3.12.12 - all dates cancelled until further notice - sorry.

Dates for  your diary Nov  2012 – Jan 2013

Thursday 1^st November - Sikka View Walk - Meet at Sikka Trail Car park 10.30am. Not a power walk just an enjoyable walk in the beautiful countryside – rain or shine!! FREE

9th November - 2nd Meeting London to Rio. 7.15pm East Burton Village Hall.  Cost £2.50 includes tea/coffee.

Speakers on this evening will talk about ‘Coasteering’, ‘Zumba’, ‘Meditation’, and ‘Purbeck Gym Membership’

Thursday 15^th November - Cycle ride around Wareham Forest - Rain or shine - Meet at Sikka Trail Car Park at 10.45am. (Nothing too difficult - promise) FREE.

Friday 16^th November - Group Walk around Wareham Forest meet at Sikka Trail Car Park at 2pm. Rain or shine. FREE.

Thursday 22^nd November  Windspit  Walk - Meet at Worth Matravers Car park  opp the Square and Compass 10.30am. Not if weather dreadful, contact me if unsure on definition of dreadful! FREE

Friday 23^rd November – Circle Dancing Evening – This is a real MUST DO evening! The lovely Sandy Gent who is one of the best teachers EVER will take us through an evening of circle dancing. Ideal for everyone – no experience necessary – no great fitness levels necessary – just a lovely evening with great music and a real FEEL GOOD factor. East Burton Village Hall. Starts at 7.15 Cost £3.50 includes tea/coffee. Finished by 9 ish.

Saturday 1^st December – Bindon Hill Walk, Lulworth.  Meet at Castle Inn Car Park at 10.30am. Big hills on this walk folks but incredible views! May have to postpone if weather dreadful!

Friday 7^th December - Group Walk around Wareham Forest meet at Sikka Trail Car Park at 1.30pm. Rain or shine. FREE.

Thursday 13^th December - Cycle ride around Wareham Forest - Meet at Sikka Trail Car Park at 10.30am. FREE

Thursday 10^th January – Beach Walk, Studland – 10.30am Meeting place to be confirmed.

Friday 11^th January – London to Rio Meeting 7.15pm, East Burton Village Hall, We will be hearing about kayaking, other speakers to be confirmed. £2.50 includes tea/coffee.

 

Photography and geocaching

Don't panic - it's not all about extreme challenges and sports. Just because my mouth runs away with me and I come out with ridiculous plans (for a woman of my age and size) to start abseiling down cliffs or throwing myself off high rocks into cold water. It doesn't mean that this is my way of getting fit. It might be for some people of course. But for me in real life (and when I am not being terrified by my own challenges), fitness is about doing things that you enjoy.

I understand totally that this may be going into a gym for some people, but that doesn't do it for me. I can understand that it may be about running, or spinning (full on exercise bike class!!), but that isn't me either. In my effort to get fitter I do need to challenge myself but on a slow road from total oblivion to fitness it has to start with things that I can manage. For me that meant walking to the end of the road and back if that was all I could manage. It meant starting with the wonderful and health giving Qi Gong, gentle Chinese health exercises which changed the stagnant energy in my body and broke the total inertia. Once I had been doing Qi Gong for a few months I was able to start pilates. That has gradually increased my muscle strength and enabled me after another few months to start walking further distances.

The next question was how to walk those increased distances without feeling like either a) I was exercising or b) I was moaning. Simple, find a hobby that goes with the walking and takes your mind off distance travelled. Now, I can appreciate the scenery and I love being out in it, but sometimes I need a little extra to keep me motivated. Well, I have combined several  hobbies that work a treat.

Firstly, I got a camera. Its ok, I am not going to get technical about this, I still use it on Autofocus. But it is so much fun to record the beauty that is around me. I expect I will get into a little more of the technical stuff later on, but I am slightly lacking the logic gene so maybe not! I have also been shown some wonderful Photoshop techniques and that is great for taking pictures with a view to making up wacky posters when you get home and don't know what to do with yourself for an evening. (I am afraid I don't have the patience for TV. I am currently trying to watch Downton Abbey because it is so good but I may have to wait for the dvd's to come out as the adverts drive me mad with boredom.)

