Bank holiday, friends, Olly Murs and Robin Hood! A new princess!

Hello again!

I know, I know, I typically blog on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but I have had some friends staying here this weekend for the bank holiday weekend (which for one of my friends included yesterday). I've also decided to add Sunday blogs too (The beauty bit) starting this Sunday!

So.... Bank holiday, what did I get up to?

On Thurdsay (April 30th) my friend, Serena drove from Milton Keynes to my house because we had tickets to go and see Olly Murs "Never Been Better" tour on Friday and she wanted to be here so she could have a slow get up take time getting ready. We didn't stay up late on Thursday because we knew that Friday would be a late night.

On Friday I found it so difficult to wake up (11am!) my other friend was en route from Cambridge to come for the concert. She arrived at my house at lunch time and we all went into my spare room/dressing room to get ready. I planned to cook an early meal for us before the concert because of travel and timings. I figured that a pasta bake would be the best bet because I could shove it in the oven and leave it to cook while I continued to get ready. Everything went like clockwork and come 4pm we were ready to head to the tram station.

Without giving too much away about the concert (because you can read and see it all on my blog coming up on Friday) it was AMAZING!! Ella Eyre who was supporting sang as if she was singing for her life with how on point she was. I tweeted her telling her how amazing she sounded and she "favourited" it! Buzzing! As for Olly, he was freaking crazy good! Ok, ok! Here you go! A sneaky peak from the concert.




All of these pictures are my own. If you intend to use them elsewhere please contact me for permission, thanks.

I was blown away! I'm not a complete Olly Murs junkie or crazy ass fan like some of the girls that were there but to look at, YES he's pretty fine and he can SIIIIING! live, he's amazing. He's got the mooooves! Stage presence, voice, looks... he has the package and I am a fan, I am just not one of "those" fans that I think are a bit creepy... y'know, the type that would literally pull him off the stage given half a chance. Yes I'd love to chat with him and have a jam session on the piano but not jump all over him - let's face it I'm a married woman and I have a brain condition lol - gotta keep it real haha. Saying that, when he laid over the white grand piano I was a little speechless and probably had the biggest smile on my face hahaha. HOT HOT HOT!!!! lol. Seriously, read my post on Friday - It will ALL be there!

Ok, *SNAP* I'm awake again - We were all absolutely shattered on Saturday so by the time it got to lunch time, we were just starting breakfast! After brunch we headed into chesterfield to find one of my friends an outfit for a hen do that she's going to. We had already booked to go to the red hot buffet in the evening so we didn't have too long to shop before we had to come home and get ready for the evening meal. Saturday was quite chilled and rather short really. My family came with us for the meal out so it felt a bit like an unofficial celebration.. Well I guess we can call it a celebration of a new princess as The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. Charlotte Elizabeth Diana - what a beautiful, regal name for a Royal baby.

Laura left shortly after breakfast (which again, was more of a brunch) on Sunday. I love how relaxed my friends are when it comes to timings. It takes me a while to "get going" in a morning and quite often it's not until quite late in the morning until I'm functioning in a recognisable human like way. They just go with the flow and have helped so, so much this weekend with washing pots and going at my pace. Love those girls so much! Dan took me and Serena into town so we could have a little beauty trip to TK Maxx... That might seem strange that I say beauty at TK Maxx but recently I have found some lovely little bargains in there. On this trip I got a two faced lipstick which I love, love, LOVE and another Ciate nail polish... I will probably blog about my TK Maxx beauty finds soon! you can get some really good stuff if you know where to look! I also got the cutest little organiser that I'm going to use for my blog posts. It's a folder style weekly organiser with post-it type sticky notes to put on and completely satisfies my inner stationery geek.

