tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56209679091640874092024-02-20T05:21:57.521-08:00More a tea cup list than a bucket listAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-59346427026444755082016-06-12T10:20:00.000-07:002016-06-12T10:20:18.044-07:00I'm 30 and outta time!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFSEqaE8hkWqMZkFu7n6qzgXP2mIMMcRTlrezQ0Ehp-oIFZiRhplTPJM5iJRnlS1-j3eDAd-lbX7CSDbpV7YRN7ScVrcKOyf-bs3P1rNhjpD5DkUnoeHe5Hrh326h4eH6Quvz8ocgsOnz/s1600/kat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFSEqaE8hkWqMZkFu7n6qzgXP2mIMMcRTlrezQ0Ehp-oIFZiRhplTPJM5iJRnlS1-j3eDAd-lbX7CSDbpV7YRN7ScVrcKOyf-bs3P1rNhjpD5DkUnoeHe5Hrh326h4eH6Quvz8ocgsOnz/s320/kat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This has been an exciting four years working through this list and visiting Stonehenge was an amazing way to mark my thirty years on this planet but unfortunately I didn't mange to get through everything on my list. I didn't get chance to:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read 'A long walk to freedom' - this is chunkier than the Bible</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">See the pyramids of Giza - the flights and tour were booked but Civil War broke out!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sleep under the stars - again I was going to sleep on a felucca in Egypt but Civil War got in the way and I didn't fancy it in the Maasai Mara in case the baboons ate my face in my sleep.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Buy and pay for a bottle of champagne in a bar - I have no idea how this didn't happen!!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ride horseback along a beach - apparently you have to be quite a competent rider to do this in this country</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However I couldn't give two hoots because I have done so many other amazing things that weren't on my list that I didn't think would be possible four years ago. My favourites have been;</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">climb a mountain</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">buy a house</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">fall in love!!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">see white and black rhinos in the wild </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">bathe in the hot springs in Iceland</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thank you to everyone who has helped me get through this list and has contributed to creating some wonderful memories that I will cherish until I kick the bucket. I am blessed to have so many people in my life that I can call my true friends and are there for me when I need them to do something a bit crazy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, I have had a lot of people ask me about what I am going to do next and it is will careful thought and consideration (and pressure from Laura Wilson) that I am going to continue on with a 40 things to do before I am 40 list. Watch this space...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">x</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-17716847431796509292016-06-12T10:14:00.002-07:002016-06-12T10:15:10.587-07:0017. Visit Stonehenge<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">24 May 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This picture really
says it all, what a birthday treat! Thanks Chris!</span><br />
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<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjxw5waBqkwiXCinwxoH4qmWFVv-PNvRCgywhK5Cp80i3_eTAr73y67MlBTSTw266LsW4_jOgefXh_8tJHtBvmLBL8xFWuqWmMXb1aEe0jOivcCnsxDaAtEyawy_7AmJW-81sZbF56GPpo/s1600/stone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjxw5waBqkwiXCinwxoH4qmWFVv-PNvRCgywhK5Cp80i3_eTAr73y67MlBTSTw266LsW4_jOgefXh_8tJHtBvmLBL8xFWuqWmMXb1aEe0jOivcCnsxDaAtEyawy_7AmJW-81sZbF56GPpo/s320/stone.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "gill sans light" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stonehenge has many different meanings to people today. It is a
wonder of the world, a spiritual place and a source of inspiration. With a
history of over 4,000 years to me it signifies how sophisticated people were
during the Neolithic. The Stone Circle is a masterpiece of engineering, and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>building<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>it would have taken huge effort from
hundreds of well-organised people using only simple tools and
technologies. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "gill sans light" , "serif";"></span><div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "gill sans light" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">English Heritage have done a great job in making it into a tourist experience for those who aren't die hard stone lovers. The have invested a lot on money in making an attractive visitor centre with museum, gift shop and café (serving excellent ciders) and creating the route to the stones as accessible as possible. The buses made me laugh out loud because one of mine and the best fours catchphrases is 'to the bar'. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMbZs0qtPCzClWVLrFhQqz8m2uC6tyiJ4eEMxRFLr-o7yHugXWJGgeQQE6GdHFfEtkW_AmpN2U8ViyX19zGckZbuYAFFu3I1WnWaak7Ckesydf3-fY2o7obVom0nxPsScrjwJJtRQ-Def/s1600/to+the+stones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMbZs0qtPCzClWVLrFhQqz8m2uC6tyiJ4eEMxRFLr-o7yHugXWJGgeQQE6GdHFfEtkW_AmpN2U8ViyX19zGckZbuYAFFu3I1WnWaak7Ckesydf3-fY2o7obVom0nxPsScrjwJJtRQ-Def/s320/to+the+stones.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "gill sans light" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stonehenge is just a small part of a wider extraordinary
archaeological landscape so rich and varied that it was designated a World
Heritage Site in 1986. The World Heritage Site Management Plan summarises the
significance, or outstanding universal value, of the Stonehenge and Avebury
World Heritage Site as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.12rem; margin: 1.25rem;">
<i><span style="color: #6f6f6f; font-family: "gill sans light" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Stonehenge,
Avebury, and Associated Sites World Heritage Site is internationally important
for its complexes of outstanding prehistoric monuments. Stonehenge is the most
architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world, while
Avebury is the largest in the world. Together with inter-related monuments and
their associated landscapes, they help us to understand Neolithic and Bronze
Age ceremonial and mortuary practices. They demonstrate around 2000 years of
continuous use and monument building between c. 3700 and 1600 BC. As such they
represent a unique embodiment of our collective heritage.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #373737; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I would recommend to anyone to go and visit this site but only
as part of a visit to explore the wider prehistoric landscape in Wilshire. Even
though the stone circle at Avebury isn’t as intact it is the largest in the
world and sits in close proximity to Silbury Hill (the largest man made mound
in the UK) and West Kennet Long Barrow one the largest and most accessible
Neolithic chambered tombs in Britain. </span><br />
