Hungry Squirrels

Success! The squirrels have found the bird feeder and so now we have something to look at out our front window :)Lunch at work was an all time low today. Dorte and I took one look at it and decided to go down to the canteen in the basement of the building. Cecelia also joined us and when we were down there we discovered half of the office had also had the same idea. So what was so bad .... there was rice with peas and sweetcorn in it, over cooked beans and some grey meat (boiled, fatty beef) - hardly appetizing. My sandwich, on the other hand, was very nice, but not cheap so I wont be doing too often. We then sat out on the steps on the sun so much nicer than being inside all day.

We did a quick cycle along the Bayou this evening as it was just into the 70's - I love the warmer weather.

Snooze you lose!

I managed to turn my alarm off rather than pressing snooze this morning so it was a little rushed to get to work on time! I have just test my phone and it was in fact user error rather than me blaming the alarm for being faulty this morning!

Today the sun was shining while I looked at it out of the office window. It is going to get increasingly difficult to look at the fine weather from inside - I guess until it gets really sweaty :)

Stuart had a busy day of doing errands but the most important thing he did was hang up our new fancy bird feeder on the tree. It looks really smart (sorry forgot to take a photo to show you - because I know you are equally as excited to see it!) Unfortunately nothing has come to have a nibble of it, but we will continue watching!

I could believe the swimming pool at the gym - I had to wait! It seemed middle aged men have decided Monday's are the night to come swimming normally it is only me and one other. While I waited I decided to go into the sauna to keep warm however that was a bad move as when someone eventually got out I went straight from the sauna into the already cold pool - brrrr!

We have just bought another 6 months of insurance for Stuart's car and again we are absolutely shocked by the cost. Just short of $700 for 6 months, and that is approximately $200 less than the last time! I will never complain again in the UK!

Green and Wet!

I am failing at the blog at the moment - very much out of my usual pattern of writing every night after coming home. I can only put it down to laziness.

Well we have suddenly seen Spring arriving, apart from yesterday but I will come back to that! Just when Mum and Dad were here we saw the magnolia trees flower, they have pretty flowers but only for three days so a little pointless in my opinion! But with the blossom has come lots and lots of pollen. I have suffered my first bout of hay fever - described as allergies here! But I am frankly not surprised - the pool had a skim of yellow on it, the BBQ has a fine yellow dust and all the cars on the street are a shade of yellow. The trees responsible, not that I am sure what they are, have been dropping brown dangley flower bits everywhere. Hopefully it will all be over soon :)

This week it was St Paddy's night - Wednesday 17 March. A very popular celebration here - not entirely sure why but the shops go mad with green regalia. Laura planned for us all to go to the Ashford Pub, the Irish bar around the corner from us. It had an Irish Stew competition and promised band, pipes and dancers. Well we never managed to get a stew cooked but we went along after work. By the time we arrived everyone in the bar were very drunk. None of us were up to that considering it was a school night, plus I was still recovering from the previous Saturday night when we had all tried out another local bar where I had decided to take on a pool shark, not once but twice, took the (Blues) band microphone to sing down it and got told to get off a chair that I was dancing on! Less of that though and back to being dressed in green. We have now been introduced to two Brits who have spent the last eight or so years in Calgary and now have been expriated here. Disappointingly there was a serious lack of the entertainment promised!

The rest of the week was spent at home both of us were recovering from too many late nights, it has also been really hard to get up for work because the clocks went forward and it is now dark in the mornings. Fortunately, I have not been the only one to get in just on time last week! Saturday morning there was no lie in as we were going off to do a 41 mile cycle with the neighbours. It was a cycling event run as part of the Houston MS150. A training ride for all those taking part in the MS150, like Amy and John, and just for fun for us two. We were in a place called Magnolia somewhere an hour northwest of Houston. It was in the sticks so lots of nice quiet roads to cycle on, with only the occasional idiotic truck driving too fast. Stuart kindly changed my tires on my bike from hybrids to road tires - oh my goodness what a difference. We all set off at 8am with a wee chill in the air and spots of rain, (that was not going to stop us), and well I zoomed off - smooth tires and tightened suspension was easy and poor Stuart spent the the next 24 miles chasing me :) There was a refreshment stop at about mile 22 and we could see the skies getting very black and the occasional strike of lightening. Ok at this point I want to remind you that we are in Texas which is very flat and in the countryside there isn't much except for the odd house and car so nowhere to hide from lightening on a bicycle! Anyway we decided to get going without stopping and as we rode down another straight road the winds picked up and the rain came down, claps of thunder and lightening nearby, and finally followed by hail - not pleasant on the bike, in the end we spotted some trees and went for cover, that backed on to a field of turnips. It was too late to stay dry as we were drenched, and I know hiding by trees is not good in a lightening storm but we didn't have many options. Although we were the first to this spot we were quickly followed by many others, one of which Stuart had to stop before he landed in the turnips! The guy came cycling in shouting something, but we suddenly realised he could get his feet out of cleats (they must have got jammed from mud or something) anyway he looked very pleased for Stuart saving him from turnip face. Finally one of the sag vehicles (basically a support vehicle) came past. We flagged it down and decided to send John back to the start to get the car so he could come back and pick us three up. I should say it was still raining by this time. Another sag vehicle cam by piking up the other two left we us leaving us to try and keep warm. We started jumping around and I began chucking the turnips at the other two :) In the end a final sag vehicle came past and got us but I was really disappointed not to finish but I was really cold by this point. The weather was from the North and had dropped the spring temperatures down to about 10 degC. When we got back to the car I got changed in to my dry clothes (good girl guide - always prepared) and we got BBQ for lunch making us all feel much better.