We went to see the new Avengers movie (Our way to treat Dan for putting up with a full on girly fest all weekend). I really enjoyed it... much more than I thought I would! It has made me want to watch all of the other Marvel movies! I really wasn't that into the idea at first but I am completely converted! My favourite is Iron Man but that said, if I could create my very own I would combine Thor and Iron Man - ultimate eye candy/hero combination haha. Who is your favourite? Who would you combine to make your perfect superhero?

Yesterday, (Bank holiday Monday) was a glorious sunny day so we took Serena to one of our local attractions - The Major Oak. Anyone familiar with the story, the legend, the films surrounding Robin Hood will know about the Major Oak. Serena has been coming to Mansfield for 11 years and I have never taken her to the big tree!!! She absolutely loves fairy tales and legend stories so it just had to be done on such a glorious day. (Plus she put in a request if the weather was nice). The signs say it's about a 20minute walk from the visitor centre but I don't think it took us that long to get there. It was a lovely walk. Serena was fascinated by the carvings that had been done out of felled / fallen trees along the path. I haven't been to the centre for a while (I think it's one of those things when it's on your doorstep you overlook it so to speak). It hasn't changed too much but the tree is held up more than it used to be.

Me and Serena and a big ol' Oak Tree (it's only taken me 11 years to take her there)!

Whilst we were waiting for ice cream I noticed that Serena was wearing her arrow earrings - very apt for the occasion!

 After an ice cream stop (and lots of photos), we got in the car and headed to Matlock Bath for a chippy tea. I think everyone had the same idea yesterday. We managed to get parked (eventually) and our tea in one of the fish and chip restaurants followed by a walk along the river being entertained by a group of teenagers who had hired row boats out! They were having a girls 'v' boys race and the girls were either going in circles or crashing into the river bank. The boys, on the other hand were having a competition of there own of who has the bigger muscles! It was rather funny.

 

I wanted to show Serena Bakewell on the way home but there was no parking so we just headed home. The traffic was horrendous so pretty much as soon as we got back to our house Serena had to head back to Milton Keynes.

Dan and I curled up on the settee and watched Iron Man to end a crazy bank holiday weekend. I was absolutely shattered but it has been heaps of fun with some of my favourite people on this planet!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend wherever you are in the world. What have you been up to? Leave me a comment with the most fun thing you have done this weekend.

Please don't forget to add me on Twitter: @hangoldendaff and Instagram: littlegoldendaffodil
you can also find Serena on Instagram: serenacharlotte86

Love and Hugs.

The Milk Race 2014

Hello again!

I am sorry it's taken me just over a week to write this blog and get it up but I have had hospital appointments and all sorts of things keeping me busy that it has taken until today to finally put the photos on my computer and sort the blog out. So here it is!

Please do not be fooled by the title of this blog. I have not taken up some crazy "run around a field chasing cows and trying to milk them" kind of thing. Hmm, in a cartoon that would be quite funny but definitely not something I would consider in real life! The milk race doesn't REALLY involve racing with milk at all... There was a lot of free milk/milkshake/fruit juices (errrrm, yep there was apple and orange juice) and basically a lot of dairy based products. This is because the milk race is actually a cycling race that is supported/sponsored by the dairy council. You can read about its history here.

So basically, in a nutshell, after many years of there not being a race, it was decided that there will be a new format and it will be held in Nottingham! It was a big success and the organisers and sponsors decided to do it again this year. Now, I am married to a bit of a cycle fan - He was always into bikes when we were at school and basically he has never lost interest in mountain bikes and more recently has got into (and is VERY good at) road cycling. Just yesterday he went on a 57mile ride and then had a "normal" afternoon with me and my family (including a very active little boo) - what a NUTTER! haha!

Admittedly, I do not know a lot about cycling, and less about team cycling or the sports science involved (there is a science?). Saying that, I am able to appreciate the sport and fitness level needed for such an endurance event (I'm talking about the elite races when I talk about this - anyone can do the community and family rides) - it was INCREDIBLE!