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<o:p><span style="color: #373737; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></o:p> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwwdjOjkK5vHBaNzhP7Pptnk-yZvJ8QujG1XhzOoUkpkK-1IGh3o-xXFPRuad4nfKrmLj8FrB-o4ZvwklthJWkvEvSbYq6kXyY0c9pWjxDpWOMOcdYnB0VnLQrbDsTIy-FYwKYbAwOVN3/s1600/windmill+hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwwdjOjkK5vHBaNzhP7Pptnk-yZvJ8QujG1XhzOoUkpkK-1IGh3o-xXFPRuad4nfKrmLj8FrB-o4ZvwklthJWkvEvSbYq6kXyY0c9pWjxDpWOMOcdYnB0VnLQrbDsTIy-FYwKYbAwOVN3/s320/windmill+hill.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Windmill Hill, Neolithic causewayed enclosure</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBHQYJuazEwFD7trjBgU5cwsusdJbQ6sh2GBgKC-mNmEnpZWs5wVuMSeCzlvHMF2A8YQ8VAdAgprMFr6CaWhgtN3VjaPxKcs7yJtLym5crf-5Zo7bezpPzWvW4GuFE8vl1vyYydkJRZMq/s1600/west+kennet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBHQYJuazEwFD7trjBgU5cwsusdJbQ6sh2GBgKC-mNmEnpZWs5wVuMSeCzlvHMF2A8YQ8VAdAgprMFr6CaWhgtN3VjaPxKcs7yJtLym5crf-5Zo7bezpPzWvW4GuFE8vl1vyYydkJRZMq/s320/west+kennet.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">West Kennet, long barrow</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvba4cIZ5-tPLnERbn1Ri1-ovHC7w9Y8RaoVrWbNgMnND3B7gDls3xAi-3aCmuINHaorAXaZCJnS0vflGZWVFOcr3QjI57oFARbTsbD7dCsLIGZRsTqt7liffSwXc6rLhhG8-vldj1gma/s1600/silbury+hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvba4cIZ5-tPLnERbn1Ri1-ovHC7w9Y8RaoVrWbNgMnND3B7gDls3xAi-3aCmuINHaorAXaZCJnS0vflGZWVFOcr3QjI57oFARbTsbD7dCsLIGZRsTqt7liffSwXc6rLhhG8-vldj1gma/s320/silbury+hill.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Silbury Hill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnIpCKELytquHiglTLzfq9qekwAAgB8LnZqxEzXFCAiR_5RBMya_JdUwUBiv1-qywJboyTPW0cE_fsb_U0QyMErXlFbdPTlRABjtdsJQpPdzZ_PaTbQDHYSn7U5lIAuNBJ0wYmCzXqv4R/s1600/avebury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnIpCKELytquHiglTLzfq9qekwAAgB8LnZqxEzXFCAiR_5RBMya_JdUwUBiv1-qywJboyTPW0cE_fsb_U0QyMErXlFbdPTlRABjtdsJQpPdzZ_PaTbQDHYSn7U5lIAuNBJ0wYmCzXqv4R/s320/avebury.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avebury Stone circle</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> x</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-32055156299472764002016-06-02T04:26:00.000-07:002016-06-02T04:26:07.216-07:0025. Jump in a pool fully clothed<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBr5pZ0SpyIJaSofqmCfkFtF1yIiUZLRy8iGFPBSeQTQPPjVmEPTBIY5Si30FjfSJJ6admuMRjdb0_R09vj-BWc1RqM_onpHPYsxcnOeP7OGUzFPsHSel3buFQY_34GHkMFNOI15ibgh9/s1600/IMG_0153.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBr5pZ0SpyIJaSofqmCfkFtF1yIiUZLRy8iGFPBSeQTQPPjVmEPTBIY5Si30FjfSJJ6admuMRjdb0_R09vj-BWc1RqM_onpHPYsxcnOeP7OGUzFPsHSel3buFQY_34GHkMFNOI15ibgh9/s320/IMG_0153.JPG" width="240" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tynemouth Outdoor Pool is situated a</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;">t the Southern end of Longsands beach, on the North East coast. Rectangular in shape, it was built from concrete in the 1920s to create a salt water tidal pool. It was popular with locals and holiday makers alike for over 50 years however it began to lose favour in the late 1970s with the introduction of cheap package holidays abroad, just as other British coastal holiday destinations lost out. The pool fell into disrepair and an attempt was made in the 1990s to create a ‘rock pool’ which hoped to encourage local marine life into the pool however the end result was the creation of an eye sore. There is currently a campaign to raise money to restore the Pool so watch this space.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xsSnd_KtNWgf4YJnSiktA_LyXgaBDzII7gLffOAOzY_1c8vaI0df6Dh9R0iJsqrRumaNiv0cLRbqDugJSRzaP9BAkh94KV4ZsXP8cBuX3l_svwffwNPAWJwPVpV8InTaXG60sTVwq3BP/s1600/IMG_0152.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xsSnd_KtNWgf4YJnSiktA_LyXgaBDzII7gLffOAOzY_1c8vaI0df6Dh9R0iJsqrRumaNiv0cLRbqDugJSRzaP9BAkh94KV4ZsXP8cBuX3l_svwffwNPAWJwPVpV8InTaXG60sTVwq3BP/s320/IMG_0152.JPG" width="240" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%;">In
the meantime I took it upon myself to jump on in there. Fair enough it didn’t
have any water in but it is a pool and I was fully clothed so I feel it counts!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhluxVSXv2lbWMvKSONMkURhrR-0qkw5mF5eauD9ILKq2biBhsGbMB-ozXtyaa_hUBxXeshqNjSF_oVclE9i4ZurAn9Xddl8V2IXDKhmQzFR_CScgsKzMAX9_Hp4fLdOC0NbewxbszEx47-/s1600/IMG_0185.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhluxVSXv2lbWMvKSONMkURhrR-0qkw5mF5eauD9ILKq2biBhsGbMB-ozXtyaa_hUBxXeshqNjSF_oVclE9i4ZurAn9Xddl8V2IXDKhmQzFR_CScgsKzMAX9_Hp4fLdOC0NbewxbszEx47-/s320/IMG_0185.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1038318894"></span><span id="goog_1038318895"></span><br /></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-37170882184574874672016-06-01T04:52:00.001-07:002016-06-01T04:52:53.867-07:0010. Plant a tree<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With my birthday
imminently approaching Chris whisked me up to Vicky’s farm to plant a Silver
Birch tree along the A69. After a 90 minute detour of the countryside and
numerous park ups at Little Chef to check the directions we eventually find
Vicky and her dad equipped with tractor, tree and spade. The planting didn’t
take long because Mr Lowery stepped in and did a lot of the heavy digging while
I supervised but I then took great enjoyment in stomping the tree into place. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4qwwn0r3yBwe8xX6wkX_50RAEx349c6wMM-g2AdP6bGD9Nk8ThTLAf3A0wyWG7nC3fZOOeVp6syVs0BUofC25viffUvqOfy7Ma0KwALig2xNx7GoSf4H4DSesVs77h-I3ercly6opeAo/s1600/13238914_10153624513555963_3080336557547644051_n.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg97prKDrIVOLEnClhtU7YQ9tQhVgsRw3W5VyeQ8CSIa9k4MdnZ95qvCDxNKqiY7oX09bFwZi5Na57Nccigi7ouKHZwKweyDoRzidMXXXzxMrB-IisTcWBD-Ezr2R_BBCKYheCy56KOKwgN/s1600/13238914_10153624513555963_3080336557547644051_n.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg97prKDrIVOLEnClhtU7YQ9tQhVgsRw3W5VyeQ8CSIa9k4MdnZ95qvCDxNKqiY7oX09bFwZi5Na57Nccigi7ouKHZwKweyDoRzidMXXXzxMrB-IisTcWBD-Ezr2R_BBCKYheCy56KOKwgN/s320/13238914_10153624513555963_3080336557547644051_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the tree
stomping we went to see the pet lambs which was even more exciting!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2eNeuvzXCA2pLyMVVbom4Y7pCyPldzOTTpK4WEiCO43wycHcGuLHv6_djnN9IdZ15pK5xduLoHjirAyRM4fflvcKujdyB2QQl-ZBN49fyFrTSYAyONvnJx5ajJzFJk_VvJrLzERtByx0q/s1600/13220961_10153624510925963_7423373712072280276_n.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2eNeuvzXCA2pLyMVVbom4Y7pCyPldzOTTpK4WEiCO43wycHcGuLHv6_djnN9IdZ15pK5xduLoHjirAyRM4fflvcKujdyB2QQl-ZBN49fyFrTSYAyONvnJx5ajJzFJk_VvJrLzERtByx0q/s320/13220961_10153624510925963_7423373712072280276_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find out
more about the Silver Birch from the <a href="https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/native-trees/silver-birch/">Woodland
Trust</a>, my personal favourite line is that in early Celtic mythology the
birch symbolised renewal and purification (maybe that is what will happen to me
when I hit 30?!) </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-7303063071241464452015-12-22T07:54:00.005-08:002015-12-22T07:55:05.715-08:006. Watch a rugby match in New Zealand<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7powCyuECN-R9hXRRl_MOIO_cZ2HbzI5aliNFyYdCEmjJanndmCIy3-m4EE9ozOMWl9f_lrkSsgCa1zQ93TswOoJaM7B4qC9AHr2w_6C0FaQLQmNgTD_RvqnO8B-jGSY_FA8V7XKls4Pw/s1600/IMG_0979.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7powCyuECN-R9hXRRl_MOIO_cZ2HbzI5aliNFyYdCEmjJanndmCIy3-m4EE9ozOMWl9f_lrkSsgCa1zQ93TswOoJaM7B4qC9AHr2w_6C0FaQLQmNgTD_RvqnO8B-jGSY_FA8V7XKls4Pw/s320/IMG_0979.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Out of
all the challenges on this list I knew that this one was going to be tough.
