Mountains and Maternity

Firstly, I want to apologise that all these photos were taken on my phone, but I felt they are better than nothing!

This weekend has been such a busy one! As you may remember, a group of us from London decided to do the Three peaks challenge to raise money for youth charity XLP. We left early on Thursday morning to drive to Liverpool where we were to meet the rest of our team and the kind people who had volunteered to drive us between the mountains.

The three peaks challenge consists of climbing the three highest mountains in the UK, in under 24 hours. I guess it could be described as a mixture of pain and delirium. Things really did not go to plan. There were roads closed, there was traffic, there was a lack of training and even an injured ankle. It was pretty hectic- but it was BRILLIANT. We were constantly struck by the beauty of this country we live in. I loved getting onto the mountains.

Sadly, all the delays meant we didn’t have a chance of making it in 24 hours. However, had we gone to the last mountain on time we would have been walking in high winds, torrential rain and thick fog. I think maybe we were fortunate to be late.

The only downside was that this meant I couldn’t complete the last mountain as I needed to get back to London for a workshop I was running. I was a little gutted at first, but once I arrived at the workshop I was more than happy to sacrifice that last mountain. The workshop was part of a mum’s to be event hosted by Bump & Blush. It was great to meet everyone- all these Londoners from different walks of life. Most people there had been specifically searching online for events which are aimed at building community and friendships between expecting mothers. These ladies really highlighted to me just how valuable friends are. Having a support network during such a beautiful but challenging time is essential. It was great to see people getting on and talking about the joys and the challenges of pregnancy. I’m a big fan of the craft we were doing- painting and stencilling baby grows. I love how you provide a group of people with the exact same resources yet everyone produces something thats ’them’. Here are a few pictures of what people made.

The event had delicious food and (non alcoholic) drinks provided by Mama tea,  Porgies and Mangajo. There was a body oil making workshop by Kadria skincare. The ladies could have some maternity photos taken by Veronica and lastly they provided hand massages and manicures using pregnancy safe nail varnish by ‘Knocked up nails'. That is one hilarious name!

I can't wait for the next event!