Last weeks catch up!

Last week was a strange week. Hubby went away to Austria on Saturday afternoon and wasn't back until Wednesday evening so it was just me and Isabella. In some ways I am used to this as he leave for work early and most night only gets back after she is asleep anyway. It was just strange not having him to share dinner with and to talk to that was missing. But he really missed Isabella and called at least 3 time per day!

As we had another week of mostly lovely sunny Autumn weather it was time to try and get those urgent DIY jobs sorted. Mmmm there must be something with UK bloggers and DIY at the moment. Hubby has started to repair and paint our wooden windows ( we live in a Victorian house that's over 100 yrs old!), but didn't finish it, so as winter is trying to creep in, it needed to be finished. So when Isabella goes for her afternoon nap, I have frantically been trying to get the large bay front window repaired and repainted and the window sill stripped back and painted! Its been tough as I only have an hour per day when we are home! So it really is slow progress.

Also I have been trying to get Isabella back into her cot. She was fine in China and when we initially got home, but we have let her take over out bed! In retrospect! So when we are at home she goes back into her cot for her afternoon nap, its a mixture of sleeping, crying and sleeping or just crying. If she doesn't sleep she is usually quite grumpy in the afternoon and around tea time so tired! As this picture show! Yes she fell asleep eating around 6 PM with yogurt pot still in hand ( and wearing most of it!). But we persevere and it is getting better?????!!!!!!!!



Like most Chinese people Isabella loves food, and eats everything I cook for her. A couple of weeks ago, I was in a meeting all afternoon which gave me an indications of what it will be like returning to work. So whilst there are lots of lovely Chinese foods, and fresh pasta sauces that Isabella loves, I want to introduce her to new foods and tastes with dishes I can cook and freeze in batches. Last week we tried the salmon fish cakes, salmon fish fingers, cranberry and blueberry muesli bars ( very yummy!), pork and apple casserole ( Isabella loves this dish), and fairy cakes ( I think Ba Ba ate most of these and Isabella prefered the icing when we were making them!



Marathon Training

I was good and kept up with my marathon training, I am taking it very slowly to avoid injury and to slowly build my fitness up. This week I ran the following:-

2 midweek runs 6 Km each with Isabella in baby jogger
1 weekend run 12 Km with Hubby & Isabella with baby jogger!

Total running 24 kms

But on Sunday, the weather was terrible and after a couple of miles it started to rain. Isabella was fine with the rain cover on! And it reminded me of how dedicated and motivated you need to be to train for a marathon in all weather conditions! But after pulling a muscle 1/2 way through the marathon when I ran it two years ago, and completing the course in 5 hours and 18 minutes ( last 12 miles 1/2 ran, 1/2 hobbled!), I am determined to do better and run the entire course injury free and raise some money for a good cause!