Mallorca Hike around Alaro

Today I set off early and met up with Jackie and Juliette, two lovely ladies I got to know a few years ago on the hiking trips I've done in Mallorca. They're both British but have lived here for years. 

We went on a walk around the mountain behind Alaro, a small town which has its own Castle. It's about 30 minutes' drive from where I'm staying in Platja de Palma.  Everywhere is about a half hour drive I find!  We had a fantastic hike up the hillside, and even came across a wild donkey, on his travels in the other direction. Juliette had seen him in a bad way a few months ago so was happy to see he's had some medical attention. His coat was a lovely glossy brown.  We then had a trip into Binisallem and drank coffee in the square, outside, with the sun on our backs and the trees still orange with autumn leaves. Winter hasn't arrived yet.  After saying our goodbyes I headed East in the car and went to visit one of the 'Santuaries' Mallorca had, high up near the village of Randa, just outside Llucmajor.  From here wonderful views

across and towards Palma harbour with the sunset. The monastery of Cura is here and I lit a little candle in their small chapel before heading back down the hairpin bends to ground level.  A truly relaxing day.

Missing my boys though and had a lovely chat with Dylan when I got back to the hotel,   I have had some needed 'me' time but look forward to seeing them for Christmas Eve tomorrow.  

Running!

Phew! Running in December in Spain can be quite warm. Just did a 5km run along the sea front and back again. 

That will work off the coca that I have bought from a little bakery, for lunch tomorrow.  Here is a recipe in case I want to make one when I get back home.  

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with two friends I met while on the Mallorca Hiking trips I did in 2012 and 2013, Jackie and Juliette.  I have been invited to go and do a walk with them tomorrow near Alaro which is at the foot of the Tramuntana mountains. At least I've been active the last day or so. Walked a lot round Palma then up and down the sea front (which is great, since cars aren't allowed). Tried to hire a bike but the place was closed today. 

http://tocookwithlove.com/2012/09/15/cocarrois-or-mallorcan-vegetable-stuffed-pastry/

Palma in winter

Outside the cathedral

Today I braved the traffic (what traffic?) and drove right into the centre of Palma, found the underground car park and walked through the streets to buy a new phone cable from El Corte Ingles. At least now I have power so the sat nav works. Had a lovely quiet wander through narrow streets taking in the atmosphere.  A group of school children caught my attention and they were advertising with placards attached round their necks advertising 'free hugs'. Well I had about 6 of them!  I also found a tiny secluded garden full of lemon and orange trees. So fresh I picked one and ate it.  Palma is one of my favourite cities. It's a mini Barcelona and so easy to walk around. The Catedral de Palma dominates the scenery and it still amazes me that there are tiny intricate details such as little gargoyles of dogs, monkeys and so on.  Anyway here are a few photos of today.  I also found a huge 14th Century church. Catholic I would assume judging by the amount of ornate gold. Had a little cry to myself and some thinking time. I'm not religious but if any of that works I surely need it right now   

Sunset

Sunset here is beautiful. Reminded me of our holiday in Ibiza 2013 and trip to cafe del mar.   Will get a photo tomorrow night.  This place is nice this time of year. I would think it's full of English and German and Dutch in peak season but now you hear just Spanish with occasional Russian and elderly Germans.   Look forward to my run tomorrow. A clear 4km each direction. 

Therapy. A few days away in Palma

The thing about stress is that it wears you down so much that eventually everything breaks and you realise you have to do something drastic. 

The next few days I will be by the sea, listening to the waves and just having a really good long think about everything that matters most.   

I have done something many people would be scared or uncomfortable doing: I booked a flight and flew alone, got car hire and managed to navigate some tiny streets including one dead end (resulting in a 9 point turn in the road) have been sat on this beach with not a soul to be seen. Just listening and feeling the sun warm me. I hope the sun does wonders for my skin too.  

Off to find a cashpoint as have come with no euros at all and only £10 in my purse. 

Nice long walk along the sea front and was really surprised by how quiet it is. Perfect time of year to come.  It's the middle of winter (shortest day) yet here you can wade in the sea and there are some little kids even swimming.  Just heaven. 

