Some photo's for fun

Assorted glasses of water I have guzzled over my month. I was drinking about 12 - 30 glasses a day depending on which glass I was using. Not to mention mugs of hot water.

My much loved herbal teas that I am so delighted to be able to enjoy again

No.89 of my 101list is to post photo's of all completed tasks. As previously posted I am behind in this having completed 15 tasks but only published 6 photo's. So here is a couple to represent completeing No. 25 Drink water only for a month which was completed 13/8/09. That brings No.89 up to (7/101).

More books and more 101

Finished reading "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer today and have rented the 3rd book "Eclipse" from the library, so will start it tonight. I am loving these books, can't put them down. I think the 2nd film is out later in the year. That's me up to 12 books in my 101 challenge.

No61. Try a new food once a month - this hasn't been happening regularly enough but today I had kidney beans and flagelot (think that's how it's spelled) beans in a bean salad first time for both so I'm up to (5/33)

Miscalculated my water challenge days so I have in fact only got 8 days left. (Yay!) Having restarted on the 13th of July and doing it for 31 days (month). Still haven't decided who's getting the £10 fail payment but will sort it soon. Thought I might give it to a local "Big Issue" seller.

No.88 Post a photo for every task completed. Have noticed that I have fallen behind with this having actually completed 13 tasks and only posted 6 photos. Will rectify this as soon as possible.

Happy 4th of July

No.66 on my 101 list is to book a holiday to the States. I have actually been to the States twice, as my husband worked out there for a wee bit. The first time we went the kids came too and we all flew out together. We stayed with one of Babes work colleagues in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was an amazing trip.

I will never forget though, when we landed in Houston we went outside for a bit of fresh air and when the automatic doors opened and the heat hit us, it was like walking in to a solid wall.

We took a trip to New Orleans and went on a paddle steamer up the Mississippi river to an old battlefield. Fascinating stuff. We also went to Bourbon Street, now there's an eye opener.

The second time I went out alone to join Babes for his last week there before he came home for good.

Americans are not what I thought they would be. The ones I met were charming and polite even in the supermarket, if the aisles were busy with trolley's, people would say "after you ma'am" to let you past, unlike here where some people just ram you with the trolley to get past. The neighbourhoods were fascinating as well, you would be driving along past all these fabulous plantation type houses belonging to doctors and lawyers, then you'd reach a crossroads and on the next block would be battered old shacks and people walking barefoot dressed in rags.

Anyway, I loved it there and definitely want to go back and explore more of the States. Babes and I were supposed to go on a Amtrak train tour, in May this year, covering New York, Philadelphia and Washington but sadly we had to cancel it (losing our bloody deposit gggrrr). I guess I could have marked the task as completed as we did book it, but since we didn't actually get to go, I have decided to leave it as not achieved until we finally make a trip.

July Goals

As it is the holidays and I will have a lot of free time, I have decided that I will follow in the footsteps of others (namely shopaholly and apieceofwood) and make July my "work on my 101 list" month. I am making progress with my list and have completed some of my tasks but it's time I put some more effort in.

In previous blogs I have made some changes to my original list and that left 4 spaces for new goals. Here are my new ones, let me know what you think.

No.2 Get back to studying or get a job - I left my studying when my Mum was dying and it's been over a year since I lost her, so it's time to sort myself out and either do some more studying or put my knowledge to use and get a job. By the end of the summer I must do one or the other.

No.19 Visit an extended family member once a month (0/33)- obviously this can be the same family member more than once, I don't have that big a family. We live within 50 miles of quite a few Aunts and Uncles, cousins etc. but never seem to visit them enough and normally funerals (too many of these) and weddings (not so many of these lately) are the only times we all get together.

No.35 Write real paper letters (0/101) - May have read this on someone elses 101 list but I can't remember, so sorry if I'm copying. I used to enjoy writing letters a lot when I was younger and had different writing sets I used for different people. E-mailing is so much easier if you make a mistake (my spelling is frequently naff, I blame cheap biros!!) However I reckon I'd really enjoy this challenge. Not very green I know, but I will use recycled paper and ask the receipitants to recycle my letters.