With less than 12 months to go until my 30<sup>th</sup> birthday I knew I would
not make it to New Zealand however when I heard New Zealand were playing Tonga
at St James Park for one of their group matches for the 2015 Rugby World Cup I
knew I had to try and get a ticket. Not only would it be an awesome experience to
be part of the World Cup but in my opinion it would act as a worthy substitute for not travelling over to New Zealand before my
30<sup>th</sup> (and there is no doubt in my mind that I will get to New
Zealand at some point in the future). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXomsoKvdcttKDMmXy1eyNdCREmZ9UbfLyJotQc6Hnv5VjE3wmk3MsRLT1Dn8ynNPLXz0hVeCSOs-3drbxA8Mm-nh6ERRyiiarn6e5NdBw47WoPELE0KxQBI0YGBAIVU_Yz0q5c4sgdf7/s1600/20151009_195459.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXomsoKvdcttKDMmXy1eyNdCREmZ9UbfLyJotQc6Hnv5VjE3wmk3MsRLT1Dn8ynNPLXz0hVeCSOs-3drbxA8Mm-nh6ERRyiiarn6e5NdBw47WoPELE0KxQBI0YGBAIVU_Yz0q5c4sgdf7/s320/20151009_195459.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
didn’t fancy going to the match alone so I bought a ticket for my dad as a
birthday gift because even though he doesn’t like the All Blacks it was the
opportunity to watch some world class players and I had a suspicion that the
All Blacks would end up winning the whole competition. The week before this
match St James Park played host to its first world cup match between Scotland
and South Africa and the city was electric. The local news reported that
200,000 fans had descended on the city to be part of the event and when I was
watching the match in the fanzone at Science City there was a lot of love for
both teams in the atmosphere which just made me more excited to watch the New
Zealand v Tonga match. The highlight of
being in the fanzone was watching the grown men attempt to play rugby after far
too many beers and a man in salmon pink trousers being tackled and splitting them
right in the crotch! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGnDu0y_bx_HveTd_hM4eyLZywqw2Pc6BEEUX_QUw1Cg2nYOOE2wakxNn9vnx44j5PLz1OI_bEEQx3U34rCEuHuITqJd1mw88T-MNlYL1KlcSzdBIxUZ5R2ig8VcjtCI3beGR4fcCvCTPd/s1600/20151010_162221.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGnDu0y_bx_HveTd_hM4eyLZywqw2Pc6BEEUX_QUw1Cg2nYOOE2wakxNn9vnx44j5PLz1OI_bEEQx3U34rCEuHuITqJd1mw88T-MNlYL1KlcSzdBIxUZ5R2ig8VcjtCI3beGR4fcCvCTPd/s320/20151010_162221.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting
to match day and there are only 2 words to describe it. <b><span style="color: magenta;">Frickin awesome!!</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
atmosphere was awesome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFBu-hVYjuVB83SjAwvAjGoK87UhqLUPA9c1-y96T5-huTSHtVCMXTfpp_vVKppGR4wrIrgGZW0MEmSpJ8NQmo-HiE01bSPxxSOedqFUFUITMclJcB89lFugvkPCC1bMPiYAmxT-PUqI_/s1600/20151009_195420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFBu-hVYjuVB83SjAwvAjGoK87UhqLUPA9c1-y96T5-huTSHtVCMXTfpp_vVKppGR4wrIrgGZW0MEmSpJ8NQmo-HiE01bSPxxSOedqFUFUITMclJcB89lFugvkPCC1bMPiYAmxT-PUqI_/s320/20151009_195420.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
haka was really awesome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Tongans bringing it to the All Blacks was awesome. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhb-CXYI-aWxOrAwGDKIS8KekF37-S7kTotQcBuuhxAUuOK5Rxj2US7VtmbTm61rHfnEqXsy4ELZ6oabwne2TRZHaUClkTXJVTR3-C12eZsY_84wNWOwZcuQP_G23xwDQXsGUgsfoOIpC/s1600/20151009_214739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhb-CXYI-aWxOrAwGDKIS8KekF37-S7kTotQcBuuhxAUuOK5Rxj2US7VtmbTm61rHfnEqXsy4ELZ6oabwne2TRZHaUClkTXJVTR3-C12eZsY_84wNWOwZcuQP_G23xwDQXsGUgsfoOIpC/s320/20151009_214739.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Richie
McCaw as water boy was awesome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwaMarp2SRjgTH5sBqeCcm19u_J8b_L6s2qdaPx5tunvBnaLLvBxh8w5pudWPq4xvwNM5rz2Ek1OfOdo2hgPs8HNhGjU0ZCTV4co_ZAakEBB68xvpGu6PtqI8XP7tp2bgPYsHU26FCBFN/s1600/20151009_201452.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwaMarp2SRjgTH5sBqeCcm19u_J8b_L6s2qdaPx5tunvBnaLLvBxh8w5pudWPq4xvwNM5rz2Ek1OfOdo2hgPs8HNhGjU0ZCTV4co_ZAakEBB68xvpGu6PtqI8XP7tp2bgPYsHU26FCBFN/s320/20151009_201452.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
seats were ridiculous (Me and dad even had a fleeting appearance on the telly). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6vcpjsXylpwMT49sCw0XMDGGqgFs9a9-rqz_fVfgP1qtKHwM28qnjoj_h_UdP04zjxA6XeTX8YtAQd286sh4KUYY3OT-TKXoY8DxVyLnUzV_Bo-a9PqD1pggFMOE7_1lu5i4TnfjPu0x/s1600/20151009_220252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6vcpjsXylpwMT49sCw0XMDGGqgFs9a9-rqz_fVfgP1qtKHwM28qnjoj_h_UdP04zjxA6XeTX8YtAQd286sh4KUYY3OT-TKXoY8DxVyLnUzV_Bo-a9PqD1pggFMOE7_1lu5i4TnfjPu0x/s320/20151009_220252.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Witnessing
Ma’a Nonu scoring a try and achieving his 100<sup>th</sup> cap was awesome
(apparently if you are from the South Sea Islands then you get tinsel as a
symbol). <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBz1gI51iyW_EbWW-HmP03ekiawYm2HwqfrkrWFi5z6sCXi1YvbSlHzu4UEdS5LHjNXUSRZqhSxMBG6bMDO4JxmdRsPmlMe8dhvYQNyLa1VC_n9tYvoKHJxo-zpM-7zimKD0mJWQyvVna7/s1600/20151009_220406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBz1gI51iyW_EbWW-HmP03ekiawYm2HwqfrkrWFi5z6sCXi1YvbSlHzu4UEdS5LHjNXUSRZqhSxMBG6bMDO4JxmdRsPmlMe8dhvYQNyLa1VC_n9tYvoKHJxo-zpM-7zimKD0mJWQyvVna7/s320/20151009_220406.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in
all I think this has to be one of the best experiences on the list thus far!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">X </span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-79140410443987829802015-12-22T04:50:00.001-08:002015-12-22T04:50:41.044-08:0030. Complete my Woobadge training<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately
