One Week of Kettle Bells

So after the aches of the tutorial died down I decided it was time to get on with it and start to attempt to do a the suggested kettle bell workout.

Well, the DVD has 3 workouts on it, a full body workout at about an hour. An express workout at about half an hour and then an 8 minute Abs programme. They suggest a timetable for beginners, intermediate and advanced with different workouts on different days and either one or two rest days.

Fortunately they do also say that the timetable is a guideline and you can adjust according to lifestyle and time. One week in and Iv'e managed 5 days out of 7 but the rest days were not the suggested ones or together. I've also managed to try all 3 workouts, usually I just have time for the express workout but have managed the full body workout once and also the 8 minutes of intense Abs exercises.

One week on and while I can tell I have been exercising it's more a warm glow with a slight stiffness in some muscles rather than the chronic pain you get after doing too much DIY or gardening in one day.

I have not instantly been transformed into a goddess or lost all the excess weight but I feel better in myself and enjoy the workouts. I still cannot keep up with the super-fit ladies in the DVD but I can keep up with them for longer now than I could a week ago.

One thing that is not covered in the DVD is how to follow the exercises when you have pets.

Hilda is convinced that I am going to throw the big orange ball for her and insists on standing or sitting close by ready for when I do let go of it. When it comes to the floor exercises she thinks I must be feeling tired (she's not far off the mark) and about to take a nap so brings me some toys to keep me company before lying down next to me.

Linus also joins in the floor exercises either sitting on my stomach or walking under bits of me when you do exercises that involve lifting bits of you off the floor.

So raising and lowering legs, hips or arms is not consistent, they go to different levels depending on which animal is wandering around or if you suddenly get another soft toy dumped on you by a well meaning dog. I am sure it's all part of the experience.

What I did in my Holidays

I am just starting to put the finishing touches to the plan for this years main camping trip and have realised I never wrote about last years trip. I wrote about some off days out and about but not our week on a slightly remote island.

Last year I booked a couple of weeks off work at the beginning of May with the idea that we would go camping. I have always wanted to visit the Giant Causeway but the Scottish end appealed to me more than the Irish one did. So after some research I decided on Mull as our destination. Ferries and campsites got booked, the car got packed and on a slightly grey morning we set off.

We took things nice and steady and stopped off at Sallochy Campsite on the shores of Loch Lomand on the way up for an overnight stop (after successfully navigating round the Glasgow by-pass roadworks & diversions). Then the next day it was on to Oban to catch a ferry over to Mull then a drive across the island to Fidden and the campsite that is part of the farm.

The next 5 days were lovely and relaxing and spent walking and exploring and we did fit in an excursion to Fingals Cave on the tiny island of Staffa. Sadly the stay came to an end far too quickly and once more we made our way across the island to catch the ferry to the mainland. This time we avoided Glasgow and it's roadworks and made our way over towards Edinburgh and Linwater Campsite where we had an overnight stop on our way home.

We both had a fabulous time, from the tent we were about 25 paces from a lovely white sand beach which looked out towards Iona where we could watch the sun set every evening. Lots of photos were taken, mostly of the huge variety of wildlife that surrounded us. The only two things that we saw that I didn't manage to get photos of were a cuckoo and a nightjar.

If you are interested in seeing any of the photos click here Hannah & Hilda's May 2016 Scotland Camping Trip Photos

wiggle wiggle wiggle

When Hilda turned one we started doing agility. I had wanted to go to the fun agility classes but they were on at a time when I am at work so we ended up going to the competitive classes.

I enjoy going to agility but compared to Hilda my enthusiasm is just a passing interest, she loves it. We have advanced to the point where, after a year's worth of classes, she could do all the pieces of equipment including the weaves!

Hilda practising weaving in the local park

So in December last year we were talked into entering a competition, we had a great time but were eliminated in all four of our runs, the same happened at a competition at the start of April this year. But I don't care it's great fun and a certain hairy little girl thoroughly enjoys herself and that is the most important thing.

But having said that it would be nice to get round without getting eliminated.

At the end of April we achieved this! We got 3 eliminations but one run where we made it round and just picked up 5 faults.

Next challenge get round without getting eliminated and without picking up any faults.