No.101 Make or revamp 10 items (0/10) - Ok this sounds a bit wooly but I would like to make an item of clothing, make or a least revamp an item of furniture, and perhaps make some soft furnishings. Rather than make them individual goals this will encompass all my creative wants. Depending on how I manage I may well increase the amount but 10 seems a difficult enough challenge to begin with.

So there you have it new challenges and a month of really trying to accomplish them. Wish me luck.

More 101 stuff

No.45 -Eat dinner at the table every night - I have marked this as completed as we have been doing it for about 2 months now. The only time we don't is if we have made the decision to eat in the living room so as to watch a movie together and even then only if we're having pizza or the like.
No.16 -Start a £2 box was completed back in September 2008 but since I have raided it and not restarted it I have put this back to waiting to achieve.

This means I have only completed 10 of my 101 goals, although another 23 are in progress. No.54 - Get my puppy to stop chewing things is nearly completed.

He nearly went back to the pound a couple of months back when we came home after being out for an hour to find the room trashed. He had pulled out all the bags of sand, forest base and parrot bark from under the animal vivariums and ripped them to bits sending the contents all over the floor. Not to mention the mess from everything else he had attempted to chew. The room looked like a bomb had exploded.

He has very discerning palate and has eaten 2 DVD remotes, a hands free house phone, a foot stool, a ceramic pig Mouse made me for Mother's day, a candle, a diary, numerous pens and pencils, a homework jotter, my favourite blouse, another one of my handbags, rented DVD (thankfully only the box and they were very understanding), hamster food, prescription drugs (followed by a frantic call to the vets surgery).

Anyway I'm sure you get the picture, we seriously thought he would have to go back and went to see them about returning him (in floods of tears). Very nice lady at the pound suggested we get a cage for him. We were not keen but willing to try anything rather than give up on him. (he is so loving).
Anyway £80 later Hamish has a cage, lined with blankets and a quilt, which he gets shut in when we go out. The rest of the time the cage door is open and the dogs can wander in and out at their leisure. Sometimes all 3 of them at once which is highly amusing. It has been brilliant and after the first couple of times he settled no bother. He 's happy, we're kinda happy (still wish we didn't need it) but most importantly we have been 6 weeks with only one bad chewing experience. If he makes it 2 months without chewing I will consider this a completed task.

My 101 list

I started my 101 list on 1/9/2008 which means I have until 30/5/2011 to complete my tasks. I have already done some but I intend to change some now. I did say I could change up to 10 of my goals so here are the changes

No.2 Finish diploma & get on staff development programme. I am changing this one as I have completed part of my diploma and have qualified although not as a staff nurse. I will not be returning to uni in the very near future so it seemed sensible to remove this one.

No.19 Go swimming (2 a week) - due to council cutbacks (miserable gits) most of the pools in town have been closed or are being used solely for swimming lessons. Finances do not allow for gym membership just now so until finances improve to allow this it's coming of the list.

No.34 Read all the books in my bookcase - on closer examination of my bookcase there are 5 dictionaries and various Star Wars manuals belonging to Peanut plus several children's encyclopedias and atlases - I know I love to read but that's pushing it a bit, also
No.35 Read the top 101 books on the BBC's Big Read Chart - There are some books on the list (such as War and Peace and some Dickens novels) that frankly I'd rather watch paint dry than read so will combine both of these to make a new reading challenge by reading 101 books of my choice.

No. 57 Teach my 2 daughters to cook (1 night each a week) - am changing this only slightly as due to their busy social schedules (why do kids have better social diaries than their parents ?) this has to be changed to 1 daughter each alternated weekend.
and finally......
No.101 change no more than 10 things on the 101 list unless to increase amounts - I have decided this should be a rule for my list rather than a challenge - which means I can choose another new one to add to the list.

Will post new challenges once I have decided what they will be - suggestions are welcome.

More explanations....

More ramblings on why things are on my 101 list. No93 Walk up all the steps of the Wallace Monument.