Ok, so our day started with a drive to the tram (park and ride) at Hucknall. We got out of the car and straight onto the tram just before it was leaving (great timing). Just as the tram was leaving, the conductor person came and asked for tickets. I was stood with my purse "two returns to Nottingham please" - him: "oh, we don't take money on the tram anymore. You have to buy your tickets at the stop. What you have to do is get off at the next stop and buy your tickets there" WHAAAAAT?! Luckily it wasn't a problem because we had a nice conductor but there were no signs at the tram stop (or at any others). The conductor was lovely and asked the driver to wait for a little while at the next stop. He also showed me what to do with the new ticket machines. I noticed the sign which said 5 for£5 which was a saver return ticket for 5 people (BARGAIN)! At last I wasn't breaking the rules by not having a ticket (I felt very unsettled until that point - partly because of the rush and the lack of ticket and partly because I was on a backward facing seat which always makes me feel a bit 'bleugh'). Dan spotted a front seat and inner peace was restored lol. I'm so glad that we had a lovely conductor because the big official (and very mean looking) ticket officials got on the tram on the next stop - PHEW!

We got off the tram at The Royal Centre (where it terminated for the day) and took the very short walk to the old market square where all of the cycling (and "milk action") was going to take place. We arranged to meet Dan's Auntie and Uncle but had half an hour to spare so we found a comfy little spot right after the finish line to watch the 'Advanced' group of riders. The "official" Robin Hood was stood opposite us and it was his job to start and finish the races for the day. So in the advanced ride, there were some boys that looked half my age riding bikes that are worth half the cost of my car! They were thrashing their legs and wobbling their little helmet wearing heads from side to side and they just had the look of warriors on their faces as they tried to beat each other over that chalk line! That alone was entertaining for me and it was lovely to see the passion and determination to just do the best they possibly could FOR FUN! It was highlighted that there was no actual race until the elite women's and elite men's races. It was more of a fun day for cyclists of all ages and abilities to be able to ride the exact course as elite riders which included Olympians and very experienced riders. Also, no one was allowed to ride the course if they didn't have a helmet. That was something I really liked to hear.

Just as the 'community' ride started, the familiar faces of Dan's Auntie and Uncle turned up. Followed by an old man with an OWL on his shoulder! He wasn't anything to do with the event, he just went for a walk with his dog and owl - what a wonderfully random place Nottingham city centre can be! We watched the community ride from our little spot at the finish line. There was a man on a penny farthing type of bike but I think it was a modern take on a penny farthing and a lady dressed head to toe in 50's attire (apart from the helmet) and rode a Pendleton style bike. She had me giggling. She looked like something from an old film/postcard and got the record for cycling the slowest. She did it deliberately as if she was having a gentle cycle in the park. I was worried that her skirt was going to get caught to be honest!

After the community ride we had a wander into the "inner circle" where they were giving out freebies. Dan and his Uncle spent some time talking to the man at the Raleigh stand (a good old Nottingham firm) and they liked the team bike which only£5,000. annoys me! Something that I thought was awesome was the pedal powered entertainment. They had a tent with spinning bikes in and a DJ with the PA system. It was up to the public (and celebrities) to keep the music going for the day! It looked like great fun!

After Auntie H and I did a loo rekkie (her - M&S. Me - Debenhams) we went to Uncle A's viewing recommendation. It's where Dan had suggested but I had a bit of an obsession with the finish line (in athletics that's what you want to see ok?!) We were pretty glued to that spot until the end of the day. We caught the end of the family ride which was lovely to see. There were children racing down the finishing straight, trying try to beat their parents/siblings. Laura Trott joined in with this ride too ahead of her elite race... what a sport! The person that completely stole the show for me though was 3 and a half year old Ollie who had spent 20 minutes cycling on a little bike with no pedals! It was all walking/running type cycling. Now when I was working in a special school, I used to go up the corridor every day on an office chair (which was on wheels) whilst helping a little boy to walk! It absolutely thrashes your thighs and bum! Little Ollie will have legs like a machine when he's a bigger boy if he keeps that up! haha

The crowd around the course seemed to just appear from nowhere as the time for the women's elite race came. It seemed like one minute we were chilling and munching a sandwich in our own company and then all of a sudden I was stood amongst strangers and having to scooch the rucksack and coat towards the barrier to make space.

