Frosty Morning

Woo hoo... thermals at the ready... I love a good frosty start in the morning! I opened the curtains this morning to find Jack Frost had sprinkled a serious dose of icing sugar over the Mill and it feels very Christmassssssy. Chris Evans is playing great music, Eric Clapton,  and it's dad's party at the weekend, hurrah! Ok, he may have to have a webcam link from his hospital bed but we're all hoping that's not going to happen. I'm sure the hospital are hoping that too! Kati flew in yesterday from Hungary, Greg flies back from the US tomorrow for our big family bash.

My trip to Rowan Mills

I loved my trip to Rowan Mill in Holmfirth. It was a dreadful, wet drive 'up north' but there was a lovely warm welcome waiting for me when I got there. I got a chance to look at their lovely fabrics and a quick wander around their workshop area. I think everyone should cover their furniture with knitted fabrics just for a laugh - even the telephone got the knitted treatment, ha ha! I came away with lots of ideas, encouragement and a box of knitty goodies!

I couldn't resist stopping on the way home to take a shot of this reservoir. As you can see, I didn't even get out of the car, the weather was so bad! Gloucestershire lakes tend to be quite well hidden whereas this reservoir stretched as far as the eye could see and looked very dramatic. It wasn't the first stretch of water I passed, just the first opportunity I got to stop for a photo. Yorkshire a lovely part of the world, the scenery here is open and raw, so much drama for a Wednesday and lovely even in the pouring rain!

The busy girl's guide to racing..

Me and Lisa love a day at the races! The Paddy Power Gold Cup is yet another highlight in our busy social calendar though as it's chilly, it's not such a dressy occasion as the Festival in March. We were so pleased that we chose Saturday as our one and only racing day this year. The sun was shining, the temperature was around 10 degrees and we knew were would have a fab day together. First stop once we arrived was for a coffee and a piece of delicious fruit cake, mmm. That's my pre-curser to opening a bottle of champagne and saves me falling over before lunchtime! Lucky girls, we even found two seats at a table in the newly decorated and refurbished Millar bar! Watching the races on screen isn't quite as much fun as being down on the course but as it's a choice between being outside or staying in until you've finished your bottle (not allowed outside with drinks!) there's no contest.
Cheltenham racing is always great fun because there's always a great atmosphere. It's not a cheap day out by any stretch of the imagination but it's our treat to ourselves. We get real 'friends-time' and have fun in the process. By the time the last race was over we were ready to catch the bus into town. There waiting for us was a meal in Brasserie Blanc and hurrah, my old favourite, ham and cheese pancakes were back on the menu. These busy girls were even back at Lisa's to watch Strictly then X-factor! Reality tv shows are the perfect end to a crazy day's racing because they're a bit mad and crazy too!

The Magic of Motown

It's rare to go to any concert where I know nearly all the words - it must be an age thing! I was in Birmingham Alex theatre tonight with Fi, Rob, Mick, Nick and Eileen for the 50th celebration of Motown called 'The Magic of Motown'. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I've always loved Tamla Motown and soul music so I knew I'd enjoy it. Rob said I would and that's good enough for me! Well, I didn't really enjoy it.. I absolutely loved it and we all had a fab night - the whole evening was MAGIC!

Front man, Roy G Hemmings, former member of the drifters, was brilliant, a real showman. He was the glue that stuck all the other acts together. I loved the variety. The 3 girls, The Love Supremes sang all those wonderful hits including Baby Love. The Tops & Tempts sang some brilliant numbers including 'My Girl' and they were accompanied by a 6-piece band under the direction of saxophonist Anna Brooks (my she's got a good set of lungs!) They got us up in our seats clapping and dancing and I'd certainly go and see them again!

Adventures 'up north!'...

Ainsley Lister Rocks.. !

These girls love Loch Fyne... :)

I'm a Bloodhound Babe... !

What a brilliant day! I was invited to visit the Aardman Studio, Gas Ferry Road and came across this amazing beauty stored nearby, The Bloodhound! Promoted as the biggest engineering adventure of the 21st century, the Bloodhound will in 2012, attempt to travel for one mile at 1,000mph to break the world land speed record - WOW!

What has this got to do with me you might ask? Well when I first arrived, I had little idea what Bloodhound was about but as is the case with these things, as the plans unravelled, I realised it has everything to do with me. In fact, with every one on you too! It's an all inclusive adventure that's been ingeniously plotted and planned to appeal to all ages and I love this project. I can guarantee, it will be what everyone will be talking about in the next couple of years. It's amazingly exciting and the guys leading the team are so passionate about it, the feeling is infectious. The project is led by the infamous Richard Noble who by his own admission, specialises in developing high risk ventures. His most famous being Thrust2 programme which brought the World Land Speed Record back to Britain in 1983 and the ThrustSSC first ever supersonic land speed record programme. Most interestingly the project is about engaging the public in all countries of the world and exciting the population in a way to highlight and encourage new engineering talent. The big global manufacturers have recognised that they are going to be seriously short of engineering talent in the future. That's why they're backing this bid to encourage the youngsters of today in particular to join in the fun that is the Bloodhound adventure. Take a look http://www.bloodhoundssc.com if you'd like to know more...

There's a massive amount of support and sponsorship already in place and although the Bloodhound will eventually be built in Bristol (this is a full size model!) this is a global project. I love cars, fast ones even better so yes, of course this is definitely my kinda adventure!

Just to test the theory, I stepped into the simulator in my red lady shoes to attempt the world record. I don't do simulators so it was definitely a 'Ginger moment'... one of those times when my inner Ginger says to me 'Go on.. I would!' and I think, yes I can too! So on my first test run I scored a poor 650mph but I was keeping my cards very closely to my chest. Ha ha.. that's rubbish really because actually I had no idea which buttons to press to fire my rockets! I'm a girl... !! And if there are 3 buttons on each side of the front of the steering column, I'm going to press those first - not the ones I can't see which are on the back! But following a whisper in my little, shell-like ear by Tony to say... "Don't wait for the instruction through the headset, fire the rocket earlier"... I was fully prepped for my attempt.

The task is to keep the car running as close to the thin blue line as possible. There is a marked mile right at the centre of the course and that's where the speed will be recorded. For the actual record, there has to be two runs, there and back, with both beating the previous record for the record to count. My task was to keep the car steady, listen to instructions and just floor it and fire my rockets to beat my poor first run. Well, girl power did it! I beat the record with an amazing 1018mph and managed to stop by the crew vehicles which would mean in real life, they can refuel in the very limited time of 60 minutes, to send the car back for a second run.

I was triumphant! Just imagine what speed I could have reached in my trainers! I now think they need to change the colour of the Bloodhound to a more girly colour - pink!