The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry: Book Review

After sitting lonesome on my shelf, I picked this book up and couldn't put it down.

"Harold Fry was a tall man who moved through life with a stoop, as if expecting a low beam, or a screwed-up paper missile, to appear out of nowhere."

 

Harold Fry, a recently retired 65-year old receives a letter from an old colleague, dying of Cancer. He pens a reply, tells his wife he'll be back soon intending to walk it to the postbox, and simply carries on - for 600 miles with boating shoes, his wallet and an vague purpose.

 

 The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry: Rachel Joyce

 

This is a slow read, exploring how relationships can change over time, so slowly that you don't realise what has happened. Harold and his wife Maureen have been married for 47 years and are re-defining who they are. Harold's journey changes them - physically, emotionally and mentally.

 

"She was nothing but the remembering"

 

It was just so easy to pick up and delve into - the characterisations of Harold and Maureen delicious - I don't know what it's like to be 65, but I certainly have a good idea of how it could be now.

 

"The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other; and a life might appear ordinary simply because the person living it had been doing so for a long time.”

 

It made me appreciate the little things we take for granted, assuming that everything will always be the same and questioning why we let life develop instead of taking it by the reins. This is the after-effect of the book on you - you enjoy it, laugh, cry at it - and find yourself afterwards almost brooding. It has lessons, but in a tiny slipped in way - no preaching here.

(You may wonder why this is so brief, I don't like including spoilers, and it's such a lovely story!)

 

(Disclaimer: the above links to an Amazon Associates UK account, which means I make a little money (less than 5%) from any purchases made after clicking through these links, but at no extra charge to you. So if you are interested in buying the book, please click through the link under the image. Help support a book addiction...)

Are there times you look back on & wish you could change?

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Boxing Day

Presents are unwrapped, a scrumptious dinner eaten and the pine needles are starting to hit the carpet already.

With a self imposed offline day yesterday, it was quite refreshing to mostly be away from all electrical equipment (bar the TV when the kids started to dance Gangnam Style!).

Favourite part of the Day? Gathering with almost all of my London family for Roast Turkey & Beef, Christmas Pud & a lot of laughter.

Favourite memory of the Day? Grandad getting up & trying it Gangnam Style.

Favourite (only) Photo of the day?

Hubby gets a bit blue as the excitement of the impending Christmas season is over, and once the New Year has passed, we have to trudge through the grimness of January. I can honestly say I've never thought of it that way, but I suppose as a Kiwi with summer holidays in January, it was never a cause for sadness.

 

 

 

We have been very retrospective today, musing the highlights of this year, and by anyones standard 2012 has been an amazing year. London especially has been a very exciting place to be.

• The Diamond Jubilee - I got to see the Queen!! 

•  The Olympics - absoloutely smashing 

•  Made some great new friends over the year - caused mischief camping & brunching to name but two instances 
• Climbed the iconic Big Ben 
• I completed a 5k - something I would never think I could do

I also started this here little blog, which you are all so kind to read day in day out, and I'd like to thank you for this. Thank you for giving me a chance to share our adventures.

We have a lot of exciting new plans for next year, and I hope you will stick around to join in them with us.

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Everything-in-the-Fridge Soup

After an overload of Christmas parties, wine & canapes I got (stumbled a wee bit) home last night, stared into my fridge and my belly keened for some vege. No wonder everyone gets so virtuous in January! The sheer level of chocolates, biscuits and fudge in the office is almost criminal.

This is an excellent recipe for this time of year - with the excesses Christmas brings, and the groaning Fridges that are then emptied at the end of Christmas - I have a solution. Well, a meal solution anyway!

Can you tell that hubby and I have a love for soups? Whenever one of gets run down, I flick the crockpot on and clear out the Fridge. It works wonders.

