Sunday 11 December 2016

I could hear the howling of the wind when I woke this morning, so there seemed no reason even to look at my weather report, no need even to lift my head off the pillow. Instead, I just rolled over and lay dozing until 7am. Eventually, when I sat, up even Bianca was awake! Time for another day to start and time to try and shake off the heavy mood that has been with me for the past few days.

As we made our way to the beach for our morning run, the wind was whipping up the sand and blasting it against our shins. The tide had only just turned so, to start with, we had to run in rather soft sand which made it a little bit harder. But, with the wind behind us, it felt pretty good, great even, until we turned and started heading back along the beach into the dreaded head wind that made every step tough going today. Eventually the morning torture on the beach was over. For a split second I was tempted to have a swim but, quickly, the idea faded and we opted to stay dry by continuing with some more training back at Cuzzie.

It was a great feeling once we sat down for breakfast in the sunshine. What a nice vibe this Sunday was sending my way! It was so nice to be warm and dry and just able to sit outside. In fact, that’s more or less what we have done all day today. A sunny Sunday has made me feel amazingly happy, with a good amount of vitamin D most certainly making a tonne of difference; just what the doctor ordered! Neither Bianca nor myself could cope with driving anywhere today and Cuzzie probably appreciated having a rest day as well. Instead we just did Sunday stuff. I smiled as I spied my red nail varnish, it had been way too long between painted toe nails so I spent an afternoon doing TLC stuff. A late walk on the beach is also planned to watch another wonderful West Coast sunset, after which we will consume a yummy BBQ salmon dinner.

I take a very deep breath today, forced to move the goal post of my dream, as yet another week in my world is due to start. Oh, how hard I have tried to take my focus off the time ticking by! Oh, how hard I try to return to the day-by-day mantra that has helped me get this far. Oh, how tough it is becoming to count each passing day. But surely I can tough out yet another hitch in my progress put in place by Mother Nature. Although I have to say it’s probably my poor support crew who suffer most when I’m not paddling. Again a great big “thanks” to them for putting up with my highs and my lows; without them my dream would never, ever have got this far. But there have been some small successes along the way. For example, today we created a stunning home-blend of spicy chai tea. Although, actually, I can take no credit for this creation as it was all Bianca’s work! All I did was consume a few cups, so I was just the chief tester! However, the chocolate cake tasted even better today and we quickly had to put it away, otherwise we would have devoured the whole lot.

As the afternoon draws to the end, Bianca is attempting some baking of her own. Some crispy, seeded biscuits, I’ll give you an update on their “yummyness” tomorrow. An early blog for me this evening (for a change) so with that, this is me signing out until tomorrow.

My smiles today:
Running with the wind at my back.
Sunshine warms my soul.
Red nail varnish.
No shopping mall chaos in my world.
Friends who understand my dislike of keeping still.
New food creations.

My thoughts today:
There’s sunshine in my soul today.

Goodnight from Red and Bianca.

Ma Te Wa.

PLEASE TXT REDZ TO 2446 TO DONATE $3 TO MHFNZ.