Claiming my blog & an edit

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Having a bit of a clear up on the laptop and came across a bookmark for Bloglovin.   Apparently I haven't "claimed by blog" yet so here we go!

It's the last two days of April - having had a bit of a heatwave we're now back to normal "April weather" whatever that is.   We did turn the heating back on briefly yesterday!

This month I've been very humbled by being nominated twice for an "Unsung Hero" award, one for the Town Council and one for the District.   These are awards given out for services to the community above and beyond.  I don't really feel that I deserve to be an "unsung hero" - all I do is motivate people to look after our local park by picking up their dog poo and not leaving litter, plus nag the landowners to improve it for the good of the community.  I couldn't do this without the support of other volunteers so the awards are for them too.

The Town Council event was very low key but well attended - mainly due to the number of people nominated and their supporters.    There were certificates for all nominees and prizes for winners.  The second event was an invitation only lunch which I went to yesterday.   I'm extremely proud to receive these nominations.

Lewes District Council Awards

Town Council Awards Evening

I'm signed up to complete the British Cycling Ride 5 challenge on Strava.   5 hours in the saddle between 3rd and 16th May.   Should be easy to achieve, especially as we have a Bank Holiday weekend coming up.  If I complete it I'll receive a free British Cycling phone pouch, a digital badge and the chance to win a Cervelo R3 Disc road bike or a Focus Raven Max Pro mountain bike.  Sounds good doesn't it?

We're in the process of planning Tribby trips for the summer - no idea at the moment apart from a trip to Carr Taylor vineyard for some winetasting and a much needed Bessie/Tribby trip in June.   Before that we're on "dry rest of April and May".   I desperately need to lose weight - Danni has this week handed in her Uni dissertation and graduation is booked for 1st August.   Having seen the photos from Portugal there is no way I'm turning up to the graduation at 11.5 stone! 

Fingers crossed for the good weather to return soon so I can get out on the bike - otherwise I'm going to be shut away in the gym.

What? It's April - how did that happen?

Crikey I have let things slide ! 

February came and went, March as you will remember was mainly flipping freezing cold and now we're nearly in May.  Not entirely sure what happened to April but I seem to have blinked and missed most of it.

The house is now off the market.  We did get an offer but it was way below what our budget would cope with and there was absolutely nothing left on the market within our price range.   Luckily Shaun reigned it in, sacked the estate agent and now we're back to not doing housework, tidying up, worrying about what we're cooking for fear of creating a smell and just generally living in our house, clutter and all.  No idea whether we'll try again - at the moment we're just monitoring the market to see how things are moving.  Similar houses to ours are now selling around us so maybe we'll be brave and go for it again.

Our March sportive was cancelled due to the arrival of a second wave of Beast from the East.  Quite thankful to be honest.  We hadn't managed to get out training because the weather had been so awful.  We did however manage to ride the Sigma Sport South Down Spring Sportive earlier this month .... again.   The first sportive either of us rode - the one we cut our sportive teeth on and this was our third outing.   The weather was ok.   Bit rainy at the start and horrendous winds when it stopped raining.  The headwind in the last 6 miles completely did me in and it was the worst I'd ever finished in.   Happy to get the bling and freebies at the end and we got to see some local countryside.

My favourite photos from the day and of course the obligatory bling

Our trip to Hertford was good.  The weather was pretty awful and we did have to cut it short by one day.  It was good to get away.

Archie got a bit muddy after chasing a deer & had to have a shower off!

Tribby bathed in cherry blossom!

Our week off and Tribby trip was quickly followed by the long weekend in Portugal which I mentioned in the previous entry.   Shaun's Dad is 80 this year so to celebrate we booked a family trip to the Algarve.  It just so happens that it's my birthday the day before his so double whammy.  Shaun had booked a lovely surprise of an evening jeep safari for my birthday with Alsafari.   The most amazing 5 or 6 hours spent bombing about the Algarve hills and trails, learning about the culture, the natural surroundings and then enjoying a kind of a sunset (not easy when it's not the best weather) and finally tucking into a hearty meal of soup, piri piri Chicken and a plate of the local oranges.  All washed down of course with a very nice glass of Vinho Tinto.   The whole trip was made by our guide, Marco.

Part of the front of our villa

the birthday people

Winetasting ..... on a Sunday!

mmmmm breakfast

sun's out, legs out

the last supper - huge prawns

Just a few photos of the jeep safari trip - Shaun took quite a few.

I think we'll definitely go back to the Algarve ...... just not in April!

Nothing else planned for the rest of the summer at the moment.  We've got a weekend coming up with our Essex friends in June when we visit the Carr Taylor Vineyard at Sedlescombe.  Following that we've got a week in July, we can't quite agree on where to go so we need to make a decision soon.