Week 29 - Visit a new place in the UK

I really should have been more prompt writing these blogs. You would have thought that being a teacher and having a long summer holiday I would have had plenty of time to keep writing regularly. Obviously, the lack of routine scuppered me and if I'm perfectly honest the problem was that the weather was simply too nice and I just couldn't stay inside and write on the tablet when the sun was shining! (Can't see the screen outside - have tried, didn't work)
Having said all that, when I visited the Cheddar gorge in Somerset for the very first time in mid-August the weather was actually not brilliant at all. Then again, we didn't go for the weather. It was thanks to great friends of ours who invited John and I to join them in a mobile home on a small caravan site that we had the opportunity to go there.
Cheddar of course is home to cheese, cider, caves and a road weaving its way up through the middle of the rock. I had never visited before, in fact I'm not sure whether I'd previously stayed in Somerset at all.
Anyway, I think it'd be true to say that I made a bit of a rookie error. The whole point of visiting a massive gorge is to experience it; to see its expanse, its magnitude, to look down and get the 3000 ft perspective. I didn't do that! I can't for the life of me think why now  (umm I think there was a charge to do the cliff walk-:-\ ) it was certainly my own 'not doing'.
To be honest, it's not like me. I'm usually very keen to get the bird's eye view - even some of my earlier  blogs testify to that and I've spoken about this in church before now for goodness sake!
I guess there's some lessons to myself here:

• Don't Stop looking for the bigger picture, 
• Don't start losing that child-like wonder in the little things,
• Don't let cynicism rob you of joy

I feel suitably reproached now!

Here's what I should have seen:

Weeks 27 and 28 Coffee with...... and Sailing!?

Well summer was astonishingly but undeniably with us for much longer than we all expected but I still didn't manage to do one challenge that I really needed to do in the warmth!
.... Ah you thought I was going to mention what it was? - no, no better to keep you guessing (and if I don't end up doing it, you'll never know!!!)
Anyway, back to those things that I have done :- another coffee with.... This needs no explanation since I've written about this previously. However, that in no way lessens nor underestimates the special and significant time I spent with my coffee date.I just love spending time getting to know people, properly.
Someone whom I had the privilege to spend more time with this summer was the amazing Peter Caldwell who offered to take me out on his boat and teach me to sail. I had never as far as I could remember been on a sailing boat and I had certainly never held the helm and navigated across the open seas!!
From the outset, I realised that this was not only a whole new world, but also a whole new language. I learnt nautical vocabulary which included a ketch and a genoa; I discovered that there was great skill in reading the tide and weather charts, the water depth, the wind strength and speed and the importance of timings. I found out that maintaining a straight course required great concentration and may I say even considerable skill! (I do not presume to have mastered it)
Peter and his sailing buddy, John, showed incredible patience and tolerance in allowing me to take the captain's position at the helm. They subtly and graciously moved between giving me the freedom to learn and then taking the helm when potential danger threatened or they sensed I was getting out of my depth!!
Moreover, they wanted me to experience a full day of sailing and took me from Conwy to Puffin island, out to Colwyn Bay and then returning into the marina round the Great Orme and coming close to West shore and Deganwy beaches.
The things that surprised me were just how far the boat tipped over under the force and strength of the wind, the way my feet ached from standing still on deck at that sloped angle and how difficult it was to go to the toilet in such a small space and with a vacuum operating system!!
 It was a brilliant day though and I couldn't have asked for better teachers. I could definitely do this again; there is simply so much to learn and I could absolutely appreciate why people get hooked on sailing and the level of skill which is needed.
 Thank-you Peter and 'Island Girl' for helping me achieve challenge no.28.

Week 25 and 26- The Zip-Wire and getting a story in the press!

