On Wednesday I turned thirty-three (or 23 +10, as I’ve been telling people) so decided to take the rest of the week off work and just spend time with Mr Osbiston. He of course took this a challenge to fill my day with excitement, which he did rather impressively.
I did put a bit of a spanner in the works straight off the bat because he wanted to make me breakfast in bed and I wanted to go for a run. I don’t like to eat much before I work out because it makes me feel a bit sick so I convinced him to get my breakfast ready for my return. Here I am with my beautiful birthday flowers… in my running gear. I couldn’t let myself get behind on the Fall into Fitness Challenge.
It was my best 5km run ever and I finished in 32 minutes exactly. I think it would have been even faster if I hadn’t have had to wait to cross the road. Maybe the universe gives you extra energy on your birthday!
After a delicious breakfast, Mr Osbiston, told me we were going to Spitalfields City Farm to visit the pig he sponsored for me for my birthday. (My other amazing present was Sigur Ros tickets!!!)
Despite the fact that it was a very grim and rainy day, I was ridiculously excited about going to the farm and about meeting my pig.
The farm is a stone’s throw from the East End and has all kinds of interesting animals, including donkeys, a Shetland pony, pygmy goats, a calf, rabbits, ferrets, geese, guinea pigs and chickens. The farm is free to visit and you can pop in and chat to, and even pet in some cases, the animals whenever you want. They also have a cafe and a shop where you can buy all kinds of food grown and produced at the farm.
Paul investigates some sheep
Almost all the animals are available for sponsorship, including my pig, Watson, who is on the left of this picture. He is a rare breed of pig from New Zealand called a Kune Kune. I think he is very, very handsome. His pen-mate is called Holmes, which is very fitting. I decided that Watson was the pig for me because he took a brief break from eating to look up at me when I arrived.
In the next 12 months I will get to visit Watson four times and help to take care of him. I can’t wait.
After we had finished communing with the animals it was time for a (veggie) lunch at The Real Greek in Spitalfields market. Delicious!
Om nom nom
After that it was time for some culture so we went for my first ever trip to the V&A, one of London’s many free museums.
The V&A is considered to be the world’s greatest museum of art and design and contains amazing ceramics, architecture, fashion, metalwork, books and more from multiple time periods all over the world. It really has to be seen to be believed. I have to admit that the fashion section was my absolute favourite and I became utterly lost in the gowns from the past… as well as this front room, which Mr Osbiston and I are adamant we are going to recreate when we own our own house one day.
Our last outing for the day was a trip to the movies to see Thor: The Dark World in 3D… but you’ll have to wait until next week’s Film Friday to hear about that!