The warm up laps were interesting to watch as it appears that team talks still go ahead during that late phase... I don't really know what I am talking about but it seemed quite "teamy" as they were in team bunches. They could have just been commenting on my floral coat or what was on TV the night before for all I know haha. It was incredible to see how close professional cyclists get to each other in competition. As I said before, I don't know a lot about cycling, I wont pretend to. I try to take on board all of the key stuff Dan when he tells me but some things I just don't get hehe. I know what bits of the bikes are but I do not for the life of me get the whole team cycling thing. I'm with the athletics mentality that if you enter a race you race for you or your club or region but you race to blinking win. I have had to learn to keep that opinion to myself when I am watching team cycling though. I guess bikes and endurance races are just not my bag yet - I want to learn though haha.

So the names that you might know if you watched any of the Olympics/Paralympics

Dame Sarah Storey
Dani King
Laura Trott

Dani King and Sarah Storey missed out on podium places due to an incident where Sarah came off and managed to get back on the bike causing lost time and Dani got held up in an incident which caused "mechanical issues".

The Podium was 3rd Charlotte Becker, 2nd Laura Trott and the WINNER was Katie Archibald.

I managed to watch the post race interviews and take some photos of Laura supping the milk from the bottle (the gift that is traditionally given).

Unfortunately, I didn't pay much attention to my battery life and I pretty much zapped it so there's only got a few snaps of the elite men's race with Ed Clancy. It was stopped very early on due to a very nasty accident where Joe Giggins came off and what looks like he was knocked out. I know that from where we stood, we could only see the big screen and listen to the commentary. Everyone on the track looked extremely nervous and eventually some of the cyclists started to filter back to the start line. When Dan and I got home we were able to watch the race back and we saw Joe hit the barrier and then basically someone started helping him. We knew at this point that he was okay though. It was announced to us after the race that he had been taken to hospital and somehow he was actually ok. PHEW! So, back to the race. Eventually, it restarted. Now, I thought the womens race start was crammed but my heck I have never in my days seen anything like it! I think if I was in the middle of all of them I would have literally had a melt down and screamed. It was just all man and bike and feet and legs and arms and I'm sweating typing it because it was really just a crazy scramble of human man and metal bike with rubber bits of tyre! URGH! Annnnnd BREATHE!

The result of the elite men's race was 3rd - Matt Cronshaw 2nd - Matthew Boulo and WINNER Graham Briggs. (You can read what he said to the Nottinghamshire Post after the race here).

I have to say, if you have never seen a critirium race it's definitely worth going to. The milk race was a free day out (minus travel and food) and it was highly entertaining. As someone who really doesn't "get it" I can honestly say there wasn't a moment that I was uninterested or bored. If you really don't like it when you get there (which I highly doubt) there is Patisserie Valerie just up Smithy Row (highly recommended) or any number of shops or tourist attractions in Nottingham that you could visit should you wish.

I felt that the safety of the spectators AND riders was effectively enforced and the security team that were near me for the elite races were really good with the pubic - they gave plenty of notice for track opening and were generally really thoughtful towards the spectators.

I got to spend a day with my lovely Dan and his relatives and it's not very often that I get to enjoy what he enjoys (cycling) due to my illness (I can't go out and join him on a ride) so all in all we had a great time. I definitely want to go again so hope it becomes an annual fixture!

Here's a little collage of some of the pictures I took before my battery fizzled out.

The Milk Race 2014

Do you have any free or low-cost events that happen near to where you live? Free/ cheap family days out are often the best days out don't you think?

Until next time,

Toodles Noodles

Han.xx