I LOVE my camera. I can highly recommend this as an exercising hobby - you need to get out into the world - and that means walking - you just need to get to another place and round another bend to see what comes next - to get the next photo. It helps that lovely husband is into his wildlife photography so I just follow him while he stalks butterflies and birds and I am like a Japanese tourist snapping away behind him.

I then met a friend who introduced me to the wonderful world of geocaching. What is geocaching? Well if you need to have it explained properly then I recommend going to
https://www.geocaching.com/

If you are happy with the gist then here it is. Geocaching involves using a hand held gps (or phone with appropriate app) to navigate your way to set coordinates and upon reaching them find the hidden cache (no not cash as I had to explain to my disappointed 16 year old son who can now of course no longer see the point of it!!) You then log your geocaching name in a little book (or sometimes a tiny piece of paper if it is a micro cache) and when you get home you go on to the website and log your visit to say that you have found a certain cache and you clock up your number of finds.

What is the point I hear you ask? Well to be honest, for me, it is getting me out to places I would not have otherwise got around to visiting. It makes me walk for miles and hours on end rather than just a quick walk that you and your bored hound have done millions of times. There is often a puzzle to solve or multiple coordinates to find clues which lead you to the final destination and the cache. It has a slight competitive edge if you want it to. It can drive you crazy but it is really loads of fun! Exercise with a little twist to take your mind off the miles that your legs are covering just to clock up one more cache thats 'nearby'!!

 

 

Find what inspires you and get out there - the world around you is an amazing place enjoy it.

Wild Swimming

My otter impression

 

 

Wow - what can I say. Wild Swimming. This is a bit of a break through for me. Firstly, I am a very fair weather person and secondly, since the onset of Lupus, I am also very difficult to part from a hot water bottle or two. I did stop going to bed with them for the month of August but as soon as a dew appeared once again on the grass in the morning I felt the need. I seem to collect warm things. For Christmas I got two hot water bottles, a pair of slippers and a blanket with sleeves, this is how well my family knows me! So - to be swimming in a costume (no wet suit) on the 27th September was a remarkable achievement.

My friend Julia in wetsuit (sensible idea!)

 

 

When I arranged the date with my friend she looked kind of confident - not only was it quite far away but I think she assumed that it would never happen. As the day started nearing and she saw I was serious, she began to get nervous.....bad dreams ... the lot.

 

Brave Tracey

I did start wondering how this mouth of mine opens and stuff comes out and then before I know it I have got myself into hot water again.... or not on this occasion.

 

Brave Karen

It was a beautiful sunny morning after we had been experiencing loads and loads of very cold rain which seems to have been filling the sea up with cold water. But we couldn't have asked for better weather. I kind of assumed that it would be me and Julia, with my hot water loving husband on the shore taking pictures and laughing.
How wrong could I be! Two friends from Swanage bravely turned up and then Julia, her husband, her mother and mother in law. Seven of us! I was amazed.



Drama Queen

Sure, the water was a little on the chilly side. I made a big fuss of getting in and struggled with the plunging into the shoulders bit. I think everyone managed it before me, I have always been a bit of an attention seeking drama queen.
However, on such a stunning morning as this, with the Purbeck hills around us and Old Harry Rocks to one side, and Sandbanks to the other, how could you not be totally enchanted, enlivened, refreshed and oh so glad to be alive. There is nothing like cold water to bring you up into the present moment with a bang. 'The Power of Now' eat your heart out! How wonderful.

 

Swimming against the tide



Once the body got fairly numb the mind seemed to enjoy every second even more. You had to swim fairly hard against the tide to stay in one place. We managed half an hour - yes truly.
I can heartily recommend it. Shall I keep you all posted on the next date?
I think perhaps a full length wetsuit for next time though.

The only downside? I felt so tired afterwards - I kept dozing off in the afternoon and in the end gave in and had a snooze for an hour or so. Yes I do seem to lead a life of luxury don't I!!? I had to plan this free time into the diary just in case.

Onward and upwards - cycling in the forest this week!

p.s. How comes everyone else manages to look glamorous?? I must start trying to find my glamour!