this has not happened and will not be happening before I’m 30 (if ever).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie5jIefo8D9SPUiWSu0dJzIP4T2O5OGIcV6ShXqpKYxeoe6xCUU5_awW_DKAvM1tGvOdCOMJXmR8RQ5M3cWCU6OgdsV79w9KjtYfWQPSZhQaAdvGUfPf3jWcMi18CFyD09Og9Aka_7HzBn/s1600/20150330_212816.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie5jIefo8D9SPUiWSu0dJzIP4T2O5OGIcV6ShXqpKYxeoe6xCUU5_awW_DKAvM1tGvOdCOMJXmR8RQ5M3cWCU6OgdsV79w9KjtYfWQPSZhQaAdvGUfPf3jWcMi18CFyD09Og9Aka_7HzBn/s320/20150330_212816.jpg" width="240" /></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In January
2015 I came to the tough decision that I would leave my leadership role within
the Scout Association at the end of the Spring term in March and would
therefore not complete my Woodbadge. I think I stepped into the role without
knowing to the full extent what was expected of me and how much of my time and
energy I would have to commit to this voluntary position. Without a doubt I
gained valuable experience in leadership, organisation and the opportunity to
try new things but I decided that I wasn’t getting out of it what I was putting
into it which wasn’t fair on me or the young people in the scout group. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among my highlights
were taking the troop climbing and seeing the determination on their faces,
raising money through a cake sale for mynoma cancer charity and seeing them
achieve badges when they didn’t even realise they were working towards one. The
young people were great (if not trying at times) and it was extremely rewarding
getting the opportunity to know them and see them progress through the section.
Don’t let this deter you from
volunteering with a uniformed group because in all sections there lacks adult
helpers however don’t run before you can walk. I would suggest if you are interested
in helping out then have a trial for a month or so to get a feel of what it is
like to assist running a group and don’t feel pressured into a role unless
you’re comfortable with it. Never say never but for the moment this is the end
of my scouting journey (and for the record Bear Grylls makes it look a lot more glamorous that it actually is…) </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-80596832288405227572015-12-22T04:37:00.002-08:002015-12-22T04:37:56.004-08:0018. Learn to play Poker<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qYXKdIoqxgr9FPDCYFlJ5AJuFWLlhZOCPwF-ststP_n2IGyRkO7DhGK96hlsjwMmr-ZHzyBWSXtn72SIhvtBA41GJrs4FQlczej0DLhjtbMgwr1IH7II3VmeKzI3EhuDv-vLhUJqip7t/s1600/20140830_212845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qYXKdIoqxgr9FPDCYFlJ5AJuFWLlhZOCPwF-ststP_n2IGyRkO7DhGK96hlsjwMmr-ZHzyBWSXtn72SIhvtBA41GJrs4FQlczej0DLhjtbMgwr1IH7II3VmeKzI3EhuDv-vLhUJqip7t/s320/20140830_212845.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is
just a short post because to get the full effect of my newly learnt gambling
skillz you need to come round for a poker night. For this challenge I called
upon my friends Brian Kerrigan and David Gray for a lesson in poker. I wasn’t
the only amateur round the table so didn’t feel too pressured. Apparently the
success with poker all lies in your ability to bluff and not give away if you
have good or bad cards oh and try and remember the winning hands. I didn’t win
but I gave the seasoned pros a run for their money so a rematch is definitely
in order…</span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-75421947512297054132015-12-22T00:30:00.006-08:002015-12-22T00:46:09.176-08:008. Visit Loch Ness and hunt for Nessie<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxO65XiEj7xTnixTozxQ62Qn3R2Ll-CKwHSr12OqO1JcqtE832ivqEeAErhjOGN3talCH3yhiLd9M7fcwSMgN2Nthbe6ZNftkGttM9xCcuII822tjIPdr3EBVRw3tKwUx5-rgSK-hTDi2/s1600/P1070704.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxO65XiEj7xTnixTozxQ62Qn3R2Ll-CKwHSr12OqO1JcqtE832ivqEeAErhjOGN3talCH3yhiLd9M7fcwSMgN2Nthbe6ZNftkGttM9xCcuII822tjIPdr3EBVRw3tKwUx5-rgSK-hTDi2/s320/P1070704.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has
been over a year since my last post. I haven’t got any excuses I’ve just been
lazy oh and I’ve taken on a mortgage and bought a house. Back in August 2014 after
I conquered Ben Nevis and slept in a castle we took a detour on the way home to
Loch Ness to hunt for Nessie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went
in <span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition which opened
over 30 years ago. Today a hi-tech multi-media presentation leads you through 7
themed areas and 500 million years of history, natural mystery and legend
revealing the unique environment of Loch Ness and the famous Nessie legend
...Using a mix of lasers, digital projection and special effects the Exhibition
charts the history of the monster by exploring Scotland's geological past, its
folklore and the various research projects carried out on the loch. It also
reveals the discoveries of some of that research including the environmental
fingerprints left in the loch's sediment layers by both nature and mankind. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was
a beautiful day so after the visitor centre we went for a walk round part of
the lake and I even packed my binoculars to stand a better chance of spotting
the legendary creature. Here are some fun snaps from the adventure:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the
end we didn’t spot him however I did bring a wee souvenir home to remind me of
the trip. If you haven’t been to this beautiful part of the world then I would