Today, to make up for the ride cut short, we had planned to go for a ride to George Bush park. It was about 4 degC when we woke this morning but by the time we went cycling it was warmer but the wind was blowing about 20 miles an hour from the NW. It was a hard job out - actually so hard we went from a speedy 12 mph to 8 mph with the gusts. Coming home, Stuart and I reached 28.5 mph and John on his road bike got 30 mph!

This afternoon was spent buying a bird feeder that the squirrels can get into as well, Stuart will put it up on the tree at the front tomorrow and then grocery shopping. Poor Stuart got more stressed in the passenger seat than me driving as w had a number of bad drivers. There was actually a bump in one of the car parks that confused us - just how did you do that?! To make Dad really jealous we saw Orange Roughy at HEB, and had it for dinner. It is a really nice fish and I think we will be buying it again!

Well this week I must eat healthy and not drink - too much! as I have I have got my half marathon on Saturday. Unfortunately I went running last Monday only to discover the side of my foot is still no better but I will keep it rested until Saturday and just hope for the best.

Must get ready for bed as it nearly eleven already!

For those reading through Facebook I actually have a number of older posts you didnt see, but you can see at the full blog site.

Clothes Swap Party

On Saturday I was meant to get up and got for indoor triathlon training but there was no way I was going to manage to surface at 6am, so I missed it! I was pretty slow in the morning although I had to get going as Laura, Lyndsey and I were hosting a clothes swap party at mine for a load of girlies. Laura stopped by at about 10am after her footie game to discuss food plans. I had to go for a run having missed all my training this week with being in Rio, so that was the first thing to do. My four miles seemed like a breeze compared to the previous week - maybe the rest did me good. I saw Andy cycling on the Bayou and I said I cant stop so he had to cycle next to me at my snail running pace, while huffed and puffed at him! He did not last long and took off. Next was shopping - since we were all bringing items, I just concentrated getting some things I could heat up in the oven and crudites to be a little healthy. Of course, wine also featured on the list:) Laura and I spent the afternoon preparing the food. She was making some very alcoholic (as we discovered later in the evening) chocolate mousse shots, while I got on the crudities chopping, preparing the cheese board and finding some clothes to swap in my wardrobe. We had to work out how to display the clothes and with Laura's bag of stuff we pretty much covered the two clothes horses, banister and book case, by the time everyone else arrived it was chaos, but utilising all space - backs of sofa, chars and dinning room table, we got every put out in some fashion.

There are no rules in the clothes swap party - just don't say anything too rude about any of the clothes just in case their original owner is standing close by! We had the bedroom and dressing room to do the trying on - Laura wasn't too fussed about going there though! There were many laughs of miss fitting garments - especially Laura and me, who are not too ashamed to show how bad something can look when you have too many lumps and bumps. But everyone came away with a selection of new clothes and accessories. I managed to control myself to one pair of shoes and then quite a lot of clothes - more than I put in to be honest. We have about 6 bags left to take to someone who needs it an now most people, with the exception of me have room in their wardrobes to go and buy more clothes.

Lyndsey brought some of her mum's clothes and they ranged from things she wore when she was younger to sequined jackets and tops that she is bored of wearing. I for some reason fitted all her dresses, so I did very well with those, as for the sequined tops, they just featured more and more in the photos as the night went on! The girls left at about midnight, but since Chris and Rory, Laura and Lyndsey respective other half's, had been ousted to the pub all evening we walked around to see them - oh yes, the Ashford Pub comes through again. We played darts until kick out time at 2am and all we back to the house. While we were at the pub however, (I think I mentioned when we were there for Halloween there was a guy dressed as a ladies feminine parts), anyway, guess who I spotted last night - yes him, but just to make sure, I went up and asked him! The answer was a sheepish 'yes'! Before we knew what happened last night, it was 4am and we were wearing our wig collection while dancing to Abba.

There was very little mess this morning - somehow, and it was quite a slow morning for all. Chris and I were first up with the others surfacing many hours later - Laura last again! However, I had to make myself feel alright as today was a 6 mile run! (note to self: must stop partying on Saturday nights). Cecelia was meant to come around so we would run together, but I couldn't get hold of her (I was later to discover she had fallen asleep on the sofa - alright for some). I ran the six miles without an issue, but I think the additional mile warm up and mile cool down was little tough at this stage and I can feel my hamstrings tonight - thank goodness it is a rest day tomorrow!

