frozen. Hey, it helps me.

Other Chazza shop bargains I have grabbed this week - 10p each, Robert Rankin's The Sprouts of Wrath and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Classic!


Currently reading a library-sourced book, the most beautiful prose of fellow local author Judith Allnat: A Mile of River. It's a very crisp debut.

Some readers will have noticed there is a gap in time where a convention happened... I intend to write about that on my website very shortly. Yes, I also brought free books back from that one too...

My First Sky Ride

Move over Wiggo... I've joined Team Sky!

Actually I have merely joined a social cycling group, organised by Sky and British Cycling. Called SkyRide, it's a wonderful motivator. There are women-only rides called Breeze, or there are mixed group rides. There are rides suitable for all levels, from Steady to Challenging.

Actually, my Steady ride was a pretty challenging one. This is because:

• I'm rubbish
• I hate downhills
• I don't like bleeding
• I've got no sense of direction
• I can't balance
• What are gears?
• I live a long way from places that cyclists normally drive to first.

But I was awesome, because I rode 7 miles to Pitsford Reservoir, did the 5-mile route, rode back, didn't fall off. AND THERE WAS THUNDER AND LIGHTNING! Also, I talked to men driving a steam train who pointed out that I was racing their train AND FLIPPING WELL BEATING IT!! (Yes, they were wearing those natty red neckerchiefs. Proper train drivers!)

I had a wobbly moment when I got cocky and tried to drink and ride at the same time. I nearly did a Froome and crash into someone - at a bus stop. But 19 miles isn't shabby at all.

Plus I found an almost whole loom band, got a free hi-vis jacket, and didn't die.

Awesome view

Not my puncture.

I flippin' well deserve this cake!!!!!!

If you like cycling, this is recommended. The people are nice, they showed me how to brake on gravel properly and fix my sticky cogs. Sky Ride is free, too.

Cyclemania!!

I am incredibly proud of my hubby, who took part in the Grendon triathlon yesterday. This is him wearing his free t-shirt that he got for entering. He looks pretty happy because it was also his birthday. There may be a whiskey before him.

What was also quite brilliant was that he rode on a bike he built himself (for the cycling bit, the other bits being swimming and running/hobbling). Having found a frame at the tip, he sourced the rest of the parts separately and gradually put the bike together. I think my frugal ways may be rubbing off on him - what a moneysaver! Of course, it hasn't stopped him eyeing up the £3K bikes in Cycle Plus...

OH is cycling-obsessed these days. I think I'm catching the bug, too. Last week I found myself reading and very much enjoying The Bluffers Guide to Cycling - normally £6.99 but currently free on Kindle. Using this guide, I have identified my husband's 'cycling tribe' as MAMIL, i.e. a middle-aged man in Lycra. I don't know what I am, apart from severely grazed after I fell off onto some gravel last week. That was on the way to dinner for our anniversary, too, so I looked well with my ripped tights and scabby knees.

Ah well, Aldi had a bike stuff sale on last week, so I have  proper gloves now. I'm pretty impressed with Aldi sports gear actually. It's good quality and not very dear at all. You have to get there bang on opening time, though, as the popular stuff flies off the shelves. OH managed to grab himself a tri-suit for £15 (they're about £80 elsewhere), and when he looked again later there were only Large ones left.

Have you been following the Women's Tour? I think it has been brilliant. It has been superb watching Marianne Vos, Emma Johansson and Rossella Ratto battle for their podium spots, and we had Sharon Laws grabbing a prize for the Brits by winning overall Queen of the Mountains.

Independent

It may be the 21st century, but generally women's sport doesn't attract the same amount of coverage, sponsorship and rewards as men's, so it was great that this Tour not only offered equivalent prize money, but that the press and the public really got behind it. The first and second stages passed through our county, and OH took advantage and went to watch. Unfortunately I couldn't get the time off work myself, otherwise I would have been there, but I followed the live updates. I even spotted OH twice on other people's photos as he waited for the race to pass by his position. Here he is in Brixworth at the QOTM point.