definitely recommend it but we did have the weather on our side!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-18270716251372159332014-09-15T03:59:00.000-07:002014-09-15T03:59:35.890-07:0028. Sleep in a castle<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the trauma of sleeping in a tent for two nights and climbing Ben Nevis my reward was to sleep in a castle, a much deserved belated birthday treat. The castle of choice was Tulloch Castle just outside a town called Dingwell in the Highlands. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQIVIpoDLGCBzW7Bp0gw4LZLbBfJE1f7CIKio4jhJTDtnUgT59hb8D2i2cC3VtAj8nvlx8fj9ClCqsDplhTiEgvOQzwFCIC9Zfz3EKJfFJ7LSyiEA8HkO2uGBbUHJwTpD9084LgfjjhJTK/s1600/front+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQIVIpoDLGCBzW7Bp0gw4LZLbBfJE1f7CIKio4jhJTDtnUgT59hb8D2i2cC3VtAj8nvlx8fj9ClCqsDplhTiEgvOQzwFCIC9Zfz3EKJfFJ7LSyiEA8HkO2uGBbUHJwTpD9084LgfjjhJTK/s1600/front+view.JPG" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The view from the road.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before becoming a hotel and conference centre the castle believed to date from <span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">the mid 16th century served as a (not too shabby) family home for members of the </span>Bain family<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and </span>Clan Davidson<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, as a hospital after the </span>evacuation of Dunkirk<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, and as a hostel for the local education authority.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLcQGKh2dw0xTSBADxylpHwv9EiFWkF9DtSN5eIJ4c-JkkPUdf0V6aKY8qDCIguJNqxKaylDzbrXXdGc4956vSMa3ihYJe8LW923EIvRo0y_YjIyGEFrUsckTV3dZPyZ2fVC4cvUDclaM/s1600/P1070678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLcQGKh2dw0xTSBADxylpHwv9EiFWkF9DtSN5eIJ4c-JkkPUdf0V6aKY8qDCIguJNqxKaylDzbrXXdGc4956vSMa3ihYJe8LW923EIvRo0y_YjIyGEFrUsckTV3dZPyZ2fVC4cvUDclaM/s1600/P1070678.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you spot me on our rooms balcony?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOcvFXghLpRfs_8xH13MPHBzkXGl_e-1AoR2UAddynO71SyDB1csDqgAMyPkOS4Mr6U0BrED7WH10YJcJHoVzsbis1hLD1LlVP2oJ9yoFeNj882HFMHpBVerpU2Rlq0jkNmJAqQa3Pq_xs/s1600/P1070684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOcvFXghLpRfs_8xH13MPHBzkXGl_e-1AoR2UAddynO71SyDB1csDqgAMyPkOS4Mr6U0BrED7WH10YJcJHoVzsbis1hLD1LlVP2oJ9yoFeNj882HFMHpBVerpU2Rlq0jkNmJAqQa3Pq_xs/s1600/P1070684.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Putting my stamp on the castle</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">I would say the three main features for a castle are a turret, a dungeon and a moat. Now this castle didn't have a moat but it was placed on top of a massive hill as a strategic defence and you can see the turret in the above picture and after a wee bit of exploring we found the dungeon!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favourite part about the castle was that the décor inside was in keeping with its heritage, very medieval esq, a lot of wood and rich colours and quite frankly somewhere that could be used as a set for Game of Thrones.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvCpfafG9VHHumJ9J3VgUh_TQB-ouFu-VVUZb_Kw6iMXREvSV-L5VJ_42kabSEqsdIQeuASNRTVGqn_rWdZGF071C7GT94oSwo7Rbwo-2he0RMD_DvgfuIyn4WPOgtg8LVvL0AR_xkYiO/s1600/P1070686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvCpfafG9VHHumJ9J3VgUh_TQB-ouFu-VVUZb_Kw6iMXREvSV-L5VJ_42kabSEqsdIQeuASNRTVGqn_rWdZGF071C7GT94oSwo7Rbwo-2he0RMD_DvgfuIyn4WPOgtg8LVvL0AR_xkYiO/s1600/P1070686.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Could see this in King's Landing.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKoOcymqYqLJ32n3OaY3fz2YQ3oObYKao94hnYZbRLV3qWzRnhZg829-6-aWn83rdzpbfFU24tHaf5Xn8nZUk0ySkYsIfwX_565oGFG9p7MSElR-OdZvfG-rAS3wBQB1cjCk7vQrTYUKyr/s1600/P1070689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKoOcymqYqLJ32n3OaY3fz2YQ3oObYKao94hnYZbRLV3qWzRnhZg829-6-aWn83rdzpbfFU24tHaf5Xn8nZUk0ySkYsIfwX_565oGFG9p7MSElR-OdZvfG-rAS3wBQB1cjCk7vQrTYUKyr/s1600/P1070689.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me trying to fit in the surroundings.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnHMeinMUb1fvi2JuVWs8329UBUPtAQ8BQeJ9IKHqRh7a7PY2yrOmz7nwsQndUcEcvmKVfyQ5RSQViN_2xCSdvxotVEn-xQWyEZ3M95N5dRIhoeU7qZYGE6Ej3zB9GQjzpUOyE2Iod2Mb/s1600/P1070687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnHMeinMUb1fvi2JuVWs8329UBUPtAQ8BQeJ9IKHqRh7a7PY2yrOmz7nwsQndUcEcvmKVfyQ5RSQViN_2xCSdvxotVEn-xQWyEZ3M95N5dRIhoeU7qZYGE6Ej3zB9GQjzpUOyE2Iod2Mb/s1600/P1070687.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would not be cold here in the winter with that bad ass fire!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUJAqfKQxxrp0gmAJZbJcqAJSpqtij4V6T4DH2kw-NSKm84gEu7T0i3_utomQWk-WfbcZ7Jv1wDZ5GZ7T9Ll96JAHS0aXm9XvTeeN8gxk_u6b13CAKa0sfckgZ62_WAvkbFAHnOhtFSYh/s1600/P1070688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUJAqfKQxxrp0gmAJZbJcqAJSpqtij4V6T4DH2kw-NSKm84gEu7T0i3_utomQWk-WfbcZ7Jv1wDZ5GZ7T9Ll96JAHS0aXm9XvTeeN8gxk_u6b13CAKa0sfckgZ62_WAvkbFAHnOhtFSYh/s1600/P1070688.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A dining area reserved for private functions.<br /><br /></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHbwA3AJ7oyiMSnI17RbM_k2nGwrr7c5RV_TB8uynJRabBCQH1TcZhIJWIkSMlNsV1Ll6XSIy4v5FP0RautGrm9Hm1jUPk3nP27WVMNcxPSN1qy8t_s8omN4FxIyr-ucuoDlmeDCF-Z5L/s1600/P1070696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHbwA3AJ7oyiMSnI17RbM_k2nGwrr7c5RV_TB8uynJRabBCQH1TcZhIJWIkSMlNsV1Ll6XSIy4v5FP0RautGrm9Hm1jUPk3nP27WVMNcxPSN1qy8t_s8omN4FxIyr-ucuoDlmeDCF-Z5L/s1600/P1070696.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A door in to the grounds.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSlYBvZtHUCH5gSj0wzq0JCv5qGiYIaiqiTolkBdLGGvmw_85xYZkRWfAR_SEoWrtDpH5lZrICbXMMPxb9aQqMIOBq6aLKxq3sY48sWMqXXpQWGhKQ3Hvjfh4aqtkn9IxIbpTkE4wQzwq/s1600/P1070676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSlYBvZtHUCH5gSj0wzq0JCv5qGiYIaiqiTolkBdLGGvmw_85xYZkRWfAR_SEoWrtDpH5lZrICbXMMPxb9aQqMIOBq6aLKxq3sY48sWMqXXpQWGhKQ3Hvjfh4aqtkn9IxIbpTkE4wQzwq/s1600/P1070676.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sooo much better than a tent!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And this is my ABSOLUTE favourite thing in the castle, who thought to put a crown on a deer trophy head pure genius!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0pHgXgV-mbmUerMxTS_OnI6FNf1nhwpb5btQ0rrI8CuC3AMH4NzFZSGONjO1hgsE_6pnC8Xx-I7jkvahiysRKLxw4CnuwcGpBtjZyfUi49lJUWbRQQuA1-Gg4dv8wOxO-4Ng6jBGlhRsp/s1600/P1070691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0pHgXgV-mbmUerMxTS_OnI6FNf1nhwpb5btQ0rrI8CuC3AMH4NzFZSGONjO1hgsE_6pnC8Xx-I7jkvahiysRKLxw4CnuwcGpBtjZyfUi49lJUWbRQQuA1-Gg4dv8wOxO-4Ng6jBGlhRsp/s1600/P1070691.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bambi rocking the bling</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><br /></span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-426500268970397182014-09-04T10:54:00.000-07:002014-09-04T10:55:15.670-07:0023. Go on a camping holiday<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hate camping and the reasons are three fold;</span></div>
