Nick, The Painting

We found Holly's GCSE art work, featuring this masterpiece:

That is two modelling jobs I have had! http://nickonice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/fluffy-yet-deadly.html

Return to Southwold

A big thanks to James for letting us use Puffin Cottage again this year for the family hols.  I must admit, I am growing rather fond of Southwold. And Adnams beer.

Nick is a climber!

Except, he's not really.  I have climbed three routes within two months, unfortunately two of them were the same (for logistical simplicity).  The Cracks at a mere HS 5a was hard, and damp, and Oxine at VS was once again steady, but should be with the second ascent this year.  Not exactly a stellar performance.

We did have our own personal photographer this time though, so here are some of Big Jim's (as to differentiate from JfW) snaps.  Thanks Jim.

Mike 'I prefer rambling' Cross

Dirty Weekend and Bellatrix Laspeed

A couple of weekends ago Lee, James and I did the Rat Race Dirty Weekend – a 20 mile, 200 obstacle, race.  It was okay.  The river sections were really fun (apart from for James who lost his specs and then got hypothermia, we put it down as a bad day at the office) but some obstacles had a lot of queuing and there were quite a few using alu scaffolding which wasn’t hard, just uncomfortable.  The final big ‘team’ walls were a comical mess of poor technique.   It wasn’t that hard, yet it was also quite draining.  We finished in about six and a half hours, which put us exactly mid-table (across all categories) but we stopped for a pretty long time in the middle.

James’ experience has made me wonder of the worth of such long events – normally I am ‘hardest, longest, toughest’ but running long distance requires a slow pace which seems at odds to the gun-ho obstacles.  So, after I complained about the events safety processes (James really was that cold!) and received a hefty discount, Lee and I have entered the Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest in November, which is a measly 10k, but should allow us to blast it (we even paid the £5 extra to start in the first wave).

In other news, Felicity is dead.  Our beloved Fabia vRS has been part exchanged for a smart new car after we decided the broken power steering was too much and too expensive to warrant repairing.  And what a new car it is!  Say hello to Bellatrix Laspeed; an Octavia Estate vRS Blackline Edition.  She is a DSG automatic (flappy paddles!) and I must say, I am an immediate convert.  She is also reasonably rapid.

Is it possible to be more middle-class?

I sit typing this while working from home on the laptop with the back doors wide open, eating goats cheese on artisan bread while the workmen fix the Smeg dishwasher whilst drinking Nespressos.

Celebrations!

Yes, Moose-fans, the release of Age of Ultron can only mean one thing - Nick and Holly's anniversary!  This year, the big one five.  And still going strong!

Naturally, we went to see it the day before general release, and I can confirm it is most good.  Top three material for sure.  Number one? We'll see, after second and maybe third viewings.

Cocktails followed at an unnecessarily noisy, but nonetheless good bar, and then burgers at Five Guys.

The next day, after ballet, I had the curls lopped off.  What looks like grey, is in fact, merely a trick of the light.

I then built a box, that Willow got in.  It's one of the new planters I am building for my new interest in gardening.  Yes, I know.

Holly got me a bottle of The Dalmore, a very, very fine dram.  I think it is time for one...

Running the Lea

Alert – VDP*

*Very dull post

Yesterday I ran the Lea with Lee and James.  18.5 miles from Limehouse to Broxbourne, and very nice it was too.  Today my legs don’t ache as such, but I do feel a bit battered.

At the end I had a Coke with some perfectly aligned ice (aligned to not cool my drink).

Erm, that’s it really.