Good evening and welcome to my latest weekly blog episode. After a week of miserable weather, hasn’t it been nice to see the sunshine today? Dare I suggest it got a bit warm a bit quick? No, okay, weather chat over!
While I started my 30-minutes a day writing habit by posting four posts in eight days, it’s now been a week since I published anything. Don’t worry, I haven’t fallen off the writing wagon again – it’s much simpler than that. I ran out of drafts! The promise I made to myself was to write a little something every day, not publish three posts every week, and so I’m good. All good.
This last week has been very busy (again), including a lovely weekend away with family, as well as a bunch of rubbish adulting tasks, and so my daily writing time really has been kept to that 30-minute minimum I set. It’s also mostly been done on my phone in between other things. Earlier this week I realised I have started no fewer than five different blog posts, plotting out headings and adding sentences here and there – and while that’s great and will stand me in good stead over the coming weeks, it’s not exactly focused.
You’re therefore getting two weekly blog posts in a row (and I am writing this assuming it’ll go up sometime on Thursday). In this episode I’m going to bring things right up to date with some chatter about my toe, my eyes, a very British barbecue, my swanky new International Driving Permit (oooo), a meal out, and a very large delivery from adidas.
That Broken Toe
Let’s start with a toe update. I’m very pleased to report that it’s healing, I’m sure of it. The bruising and swelling did get worse for a while, but it’s going down now and it’s much (much) less painful to walk. I had it taped up most days until yesterday, and have been following RICE like a good patient.
Last week I did think I’d be back out as if nothing had happened by now, happily doing brisk lunchtime walks and even short jogs. I’m not completely sedentary, I can’t be, but I’m a little way off being back to normal still. I was meant to be off work today and tomorrow on a little summertime camping and hiking adventure, but I cancelled that leave and will go another time – there’s no way I’m putting my heavy hiking boots anywhere near my toe just yet!
I have at least been able to put on a different pair of shoes, which is a start. I’ve relied on my very light and quite wide new adidas Terrex Voyager trainers (more on those a little bit further down this weekly blog) a lot this last week!
A Very Lazy Eye
Eye tests always fill me with dread. I never fail to go in without very sweaty palms and a raised heart rate. But after an hour uncomfortably sitting in a green leatherette high-backed chair being studied (and prodded) last week, I once again got the ‘all is well’. No, I can’t see much out of my left eye – just the biggest letter on the screen, that’s never going to get any better, but my right eye and brain are doing a pretty good job at making up for it. Long may that continue!
The best comment of the afternoon, though, was this:
“Well they certainly left you with a lazy eye… but it’s a very accurate lazy eye.”
I’ll take that. Those doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital did indeed leave me with a lazy eye – but at least it mostly points in the right direction, and I can see plenty well enough to enjoy life. I will forever be incredibly grateful to those who looked after me and my eyes in my early years, as without them my story today might be a very different one.
Way back in the early days of Splodz Blogz I did a tandem skydive to raise money for the RNIB. I’ve been thinking I should perhaps come up with another fundraising challenge for them and the Moorfields Eye Charity. Any ideas?
The Internet Made Me Try It
We were in Surrey this weekend spending time with family. We headed over on Friday evening for a barbecue on the Saturday – and what a very British barbecue it was. Yes, heavy rain, all day. Lovely.
We still went ahead, of course. The barbecue was dutifully set up close to the back door, with a summer parasol providing some shelter to the flames and our designated chef (my brother-in-law). What a shame we couldn’t spend the day in the garden, but we still had a good time catching up and eating like Kings. Our meat came from Mountain’s – who make the absolute best Lincolnshire sausages.
The ‘internet made me try it’ moment came thanks to a packet of Haribo that was shared around. Apparently, if you melt cola bottles (the pick and mix sweet) onto a burger on a barbecue it makes for a taste sensation… so it had to be done. I was definitely game and was happy to encourage my brother-in-law in the experiment.
The melted sweets turned into a super sticky and sweet glaze with a tangy cola flavour – it was absolutely delicious. Terrible for me, but oh so tasty! I’m not about to melt cola bottles on every burger I eat or anything, but I wouldn’t be against having it again.
Go on, what has the internet made you try?
A Short Ride to Chartwell
We finished off our weekend away with a short ride over to Chartwell on Sunday morning. We’ve not explored Surrey and Kent much on our bikes, we have tended to visit by car because our visits have been short and based on spending time with family. But this time we decided to travel by motorbike so we could go for a ride with my brother-in-law.
Chartwell was the family home of Sir Winston Churchill. It’s a National Trust property, but you can park up and get to the café and toilets without needing an entry ticket.
I’ve always imagined this part of the country to be super busy – I mean, you’re skirting around the bottom of the M25 here so it’s going to be. The ride there and back was along some lovely winding country lanes, and while not far, was a lovely introduction to road tripping in the area.
International Driving Permit
While I’m talking about motorcycling, did I tell you I’ve now got my International Driving Permit? I mentioned in last week’s blog that I’m looking forward to riding my F650GS to Morocco and back later this year, and in order to legally ride in northern Africa, one of these permits is needed.
For something that sounds so official it was very easy indeed to get – which is a change from the usual paperwork bureaucracy we normally face here in the UK. I rocked up at the Post Office with my driving licence, passport, photo and the £5.50 fee, and the cashier was able to make my permit while I waited.
