Things I’m Loving – From Pinot Gris to Green Tea & Baths in a Laundry Basket…

A short week with Easter weekend and lots to love. It started off on the right foot, with a run on Monday, lots of water and green tea… but I got a little led astray by a divine glass of Pinot Gris and a little piano playing mid-week.

Still, I wasn’t entirely inactive. As always, I spent a lot of time running around playing pirates…

And heading out for a walk… (with the hills of Wellington always guaranteed to get the blood pumping!)…

But, by the end of the week, I definitely felt a little blue from missing my runs and when Good Friday came around I knew what was needed. The gusty northerly didn’t really help to encourage me to get out the door, but after a taste of fresh air and sunshine at the local playground I got a longing that I couldn’t ignore. I called the man of the house to ask if he’d kindly watch over the children (he’d had a good game of tennis in the morning, so was more than happy to oblige) and then sneaked off to don my running gear and head out.

I definitely needed the run and once my feet hit their stride I couldn’t stop, clocking up 11 kilometres (and including my fastest 1km yet – in 3.19 minutes). I mixed up the distance with some running and some fast paced walking (especially when going head on into a gusty northerly), but overall did pretty well – finishing the 11km in 1 hour 4 minutes. I felt totally pumped and amazing afterwards, stretching down with the beautiful scene of Lyall Bay to gaze upon (and a good rub down, after my post-run dip, with some amazing ‘muscle rub‘ from Homespun Holistics).

Such a good start to the long weekend (and ‘SkyFall 007‘ finally out on DVD in New Zealand…. so a good bit of escapist viewing too!).

The children are all well into chillaxing – with Charlotte finishing school on Wednesday, after the annual Easter Service at Wellington Cathedral.

I took them all to Te Papa Museum on Thursday morning (after making a quick visit to the Kirkcaldie and Stains Easter Shop and ‘Clucky the Hen‘, which we all had a giggle over – especially young Alice’s reaction!)

There’s also been plenty to love in the kitchen, with bread supplies needing to be stocked up now that NZ Marmite is firmly back on the shelves (only Sophie and the man of the house are not keen on Marmite – the rest of us LOVE the stuff!).

Sophie decided to make her own soup this week too – and did a fabulous job of putting it all together (and it tasted wonderful!). So, the lightly spiced red lentil and tomato soup will be a regular addition to the family menu for the winter.

And to finish up – had to include this cuteness – young Alice was found sitting in a laundry tub watching the T.V. and soon asked if we could fill it with water… well, how could we resist our little star loving sweetie…