mY LIttLe cItY

Have I ever told you that I get bored easily?  No?  well I do.  And when that usually happens I like nothing better than picking up a few essentials: phone, camera and car keys and head out for a drive around my little city of Stirling and taking a few snaps.  That's what I did today.  Clear blue skies with a now definite nip in the air.  Here are some of the results.

Stirling view - Stirling Castle with Stuc a Chroin & Ochil Hills in the background 

Stirling Castle Great Hall (sandstone building at top) and various old buildings

Part of the Ochil Hills

Something funny was happening in the sky on Thursday evening.  It was also Guy Fawkes nught so that meant fireworks galore most of which i managed to miss in the sky.  See what you think...

The moon is just hiding above a blanket of cloud.  The Ochils and the lights of Alloa in the distance.

Then the moon came out..

And now for some other pictures of my city, Stirling, that i've taken over the years.  Hope you like!

Stirling Castle dusky silhouette

Wallace Monument

Snowy Dumyat

View to the hills up by Callander, Bridge of Allan in the foreground

And finally... me overlooking the dawning of a new year & Wallace Monument 1st January 2009

Ange xx

It's the final countdown!...

... and now only just over 5 days till departure. Yikes!!

Had a wee leaving night last night in Stirling with a few friends which was great. A few couldn't make it but I'll see them at work during the week (get well soon Ian!). To those that did come along Thank You!, it means a lot. I'm really starting to dread saying goodbye to people (you'd think i'd never been away in my life) but somehow this just feels different. Can't really explain it. I was getting ready to go out last night and Ryan came upstairs chapping on the bedroom door. 'Ryan just come in for a wee 5 minutes' he said with his big doe eyes. 'No Angie's getting ready' i replied. I felt so bad saying it but he was going to stay at my auntie's house as his mummy was coming out for the night too. He waved goodbye and it set me off. I don't know what i will be like saying bye bye to him for real on Thursday. He still thinks I'm going up the Ochils for 2 weeks!! Wee scone.

Some more sponsorship money has been coming in during the week which is great so the total is now £3636.35 - fantastic amount. I can't say a huuuuuuge thank you enough to everyone!

Training is going well. Hills, work, gym, work, gym, work, looong walks again... you get the drift. This coming week i have to attend the hospital on Tuesday for my orthopeadic insoles. I can confirm it thas been a year since I first went to the Docs about my sore knees and he gave me ibuprofen!! I then proceeded to spend quite a bit of money on physio appointments until November and visited the Doc again (a different one this time) who referred me to the hospital. I am due to be getting physio on the NHS but that appointment hasn't come through yet since January!!! Amazing eh... So hopefully these insoles will take the strain off my knees and keep my feet, legs and hips aligned properly. Failing that i've packed lots of ibuprofen ha ha. No but seriously i think i will be fine. I'm not getting the pain as sore when walking in the hills which is great, stil can't run for a while but interval running seems tot be doing the trick too. I know my limits and when to stop.

My new camera was tested again this week whilst i was out walking. Took some sunest mode pictures whic hturned out pretty good so i think i'll have some amazing photos to show (or bore) you all with when i get back! Be prepared!!!

I like the greens in the first photo. Second photo is a distant shot of Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle and third picture is the sunset mode. Think they are ok.

I will update more during this final week and have a special posting to be revealed...

so for now take care, be safe
Ange xx

Kit buying

Well who would have thought it, I'd like shopping for kit!! It's fab finding great bargains on the internet. You've just go to know what you're looking for and where to find it. I am fast becoming a kit geek searching for deals and good kit. I have taken delivery of my first real 'serious' piece of kit - a 4 season down Rab sleeping bag. Very cool and a bargain too at £70 off the RRP.

No I'm not inside it in this picture but I did lay on top and i sunk into it. Hopefully it will be warm enough and provide me with some good nights sleep when on my trek.

Day of training was a circuit round the loch at my place of work with a walk up to the Wallace Monument thrown in for good measure. http://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/ Not bad for a lunch time training circuit. My ever present side-kick and chief motivator Sharon was with me too. Another one planned for Thursday lunchtime and a long walk on Friday has been promised by Susan (she's in training for the Moonwalk, Edinburgh). All good though.

So as far as I know, at this minute, Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE; Kenton Cool and co and a crew from Jagged Globe (plus a few more I'm sure) are making their way up to summit Everest. Good Luck guys! Stay safe. x

For the latest news follow these links:

http://www.everestchallenge.org.uk

http://www.jagged-globe.co.uk/news/despatches_list.html?id=27