Monday, 24 January 2011

Kew Midsummer Fete - Saturday, June 18th

Yes, I know June is ages away but we're already getting in lots of applications for stalls. Last year's first Fete was a huge success with around 5,000 people visiting the 80+ stalls and Victorian fairground and watching the bands and live entertainment, playing footie or watching the incredible turn out for the Dog Show.

Not being a particularly doggie-loving person myself I didn't expect the show to be quite the enormous success it was - it was absolutely mobbed with people and their pooches. Probably helped, of course, by the fact that the not-bad-looking Zac Goldsmith was judging!

Anyway, this year is set to be even better and I'll be publicising it a lot in Living In Richmond & Kew and Living In Barnes & East Sheen magazines, as I did last year, which helped to attract lots more people.

If you want to have a stall, just visit www.kewfete.org. Application forms can be downloaded from the Stalls page. If you're thinking of selling jewellery please email me first at pippa@kewfete.org as this category is almost full.

Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Oops. A while since I last blogged - just too busy getting the combined December/January together before having a lovely long break over Christmas, then getting the February issue off to the printers. So, my New Year's Resolution is to blog more regularly!

As I've mentioned on facebook and twitter, I'm running the London Marathon on 17th April in aid of the local branch of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research - a great charity which helps families with a child suffering from this disease, the most common form of cancer in children. I've been training since early November, running four times a week - just regular small runs before Christmas, but I've now really stepped up the pace.

Saturday was a 5 mile circuit - ran really well (for me!) - 50 minutes, so 10 minute miles. Sunday was a whole different story! Tired legs from Saturday's run and 10 miles to go. Started off late in the afternoon, deliberately going slowly because of aching legs and got back home 2 hrs and 9 minutes later, exhausted, barely standing up and even wimpering a little... Literally couldn't move for the next hour.

Training for a marathon is a strange thing. You feel full of enthusiasm and excitement at taking on such a massive challenge and yet at the same time the commitment is huge - not only the running time itself, which will get longer and longer as each week goes on, but the thinking about eating the right foods at the right time to make sure you have enough carbs, the aching muscles after the runs, the planning the running times to fit in with everything else in life, including publishing two magazines, and spending time on the fundraising so you are actually doing something that helps a charity, too.

Do I regret taking this on? The hours of running, the painful knees, the sore toes, the boring pasta? NOT AT ALL!