Inspiration

This summer has been inspiring for many different reasons.

Our summer started off in Devon, which is somewhere that is always beautiful. We did our usual mooching about beaches to try and find fossils, as well as to build sandcastles.

We also visited the Eden Project in Cornwall where inspiration came from the plants, as well as the evening concert by the Disney Concert Orchestra and Pixar.

When we got home there was inspiration starting to come from another direction, the Commonwealth Games.

We managed to see the Baton pass from Largs to Cumbrae, where the wood from the baton came from. It was great to see the baton in the flesh as it is a beautifully designed piece.

The baton only had a week to go before reaching it’s destination in Glasgow to start the Commonwealth Games.

We watched the opening ceremony that set up the next 11 days perfectly, with the best dressed Scots being the tweed bedecked people with the Scottie dogs.

Then the sport started and on the first night I watched the swimming and saw Hannah Miley win gold in a fantastic race, and then got glued to pretty much everything else that was on. In that first night there were various medals to various athletes, all inspiring in their own way. It got me spurred on to try and change my body from being suited to sitting and weaving, to try and get it to be more athletic and run as well.

Various other friends and family have done some amazing athletic challenges and feats as well this year, and between them and watching the games I felt it was time for me to give it a go. So, for over a week I’ve been going out pretty much every other day and doing a bit of running mixed with a lot of walking and I’m feeling better for it already. I already do a lot of walking with the weaving assistant, Gonzo the Springer Spaniel, so just upping the pace a bit isn’t really much of a change. Actually, it is a pretty big change but getting used to it and with my new trainers it will get easier.

With all this inspiration, there are lots of little ideas buzzing around my head for future weave patterns, and hopefully over the next few months I’ll get time to develop them into something, so watch this space.