Thursday evening, 21-03-24

Hi, everyone.  Hope you're having a pleasant evening after a really good day.

A few people were asking about Beat the Street.  It's a six week initiative designed to get people - adults and youngsters - out and about, getting exercise and discovering their local area.  It also develops map reading skills (there's a map on the app showing the position of the boxes and there's also a paper map)  and there are organised walks which make it very sociable.
Also, Lindsey has organised some specials - she's organising walks and she did a thing last Sunday at Hylands, a local big house and park.  Her dad, organised a 'learn Carpet Bowls' thing which I would have gone to if I could and someone else had organised some core balance stuff.  Right at the end, because its the Easter holiday by then, Lindsey is doing a Family Fun Fitness thing in a local hall that has been 'donated' for free.

This is a beat box.  It happens to be the one at the top of the cul de sac, maybe 50m away from the house - lucky for me!

To tap the box, you either use your Beat the Street card, tapping it against the box, or you can get an app on your phone and when you get close by, it registers and you have to slide a button across on your screen to 'tap' it.  Then you have to find and tap another box within an hour to register the points for both.  It's usually ten points per box but sometimes you might get twenty or even more.  It's random.

Occasionally, you are emailed to say you've won a prize.  That is random too.  On last week's walk, we all tapped a certain box and one lady won a prize.  What it was I have no idea.

You can group up with others and form a team.  I'm part of Lindsey's team, Shimmy Shenanigans.  Pretty much all the primary schools are participating and have formed their school team and there's a box very close to every school as well as others scattered around.

If you tap and drive, it registers that you haven't given yourself enough time between boxes.  You don't have to walk, you can cycle, scoot - anything that involves using energy.  You have to register and then the site tells you how many points you have, which boxes you have tapped, how many miles you have covered, how well your team is doing, etc . . .

The children really seem to enjoy it and as for the adults, I think we're worse than the children.

The bumph on the web site says:

What is Beat the Street?

Beat the Street is a free, fun initiative that will see Chelmsford & SWF transformed into a giant game!

See how far you can walk, cycle, run, scoot and wheel in just 6 weeks. There are great challenges to enjoy and prizes up for grabs.

The game will start on Wednesday 28th February 2024 and end on Wednesday 10th April 2024.

Moving on . . .

It was quite a fine day until late afternoon so I popped some washing in and when I came back from Chris' I hung it on the line.  As always, it was a lovely chat about all sorts of stuff.

After breakfast, I decided to trawl a few shops in the Riverside precinct.  I didn't buy much but it was nice to see what was there and it does up your steps for the day, for sure.  I didn't get home until around three so lunch was very late.
I bought some lint roller thingies, a couple of bowls, a vest style T shirt to wear under a couple of slightly transparent tops, some carrots (who goes into Home Bargains and just comes out with a bag of carrots?  Me, that's who!) and one of those really light duster thingies like a feather duster, for dusting fragile and fiddly stuff like my David Winter cottages, etc.  All useful stuff, nothing wasteful.

When I got home, the washing was pretty dry so I got that in and it is now all ironed and waiting to be taken upstairs and put away.

All in all, a useful sort of day.

Tomorrow, being Friday, it is Slimming World and then I have a food shop to do - I'm running out of fresh stuff in particular and I rather fancy splashing out on some lamb for Easter Sunday - as you do.  A big treat.
Weather permitting, in the afternoon I'd rather like to park in Tower Gardens and walk to the lake, have a coffee and then walk back again but the forecast isn't all that encouraging so we will see.

Amd finally - have you been following this WASPI thing?  I haven't really but I appear to be in the age banding it refers to so maybe I ought to.  Time alone will tell . . .

Time for bed (said Zebedee - remember that?).  Time to close down the technology and start preparing for bed by winding down, anyway.  Sleep well and wishing you a very good day tomorrow.  See you in the evening.  xx