What a brilliant thing to be a part of - and it didn't cost a bean. In Northampton, the Ministry of Bicycles had their Bomberdrome on display (awesome Wall of Death!) and there were info stands from British Cycling, Skyride and Breeze - these are organizations that seek to encourage cycling.  They organize events, guided rides and social rides for all ages and abilities, and Breeze also organizes women-only rides, and offers cycling and bike-buying advice. Have a look to see if there's something happening near you - it's free.

Cycling doesn't have to be expensive. We have bikes because we don't run a car, and so they are for leisure, fitness and boring old commuting. My first bike was a child's bike (I'm very short) and was free from a skip, and it was fine for me. I will probably use it if I ever do a duathlon. Why not? I'm not going to win...

I'm going to try to update this blog a bit more often, as I know I have readers getting frustrated with my pace of posting. You think that's slow, you should see me cycle...

What I did Instead of Going to Wales

So this weekend I could have gone to Sci fi Weekender in North Wales.  Some of my friends did and had a jolly good time.

I spent Friday night helping a friend celebrate their birthday.  My helpfulness extended beyond the point where he had actually gone home, so my Parkrun time on Saturday morning was a shocking 33 minutes.

But it was a nice day and all, so I went to town to do a bit of protesting.  As you do.

 The council intends to bring cars back to Abington Street.   It's going to mess up access, damage the local cafes who have had their open air licenses revoked and generally make being in town less pleasant.  Also they will have to borrow money for the conversion. Not cheap. So this chalkupy protest was brought about to show the council that people are opposed to these plans.  I added my contribution,  but to be honest couldn't hang about too long: I'm an editor and some of the spelling was making me twitch.

So I went to the library - and joy, one of the BSFA shortlisted books I'd not read yet was in.  Halfway through that one now.

On Sunday, I decided to make the most of the gorgeous spring weather and headed out with OH for an epic bike ride.  I saw at least five different types of butterfly,  and the air floated with the first scatterings of blossom.  Wild pansies in the hedgerows.  What season is this?

Our ride took us to Brampton Halt. The steam trains were going up and down the track and we waved enthusiastically at the passengers and driver.

Honestly, they were smiling...

 I decided to treat OH to a wee drinkie at the local. Which was a bit pricey. I contented myself with reading the BBQ menu, which is apparently "the most unique." I've heard the food is nice, though.

Clearly written by a fantasy writer... I mean, look at those capitalized nouns. And adjectives...

We decided to cycle on to the Brixworth Country Park. OH was ogling some bikes in the bike shop when a couple of our friends turned up, and they rode back with us along the gruelling Merry Tom Way, or as I call it Miserable Bastard Tom Way. It's all hills, holes and gravel. Nasty!

I didn't half ache after, but I felt dead proud of myself. That was about 14 miles in all. I want to get a bit more active, and cycling helps me to see some cool stuff nearby without splashing the cash.

On Monday, I treated OH to a night out at the flicks. Yet again we took advantage of the free movie night at one of the local bars, The Picturedrome. Anchorman 2 is not as bad as everyone says it is... honest. Okay... a lot of the same points of humour are massively over-laboured. But I love Brick Tamland. And lamp. I love lamp. I LOVE LAMP!

We are saving the pennies to go to another convention, but the pennies only come gradually. Having missed the super cheap flights that we saw last month, it is now making much more sense to take the train. Just 2 trains, 5 hours, easy. To make it as cheap as possible, we have bought the Two Together card, which will save us 1/3 off train travel all over the UK for a year. There's also an offer on the Gourmet society that we can use, which I might look into.

A word of advice... if you are looking to get the Two Together card yourself, don't do what I did and go to the station. You can order it online, load up any digital photo of yourself you like (so, it can be a nice one, taken for free, not a horrid photobooth one) so long as you are facing the camera, and for a short while you can get £3 discount too.

However, I also used Quidco to get 3% cashback. So what I didn't manage to save on buying online, I'll get back.

Planning ahead, I've made a note of where the supermarkets are for supplies, and got a list of all the pubs where we can use our CAMRA discount sorted. I'm a bit disappointed that the local Parkrun seems to be a taxi ride away, so I'm probably not going to be a Parkrun tourist this time.

