Catch up 2 June 15th 2022 - Meeting Tim Peake!

I had been invited by a client to talk at their tech conference on sustainability. It was lovely to be asked, but then I realised that the keynote speaker was Tim Peake I was starstruck. 

Even better, when they uploaded my photo to the website...it was next to Tim's!

They asked me to be in London the night before and put me up in a nice hotel. There was a rehearsal which was welcome as it was all pretty overwhelming - I needed to be mic-ed up and use the autocue, and it was such a big stage and room!

It was a great day, we were having a bit of a heatwave, and it was boiling when I met Alison from Okta for breakfast. I had done some work with her previously which is why she asked me to present.

She was really lovely, and it was good spending the day together.

We were speaking just after mid-day. I got mic-ed up

And had to sit in a little back-stage area to wait for my cue.

Then my name was called and I walked out, with intro music and everything!

I do appear to be gurning in most of these, or speaking with passion you could say.

After mine, I sat in the backstage area while Alison did her talk

And then we went through to the green room (which was a lovely cool and light place to hang out, stocked with food, drink, and a big screen to watch the presentations on). Tim was there! 

I put my bag down and gathered myself. Then went over and introduced myself and apologised for the interruption. He was so lovely and immediately said that he had been watching my presentation. 

I asked him to sign a book that Bunnykins had given me to take with me (just on the offchance) and told him about how both the girls were so proud of me having my picture next to his.

He signed the book and asked me some questions, we got talking for about 10 minutes. One of the room helpers knew I had been geeking out about him so took these photos while we were talking, I love this one...

Then I asked for a selfie...of course!

I said thank you and left him alone, and went to sit and get some lunch in another corner. David McClelland who was the MC came out, he only had a short lunch, so I felt really honoured when he asked to sit with me and talk about my presentation. 

Alison and I were the only two presenting on sustainability during the event. It was great to get infront of an audience who were outside my usual bubble. The reaction to it was really positive. All round it was an uplifting day. 

P.S. (late July) got a copy of the video of my talk...

Catch up 1, May & June 2022 - pond, roof, Brecons, haircuts, birthdays, bbqs, and Frisbee

At the start of May we finally came up with a way of making the pond we'd be planning for ages. We found a rectangular pre-formed pond, and went from there.

We found time for a bit of surfing in May. 

Then there was a bit more work to finish off edging the pond

plus adding some levels and some plants

Mark got our water feature plumbed in. It has a great sound, a little like a toilet cistern filling if you are being unkind, but it is lovely to hear it out there.

The veg bed and greenhouse have been used well.

And with warmer weather we were using the pergola to eat out lots more.

(and dance....)

The garden has been beautiful. After the tulips I love to see the peonies.

And then there are the poppies.

We have had quite a bit of work done on the roof, so we started trying to clear out and sort through the many things up there, including this old suitcase of Mark's filled with letters, notebooks and photos.

Then it was my birthday (lovely earrings from Stella)

For my birthday weekend we went to stay in the Brecon Beacons. We stayed in a lovely cottage out beyond Abergavenny. On the Friday night our hosts recommended a walk up to a popular sunset spot.

Mark and the girls had an additional adventure up the hill. I stayed put with a hot water and a donut.

On the Saturday morning we walked up Waun Fach. It was about a 17km circular route with incredible views and we were very lucky with the weather.

On the Sunday morning we went foraging with Adele which was a lot of fun, though it was a bit odd standing around in the town center eating from the municipal flower displays...

Then we went to the Angel hotel for afternoon tea which was delicious. 

We have started getting some life in our pond, at first just mosquitos and then some hoverfly larve, which are delightfully known as Rat Tailed Maggots. Super!

We had the Jubilee bank holiday weekend which was rather hampered by Mark and Bunnykins coming down with covid. 

They both isolated in their rooms. We needed to clear the loft that weekend, so that was left to Woo and I. She is a willing and able helper which is great. It was long, tiring, hot and dusty work.

I needed to hand down stuff until the bathroom was full. Then I would clean and dust all the boxes and take them downstairs. We did this on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There were still a few heavy things to come down on the Tuesday when Mark was well enough to help

I also took some time to do some gardening as well as looking after the poorly people, and Woo tried some lino printing.

Oh and I made a lemon drizzle cake which was rather nice even if a little crispy at the edges...

On the Tuesday, the roofers got started and pretty quickly we didn't have a roof anymore! The felt all needed replacing and they were also going to add more insulation and fix a few things.

We had a Challis-Dickson BBQ which was lovely.

And have been doing more sorting through boxes of stuff. 

A couple of weekends ago we went into town for the girl's school fair, but first went for haircuts...

And then did a load of charity shopping before meeting Mark for lunch.

We've had Mark's birthday. This photo shows the moment that Woo realised that Bro is short for Brother.

And my roses in the front have been stunning.

This weekend, Mark and Woo went to Bournmouth with the Disco Biscuits to play in the Sunburn Beach Ultimate tournament.

Woo played so well, it was really windy, but she held her own, doing great work cutting and on D, and even scoring an amazing upwind point.

And then today, solar panels went up! A busy couple of months as usual.