<div class="ListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->It’s cold, even in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Kenya</st1:country-region>!</span></div>
<div class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->It’s damp, probably even in the Kalahari</span></div>
<div class="ListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Your sleeping is dictated by the sun</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6p610FDwTiTxdFeOmlfKEE2yYS3c78Gxy9w03mLkldPD7IZC92AsFSefDjbJilO4eLK3EVXVXfveCQ86PXWfIZzsqJowKuFa4n_yD4Z7Ihwxx0URgZfVg1D7QYOynPin4hikc_u2S0Aw0/s1600/P1070649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6p610FDwTiTxdFeOmlfKEE2yYS3c78Gxy9w03mLkldPD7IZC92AsFSefDjbJilO4eLK3EVXVXfveCQ86PXWfIZzsqJowKuFa4n_yD4Z7Ihwxx0URgZfVg1D7QYOynPin4hikc_u2S0Aw0/s1600/P1070649.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why would anyone want to call this their home for the evening?</td></tr>
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<div class="ListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You could be camping anywhere is the world and in any kind
of tent and the above would still apply. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was lucky enough as a child to not be subjected to camping
holidays (caravans all the way for the <st1:city w:st="on">Wilson</st1:city>
gang) and in my adult life I have tried to avoid it as much as possible apart
from a few select occasions which include;</span></div>
<div class="ListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->My Duke of Edinburgh bronze award</span></div>
<div class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Archaeology fieldwork in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Scotland</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region></span></div>
<div class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Our trip to <st1:place w:st="on">Kenya</st1:place></span></div>
<div class="ListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->And going away with the scouts</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On
all occasions my three reasons to hate camping applied unless there was pre
bedtime drinking involved. However I decided to give it another go on our ‘holiday’
to <st1:placetype w:st="on">Fort</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">William</st1:placename>
to climb <st1:place w:st="on">Ben Nevis</st1:place> (in this instance I’m
classing any leisurely trip away from home as a holiday). In hindsight I should
have put climb a mountain on my list because it is something I have never done
but would give me a sense of achievement. But this is what I LOVE about life it
throws up all sorts of opportunities that you just need to grab with both hands. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Z_QekaL_O-4DkzCmivHuSy1hgXGYk99v5wC_Zu2rsIGqC3_h0N4lXaxPTggQqirdDqBApFXu6k293FzkYHcKHxFSFtDYXGT2hh4P8Q2ZYrJRdLpsb44JOhl3ha_GA4p5-PA8cLa7C2d3/s1600/Ben_Nevis_south_face.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Z_QekaL_O-4DkzCmivHuSy1hgXGYk99v5wC_Zu2rsIGqC3_h0N4lXaxPTggQqirdDqBApFXu6k293FzkYHcKHxFSFtDYXGT2hh4P8Q2ZYrJRdLpsb44JOhl3ha_GA4p5-PA8cLa7C2d3/s1600/Ben_Nevis_south_face.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How bad ass in Ben!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is where my blog entry will completely deviate from the camping because I have
decided that I hate it and never want to subject my body to it ever again and
concentrate on the positive that I CLIMBED THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN THE UK! And I
did it with zero preparation and on 4 hours sleep – a result of camping, and a slight
injury to the lateral ligament in my right knee.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's my story in pictures of my journey up the mountain (unfortunately I did not mange to get a picture of the miniature dachshund that made it up or the Chav attempting it in a leopard print onesie and UGG boots).</span></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPBDRR9UPhxcPzQGPyiXowg7oRdWR6fwnujR7_3sBOvVS2LSehlt85d9giIOAuOCVmJWgbVOplAjdzqlZgNHQykbcXviqcqwL0X5eAi9pq6R-yUo8mmfRS3NANqg_tgfXLMBkLApx23Z3/s1600/banana+breakdown.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-W6QGHJ3Cjyv8_Y53rKY7IAF2_0PNT27Ub5yA6uoBmalL4iPMx2amMBVmRBbaO2OnH1oav9xWafd7jcQhMRc8r7IBpgaz5m92lE5-ZfrByO90WLLOtox0XajNSw80Kvq8XnynMQgxiwb/s1600/P1070647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-W6QGHJ3Cjyv8_Y53rKY7IAF2_0PNT27Ub5yA6uoBmalL4iPMx2amMBVmRBbaO2OnH1oav9xWafd7jcQhMRc8r7IBpgaz5m92lE5-ZfrByO90WLLOtox0XajNSw80Kvq8XnynMQgxiwb/s1600/P1070647.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you see the fear in my eyes at the prospect of going to sleep in a tent!<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYBoCalZ7EPPDKoh52DcEBDjdX2UkDrwNuNf9f427Rt6nOA1okXuWQuFrtuPwcP9fCRz7EbTocBuWe2GMGiBketbqNx6f-kqVgF-mU5eJLzLlBvjgP4Q-UTyszpb9kOpLwrze9RT7mZqR/s1600/P1070651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYBoCalZ7EPPDKoh52DcEBDjdX2UkDrwNuNf9f427Rt6nOA1okXuWQuFrtuPwcP9fCRz7EbTocBuWe2GMGiBketbqNx6f-kqVgF-mU5eJLzLlBvjgP4Q-UTyszpb9kOpLwrze9RT7mZqR/s1600/P1070651.