Crikey, the weather is definitely heating up here in Bristol and we’re planning to take full advantage of this by continuing with our daily walks and general healthy living, which is really starting to pay off now.
Amazing graffiti, Nelson Street, Bristol. Photo: Melanie Clegg.
I’ve had a busy week, which has been mostly spent working on From Whitechapel, although I allowed myself some time off for reading, flicking through cookery books, watching Marple and A Field in England (I thought it was superb but my husband HATED it), picking the first strawberries in our garden, smoocherooning up the statue of local boy Cary Grant, re-learning how to read tarot cards (I used to be SO into this as a teenager but then one of my ex boyfriends threw my cards away and it’s taken me this long to replace them!) and cooking curries. Lots of people seem to be intimidated by the process of cooking curry from scratch but I love everything about it – from shopping for the ingredients in the local Asian supermarkets to grinding the spices to hovering over the pot as it cooks, breathing in the lovely curry aromas. It’s ace and so relaxing – plus curry is surprisingly fat free if you stick to the tomato based ones rather than the kormas (and even those can be made pretty low calorie if, like me, you use a no fat coconut yogurt instead of coconut milk!).
A few years ago, as some of you may recall, we had loads of gorillas all over Bristol and spent many happy hours ‘hunting’ for them all so we could tick them off on a special map, before they were all auctioned off for charity. It was ENORMOUS fun and the perfect summer pastime for families and, well, anyone really – with the added bonus that you get to see parts of the city that you weren’t perhaps entirely familiar with before at the same time.
Anyway, it’s back again! Only this time, we’re on the trail of eighty Gromits (the dog from the Wallace and Gromit films), which have been specially individually decorated then dotted all over the city and surrounding area (with one in London) for us to find. This time there is a phone app as well so that you can ‘check in’ whenever you find one of the Gromits and also have a look to see where the next one is, although obviously you don’t have to find them in a particular order!
We had our first Gromit hunt on Saturday and tramped over seven and a half miles around the city to see forty Gromits, which means we are half way towards our target of all eighty by the end of summer. I know, I know but everyone needs a hobby, right and like I said, it’s a great way to see our city.
Sunday was spent, obviously, recovering then watching the tennis (I cheered, I shouted, I clutched my head in frustration, I shot my arms up in the air in sheer triumph, I wept like a baby) before heading out for an epic walk around Leigh Woods. I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly active person so it’s been a bit of a revelation lately to realize that I actually really REALLY love going for long walks! I’ve even started swimming, as threatened in my ‘summer list’ post last week and we’re talking about playing badminton on a regular basis as well. I suppose that I spend so long sitting here with my laptop that it just feels good to get away and stretch my legs a bit.
How was your weekend? Is it boiling hot where you are?
Ps. The winner of the Goldcord giveaway is Charlene Collins! Can you get in contact so we can organize getting your copy of the book to you? Congratulations!
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‘Frothy, light hearted, gorgeous. The perfect summer read.’ Minette, my novel of 17th century posh doom and intrigue is now £2.02 from Amazon UK and $2.99 from Amazon US.
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