An evening of light relaxation

It was well overdue. The thrice yearly visit to Nirvana.  

No, not the band!  Www.nirvanaspa.co.uk 

We are so lucky to have this on our doorstep.  Jo and I had a lovely swim, steam, jacuzzi pool even the ice pool.  And rather over-ate at the healthy buffet. 

But it was good just to chill for a while and fall asleep on the heated roman beds .. Bliss! 

This weekend

This is going to be a very quiet weekend! 

Tristan and Dylan are off to holland to celebrate Sinterklaas and I'm staying here to finish my 2000 word essays ready to hand in next Monday.  Punctuated by a timely visit to nirvana spa on Saturday evening. Can't wait !

Though I'm not looking forward to going back to SW Saturday morning. I've been less than strict this week and had far too many thorntons chocolates at work this week. Still.. Got Thursday and Friday to be "good".   So we will see. Oh and I ran a 10k on Sunday and a morning run this morning at 6:30 and Pilates on Monday evening so I've not exactly been lazy. 

Interview went well yesterday and I think feedback will be good. Just a waiting game now to see what school I get!  So exciting to think I will be on the last road to get qts (qualified teacher status) in the summer 2017. 

That's all for now ... Am still not looking forward to Xmas much. Just can't get into the spirit of it this year.  Still, the boys have started to do their Xmas lists! 

Dylan's involved most of the toy pages in the Argos catalogue which he has gone through with a pen making big black ticks! 

Paintings

Had some lovely comments about the latest oil painting on canvas which I did at the weekend. It is something I think I will do more of as I really love the way the textures of the paint all show through on the canvas.  They're kind of abstract art but my latest one definitely looks like reeds in a pond under moonlight.  I think !!    Canvas is definitely on my Xmas list this year anyway.  Enjoy doing these just for fun. A great stress reliever. 

http://stress.about.com/od/funandgames/a/learningtodraw.htm

Crafty morning

Woken up at 5:10am on a Saturday morning!   I must say I'm proud to boast that I had already baked a batch of biscuits and started and oil painting by 7am. Yes all because a little person got me up and wanted to get stuck into the craft box :). He has decorated a cool Xmas card for his best friend and done all his week's homework. Result!  So I don't mind waking up early at all as we've had a really good day

Here is the picture - oil on canvas 

This is me!: Scafell Pike. Charity hike September 2016

This is me!: Scafell Pike. Charity hike September 2016

Scafell Pike. Charity hike September 2016

Joseph and I are taking the plunge and signing up to hike up Scafell in the Lake District. It's all for a good cause: Marie Curie cancer support 

I'm sure it will be tough going in places but I will have my expert son with me (who may only be 14 but has already walked up this one!!)

I'm going to set up a just giving page as we need to raise at least £200 each for this good cause. Hope you can either join us or sponsor us!  Thanks so much 

https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/get-involved/charity-events/hiking/scafell-pike

Bourne Mill Fire

Bourne Mill has been burnt down, I heard about it this morning.  This was a 17th Century rambling house full of what my husband would call 'rubbish'  but I used to think the place was like heaven.  All rickety stairs, old plates, perfume bottles, knick knacks, things from the past.  It reminded me me of a shop in Brighton called Snoopers' Paradise. I wonder if that place is still there.

We have a few things bought from Bourne Mill:  a chair which we fondly call 'the throne' in my parents' living room which is a couple of hundred years old, and I've a plate and a mirror bought there when I first moved into my house. 
It's such a shame it's destroyed; I doubt there would be much left of it now.  

Maybe the legendary ghost will still linger nearby, who knows?

It made the news anyway
BBC News

New Nails!

So you go to Next to collect pre ordered stuff - and end up spending £80. At least some of it was on other people. Xmas shopping! 

And considering this interview next week got me looking at my hands and nails. Yes I needed a new colour and Dylan helped me choose.  The result is somewhat juvenile and girly but I like it! 

Running!

