Tag: reading

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Happy Hallowe’en to you all! 🎃🕸

How was your weekend? Any parties? We had Tarbert Book Festival, and we enjoyed it with my bestie Pauline, Gavin, Olivia and Christopher. We had a great natter and catch up on Friday night, followed by a couple of very interesting sessions on Saturday. Early afternoon we enjoyed Janice Galloway’s talk about her latest book, Jellyfish. She was very honest, forthright and thought provoking, as well as being a wonderful reader:  Our next session was in the Anchor Hotel and was a Date with Death, about historical crime fiction by Shirley McKay:  Listening to authors describing their work, how they craft their stories and how their books come to life is fascinating. 

We had a meal at the Anchor, which was delicious, before heading back home for our own book group. Gavin had chosen Robert Harris’ new book, Conclave, which we all read in advance so that we could discuss it. I loved that we took the Festival weekend a step further for ourselves, and after a few glasses of wine we had plenty to talk about! 

On Sunday we had yet another lovely lunch at the George Hotel in Inveraray. The fires were lit and the food was as amazing as it usually is. 

Tonight, Body Conditioning was cancelled; and Pound is cancelled tomorrow night:( so I’ll need to work extra hard on Wednesday and Thursday nights. This Friday is the first of the new Salsa classes, I can’t wait!

Here’s a little motivation to start the week:  Have a good week! 

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 13 Comments

Hello, my lovelies, did you have a lovely time over the festive period? I did. It was wonderful. I’ve done lots of relaxing, eating and some walking – but no running or classes at all. That changes tonight. Eek!

I’m back into my proper routine, with all of the treats and temptations firmly out of the kitchen. I have a healthy version of a turkey curry bubbling away in the slow cooker, and I’m ready to work hard at tonight’s Clubbercise class. Bring it on!

I’ve been thoroughly spoiled with lovely gifts over Christmas- including tickets for @TheWelshWookie and I to visit Harry Potter Studios, and I am so excited! I’m planning on making the absolute most of it, so in anticipation we have begun re-watching the movies and re-reading the books. We started on Saturday morning, and we’ve watched the first four films and I’ve read the first four books. It’s been years since I read them all, and I’m loving rediscovering the details I had long forgotten, or missed first time around. Like this:  

 and this:  

 So before I throw myself back into a routine, I’m pausing to think about what new challenges I can take on. As JK Rowling tells us:  

Have a wonderful week!

Monday Motivation 

Monday Motivation 

by TartanJogger ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hello! A happy St. Andrew’s day to you!

Have you had a good week? Mine has been great. We had Joe, Stacey and Ryan here, celebrating Tarbert Book Festival with us. It was such brilliant fun! On Saturday morning, Ryan and @TheWelshWookie had a comic masterclass with Kev F, who draws for the Beano, the Dandy and Marvel comics, amongst others. As ever, Ryan ended up inadvertently volunteering to help: 

  And he was also responsible for the interesting title of the comic:  

 Yes, it really was called Space Aliens that Invaded the Earth Only So they Could Eat All the Bacon 😮

In the afternoon, Joe, Stacey and I had a reading and discussion session with Linda Cracknell and her book Doubling Back: Ten Paths Trodden in Memory. It was very interesting.

We had a lovely meal at The Anchor Hotel, and rounded off the evening with wine, movies and games 🙂

We then put the Christmas deccies up on Sunday, and so I’m feeling very festive!

Tonight was a fab Clubbercise class, after it was cancelled last week. I thoroughly enjoyed it. So did our newest class member- a giant helium balloon shaped like a Bride- stuck in the ceiling of the village hall 🙂 

 Here’s something positive to start a fresh, new week, especially when life seems so busy at this time of year:

 

World Book Day

World Book Day

by TartanJogger ♥ 5 Comments

*Non running post alert*

Bookworm. Readaholic. Geek.

Yup, as I child I’d heard them all. You could always find me with my nose in a book, and often still can.

Memories of squinting in the sun, or reading in bed until the letters were almost illegible as darkness fell and they blended into the page itself. Sometimes sneaking a torch and reading under the covers.

Why did we not have a World Book Day then?

Fortunately , we do now. It gives folks like me a chance to reminisce a little. And if I could dress up as a character from one of my favourites, I’d struggle to choose. Here are some of my favourites:

These are all covers I remember well. What are your childhood favourites?

Cleanin’, Eatin’, Readin’

Cleanin’, Eatin’, Readin’

by TartanJogger ♥ 26 Comments

That just about sums up my Saturday!

@TheWelshWookie and I got stuck in to domestic duties this morning, with a spring clean of the living room and bathroom. I’m pleased to report that I have sparking surfaces, and TheWookie managed, at long last, to rid the carpet of the large wax stain caused by a slight candle meltdown incident a while back 😉

We were finished in time to enjoy some lunch before the beginning of the Six Nations rugby. I had some vegetable biryani: delish!

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As I’m sure you can tell by his twitter handle, @TheWelshWookie feels rather strongly about Welsh rugby 😉 So, while he was glued to the TV, I half watched, and spent the afternoon catching up on the past couple of month’s Women’s Running and Women’s Health magazines. I had already had a quick scan through these, but it’s lovely to have time to sit, mug of tea in hand, and really read them.

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I also had a slice of my grandma’s Jock’s Loaf:

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It is amazing!

There’s a couple of interesting articles in them, I thought I’d share:

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Tonight, we’re having some lovely salmon for dinner, and perhaps a glass of vino. Well, a girl’s got to fortify herself to finish the spring cleaning: tomorrow, it’s the turn of the bedrooms 😉

When was the last time you had some quiet reading time? What did you read?

Tuesday’s To-Do List

Tuesday’s To-Do List

by TartanJogger ♥ 14 Comments

Tonight, I’m not running. I’m having a rest day.

funny-panda

Instead, I have several other things on the go:

1. I have a new copy of Women’s Running to enjoy!

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2. I have some Christmas cross stitch projects that I’ve only just started: I’m running late with these 😮

3. I have Steven King’s Doctor Sleep to finish reading.

4. I have Spanish revision to do.

I took a beginner’s Spanish class in the spring, and I recently received notification that they are running a ‘post-beginners’ class. Naturally, I signed up! It is conducted by video conference, so I travel to Argyll College in Lochgilphead where I am linked in with students from Campbeltown, Oban, Dunoon and Rothesay. It’s an interesting way to learn! So, this evening I’m dusting off my notes from the beginner’s course, and practicing my basic pronunciation.

Any help or tips on learning the lingo are appreciated! 😉