Snippets from March - Part 1

1 March

It was time for Phase 2 of Project Go Blue. When the dye failed to alter the colour of my hair the previous week I decided the only way I could achieve blue hair was to bleach it first, so I ordered the necessary supplies and turned our bathroom into a hair salon for the second time. This is how it went:

The bottom right is not blue dye but the 'anti-brassiness' conditioner that concludes the bleaching process.

Hmmm. Rather more yellow/orangish than the 'before' and 'after' comparisons shown on the box for my starting hair colour. I could probably have immediately gone in with the blue dye, but decided to stick with the yellow look for a few days first.

6 March

Not a single snap was taken 2-5 March, but on the 6th two things happened:

1) Mick & I started the day with a 16.5-mile run/walk. This time it wasn't frozen ground that made the cross-country portions tolerable (although it was a cold start to the day), but the fact that we'd not had a drop of rain during the preceding week, causing the mud to firm up to acceptable levels. 

2) I embarked on Phase 3 of Project Go Blue. On the plus side, the dye did take this time. Also on the plus side, I learnt quite a bit about dying hair (not that I've any intention of applying that new knowledge in the future!). On the downside, the learning experience came from having made a really bad job of the process. The result was a declaration that I would be wearing a hat for the next few weeks.

Top: Dye applied, waiting for 30 minutes. Bottom: after, sporting various shades of mottled blue. 

As a random bit of trivia, this day was the first time since the end of May 2019 that I used shampoo on my hair. Thanks to a continued use of shampoo over the next few days, the dye (which was only semi-permanent) soon started to fade and is now barely noticeable.

9 March

I didn't recognise this view and had to take a look at my running log to see where I'd been that day. The answer was that I did hill reps, and this view is at the top of the hill. When I say 'hill' this is the biggest incline we have nearby and it amounts to just under 20m of ascent in around 200m of linear distance. Perhaps I don't usually look at the view looking right from the top because I'm too busy gasping?

Later in the day we tackled a task that was long overdue. Back in early November I bought some Flotex flooring for Erica, but by the time it arrived we had decamped to Halifax to look after Ma-in-Law. We did spend some time at home in December and had plenty of time in January and February, but the weather was either really cold or wet (or sometimes both) and neither condition was conducive to spending time outside nor traipsing in and out of the house. Finally on 9 March I decided the roll of carpet had sat in the dining room for long enough:

Template for the cab made and traced around (the rear was simple enough not to need a template)

Cutting

Ta da! After 6 months of bare OSB in the back, and bare car-floor in the front, I was mightily pleased with the end result:

12 March

Forgot to take a snap before I'd cut it up and we'd eaten some of it

Looks a nice frosted chocolate cake, doesn't it? For the fat ingredient it contains a whole avocado. For the sweetness it contains bananas. The main ingredient in the frosting is tofu. Yep, this is the most ridiculously healthy 'chocolate cake'. "Tastes a bit odd, don't you think?" was Mick's opinion on the first day. On the second day he requested a different dessert. I've been ploughing on through it and think it has improved with age. 

13 March

The water in the ponds is dropping but very slowly. After two largely-dry weeks it was still completely covering the path, which lies just in front of the sign and the trees. 

You may notice it's a bit choppy. I'd switched Saturday's run and Sunday's walk in view of the strong winds and forecast rain. About ten minutes after I took this snap I got caught in comedy wind-driven rain.

14 March

A much nicer morning! Mick and I set out together, but about 2 minutes later I bade him farewell and broke into a trot. We were both to be covering 16.8 miles, but at different speeds and on slightly different routes (in view of Mick's history of injury, he's taking a conservative walk/run approach). 

About 12.75 miles through my route I saw someone up ahead, but it wasn't until about a quarter of a mile later that I realised it was Mick. Having caught up with him, I walked a bit I should have been running, then he ran a bit he should have been walking and thus we spent about five minutes together before I went on ahead, just before where I was going to veer back off his route anyway. It was nice to have an unexpected bit of company (unexpected because I'd not considered distances, relative speeds and the possibility of bumping into each other).

15 March

Bertie's turn for new carpet! We'd bought enough Flotex to do both Erica and Bertie, as it seemed unfair for Erica to get a shiny new floor and Bertie to be left with mis-matched old cheap scraps. I'm rather impressed with the job we did in Bertie too. Here are the 'after' snaps:

I failed to take any before photos and have had to search at length to find some old snaps that show bits of the floor:

The cheap beige runner that we put in the kitchen as a temporary measure in the spring of 2017. This snap was taken before the Hymer dealer spilt some glue on it (about which we didn't make a fuss because it was a temporary £7 runner that was certainly not still going to be in place 4 years later...)

The blue Flotex that lined the cab and of which we had a couple of loose squares in the living area (not sure where they were when this snap was taken).