I nearly forgot to mention how cold it is here we are on par with Aberdeen, although without the snow! When I was down the Bayou there were people, those that decided to brave the weather, dressed in clothes more suitable for the Arctic! I have to admit I have worn my thermal running top more than anytime I did back in Aberdeen! I hope Emma M warm enough today - a she was running the 'Lumphanan Detox - 10km' in Aberdeenshire! It has be postponed a number of time, since the 1st January!

Once I have finished the blog it is a well deserved lie down on the sofa, with scrambled egg, or maybe Heinz baked beans :)

Running in Austin

Last night after work we left to go to Austin for our weekend of activity. It only took 2.5 hours with the sat nav giving us about two directions - turn left on I10 then go straight for 55 miles followed by turn right on highway 71 for another 55 miles!

We booked ourselves into a motel just of the Interstate so we could take the bikes into our room. Both of slept like logs not disturbed by any partying in the rooms above us or the traffic - not bad for $45 per night! It was an early start to get into the centre of Austin to register for the 5km, starting at 8am, and for tomorrows bike race. Guess what I have ended up with a large t-shirt - I don't think I have ever got a good sized t-shirt from a charity event. I tried it on and it is a night dress!


There was definite nip in the air even when the sun came up just at the start of the race. There were 3200 runners/walkers and a couple of dogs. A wee dachshund had a trolley with his fluffy bed to lie in!

The route was down, up and around downtown Austin. At the starting gate the only way forward was by walking but then we were off. Stu did really well and no pain from his knee. Just coming into to the finish line Stuart accelerated, well not enough as I steamed passed him! He just said I was typical Ferguson never wanting to lose! We finish in the top third!

We have just had breakfast at an American diner so pancakes and waffles but it was no way near as good as the Egg and I in Houston. Plus we had a really annoying bloke and his mother - he can only be described as fat and ignorant with no volume control! We left sharpish before I got up and hit him over the head with his plate (from the all you eat buffet!)



Off to see caves now :) the caverns we went see were called Inner Space just 20 miles north of Austin. There are lots of limestone caverns along the Gulf Coast apparently. Brad, our guide, was absolutely mad but entertained all the kids on the 75 minute tour. There were some impressive features not only from the calcite precipitation - so all the stalactites and mites but also from the water that had gouged the out the caverns.

We will meet up with a fellow cycling mates tonight for dinner, including Sarah from back home and her family. But it won't be a mad night as another early start for our cycling tomorrow.

A furry friend

As Stuart said we went out to the Gingerman Pub last night. I tried to talk him into driving because when you are 17 all you want to do is drive after you pass your test! Anyway, I couldn't talk him into it, so I drove. We ended up at a curry house with some others in Rice. Weirdly one if the guys we met at the pub last night was at Aberdeen Uni doing a PhD when I was there. He, and his wife, had been in Houston for six years and are soon to be moving to Calgary.

We got home at about midnight. So, as with all Saturday's, we have hot yoga at 11am so we have a very gentle morning, getting up, having breakfast, and drinking plenty of water to hydrate before sweating it all out again!

I am still needing suitable bedding for all our spare beds, as I am sure guests don't want to sleep under feather duvets! We went off to Target (I think Target is like the home and stuff section in Tesco's), but could find anything either of us liked. We tried other places, but in the end decided to wait - I might have a look online. We managed to some other shopping, including Stuart buying some new toys for his bike, and to be fair he also bought me some toe straps in preparation for next weeks cycling.

Stu fitted the bikes with their 'new toys' so we could go out and practice. While he was fitting out the bikes I heard a dog barking very close by (most of the dogs are very quiet around here), so I went to investigate and it was our neighbours dog who had spotted Stu through the fence, anyway, I opened the gate to find him right there, but he was not ferocious at all. We had a pat and started talking to our neighbour forgetting about the dog who by this point was in our back garden! Well, we found him in the house having a good noise about (I don't think he cocked his leg)! We did an hours cycle along the Bayou before dark, and saw Andy returning from a big cycle in George Bush park. Stu and I had a wee race up the cul-de-sac, only, our friendly dog was returning from his walk and I nearly fell off the bike trying to avoid him! Anyway, he is now our friend, he saw us and went running between us wagging his tail! I think the neighbours wife was amazed!!

Tonight, we went off to try a Teriyaki place around the corner, unfortunately it has obviously changed hands and was empty, so we decided to walk back to Sushi Jin, where we have been before. Once again it was very good, although eating the fish head was a little too adventurous for me! However, I have to tell you about the couple that were sitting just over my right shoulder. I noticed they weren't really talking when we arrived, but they didn't actually mutter a word between them the whole meal. They were sitting in a booth at far opposite sides and not looking at each other, let alone talking. Stu and I decided that he had told her he was having an affair when they got to dinner! It is amazing what you can come up with, I just cant imagine what their journey home was like in the car!!