Can You be Sociable and Frugal?

I imagine a lot of people must take a look at my blog and wonder how the heck I can call mine a "frugal" lifestyle... I am jetting off to all sorts of places, going to things, doing sport, seeing friends... surely frugality is about paring your lifestyle  down to the basics?

A busy social life in the usual sense can be problematic. The truth is, if you have a financial goal or need to save money for any reason, or if you have no money spare at all, sometimes you really do have to say "no" to things you would rather say "yes" to. You just can't do everything.

A case in point, this weekend, there is something happening that I would love to go to and because I can't afford to get there, I feel like I am letting people down. I know OH feels the same.

 

But we can console ourselves that we have done lots of things lately, been as sociable as we could be, and are saving up for an important event at the end of the month - World Fantasycon - where we shall be very sociable indeed. (Hey, SFT - Joanne Harris is going to be there - squee!)

And of course we can still be a bit sociable before then! I am going volunteering at Parkrun again tomorrow, and will enjoy doing lots of cycling and visiting family over the weekend - and that won't cost anything.

Later in the month, I will be attending a talk about the Facial Reconstruction of King Richard III as well... again, for free! I am absolutely fascinated by 'The Cousins' War' and the story of how his body was found - so that should be very interesting indeed. There will also be an exhibition following that at Northampton Museum.

I will probably also be going to the Shakespeare exhibition at Abington before it finishes, and the Susan Macwilliam installation at NN gallery. If anyone wants to join me, let me know!

I am currently doing the Go Sober campaign, which will make attending the odd birthday celebration very cheap (sponsor me, someone, please!)  - and it's high time I had people round for tea and cake (I'll get baking...).

But whatever we do decide to do with our free time,  all our bills are taken care of for the month already. All our train tickets and hotel rooms are paid for in advance. Birthday gifts are covered... and I'm very into my homemade cards, of course. We've done a 'stockpile' order this month to take advantage of a bumper load of vouchers and free delivery options (and due to an inadvertent error by Sainsbury's, I now have even more money-off vouchers to compensate - yay!), so apart from a few fresh things we should cope pretty well.

What the advance shopping has also bought us plenty of is time... and with my extra time this weekend, I fully intend to do some de-cluttering, handicrafts, and a bit of gardening and getting out in the fresh air! I also have a book report to write, and I have time to do this, too.

So, although I'm sad about not being able to do something that would have been really nice, life is good. It really is.


UPDATE: Most people know this already, but OH completed his first triathlon in a very respectable 1 hour, 13 minutes.

I am immensely proud of him!

He didn't want a load of the many photos I took to be uploaded for the world to see without a thorough vetting, but I don't think he'd mind just this one, which happens to show him overtaking another competitor on the second lap of the cycling stage.

Pride and Injury

I was doing well on Parkrun this week until....


OOOOOWWWWWW!!!!

Something went wrong with my knee. It seems I've done something to a tendon inside my knee so it only hurts when there is downward pressure applied - i.e. when running.  I limped the last third home and still did it in 30 minutes, 30 seconds. I may have ruined my legs and not be able to run anymore, but I'm faster, dammit! Er...

Hopefully some exercises will sort it.

I was also advised to go cycling, so I took my bike over to my brother's and went to help him with his allotment. I say help... I stood and caught some apples he threw down from the tree. And thanks to his generosity, now I have some cooking apples! Pie or chutney...? Chutney or pie??? Mmm...

This weekend, OH also did some cycling for cheridee. 50 miles, in fact, in aid of Cynthia Sylvia Hospice. And to get to the start point, he had to cycle 7 miles too. So, well over 60 miles in total. I am so proud!

Brave, selfless, sweaty...

And in fame, fame, fatal fame corner, I've done an interview for the Northampton Science Fiction Writers Group website, so head over there to read about how I became I writer, and stay to read about the other folks in our happy band. Also, if anyone knows the story I'm on about, please let me know.

In other frugal news, I made some bread. Looks okay, haven't tried it yet.