A bit nippy!

 Dear Marmite

It is official - I am a little mad. This morning I left a nice, warm comfy bed to play tennis in -2c. I realised it was going to be cold when I started the car and sprayed my windsrceen. The squirted water froze before the wipers could clean the grey film of dust away. I also had to head east towards the tennis club into a really bright sun that loomed just above the horizon. Not ideal conditions on so many fronts!

The biggest problem when I got on court was actually gripping the racquet with numb fingers. I tried wearing gloves but they were too bulky to actually have any control. Worse still was serving. Each time I reached up for the ball, my four layers of  upper-body clothing parted company with my leggings leaving a wedge of podge exposed to the elements. Contrasting this with the  current FB pictures of my old tennis club in a warm climate made me wonder why I made that decsion to get out of bed in the first place. The only compensation for the morning was that my partner and I won.

Storm Arwen ripped through the UK on Friday and yesterday I took Ezra-Mae out in the tail end of it. She was well-wrapped up in a snug stroller and slept through most of the walk while winds battered me and challenged me to keep walking in a straight line. I was out for a good hour and when I got back my watch said I had done 1300 steps! I know this to be wrong and I know why now. When I hold onto the pushchair the steps don't get counted. Nor do the lengths in the pool when I do legs only. My typical day in Singapore saw me doing between 17,000 and 23,000 steps. This watch records a much more sedentary lifestyle.

Ezra-Mae has taken to pulling herself up on the furniture so I have had to put protective corners on stuff around my living room. But as with all babies, you cannot totally child-proof a home. The funniest moment yesterday was watching her trying to get to standing while looking at her reflection in the oven door. She was OK on her knees and looking in but when she pushed up onto her socked feet she slid backwards. Undeterred, she did this again and again but never actually got to a standing position. She can't quite reach the coffee table either so for the time being, anything on there is out of reach.

This week I had my moment of stardom! I was interviewed for Look East - a news programme. The interviewer asked my name and then how to spell it. He then asked me about something to do with volunteering and stuck his microphone out towards me for an answer. It was all over in a flash. 

Me on TV

In retrospect, I feel I should have been forewarned about the question and given time to look less dishevelled. I had, just moments before, been knocking down a tree. I am sure I could have given it a better shot than I did. Despite this, loads of people contacted me to say they had seen me on TV and I hadn't realised it was going out so soon.

I also got to see some friends for a wonderful pub meal this week. It was a bit of a Singapore reunion so, as you can imagine, Marms, we did a lot of talking about the old times. You were mentioned. In fact, you were responsible for getting my steps up each day. All those lovely walks before dawn - I bet you still tremble at the very thought...

Life is so much kinder to you in your dotage!! 

Love you

XXX