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone is all smiles before we set off.<br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5W2aOYSim2gCOXSMyTZN5uxGLCsdu3_jKpb5nAq4CcWeYkwI513nxxKFpw2FhfzHPTHF_jY-QuD59RMD2wRUFw__jlcG0OqwA8XXRGK4EWAXjE6i6Km-_k9VNcURlZxIoZLV5nd8Jr4cX/s1600/P1070655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5W2aOYSim2gCOXSMyTZN5uxGLCsdu3_jKpb5nAq4CcWeYkwI513nxxKFpw2FhfzHPTHF_jY-QuD59RMD2wRUFw__jlcG0OqwA8XXRGK4EWAXjE6i6Km-_k9VNcURlZxIoZLV5nd8Jr4cX/s1600/P1070655.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stunning views!<br /><br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPBDRR9UPhxcPzQGPyiXowg7oRdWR6fwnujR7_3sBOvVS2LSehlt85d9giIOAuOCVmJWgbVOplAjdzqlZgNHQykbcXviqcqwL0X5eAi9pq6R-yUo8mmfRS3NANqg_tgfXLMBkLApx23Z3/s1600/banana+breakdown.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvPBDRR9UPhxcPzQGPyiXowg7oRdWR6fwnujR7_3sBOvVS2LSehlt85d9giIOAuOCVmJWgbVOplAjdzqlZgNHQykbcXviqcqwL0X5eAi9pq6R-yUo8mmfRS3NANqg_tgfXLMBkLApx23Z3/s1600/banana+breakdown.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banana breakdown point<br /><br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnAkqGEtPcLi3X2h-jaO2ArToNvmPgPaXzMPzSYYGw_XGec55ed1Ai-h1pk1vBONr0hcl98O4rIWYmHMWjY8ba7aIR-4IEL5GkKxE1EymFz9cfVuysotab4aZMgnR_lbv9i6YXaEVpRR4/s1600/trying+to+look+happy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnAkqGEtPcLi3X2h-jaO2ArToNvmPgPaXzMPzSYYGw_XGec55ed1Ai-h1pk1vBONr0hcl98O4rIWYmHMWjY8ba7aIR-4IEL5GkKxE1EymFz9cfVuysotab4aZMgnR_lbv9i6YXaEVpRR4/s1600/trying+to+look+happy.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keep smiling!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMYttVNjz-fe2Jw40zMFxf5t5XNk9kzlCdlahN7uEgWRWC9b4d8dXX4_igiaq80fX1OSuEK-meXIuS4Csl-eQfrEACz86czhS6jZkVUAMkQovXBTDkio5ce4cXRPoxmmOPl7vxQcXEZ0D/s1600/stunning+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMYttVNjz-fe2Jw40zMFxf5t5XNk9kzlCdlahN7uEgWRWC9b4d8dXX4_igiaq80fX1OSuEK-meXIuS4Csl-eQfrEACz86czhS6jZkVUAMkQovXBTDkio5ce4cXRPoxmmOPl7vxQcXEZ0D/s1600/stunning+view.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Really stunning views</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklnLe1Mhop3d7MVYS8f516-5c4X9bjstGql8LUziMPSDZHHlIAi8Mmhe9bK895aGuwq9AeYY4WtkxgtOHDWaODtxa5Rfi3hur2kztv8yQnwW-BgS3uk2AElX-GSoY-B_AMRCStC1pF6yt/s1600/P1070669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklnLe1Mhop3d7MVYS8f516-5c4X9bjstGql8LUziMPSDZHHlIAi8Mmhe9bK895aGuwq9AeYY4WtkxgtOHDWaODtxa5Rfi3hur2kztv8yQnwW-BgS3uk2AElX-GSoY-B_AMRCStC1pF6yt/s1600/P1070669.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone appreciated a wee nip at the top!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7oWxRtKPvmJlDBg2TIX4nFhiKktJ99z8rDZjZFQcHIV3mPn5IkroR7b3ZBF7Aes1_8AapbiiA0M9cjFo8PF-rLdo5NmtKnxa9ZlyUEFwQZO1cw2gDuW8PCOm7pqnGQi3Fwt0ZoEiFeis0/s1600/P1070665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7oWxRtKPvmJlDBg2TIX4nFhiKktJ99z8rDZjZFQcHIV3mPn5IkroR7b3ZBF7Aes1_8AapbiiA0M9cjFo8PF-rLdo5NmtKnxa9ZlyUEFwQZO1cw2gDuW8PCOm7pqnGQi3Fwt0ZoEiFeis0/s1600/P1070665.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She made it and is still smiling!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0Cr8vYfVKPllwtV7csM8hP7igcJFeWZZvZ-kfNk86leS66QyOaQvBMl5jjXbYiUAxYl0Z53tczOe1yN8R0a8XtiQRfqR_4SowLllAKYB13ouIUb118jj7IwJoN7676f3BywYMjG3Ig_l/s1600/snow+on+the+summit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0Cr8vYfVKPllwtV7csM8hP7igcJFeWZZvZ-kfNk86leS66QyOaQvBMl5jjXbYiUAxYl0Z53tczOe1yN8R0a8XtiQRfqR_4SowLllAKYB13ouIUb118jj7IwJoN7676f3BywYMjG3Ig_l/s1600/snow+on+the+summit.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had to scramble through snow to get there</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXizVANXmzT0GhabS3kM7BEls82EtszKbhiXjR2dJQ_jSy7HNw1oWWi_MTMjFR7jpsG-vVJDQ0Gvyw3Zre_F6Ft3Q2rdQJvpbp2CLfh_I4H7r71RIMHBLckwBu9BG2-pxsKLyAeBfMl72f/s1600/made+it.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXizVANXmzT0GhabS3kM7BEls82EtszKbhiXjR2dJQ_jSy7HNw1oWWi_MTMjFR7jpsG-vVJDQ0Gvyw3Zre_F6Ft3Q2rdQJvpbp2CLfh_I4H7r71RIMHBLckwBu9BG2-pxsKLyAeBfMl72f/s1600/made+it.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woooooo!<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPG-EvNC7FWGdvqlP6h5hambwANDDDsmXg39f9T22xe3z6OnnC2Sk67hbGY0_L0sFqUBqyrkk6zc1cQnvNA-2gQMY_FGjXhVKhI_YG9q-GcN5gtg4TO-zNJCm5nGmvSrMhYG4XZUrjb2P6/s1600/i+think+ive+just+realised+what+i+achieved.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPG-EvNC7FWGdvqlP6h5hambwANDDDsmXg39f9T22xe3z6OnnC2Sk67hbGY0_L0sFqUBqyrkk6zc1cQnvNA-2gQMY_FGjXhVKhI_YG9q-GcN5gtg4TO-zNJCm5nGmvSrMhYG4XZUrjb2P6/s1600/i+think+ive+just+realised+what+i+achieved.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think it was here I realised what I had achieved</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzEzcQGTniaraheePao10TZ4qEYpAYJFk7fdU8LN9LXL145lQ9UprLIP2h1oDGoB1Sa0tHE9kWcEmVgZFGjbtp4rcX-Z_vgms-fSDUYCjVrCXFBobTF_wTk7v_MKM6hwyB9GaJq0rnTC87/s1600/post+mountain+pint.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzEzcQGTniaraheePao10TZ4qEYpAYJFk7fdU8LN9LXL145lQ9UprLIP2h1oDGoB1Sa0tHE9kWcEmVgZFGjbtp4rcX-Z_vgms-fSDUYCjVrCXFBobTF_wTk7v_MKM6hwyB9GaJq0rnTC87/s1600/post+mountain+pint.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post mountain pint!<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Massive thanks
to Sandra Bayly for organising the trip and Chris Wharton, Ciaran Mallon, Lucy
Mo, Vicky and Nick Jary for getting me up there (Vicky you were on that mountain
in spirit!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. 5 hours to climb 1,344 metres. I said afterwards I would never climb a mountain again...bring on Snowdon next year! I can say that now my legs and lungs have recovered :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-77580433912717390422014-08-06T04:43:00.001-07:002014-08-06T04:44:20.159-07:0026. Have a spray tan<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a summers Sunday evening online shopping session I