It all seems such a long time ago now - back when the summer holidays were looming enticingly close and the promise of long, lazy sun-filled days were excitingly anticipated.
Well they came those days, and even the sun, and as I remember back to July 12th, they are already feeling like a distant memory even though the holidays are not quite finished.
Which is why doing something memorable, something shared, something charged with emotion is a really important and significant thing to do. You don't want every day to run into the next seamlessly and unremarkably.
Of course not everyone wants to ride a zip-wire and to be honest that's not really what I'm advocating. I'm simply talking about making great memories with those that we love. Holidays are perfect for this. Think back to your own childhood memories, I'll bet a lot of them were on family holidays, I know mine were.
I guess the whole point of these 50 things was to create lasting memories of a landmark year, however,I did want one challenge to be not only quite dramatic but also to raise money for charity. I love the idea of doing something fun but at the same time knowing that it's also going to benefit others.
By now most people have seen the pictures of the zip-wire and local people may have seen the story in the North Wales Weekly News. I was pretty chuffed to make the front page via a teaser picture and then a full article inside with another photo. Lara did a brilliant job with the story.I hope it helped to raise a little more awareness for the charities. At the moment the total raised is around £500 which I'm pretty pleased with.

As for the experience it was totally brilliant! John came with me on the ride and we had quite a few supporters too. (Thanks folks, you were encouraging and helpful).The guys at Zip World were very professional and told us we'd find the mini zipper the most scary! Half the distance and speed, - how can that be??
Well it was true. The ground fell away quickly and we flew alarmingly close to the tops of trees. Plus of course, it was the first time up on the wire. Next by the time we'd ascended the mountainside of the former quarry in a bone shaking truck and admired the spectacular views the adrenaline was pumping and we knew there was only one way down!
All our fellow zippers had the foresight (and canniness) to bring their cameras, which meant they all sloped off to take photos at the summit, leaving John and I to edge rather nervously onto the platform completely alone and without that reassuring but absolutely necessary feeling of safety in numbers.
From them on, there was definitely no turning back. We were securely harnessed up, the go-pro was switched on and we awaited the final countdown. I hesitantly called out to John to say something encouraging (he didn't!- to be fair I'm not sure he heard) After what inevitably seemed like an eternity, the go- ahead was given and we were released.

Almost immediately I realised I wasn't terrified, not even scared. We soared through the air like birds, passing over the mounds of abandoned slate and then the gleaming lake - and it really did feel like flying. Not once did we feel the pull of g-force, nor the fear of falling or crashing. It was pure exhilaration, yes even enjoyment. The only negative for me was that I only remembered to look around towards the end and so I didn't appreciate the view as much as I should have.Which, needless to say, means only one thing!......... Exactly, I'll just have to do it again someday!

Here's a link to the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch
v=ZGtus16ciZE&feature=youtu.be

Week 24 - New hair

I have to confess to going out of chronological order here, but it made sense. I mean you can't write a blog in another month about your new look hair when nearly everyone's seen it already and it's no longer new, or even noteworthy!
Of course you could argue that it's not that noteworthy anyway, but, it was on my list to do something quite radical with my look and for me, that was definitely a challenge. So it's here and staying.
Some people are always changing their hairstyles and even their colour but that's never been true for me. In fact, I think had my sister not been a hairdresser and a lot more into hair and make-up than me back when we were young, then I would have had considerably less experience of new styles etc. I remember, one time, when I was about 15, shocking my teachers, my friends and most of all myself by getting a sort of plum colour on my hair. I'm sure my sister must have coaxed me into it at a time when she was a trainee and I seem to think I didn't expect it to be such a bold colour. Maybe I'm looking back at my teenage self with filtered perception, perception borne out of years of safe and non-risky behaviour and maybe I was really an eccentric character in those days - mmm -no, I don't think so. Well whatever it was that caused this unabashed flamboyancy, it didn't reappear for another 25 years when at the age of 40 I had highlights for the first time!
So it seems landmark birthdays inspire me to make these changes. I think it's a pity that I need to wait for them in order to be bold, or is it because I'm generally content with how things are? Probably both are true; but to be honest there's another reason behind the new, short hair but sadly it's less to do with significant birthdays and meaningful gestures, and more to do with symptoms synonymous with 'women of a certain age'.!!
Anyway, I'm very happy with the look and thank-you to Sue at 'Scissorz',Colwyn Bay for releasing me of my locks and believing me when I said they had to go! (By the way, hairdressers love to cut off a lot of hair and don't often get much opportunity it seems, so, you know what to do,........ get down there!)
I guess it's watch this space in ten years time ........!!