So on parkrun with my friend Jo this morning she said "so are we doing the Fleet or Reading half marathon next spring". I'm undecided. The most I've run before is a measly 10k. But it has got me thinking.  I probably could keep going and do 21k.  But that means running for two hours. As an asthmatic. Without stopping. Eek ! 

I also want to walk up Scafell Pike next September with my son Joseph. A charity thing.   https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/get-involved/charity-events/hiking/scafell-pike

It would mean a weekend in the Lake District too. Quiet and beautiful. 

Well next week I've committed to morning runs in the dark on Monday and Wednesday 6:30am. 

We are doing mapledurham 10k next Sunday so I need to get my legs in gear 😆

Roll on those nice light mornings again. 

Dutch apple tart

This morning the house is a hive of baking activity. I found about a dozen Albert Heijn apple tart mixes in the pantry the other day Nice to see Tristan baking with Dylan helping him measure out the ingredients and stirring the mix! 

And I've done park run!  Not such a good time at 36 minutes, but it was cold and raining so I'm happy with that. 

And my face avoided looking like a beet root at the end: 

An interview!

So today I've had an email inviting me to go for an interview for the next stage in my teacher training: School Direct.  Fingers crossed I will still have the knack of doing presentations and will wow them with my lesson plan.  Now just to find a book it poem to base the lesson on :) 

Ok so I have found it's year 1.  So D shouldn't be in the class.  

Advantage = I know most of them

Disadvantage = I know most of them!

Soap making

Not the most mouth watering?

Juggling balls

Well not literally but ..  

I was with a friend earlier today and had some really thought provoking conversations about my life, my career choices, irritating people I've had the displeasure of working with in the past. And just how much crap we all seem to burden upon us in this "post modern" world we're living in.  So here is my life in a nutshell.  Why I get up in the morning and what I do:

I have 2 boys and one of them has this lovely habit of waking me up usually around 6am.  Love him !  The elder one is a teen, he's also an Aspie. He loves science and maths. Hugely intelligent and wicked sense of humour. 

I work as a teaching assistant but what I am studying for one evening a week is a full BA honours degree in education. It's so interesting and the course is perfectly aligned to what I plan to do in the future. 

I work every day in a school - husband works from home so we're fortunate that neither of us has to face the awful M3 anymore. Did that for way too long!  I have gone from IT sales to teaching 4 year olds to read and write in the space of 2 and a half years. Something I had never thought about as a career when I was younger. Until ... Well that's another story. 

I love keeping in touch with friends from long ago. Even though we don't speak or see each other those people I've got back in touch with from school or other places I do really value their interest in my life (and their willingness to let me sneak into theirs and catch up through Facebook). Some of them I haven't seen since primary school but when you can have a chat on messenger after over 30 years. That's something pretty great. 

I absolutely love Mallorca.  I'm not embarrassed to say I've probably driven all over the island and been over 20 times.  It's a "if I won the lottery" destination for sure. 

I do erm take quite a lot of photos. Yep. Instagram, fb,  any excuse to snap one of my boys or perhaps my latest recipe. 

Messing around with retrica. Really what you can do with an iphone these days! I like black and white photography and taking pics of everyday objects and places which aren't usually captured. 

I'm a Cancerian so adore being at home. Unlike my Gemini sis, I like my own company and just pottering around the house making a few small improvements here or there with a coffee now and again is just heaven. 

I'm really not good with will power.  Enough said!   Something I plan to change in the near future so watch this space. All I will say is the little size 10 dress will be worn one day. Just need a 1920s flapper party to wear it to! 

I've done slimming world, dukan and the 5:2 but am crap at keeping it going! 

We aren't talking loads of pounds either. Just a little reduction here or there thank you very much.    Which brings me on to

Running !!  

That deserves a post all to itself .. Bye for now   X 

Ps. It's 5 weeks until Xmas. Eek !!  Haven't done any shopping :0 

Me

Hello!

So here I am. A blogger!  Well I do love to write and vent from time to time as well as take beautiful and interesting photographs of just about anything. Oh and then there's the travel too and the cooking, painting, diets and so on.
This being my first post I am a bit of a newbie. I'm sure I will get the hang of it though and the most important bit: it's not all on Facebook !