When I was a kid I used to holiday every year, in a wee village called Dunnipace. We nearly always went for a trip to the Wallace Monument at Stirling http://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/

Back then I could run up and down the steps no bother. If I recall there are 237 steps (however I could be remembering this with rose tinted glasses).

The last time we went to the monument (about 7 years ago) I was knackered just walking up the steep path to the bottom of the monument and couldn’t attempt the stairs.
So this challenge entails me reaching the monument (without the aid of the minibus for the infirm) and climbing the steps.

An oxygen canister is not allowed, nor is setting up base camp. I will attempt a solo climb and will not be put off by the children running gaily past me, laughing at my lobster face and asking “Why is that lady crawling on all fours Mummy?”


80) Learn to blog

I thought this would be probably the first task I achieved; (wrong) apparently I’m not quite there yet. My niece is helping me to get started, but I’d better learn pretty quickly otherwise she’ll lose patience with me. I am never off the phone or email asking for help. She probably wishes she’d never told me about the 101 in 1001 challenge. Then again she is a sweetie and very good to her poor old Aunt (grovel, grovel, creep, creep, Love ya Holly)

More explanations

63) See a Rugby Match at Murrayfield.

My husband is really in to rugby and I like it too, although I don’t understand all the rules. We always watch it on the telly and we went to the World Cup Final at Cardiff Stadium (amazing time, fantastic atmosphere – hats off to Cardiff, the stadium is magnificent). However we have never been to a game at Murrayfield. Very remiss of us I think, as it’s the home ground and not too far away for us to travel there and back in a day.


29) Get my puppy to stop chewing things.
Our puppy Hamish is a big lump. We got him from Mrs Murray’s . (Local home for strays and unwanted pets – they do great work and our family has had lots of pets from them over the years) He was in for re-homing a second time as his previous owners had found him far too boisterous. They thought he was a Labrador/Boxer cross but it turns out there is some Great Dane in the mix too.

He is fed twice a day. There are various chew toys throughout the house (We are forever tripping on the blasted things) and yet Hamish has a more discerning palette. He enjoys soap, cat litter (new or used, both seem to hold equal appeal) kitchen roll, sawdust, towels and warm washing (only warm) airing on the radiators, eggs in their boxes, all washed down with any liquid that is in a plastic bottle and not more than 6ft (as this is how far he can reach) off the floor.

His latest gourmet meal was my handbag (How silly of me to leave it hanging on the back of a chair!) It wouldn’t be so bad but when he gets caught he just looks at you with his big soppy eyes as if to say “Look what I’ve discovered, would you like to share it?!”

Why some things are on my 101 list

53) Make up and keep animal diary.

This is because some of our animals, particularly the reptiles, can be off their food at certain times, like when they are due to shed or lay eggs etc. The point of this diary is so we can monitor exactly who is doing what rather than just scribbling notes or telling one another. It will log who eats what, who has had their bath and who was cleaned out on what day.

49) Have a monthly games night with no TV

This isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. We love games nights in our house with everyone having a favourite choice of game. However many of these games involve the TV. Like the “scene it” games, we have Harry Potter (my favourite because I usually win), Disney, and Friends to name but a few.

12) Do a spending check

I think it’s about time I took back control of my finances. We have a reasonable income, but there never seems to be anything to show for it. I need to know exactly where all my husband’s hard earned pennies are going!! (I should perhaps point out that it’s not anything that he is doing as according to the statements it’s nearly always my card that spends the money!)

39) Listen to all my vinyl singles

It occurred to me that perhaps some of you reading this may not actually know what a vinyl single is! They are round black flat things, usually about 7inches across, that actually play music. They’re a kind of prehistoric CD. In my young days, (doesn’t feel that long ago but Banana tells me it’s ancient) this is what we played when we wanted to listen to music. I have about 300 and haven’t listened to them in years. Who knows what delights I will find lurking Adam Ant, Status Quo, Orange juice and if you’ve never heard of any of these people ask your Mum and Dad!!!!!