For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to see Stonehenge.  I kind of vaguely think I might have driven past when I was a very small child but I might just be imagining it.  Just like the pyramids of Giza, I’m fascinated by how people with no modern tools or transport managed to construct something so impressive.  And Stonehenge has the added fascination of no one knowing for sure why it was created.  It’s not a tomb and certainly doesn’t seem to be a burial ground so it really is a mystery and one I just had to see for myself.

Last week I was fortunate enough to have to go to Bristol, via London, for union meetings and that gave me the perfect opportunity to complete this challenge.  After all Stonehenge isn’t that far from Bristol so it would be easy – wouldn’t it.

Unfortunately I hadn’t banked on a dreadful journey to London with an hours detour due to road works before my meeting.  Then what should have been a journey of between 2 and 3 hours to Bristol turned into what can only be described as a nightmare.  With heavy traffic coming out of London, an accident on the M4 and several other diversions, via Henley of all places, it took us nearly 6 hours to get to Bristol.  So I really wasn’t convinced we were going to make it to Stonehenge the next morning.

But as it turned out I woke up bright and early with the sun streaming through the bedroom window.  Now being from the North East of England I’m used to cold weather so sunshine in February is quite a surprise and definitely something not to be wasted.

So after a quick breakfast, my friend Cath and I jumped into the car and headed off for the hour’s drive to Stonehenge.  The temperature was in double figures at 10 degrees and I was hoping for a nice easy drive.  Unfortunately that was not to be.  For some reason my satnav decided to take us down every little country road and as I was on the point of running out of fuel this wasn’t good.  I was beginning to think I could class this as a road trip and cross off two challenges at once.

Fortunately we made it – to both the petrol station and Stonehenge – even if it did take an hour and 45 minutes.  And it was certainly worth the trouble as you can see from my video and photos.

As we wandered round I was surprised at my reaction.  The stones were impressive and I’ve still got no idea how or why they got there.  I’m now pretty sure I couldn’t have driven past the site when I was a child as the circle was much smaller than I had expected and I’m sure I would have remembered that.  But it still felt really familiar.  Not because I’d seen it on television or in pictures but because it somehow as the sun shined over the stones it just felt like a place I knew really well.

When we left I go Cath to drive back to the hotel as I really didn’t think I could cope with more windy country roads.  But surprisingly, or maybe not as I wasn’t driving, the satnav directed us straight down the motorway and we were back in less than an hour.  So I guess challenge #32 – take a road trip – will just have to wait for another day.

Prosecco, Burgers and Pies………..

Yes, that’s what I’ve had this week.  Plus some cake, a little chocolate and a lovely lemon dessert!!!  To say it has been a bad week is probably the understatement of the year.

It all started so well.  I was sticking to my diet which is really just based on counting calories and trying to keep fat and sugar content low.  But then at the end of the week a trip to Bristol via London meant it all went wrong.

After a particularly difficult journey we arrived in Bristol at nearly 10 o’clock on Thursday night.  And when you check into a hotel at that time there isn’t a whole lot of choice on things to eat and if I’m honest I really just needed comfort food.  So I went for the leek and potato soup followed by a venison burger.  In my defence I drank water and didn’t eat the chips and said no to the dessert so was determined to get back on track on Friday.

And Friday started well.  After enjoying fruit and yogurt for breakfast we headed off to Stonehenge and I was sure I’d be fine for the rest of the weekend.  We headed back to the hotel for lunchtime and the start of the UNISON business we were there for.  And again I did pretty well but from there things went down hill.

You see we were celebrating one of my very dear friends sixtieth birthday and I’d brought a cake and a bottle of prosecco – so yes it was all my fault.  And instead of just a small toast I invited everyone to come to my room at the end of the meeting to celebrate with Maggie and of course everyone brought a bottle. So a couple of drinks and a slice of cake later we headed down to a dinner of chicken in creamy mushroom sauce. But I didn’t have any chips and gave my dessert away.

Saturday started with me thinking it probably wasn’t too bad and I was good at both breakfast and lunch but then we decided we needed to finish our celebrations (and the left over prosecco) with another little celebration – once again in my room.  While I had the healthy option for dinner and pineapple for dessert unfortunately I decided to carry on drinking.  Because we all know prosecco is calorie free and must be one of your five a day as its made from grapes – don’t we? Well no actually, not really.

And my biggest problem came the next day.  Because whenever I’ve had a few drinks I wake up starving and have little willpower to resist food.  So following a breakfast of sausage, cheese omelette and beans and mushrooms (because at least they’re healthy), I went on to have a traditional Sunday lunch (including Yorkshire pudding and lashings of gravy) followed by not one but two lemon possets (made with cream but served with a strawberry) before setting off for home.

About a third of the way back we stopped of for a comfort break at what I can only describe as the most tempting services in the world for a very tired and hungry me.  It had a farm shop and a very delicious Beef and Venison pie was the order of the day.

As I was no longer driving I decided to have a little sleep to refresh myself and try to get back on track.  But it wasn’t really to be because after dozing for a couple of hours I woke with a craving for chocolate.  And there in the passenger door was half a bag, a large bag that is, of maltesers that my co-traveller had kindly left there on the journey down.  And I’m afraid I had no choice but to eat them!!!!

When I arrive home I went straight to bed knowing this morning’s weigh in was going to be a disaster.  So as I stepped on the scales I looked down with baited breath to see just how bad it would be.  And the result is…………….

1 pound on – it could have been so much worse

I can hardly believe I’m saying this but I’ve only put 1 pound on. Not the best week in the world and it could certainly have been a whole lot worse.  So from today it’s time to get back on track because I’m not going to get away with this again.

And of course the best bit is it means to fulfill my £ for Pounds promise I’ll be donating another £2 to the Charlie Cookson Foundation so at least my failure to lose means they are winners

If you’d like to commiserate with me on my weight gain or encourage me to get back on track then please add £’s for pounds at www.justgiving.com/5iftyby5ifty