And just like that, August was gone. What have we been up to?

It’s September. A month that still makes me think of going back to school, new pencil cases, school shoes and autumn. It’s not officially autumn for a little while yet, but the word September conjures images of russet coloured leaves on the trees. It feels like summer is over, so what have we been up to in August?

I always dread that question (along with ‘what is it that you do?’), because I can barely remember what I had for lunch (pan-fried gnocchi which was lovely) let alone what I did yesterday, this past week or month. We returned back home to Nottingham at the end of July, after three weeks away in our motorhome touring around the Lake District. Since then we have been mainly writing, running and catching up with folks.

Jay now has all the required kit he needs for his 50 mile run up and around Snowdon later this month (yes there’s a list of kit he has to carry and it’s checked before he is allowed to set off). He’s also been putting in some serious miles training, heading off for several hours at a time either on long runs or to the gym to hit the step machine (it must have smoke coming out of it after 3 straight hours of climbing). I’ve also been training for the local Robin Hood Half Marathon which takes place at the end of September.

In addition to the solo training runs, we were both so flipping excited when we could once again run with our running club (shout out to the Kimberley and District Striders). Covid restrictions imposed by England Athletics had limited us to initially only running alone, then we were allowed to run with one other person before moving up to groups of six. Finally when the restrictions ended, the club was able to start to put on nights where we can all get together and run. It was so great to see everyone again, even if it was only at the start and then their backs as they ran off ahead of me.

Parkruns also returned and at the start of August we got to run our first one since January 2020. Somehow during the last 18 months I seem to have got a bit faster, so I am very happy with that. Races are also back. Jay got to tackle a 30 kilometre run around Belper in Derbyshire and we both got to represent our club in what is usually a regional series of summer league races, but was reduced to just one race this year. It didn’t matter, we loved it. I even got a bit tearful when the race started, as I didn’t realised just how much I had missed the buzz of the start.

Zagan has had a little bit of love with all his soft furnishings getting a wash and Jay replacing one of the kitchen plug holes (yes, we have two sinks in the kitchen – we only ever use the small one which is the one that broke). The 20 year old plastic around the hole gave up on our last trip. Zagan has also been bought a new outdoor mat, but it hasn’t arrived yet – so we’ll keep that as a surprise for him when we go away again in a couple of weeks.

We’ve popped to visit friends who we hadn’t seen (other than virtually) since the start of the pandemic. We made a weekend of it when we visited our friends who live further afield in Taff’s Well near Cardiff. This gave us the chance to nip to the seaside for a few hours (oh, we do like to be beside the seaside!). We drove over to Porthcawl and had a great couple of hours in the sun rock-pooling and watching the world go by on the beach.

You may have noticed on the blog that we have been doing a bit of writing recently too. We’ve written a Beginner’s Guide to Motorhomes, as well as updating and writing several other shorter posts in our ‘How To‘ section. We’ve also updated our Motorhome Touring Handbook, as with Covid and Brexit, stuff is changing so quickly at the moment, plus we’re learning more about touring the UK in a motorhome.

The last day of August is the day we reached financial freedom. To celebrate six years since we ‘retired’, we gave away copies our book The Non-Trepreneurs : Escaping Corporate Life for a Life of Financial Freedom, which tells the story of how we (and others) did it. We’ve given away over 750 copies (over £3,750 worth, which feels great). Even if only one person reads it and is inspired to take control of their finances and give themselves more freedom, we’ll be happy.

And finally, (as they say on the News at Ten) on August 10th I ticked off an item on my bucket list by appearing on Radio 2’s music quiz ‘Pop Master’. I had massive butterflies in my stomach, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even got in a cheeky mention for the blog, which promptly stopped working due to the number of people trying to look at it! It was back up and running within fifteen minutes, whereas the rest of my day was spent with folks getting in touch to say they had heard me. It was nerve-wracking, but a great experience and I thoroughly recommend it.

We’re off to Wales in Zagan in September for Jay’s run. After my half marathon we’ve a blank space in the calendar during October and November, so we’re just trying to work out what to do with it.

Ju x

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