Hello campers. Happy Tuesday to you. I trust you all had a fabulous Bank Holiday Weekend. Mine was a tantalising mixture of work and pleasure. I did the sport on BBC Breakfast on Sunday and despite rising at 4am felt remarkably perky. Maybe it was all the fresh air I got on Saturday. Why, I hear you cry? Well I had been outdoorsy and active....... I did a 4.5 mile run first thing Saturday morning (it hurt, I hurt, what more can I say) and then spent the rest of the day in the garden.....eeerrrr gardening..... Now I know it’s hardly rock and roll, but I must say the whole family had an absolute ball.

To be fair, the garden did look like a jungle, so it desperately needed some tlc. The children were desperate to help (which really meant get very dirty, which they achieved), so we all donned our wellies and spent several happy hours pottering. I don’t think mummy’s little helpers have ever been happier. When they staggered inside for lunch and tea, on both occasions they looked like they had been rolling face first in mud.....oh hang on, I forgot, they actually had. But they had a magical time and so did we.

I was so excited about it all I dashed out to the local garden centre and bought bedding plants (I’m just chucking that into the blog, I don’t actually really know what it means.....) And when we had an impromptu game of family football towards the end of the afternoon, I was heard to shriek in an over-excited fashion.....”Mind my pansies......” Well I had just planted them, well I say planted, what I actually mean is, I told my husband where to put them.......but you know what I mean and as yet they remain untrampled, although the squirrels are showing a sinister interest....

But I was fascinated to read about a study the very next day at work that tells us that five minutes of exercise in a green space, like a park or a garden, can really boost our mental health. Well I think that’s absolutely true. We had six hours of green space activity on Saturday and everyone was in top form. Right I must away and be active again. By the way I will be attempting some pilates in the next few days so brace yourselves, but first I must head off to the gym and run some more. Less than 3 weeks to until Edinburgh, so it really must be done. Have a terrific Tuesday and if you can spare a few quid, please do sponsor me. It’s a great cause. Cheeri bye.

www.justgiving.com/Sue-Thearle