And I mean ‘make’. She sat there with scissors and a glue stick, doing a little official craft project for me. She seemed to be having a lovely time, I was glad to give her a moment of creative calm in her day of changing money and selling postage!
So I’m all official, or as much as I can be. I’m a bit concerned the stamp across my photo is very smudged, but hope that won’t matter if and when I have to show my permit in Morocco.
The Beefy Boys
You know how much I love a burger (with or without cola bottles…), and so won’t be surprised that our most recent meal out of choice was to a local burger restaurant. The Beefy Boys have been open in Cheltenham for around six months now – we went to their soft launch back in February and had a great meal (it was part of their training programme for the new staff and food was on offer), and decided a return visit was long overdue.
We managed to pick the week after their starring role in Tom Kerridge’s new BBC television documentary series, The Hidden World of Hospitality. We caught the start of the programme when it was repeated late Friday night, but haven’t watched it all so I’m not really sure if it was good for the restaurant or not!
Our burgers – I had The OG Boy and my husband had The Blue Boy – were incredibly tasty. We both went for Oklahoma style, which are onion smashed patties. We also had the poutine fries, which were fabulous, and plenty enough to share.
Dripping in Grease
But be warned, these burgers are SO greasy! The buns were just dripping in oil and burger fat, meaning after a couple of bites it’s a use-a-knife-and-fork situation. You know it’s meant to be that way as they provide a whole roll of kitchen paper on each table instead of one or two paper napkins, but know the grease is real, and you will get in a mess!
The only real downside, once you’ve wiped the burger juice from your face and hands, is the price. We spent £44 on two burgers, the loaded fries, and two Vimtos (refillable). I wouldn’t say it’s too expensive for what you get, it feels about right for the quality of the food and the service provided, but it is not a cheap eat – this isn’t a fast-food restaurant to be compared with other burger places. An occasional treat (as such gluttonous food should be, anyway), rather than a regular staple!
I’d highly recommend The Beefy Boys, but you will need to book ahead. It was rammed, even on a Monday night – the team were rushed off their feet and turned quite a few people away while we were in there. I imagine some of that was due to the television feature, but I know it’s a hugely popular place anyway.
I really should have taken a photo of my meal, but it’s been years since I considered myself playing in the world of food blogging, and I didn’t think about it until it was too late!
In the Mail
A Massive Adidas Delivery
The nature of my 2023 collaboration with adidas means that I occasionally get to choose a bunch of gear from the adidas website courtesy of gift vouchers from the team. This relationship with adidas is making me very happy, I know that probably is far too materialistic for some, but I love it!
This time around I went practical.
Knowing that the trainers I currently pack when motorcycle road tripping are a wear or two away from having a hole in the sole, I chose the Terrex Voyager 21 travel shoes. These are marketed as travel shoes because of their light weight. I think I was hoping for something that would squish down almost flat, which they don’t really do, but they will pack well and will be perfect as the one pair of shoes I’ll take on that trip. They are incredibly comfortable, have a grippy sole and, given the generous width around the toe box, have been the only pair of shoes I’ve been able to wear with my broken toe.
Also thinking of travel, I chose a pair of slides (actually these are for my husband, he’s been wearing mine far too much for my liking!), and a pair of flip flops. The latter will be my replacement shower shoes. And yes, I had my name put on them!
I also wanted a new pair of running trainers, this time for the pavement. I chose the Runfalcon 3 Tr shoes. These are a pretty basic running shoe, but I like that they are unfussy and have a classic look and feel. I also love the olive green colour. They aren’t as comfortable as the trainers I featured in my Couch to 5k post last autumn, but they are perfect for my three jogs a week.
Stretching for Hikers
These are all pictured on my new exercise mat, which I bought because I really should stop doing all my at-home exercise and stretching on the carpet in the lounge. This is a lovely thin 5mm yoga mat which I hope will be the only one I ever need. This will inspire my next adidas-focused blog post, which will be all about stretching for hikers.
Also received the brand new Terrex Free Hiker 2.0 Low Gore-Tex hiking shoes last week as an extra gift from adidas (yes, three new pairs of trainers in one go, I am quite the trainer girl. Just released, this latest iteration in the Free Hiker family are designed for short hikes and multi-day treks. The idea is that adidas have paired the lightweight feel of a trail runner with the stability of a hiking boot, and made them waterproof. I’m looking forward to giving these a really good test over the next few weeks – when my toe is healed, that is. There will be a review later in the year.
Now then, I have enough left on my voucher for something else and I’m undecided… Should I get the very nice looking but super practical Terrex Tracerocker 2.0 trail running shoes in the ‘semi flash aqua’ (mint green!) for running and walking? Or… should I get the classic Forum Bold shoes with red and yellow stripes because I want to relive my teenage years and have a non-outdoorsy-option to wear with jeans? What do you think?
Did I mention I am addicted to shoes?!!! It’s okay, I’m not proud.
See You Next Time
It’s getting late and I really would like to publish this blog today, so I’m going to stop my ramblings there, go and take a photo of all those trainers, and get things ready to post. I hope you’ve enjoyed this update. Do drop me a comment in the box below to let me know whether you’ve ever been tempted by weird food concoctions… And I’ll see you next time!
Buy Me a Cuppa?
If you enjoyed this weekly blog episode and fancy supporting me and my mini adventures this year, you can “buy me a coffee” for £3 (well, a cup of tea, if that’s okay?). Head over to Ko-fi to find out more. Thank you.
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