The Great Salford Swim

What a brilliant weekend with the Pixen/for the Pixen!!!!

She drove home because she had entered The Great Salford Swim, a mile swim in the Salford Quays.

"No walls, no lanes, no chlorine, just the great outdoors"

It was the first time Salford had hosted this event and it was very well organised, it had to be because there was a high number of entries too on account of the Great North swim in Lake Windermere being cancelled due to the prescence of blue algae.

Doesn't this water look inviting!?!!? (well it is nice and shiny) ...

...at 14 degrees wetsuits were compulsory. BRRRRRR!




She was raring to go...



...with toenails painted to match her wetsuit and a micro chip on her ankle to record her time (OMG OMG OMG she was so quick...)



They had a ten minute warm up (BRRRRR "warm up???") to acclimatise their bodies to the 14 degrees...



...then into line ready to swim the mile...




AND THEY'RE OFF!!!!!!! (OMG OMG OMG she was so quick!!!)






SHE WON!!!!!! She was the first of the blue hats home!!!
N.B. there were 150 blue hats!

Amazing swim, she lead most of the way. One mile swum in 24 minutes 22 seconds (and this, after 6 weeks of Summer in China and NO training!!!WOW!!)

As she came out of the water she was greeted by a camera and microphone!!!!

Channel 4 in November folks!!!






Out of over 2,000 swimmers she was 49th overall
In her age group she came 38th
Out of all the females, ALL THE FEMALES, 13th

OUT OF ALL THE BLUE HATS.......FIRST!!!!!!!!

BRILLIANT! Our daughter was in the top 50 whoop whoop!

Geocaching

Geocaching

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

What brilliant fun, AND I FOUND MY FIRST ONE!!



We had clues and hints that indicated a scroll of paper (on which to record your find) was hidden inside a cannon ball at the base of a tree at a nearby roundabout (OMG it was so exciting) so we took Sammie with us and the hunt began. "Stealth" was definitely required (though to be honest it just looked like I was picking up Sammie's dog mess)and YIPPEE I made my first find!!



Pixen wrote our name inside, it had been found previously 7 days ago, and then you log on to the website and record it there also.





Then I had to re-hide it!



This one was classed as fairly easy so we carried on walking to where we knew there was another geocache but this was far more tricky, in fact we spent over an hour grovelling under bushes and climbing up slopes to try and find it, reluctantly giving to defeat in the end. Pixen DID manage to collect some fresh conkers though, which will help to keep the spiders at bay.(One in each corner of your room and you will not see another spider)

I personally think some muggles must have moved this geocache, but when Pixen "GETS THE APP FOR THAT" I'll go back for another look!!



And Sammie had a great time, all those new smells and sniffs... we were out for 2 hours.



Meanwhile Husb was harvesting some of our magnificent/terrific/tremendous/superb garden produce!

YIPPEE!

Frannieeeeee's Birthday

A select few of the aqua crowd went out for a scrumdiddliumptious lunch

Frannieeee and Jude are such good company



Frannieeee and me



Ruth, Chrissie and Pat



Espe came too!!



Sheila has broken her ankle!! OMG!! I think she wanted some attention.



Charlotte, Tall Margaret and Fran were down my end of the table




Small Margaret and Frannieee

A month with Dad and his new eye

We had a great time. I think Dad would have stayed another month if we had twisted his arm! He came up in August when it was really warm and sunny and he spent a lot of time outside in the garden with my lovely Morrisons' fuschia.




He had a lot of fuss at cricket...



...including a bit of attention from Daisy...





He enjoyed watching crown green bowls in the local park while I walked Sammie...




He was very good at washing up though I couldn't find anything when he had finished, it was like a game of hide and seek, especially cutlery, it was most amusing.



SPOT THE GG! (click pic!) I safely deposited the Geoffers on a bench at the woolly cows and then Sammie and I had a game of stick.



I even managed an hour at the Races, whoop whoop!! Well it would have been rude (translated as "I couldn't resist") the offer of a prime parking spot on the historic Chester Walls overlooking the Roodee...(cheers Di)



I'd never seen the Roodee so quiet. This was an extra meeting and a daytime meeting too... on a Friday...so it wasn't surprising ...




Before Dad went home he had the honour of judging the flowerbeds at the Cricket Club... is is usually left to me to decide the winner. This was the winning tub.



We loved having him even though we played musical-beds-swap. He developed a taste for tea ("Cup of tea Dad?" "Haven't we just had one?... go on then")and tried to be SO helpful ("Dad I'm just going to give my car a quick wash" "I'll do that for you" WHAAAT???!) He loved his food. ("Have you got enough gravy Dad? There's more but I didn't want to drown it" "DROWN IT!") and he obviously enjoyed being with us ("Right, when are you coming again, Dad?" "Tomorrow" !!)

Bless. We love him so much.

Fantastic Food

First of 7 courses....my favourite...BEETROOT (cute)



Claire had always wanted to eat a Copenhagen



Yes we went to afternoon tea

This was after scones, crumpets and/or toasted teacakes.



Liquorice in Venice!



However this was what I had at the chocoholics buffet



One of my cocktails



HOW many puddings Claire???
These Irish girls were such a bad influence!! Minaz and Jaisen nearly had a stroke when they asked for extra pudding. Well to be fair it was a hard choice.



We couldn't manage all the daily cabin biscuits. Just as well Mr Customs Man didn't stop me, he'd have had a surprise if he saw this collection!



Its no wonder my zip was a bit challenged.....Al Gobbo indeed.