Well, I finally gave in and ordered myself a new camera, and I'm hoppy, skippy, over-the-moon delighted with it. Can't promise my photos will be any better, but my experience of taking them is better, which means I look forward to taking them, and therefore take more, which is all that counts.

Anyway, here I am on a Thursday afternoon, sat amidst the chaos that is our living room, watching a film and crocheting my new ripple blanket. This is for a friend's new baby, and I confess it took a few false starts before I got going properly. I've been using this pattern, and I can't fault it one bit - once I actually followed it properly it worked perfectly... 

I'd really recommend doing as the pattern suggests and making a small trial version first. I didn't, and ended up unravelling the first rows of my entire blanket several times. For some reason my ripples were going up, but not back down, and so the whole thing was going round in a square. 

Most vexing. 

I'd also recommend using a larger crochet hook for the first chain row - that means when you do have to unravel it (which you won't, because undoubtedly you'd do it properly the first time) it won't be as fiddly to redo. 

Fortunately I sussed it eventually, and am now rippling my way to cheerfulness with an extremely non-pastel purple, turquoise and red blanket. I have no idea whether this new baby is a boy or a girl, but I'm (fairly) sure the parents will appreciate the colourfulness. 

As you can see in the first picture, my rippling is taking place surrounded by boxes, piles, and things-out-of-the-cellar. There's barely room to put my feet by the sofa before the chaos starts. Our living room isn't exactly a relaxing, minimalist haven right now. This seat is a refuge, as long as I keep my eyes focused on my crochet and don't look up. 

Outside, though, the garden is in reasonable shape and I'm very much enjoying the flowers that are springing up with no help at all from me. 

There are chives everywhere in my garden, and usually I split them each year and spread them out, although I didn't bother this year. I confess I haven't eaten any at all so far (shocking, I know). I often dry herbs, but I've never dried chives. Do they keep their oniony flavour? Maybe I'll dry some and see. Those flower heads are so pretty, really stripy and delicate up close, and always covered in bees. 

I think my new favourite flower might just have to be nigella though. So delicate, and yet so strange and somehow not like flowers at all. 

These have self seeded after I grew some from Higgledy Garden seeds last year, and I love seeing them in all their weirdness by the back door. (And really, if you're after flower seeds, do buy them from the lovely Benjamin Higgledy - he hand writes a thank you note with every order and is an all round utterly lovely bloke). 

I'm slowly trying to make our garden (along with the rest of the house) more presentable and ready to sell. It's strange, the thought that we might be leaving soon. I've only ever really gardened here, and while the space is small and overlooked, there are things about it that I'll miss. 

I'm trying not to scare myself with the thought that I find it difficult to keep on top of even this tiny garden, and we'll likely be moving to a much bigger one. How on earth will I manage? I'm comforting myself that at least the neighbours won't be able to see as much of it (hopefully). Somehow it's always more fun to just sit in the garden than actually do stuff. 

I confess I've ignored running for a while. Running was one of my themes for last year (along with gardening) and after the marathon in October I felt I needed a good long rest. 

After six months though, I started to get itchy feet, and when my family told me they planned to do the Race for Life again this year, I knew that was my route back in. 

My first run of the year was the Liverpool 10k. Hard work, but goodness me it felt good to be running again! Me and my sister laughed our way round, and then laughed our way round a rather painful kids' race straight afterwards with my three nephews scattering in all directions like marbles. 

So this year I already have two medals, and we've entered a local 13 mile trail race at the end of June. 

All this has served to make me realise how woefully unfit I am at the minute. Yes, I cycle part of the journey to work twice a week, and walk where I can, but it's nothing in comparison to the amount of exercise I had last year. I've become rather lazy again with my eating habits - always a danger for me with my incredibly sweet tooth - and seem to have acquired a spare stone and a half since October. Hmm. 

I feel it too. I feel less boingy, less bright and willing to jump up and get outside. I've started to say things like 'nah, it's too late to go for a walk' or 'shall we just go to the cafe instead?' Legitimate sentiments, but not every time. 

So, more running in my future (in a non-pressured way, of course). Paradoxically, exercise gives me more energy, and makes me look at my body as something other than a receptacle for cake. When I run, I want to run more, and I eat what I need rather than everything in front of my face. 

Fortunately, a new women's running group has started just around the corner from my house. I've been twice now with their beginners' group, and I was delighted to find myself one of the faster people for once. For someone who's spent her entire athletic life being left behind at school and coming last in races, this was pretty exciting. (I'm nowhere near ready to move up to the next group just yet, mind you, but no matter).


I'm also trying to cajole myself out of bed on a Saturday morning for the local parkrun. I love parkrun - a free, timed, 5k race every Saturday morning in parks all round the country, for no purpose other than a love of running. Each week they email you your time (and, in my case,  often a message saying 'you were 586th out of 586 parkrunners'), and when you've done 50 you get a free t shirt. I'm up to 42, and frustratingly I can't make a single one in June. Looks like it'll be September before I get my t shirt.

So that's two fairly regular runs each week, but if I'm going to be fit for a 13 mile trail race at the end of the month, I need a longer run every now and then too. This week I took myself off to Wyming Brook, a wildlife trust reserve that I adore, for nearly 9 miles of trees and reservoir and views. 

That's the furthest I've run since the marathon, and it certainly felt like it, although I took it nice and easy and ran for two minutes, walked for one, over and over. I love this style of getting along, it's so much more manageable than trying to run flat out for miles, and much kinder on the body. I'll never be fast, but by alternating short bursts of running with a bit of walking I can keep going for a long time. When I'm fitter, the running bits get longer, but for now two minutes is just about right. 

I'm not sure how we'll get on in the trail race, my sister and I, but I suspect we'll make it to the end somehow. The organisers have sensibly split it into 11 off road, timed sections, with the bits in between (crossing the roads) just walking and untimed. Ingenious really, and just the way I would usually do a race anyway. I'm rather excited at the thought of my third medal of the year. 

In all the months of not running, I'd forgotten one of my favourite things about it - seeing the city and the surrounding countryside on foot, from a different perspective, finding new paths, new viewpoints, new trails. I'll miss round here when we move, but I'm excited all over again at finding new places to run too.