Swimming #3

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

Today, the third effort of August's Project, was a visit to Bourne Outdoor Pool for a spot of swimming. Although I've lived in Bourne a number of years, today was my first ever visit to the outdoor pool. I was pleasantly surprised. The admission price was £4 and this allows you to stay there for the day. I saw a number of families who had obviously been there all day: blankets, chairs, picnics, books and no end of other stuff.

It was a lovely day today, very hot, therefore the place was very busy. At one stage the noise of kids screaming and enjoying themselves was incredible (cue the exaggerated simile), like the Olympic Stadium celebrating ANOTHER Team GB gold medal. I was amazed how big the actual pool was, and deep, you can dive in without fear of a lifeguard whistle.

I went with Amy today, and we had a great time. She even treated me to a cup of tea. She even got herself some curly fries because apparently you can't go to the outdoor pool without buying curly fries…

Overall, the swimming seems to be getting slightly better. I still struggle with the breathing, but my actual technique is a lot smoother and less splashy. So although I'm a fair way off challenging Thorpedo to a race, I feel as if I'm getting somewhere. Actually looking forward to the next session….

 

Swimming #1

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We move into August, which means another monthly project: swimming.

Now I can actually swim, not particularly well, and not particularly fast, but I could survive being dropped into a lake. Therefore the purpose of this month's project is to learn to swim better, maybe with the distant idea of completing a triathlon. My initial plan was to swim 2 or 3 times a week. But I have now decided to also include a 'tour' of the local pools in an attempt to give me more to say in this blog.

So #1 took me to my local pool at Bourne Leisure Centre, swimming is £4.45 a session. It is what they call a 'leisure pool', this means it has various 'fun' stuff going on: flume, wave machine,water spouting out everywhere and 1000s of kids. This makes swimming in a straight line rather tricky, and I use the term 'swimming' quite loosely. Now I can swim a kind of breaststroke, even my backstroke takes me from one end of the pool to the other. The problem I have is trying to do the front crawl, I have trouble breathing, it really knackers me out AND my hair gets in the way!!

A couple of things that have come out of session #1: I maybe need a couple of lessons to sort out my technique and I need to get my hair cut!

 

Gypsy Tart

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 5 Comments

Another monthly project, Bakeathon, is complete! Throughout the month of July I have managed to somehow make ten various different things. Today was the turn of an old Kent favourite: Gypsy Tart.

Very easy to make, especially if you buy a pre-cooked pastry base, and just as tasty….

Although it is important to say this was my second effort. First effort didn’t set due to lack of whisking.

So, ten different dishes created:

  • Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Carrot Cupcakes
  • Flap Jacks
  • Chocolate Brownies
  • Gypsy Tart
  • Jam Turnovers
  • Shortbread
  • Chocoalte Croissants
  • Bakewell Tarts
  • Scones

And to celebrate further, how about a video montage….

Chocolate Croissants

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

Bakeathon enters the home straight. Today makes nine out of a planned ten baked products.

There are not many things that I can actually say 'I really, really like', but Croissants in a can I really, really like. It is the most amazing invention…

Now I understand how this could be seen as cheating, and that I haven't actually made anything, but I did open the can….

Furthermore, once the can was opened and separate pre-prepared triangles were exposed, I had to actually place some chocolate in them before rolling them into perfectly shaped Croissants. The result was perfect Chocolate Croissants that I really, really like….

The Croissants were quickly devoured for breakfast. This was followed by a bike ride with the dog and the new fitness mad Amy…

You'll be glad to hear that the tenth and final part of Bakeathon will be something spectacular….

 

Shortbread

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

The 8th attempt at a bit of baking for July's Project brings us to the very simple, the very scrumy, the very tasty: Shortbread. But not just any old Shortbread, may I present, at risk of infringing copyright….Olympic Shortbread….

I am well aware of how simple Shortbread is to make (caster sugar, plain flour and butter) but it still has to be made, and made it has been. These are just a couple of the various comments that have been heard whilst people munch on them:

“Yuuuummmmmyyyyy”

“They're better than Sainsbury's Taste The Difference range”

Another complete success….

Only two more items to complete the project….next up Chocolate Croissants…..

 

Scones

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

July’s Project goes from strength to strength. Today: Scones.

It would seem that I have become a magical being, Harry Potter stand aside, David Copperfield make some room, I can now turn this…

Into this…

These Scones with added cranberries went down a storm. Even my nephew said, “They’re well nice!”. This is the same nephew who was called, “Well hot!”, when he attended a middle school in Whitby during his work experience…

Today was spent, in the sun, eating said scones and guzzling glasses of wine…

Lovely jubbly!