Everything-in-the-Fridge Soup

Ingredients:

• An Onion
• Root Vegetables - about 1.5 handfuls per person
• Green Vegetables - about a handful per person
• A couple of nobs of butter
• 3 cups of homemade Chicken or Turkey Stock from Christmas Dinner
• 1 Tablespoons or Curry Powder or 2 teaspoons of Paprika or a Bay Leaf & Nutmeg
• Any ready cooked meats to serve it with
• Fresh Sliced Rustic Bread

1. Turn your slow-cooker on. If on high the soup will take 3-4hours, on low the soup will take 6-7 hours (another reason I love it - turn it on when you leave for work, come back to a hot cooked dinner).
2. Dice the Onion, and cube the root vegetables and green vegetables*.
3. Add to the cooker with the butter. Leave to cook for about half an hour. This par-roasts the vege, giving it a little richer flavour.
4. Mix, then add the stock and Curry Power / Paprika /Bay Leaf & Nutmeg. 
5. Leave to bubble away for either 3-4 hours on high, or 6-7 hours on low; until all the vegetables are soft**.
6. Mash with a potato masher, if like me, you like your soup chunky or blend once a little cooler for a velvet like texture.
7. Enjoy on it's own, or with cream fraiche and meat stirred through, accompanied by fresh bread. It actually makes you feel better. 

* A stick of Celery/Peas/Broccoli is great in soups like this.
** Essential Tip: Cover the slow-cooker with a folded tea towel!

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Galavanting & Yoghurt Making

Today I've snuck over to the lovely Carol Anne's Rock Salt blog, going live at lunchtime.

But in normal scheduling, please let me present you with Friday's normal 'Adventures of the Benign', a slice of the week that was.


Watching the twinkling Christmas lights going up,

Trying not to kill a sweet Thank you gift...

 

This week was fairly random,

Watching Twilight again, and encountering the randomest bathroom in the cinema, complete with nose powdering section;

Boring end of year paperwork. It's amazing that one person can make quite so much paperwork!

Keeping winter blues at bay...

...with some Japanese HOT Sauce on our Katsu Curries;

A couple of random Kiwi souvenirs;

Have a fantastic weekend. A word of warning though, watch out for beasts lurking in the darkness...

 

 ...because they attack!

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The 32nd Annual Christmas Pudding Race

What better way to start the silly season than watching a Christmas Pudding Race, held for Cancer Research in Covent Garden?

The relay/obstacle race track included a balloon Limbo, giant Jigsaw, letters to Santa, a blow-up slide, hanging baubles on the tree, a snowy Chicane and a balloon Limbo that needed to be popped by the Ivy on their Pudding. All whilst balancing a precarious plate of pudding on a tray.

 

Last years winners with their mascot and, er, the queen...

 

My personal vote for the best dressed goes to... Christmas Dinner, complete with actual Brussel Sprouts on her Brussel Sprout costume!

 

 

Santa and his Reindeer Crew look cute,

 

...but below their velour exteriors really mean business!

 

 

The racetrack was very able demonstrated by two of the 'unsigned' X-Factor boys & a tenor from La Boheme (So sorry, I didn't catch any of their names, but they were very good singing later).

 

 

Ever seen a Turkey, Batman and a group of rowdy Elves do a Zumba warm-up to "Hot hot hot"? There is nothing in the world quite like it.

 

 

Aaaaaaaand they're off!

 

  

Absoloute hats off to the contestants - it was absoloutely freezing, and a large group of them came up on the first train from Nottingham. Absoloute Kudos guys! Well worth all of the effort for the amazing fundraising.

Next year, I'm there, hopefully with a team if I can convince my friends & workmates. It's for SUCH a good cause - such a good cause, it got me doing a 5k earlier this year. This year I only learned about the pudding race 2 days before the actual race, much to my chagrin.

Please donate if you can, they are saving lives, and it's a cause dear to many peoples hearts, including mine.

