Run - last run in the dark

Hurrah! Now the clocks have changed, our evening runs after Easter should be in the light, or at least the twilight. I love the first runs of late spring / early summer, especially as the bluebells will be blooming and we might catch a sunset every so often.

But back to this evening's run - a lovely 6 miles with my running group, including a decent amount of tempo running - with another mile from running to and from our meeting place, so 7 miles altogether. Apart from 8-10 miles at the weekend, all my runs this week and next week will be around 4 miles. Except for the 12th April, when hopefully the trainers in the photo will look after me for 26 miles.

Cook - kale crisps, a revelation

Who would have thought sticking a load of kale in the oven for 20 minutes could have such a delicious result?

I had Kale Crisps from Pret the other day and thought it must be possible to replicate them at home, so I found this recipe for Kale Crisps on the BBC Good Food website and followed it exactly.  They were awsome! I say 'were' because they've been devoured by myself and my middle child (just hoping eldest doesn't see the evidence or we're in trouble for not leaving any). The ras el hanout adds just enough spiciness, and I sprinkled a bit of salt on too.  They were as simple as anything to make (I particularly enjoyed massaging the oil in!). I'll be be making them again very very soon.

Craft - nearly a blanket

I am very excited as I have nearly finished my first blanket.  This is the second one I've started - the other is still very much a work in progress. But this - my 'travel' project which I started last year to give me something to do on holiday, is very very near completion.

Just a few more rows of the border, then a light steam, and it's done.  I will attempt to take some artfully styled photos once it's finished. And give full details of what I did (if I can remember).

Run - spotted

My run today was hard, heavy-legged plodding. I had to keep reminding myself that I felt like this a couple of weeks ago and then had a great long run this week - better to get the bad runs out of the way now. One of the reasons it was so hard was due to running solo - I love running with others because its so social, and the chat is a welcome distraction from thinking about how heavy my legs are, or wondering if I need to stop for a wee.

But running alone does have the advantage of being able to stop where I like, especially if I see something worth photographing.  These lovely little flowers (I think they're dog violets) were hidden among the foliage at the side of the path I was running down - I was very pleased to have spotted them (not just for their distraction qualities).

Craft - a bit more blanket

An hour or so of gentle crochet feels like the ideal way to recover after a day of walking around London - the mega-stripy blanket is progressing, albeit slowly (this is the last stripe on the main section - hurrah!)

Craft - a new project bag

Oh dear.  I seem to have made plans to start another blanket - the Stylecraft Lily Pond crochet-a-long. In the helpful 'getting ready' instructions we're told that we really must have a project bag to keep everything in - so it was very lucky that I saw this beauty when I was shopping today.

I love these Orla Keily bags from Tesco (and I must have bought around 15 of them over several years and they're all still in good condition and in use). They are cheap (around £4) sturdy, a brilliant size for shopping / carting around sports stuff / beach use / craft projects, and most importantly of all they are very beautiful. My lovely bag is now getting slowly filled with the yarn I'll be using (Stylecraft Special)  - the CAL starts in a couple of weeks and I already have most of the colours, but I may need to do a spot of yarn buying ...

Read - Elizabeth is missing (#4/52)

The best description I've seen of Elizabeth is missing by Emma Healey is 'unsettling'. Not because of the mystery surrounding the missing Elizabeth, or the mystery of the disappearance of Sukey, sister of Maud (the main character), but because of the way the author imagines how it is to live with dementia and have fluctuating memory capacity. Maud is an extremely sympathetic character but at the same time is infuriating, spiteful and tiresome, especially for her loving but long-suffering daughter. Dementia as depicted in this novel - and who knows how realistic it is - is a truly terrible illness.

I think this is definitely a book worth reading and it would be good for a book group (although it's not on either of my book club lists currently - I need to crack on with books I'm actually supposed to be reading).