Week 23- Go skiing

Early on in the process of deciding what to put on my 50 things list, I knew skiing had to be up there. Not only had I never skied before but there happens to be a dry ski slope on my doorstep in Llandudno (where there's also a tram that I've never ridden) and so really it was an obvious choice.
I didn't imagine that funds would allow a real skiing holiday or anything so exotic so I only had my thoughts set on the slope in town. However, a friend strongly recommended that I visited the snow dome in Manchester instead because she said it hurt when you fell on the dry slope. Naturally, I assumed that falling was an inevitability and so I took her advice and booked in at the Chill Factore.
Happily, the whole idea snowballed (pun intended) and both my brother and sister decided to join me on this mini adventure!
In the end, there were 6 of us booked onto the taster session in June. I have to say that it was a really strange feeling going into a building wearing shorts, vests and sandals on one of the hottest days of the year whilst carrying winter woolies in your bag to change into! It sort of messed with your head! I mean, who wants to go into a freezing, wintry environment in the middle of a proper summer's day?
Well, it seems we did! We enjoyed 40 minutes being shown how to move, balance, glide etc. Of course we didn't reach the dizzy heights of the big slope but we did get a great introduction and a true taste of what skiing was all about and amazingly, not a single member of the 12 strong group fell over even once!
I thoroughly enjoyed it and I would definitely go onto having some lessons at some point although I don't think I was a natural.
Thanks to Nathan, Linda, Steve, Hannah and Jackie for holding my hands and not showing me up too much and of course to Ben, the pro, who showed us all the skiing prowess to which we could all aspire!

Week 22- sleep out under the stars

Incredibly, we've had an excellent summer so far and that's been very conducive to quite a few of my challenges. This particular one was to sleep out under the stars and I chose a warm June evening when the light lasted until nearly 10pm.
John and I returned from a walk on the Bryn and lay on the trampoline to enjoy the last of the day's sun. Impulsively I suggested we sleep outside that night as it was so beautiful and John happily agreed. There are 2 things to note here; firstly that I am not impulsive so this was already a bit 'out there' for me, secondly, it was a really good job that John was compliant because I would have been too scared to do it on my own!
The trampoline seemed like a good idea at the time as a bed, but you tended to squash a little into the centre!
Anyway, unaware of this, we armed ourselves with bedding, a torch and of course an obligatory bottle of wine! It was lovely watching the light gradually fade and the stars eventually becoming visible. The bats began to dart between the trees and one or two came very close to our heads!
I fully expected to be awakened or startled by the sounds of the fox or other nocturnal creatures during the night, but I wasn't at all. Having said that, it doesn't mean that I enjoyed a great night's sleep unfortunately. At first I felt cold and then I was too hot and I just kept waking up at regular intervals sliding towards the middle of the trampoline!
Simply put, I missed my bed indoors! Am I getting old? Maybe, in hindsight the air-bed on the ground, or just the ground would have been preferable. At least I've slept on those surfaces before....
But hey, hold on a minute, that's the point isn't it? I'm doing things that I haven't done before. So what if it wasn't my best night's sleep ever? It was an experience, a first, an impulsive (if not spontaneous because it was on my list) adventurous act. Surely all of this will keep me, if not young in years, young in outlook??

The photos aren't very good, but they are proof that it really happened!

Week 20 and 21 More local walks

Many, many apologies for the delay in writing this next blog.
In reality we are in about the 30th week of the year and I'm only writing about week 20 and 21!
I suppose I forgot that sometimes life gets very frenetic and the things you can usually fit in your weekly schedule just simply get overwhelmed and usurped by other pressing necessities.
Also, life's difficulties happen. Sadness, stress, pain- to name a few. Bereavement is another.
You may recall from previous blogs that my father- in- law had terminal cancer and my last blog was partly written in the hospice the weekend that 3 of the men died. Well, the next Saturday, so, too did Keith. You can see why I've been preoccupied.
However, back in May (it seems so very long ago now) I did walk up 2 more local hills and enjoy yet more beautiful views.
The first was bryniau Llandudno, the ridge which separates Llanrhos from the town. I didn't have guided instructions this time and there was only one tricky moment when I got rather scared in a field of cows and thought one was going to chase me and Harvey towards the stile. Happily, it didn't. The following week we walked around Bryn Maelgwn starting from Llanrhos cemetery. This was my first disappointing walk. I imagined I could get to the top and enjoy the view, but there didn't seem to be a path to the summit.
Maybe it was a reminder that the journey  is sometimes more important than the destination!- (sermon in there I think)
Anyway, if you know of a path, please let me know.