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London Living: Paralympic Blues

 

With the closing ceremony tonight, it's hard to think of what we'll be doing without the Paralympics & Olympics. When initially announced that London had won the Olympics, there was a great deal of  cringing in London, imagining all of the chaos caused transport and facilities-wise, but actually it's been ok. It's be more than ok really - after the main Security problems, and our Army boys stepped up, the trains have been busier (Ok, I'm not in East London where it's based, but I do live near one of the main stadiums) but there hasn't been much armpits smooshing, the traffic seems to have been managed quite well, and the Games volunteers were in a league of their own. This is the largest Paralympics in history, with 4,200 athletes from 164 countries — 2.5 million tickets were sold before the Games began, and the Olympic Stadium is sold out for every session.

The last 5 weeks have been so Games-centric it's going to leave a void in our lives, for awhile at least. We have watched the Games (live and continuously on TV), discussed results being broadcast to us continuously, laughed over the water cooler and cried at the defeats.

Congratulations to the amazing Olympians and Paralympians, without you the Games would be rather pointless. You've given everyone a kick up the butt, and shown the amazing things that the human body can achieve - with commitment, determination and passion. The Paralympians especially have won everyones hearts - from Oscar Pretorious' wins and competing in the Olympics, to Mary Sayer, a Lower Hutt girl winning Gold. Maybe because we are in the centre of the maelstrom, but I think that these have been the biggest Paralympics coverage that I've seen, and the support is phenomenal. Even the negative coverage; overseas News networks not showing or highlighting the full achievements garnered by their Paralympians has sparked outrage, but with today's social media outlets, people power is changing the face of the world and the outrage had pulled even more positive reaction.

We didn't manage to get Paralympics tickets, but have been avidly watching the coverage, and it's great (in some non-selfish ways) to see that the tickets have been selling out. It can only get better from here on in, and the legacy the whole Games are leaving is so important - Tourism, development and recognising the superhuman efforts that these guys have made - overall I think it's been great. Hopefully the legacy of the buidlings and development in the East end is also positive. London is such a vibrant city and will continue to develop and morph.

Cheers & see you all again in Rio!

Todays workout: Rest day, couch potato-ing for the closing ceremony!

What has been your favourite event of the Games? We loved the Diving, and the sheer ferociousness of the Paralympic Basketball. Wow.

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Gym guilt

I've not been to the Gym for nearly two weeks. There, I said it, I've come clean to the world. Instead we have been out and about, or simply doing nothing (though I think we clocked up a few points on our wander up Big Ben & around Buckingham Palace!)

I have been trying to get more mini-excercise in my day though; running other peoples errands (genuinely - my boss loves me right now), walking across the room to speak to someone instead of yelling, getting off two bus stops early and stairs. Oh the stairs I have been running - one day I counted 12 flights of stairs not including running up and down the office ones. My subconcious decided I needed to get on the Northbound Tube line instead of the Southbound, and because of it I ended up in a station that seemed to solely consist of stairs.

I'm also trying to make a consistent effort to not just wander, but to put a little Ooomph into my step, trying to beat my personal best times for walking and from work. I've also found myself 'racing' other commuters. It sounds mad, but it's quite fun, and I'm sure they are totally oblivious to it... at least I hope they are!

On your marks commuters...

Tomorrow we are going to the Gym. I am giving in to some concentrated sweating and huffing, and that's just the walk to the gym. Kidding. I've missed my running music though... is that a good enough reason to go? Tonight on the other hand, I'm washing my hair.

Todays Workout: Nil. Apart from Racing to & from Work. PB on the way home people.

What do you do to add bits of excercise to your day?

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London Living: Big Ben

When people think of London and British landmarks, what top three come mind? People normally say Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge.

Well hubby, my brother-in-law, a very good friend and I played London tourists for the day. It was awesome. I think I'll have to split the day into 3 posts, or you may curse me for the sheer length of time it takes your computer to load!

