Half Day Rest, Recovery and on with Training

Apart from the Bluebell 10km, there was another highlight for us soon after we got home, cleaned up, and ready for Sunday lunch. We have been listening to The Muse on Audible and once we realised that we were both enjoying this book by Jessie Burton so much, it became our late afternoon indulgence and we both looked forward to a soak in the hot tub with the several sets of frightfully common rosebud and dragonfly fairy lights on, casting a pink glow into the darkness of our garage. 

There we sit toe to toe listening to a chapter of a book that is so enjoyable that we put in on ration so that it lasted longer. We had the last half hour of it during dinner. There are not any car chases or helicopter crashes but an arty tale, deliciously read by Kathy Tyson. We could easily start again at the beginning having stretched it our over several weeks of special togetherness listening spells. Who was the real artist? Who is the real parent? Who knows the truth and who if anybody will tell what happened in those days of the Spanish civil war, art, romance, heart break, hatred, war and death. Yummy, but powerful stuff and not sloppy at all. I am often reading several things at the same time; sort of like TV episodes. 

We also had the last episode of the first series of The Crown that is great stuff too, about all the royals with our lovely Queen played by Claire Foy who I loved in that role but could not for the life of me understand why they did not stay as true to her hardly ever changing in all the years hairstyles. Why try to soften and pretty up H.M .hair. Well you only have to look at stamps or money to see what is should be like. The Queen has always stuck to her guns in many things. 

We both equally loved Matt Smith switching from Doctor Who to Prince Philip so brilliantly though I was not keen on John Lithgow as Winston Churchill: How can the commander from Third Rock from the Sun be Churchill? It was very entertaining and awfully annoying in turn. All other royals and ministers very interestingly cast. So the rest period after the run in the morning was nicely spent relaxing together.

Back to the sporting grind this morning ready for the head-banger set of 100’s in both lanes that is the Monday standard.

Lane 1

20 x 100 @ 2.00

Lane 2 (Just me today again).

15 x 100 @ 2.40

 

 Steve gave me one of those ‘Why am I not surprised’ looks when after swimming 1000 metres non stop that I popped up and confessed that I had not seen that he had given me a schedule! I did the last 5 x 100 as orders and that took me to the end of my set. Then did 400 back stroke whilst in my head played a song that had been featured in The Crown to set the period nicely, it was Johnnie Ray singing ‘Cry’. When the sound of that had floated out of the TV last night I had told Steve that he, (Johnnie Ray) was my first love. Steve made a HHHUMPH sound and then said “You must be on number five hundred and twenty eight now then”. Deny it I cannot.

That was when I was in my teens, having left school at fourteen and gone to work in a little dress shop in Bath Place in Worthing. My boss and his wife took me to the London Palladium as a birthday present the next summer to see Johnny Ray. I had told them that (then as now) I did a lot of embroidery and I had stitched Johnnie Ray’s name in cream coloured silks diagonally across the front of one of my best sweaters. I sat quietly in my bedroom sewing neatly to show that I was a fan. I put the sweater on when it was finished and went downstairs before I was due to go the Plaza Cinema with my now long departed friend Joyce. I had only passed my parents once when my father’s voice said “Before you go out duck, you can go back upstairs and change out of that jumper because you are not going out in THAT. I didn’t argue with my dad but did as I was told. When I got home after walking to meet Joyce, walking down into the town with her to the Plaza, watching the programme, having coffee in the Waldorf Buttery on the way home; All the forbidden stitches in my woolly had been unpicked and the jumper ironed, nicely folded and placed back in the drawer. Nothing was said by any of us. My latest embroidery is coming on well; I have been doing it three of four threaded needles a day for a couple of months.

Next this morning was a nice bike ride squeezed in before what looked like rain coming soon, judging by the huge black clouds rolling up fast. My legs were not too bad after the run that I had worked hard on yesterday. I was third lady in the vintage category- over 60, (well over, in my case), so that was pleasing too. It is always such fun pouring over the result sheets.