Firstly we climbed about 210 feet high (the total tower is 96.3m, roughly 16 storeys) tower, by way of of a 334 step spiral staircase. Not just any fly-on the wall, blase turn-of-the-century run-of-the-mill tower, but up the big daddy. St Stephens tower - known to the World at large as Big Ben, to see the fascinating mechanism and clock face that comprises the world famous icon, then the enormous bell himself.

It doesn't look THAT tall.. I think...

What a fantastic way to spend a Tuesday morning! With this looming, I've been in secret training for this, and it's had me on the stair machines in the gym for a while, building up to 10 minute sessions (you may think '10 minutes? That's nothing!' try it, I dare you. It's surprisingly hard!), and I am so glad I have been. As a bonus our guide said we were a rather fit group, and because of such we were up there in double quick time, meaning we spent more time listening to the beautiful bells up close. I've never been called 'fit'!

The guides do this climb 3 times a day, 15 times a week! We got to watch all of the mechnisms at work, see the famous pennies keeping the pendulum ticking regularily, check out the 32ft clock faces and best of all see Big Ben himself. It was SUCH a fantastic thing to do, a moment that you never forget methinks.

I'm not going to bore you with all of the geeky fun facts, like the bell is a bit cracked, all 13.7 tonnes of it was winched up the Tower by 8 men, taking them a total of 32hours, and the E note Big Ben is famous for, is now E flat.. Go, I implore you. Or, check out Big Ben's official website for more info than you can shake a stick at. Big Ben also has Twitter. Awesome.

As promised months ago, Nicola and Frankie (check out the FitWriter blog, they've just done a fantastic Olympic inspired series!), I thought of you and I waved in your general direction!

The tours are (as of writing) free, and can only be done by UK Residents, but it's so easy to do. Check-out their website and let me know what you think. Do it, it was amazing. I was only able to take a couple of very very sneaky pics, but we left grinning ear to ear.

Watch this space for further installments of the day. So much fun - there really is nothing like being a tourist in your own city.

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London Living: Greyhound Racing

A very good friend of mine decided as a birthday treat, she'd like to spend a night at the races. Not just any races, but the Greyhound races in South London. Now, I'm up for pretty much anything once me, and this sounded like an evening straight out of Only Fools and Horses (oh how I wanted to see someone with a Sheepskin coat!)

My only reservations about doing this, is the treatment that animals can have at the hands of trainers. Much like animal circuses (which you won't see me at. Ever.) I don't like to support any organisation that brutalises animals, even by omission, but I looked into it, and on the surface of things, they appear to be ok, and are heavily regulated to keep owners in check;

"Whilst welfare standards in decades past have not been as high as they are now, modern-day greyhound racing is well regulated and well run. Greyhounds are identifiable and are trained by licensed trainers whose facilities are regularly inspected. In decades gone by, the sport was perhaps not so welfare conscious and some practices that were acceptable in the past are certainly not acceptable today. That legacy that has led to perceptions of the sport does not represent an accurate picture of greyhound racing as it is today." Credit

I volunteered as a youngster at the SPCA in New Zealand, taking the dogs for walks (the only problem was that I was allergic to a large number of cats, and the dogs took ME for walks) so I've seen mistreated animals. Still, I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy the night.

The long and short of it is, we had a fun night out that didn't involve copious amounts of drinking, and the dog from our perspective seem to enjoy it - one particularily enegertic pup getting loose and doing an extra lap!

An accidental motion capture shot! Enlarge for detail.

We also caught the 4x100 relay in the Olympics, and carefully followed Tom Daley in the Diving by BBC and live website updates - so close mate!!

There were a surprising amount of Hen & Stag parties there, and the amount of men in wigs and dresses was staggering. I'm not sure what Del boy & Rodney would have made of them!

Todays Workout: an hour walking, 30 minutes altogether running up and down 4 flights of stairs.

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Life this week

This week, life is good;

And a bit of a naughty family gathering;

 Today's workout: 60 minute walk through playing fields in the Sunshine.

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