impulsively bought a voucher for a spray tan with the intention to use it for
this years’ Ladies Day in Newcastle on 26 July 2014. I thought Ladies Day was
the perfect opportunity to have it for as I would be among Newcastle’s finest
dressed (and many questionably dressed) so I wanted to look my best and not
reflect the (hopefully) shining sun off my pasty white skin. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The spray took place in one of Gosforth’s newest hair and beauty salons, Luma’s.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA54DWzPhWrIOVkgvFo8cLOqiv7Gw9IYtUXqCv8tnKMuPoj8eNwxL2Wc-ZHh2jzanta_N9fuNaHfUghhYhvaG3pGGp7Vkuktgi_-ug0WEsKsNbdxLLvmlb-s1mMnapZRdUIk6I4cIx2X7c/s1600/20140724_175356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA54DWzPhWrIOVkgvFo8cLOqiv7Gw9IYtUXqCv8tnKMuPoj8eNwxL2Wc-ZHh2jzanta_N9fuNaHfUghhYhvaG3pGGp7Vkuktgi_-ug0WEsKsNbdxLLvmlb-s1mMnapZRdUIk6I4cIx2X7c/s1600/20140724_175356.jpg" height="320" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luma's on Gosforth High Street</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wasn’t
sure what I was letting myself in for, though Vicky the museum’s Comms officer
had told me a few months previous about her experience of standing there in her
pants while the spray tan lady person instructed her into different positions
to get an even coverage. I did get myself prepared beforehand after reading
online to make sure you exfoliate properly, shower at least 6 hours before and
don’t moisturise or wear make up/deodorant before the spray.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you’ve never had a spray tan before then you stand in a
small open booth in just your pants and the spray tan lady runs moisturiser
into you dry bits (knees, elbows and places you attract eczema) before she
turns of the machine which sounds like a jet engine taking off and blasts cold
tan at you in what I presume is a methodical pattern. It didn’t take very long
and she did ask me to do strange positions with my hands but nothing too out
there. After you’ve been sprayed then you’re left standing there to dry for a
few minutes before you can get dressed. At this point I was left along so I
took a few snaps while I was waiting…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGZlc_aMJzC7yU28dtfofTLDUlnSkwVLc66zeUvSm0HZvyO2k9I7Fq1a9DNTq7U9h0vT5rDyKTGTzVM5Bi0V3HuIdaiU3kedOi866jb2NTqFEnAzo1cm1AG0GFUWjMaK4yAMyzVGTSkZn/s1600/20140724_181238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGZlc_aMJzC7yU28dtfofTLDUlnSkwVLc66zeUvSm0HZvyO2k9I7Fq1a9DNTq7U9h0vT5rDyKTGTzVM5Bi0V3HuIdaiU3kedOi866jb2NTqFEnAzo1cm1AG0GFUWjMaK4yAMyzVGTSkZn/s1600/20140724_181238.jpg" height="320" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the booth you stand in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIaidi77sBDmncc04dEYpPSldlHR23a60obzdBzqRVL5EhR2z0NSRxYYPzSR8iMSJ7rsfXpKnZGTDyua8ZhOBSshSRMyq5M3Tk3FQXNIsrK1tbSTM5UDk6N_QHARMZPbMa3Rb-tfo8xp1Y/s1600/20140724_181241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIaidi77sBDmncc04dEYpPSldlHR23a60obzdBzqRVL5EhR2z0NSRxYYPzSR8iMSJ7rsfXpKnZGTDyua8ZhOBSshSRMyq5M3Tk3FQXNIsrK1tbSTM5UDk6N_QHARMZPbMa3Rb-tfo8xp1Y/s1600/20140724_181241.jpg" height="320" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tools of the trade</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now this is where the hilarity starts, what I wasn’t planning
for is that I would be advised not to wear my bra because I would get tan lines
so I had to walk up Salters Road (which is a looong road) braless, not an
enviable experience! I could have got the bus home but I felt too self
conscious being on a bus without a bra on but I also didn’t realise that I
would come out a darker colour than the final tan would be because you have to
wait 8 hours to shower to then take off the top layer so I did feel like I
looked like someone who had a very bad home tanning experience. But I got home
locked myself away and waited until the morning when I could see the final
results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKp0P3PGrMeXtySIeypgHWBf7600Azd11lkGEgL8jfF7xc03uv3T1IzBfoqIo8MWCxDWcaPRY5eySMpTY0GRm7aX4SPwBgwxz-dpt6Vv5Lyxa7vrTk6YydCjrkKoltWTkWvzFw0bz3WOT/s1600/20140724_182650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKp0P3PGrMeXtySIeypgHWBf7600Azd11lkGEgL8jfF7xc03uv3T1IzBfoqIo8MWCxDWcaPRY5eySMpTY0GRm7aX4SPwBgwxz-dpt6Vv5Lyxa7vrTk6YydCjrkKoltWTkWvzFw0bz3WOT/s1600/20140724_182650.jpg" height="320" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with the spray gun</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22zb2aBJsGEYZSd9lkwS1ogkw4sFMm59W6HN9R8QNBaQNr-6-5LT_eP_K6pu8kW7pay9LtAAzwS7U6zY7juQpYEZRfdnvMF27zZOl02QITZ-q3zY9eO-yHNoNO9BHdu7nU0DY0K67B4O9/s1600/20140725_070600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22zb2aBJsGEYZSd9lkwS1ogkw4sFMm59W6HN9R8QNBaQNr-6-5LT_eP_K6pu8kW7pay9LtAAzwS7U6zY7juQpYEZRfdnvMF27zZOl02QITZ-q3zY9eO-yHNoNO9BHdu7nU0DY0K67B4O9/s1600/20140725_070600.jpg" height="320" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a lot of tan coming off!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I was most worried about was looking like I had done it
myself and it looked like a crap tan but I was very happy with the results. The
only patchy areas were where my eczema was so if I got another one it would depend
on how my skin was behaving at the time. As you can see from the Ladies Day
snaps it looks really good and would recommend anyone wanting a spray tan to
try out Luma’s in Gosforth.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ladies day 2014</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-61779177300893606202014-07-29T01:04:00.001-07:002014-07-29T01:06:14.762-07:0029. Sing in public<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my adult life I have done karaoke once before but I have
no recollection of it and apart from singing in church I generally don’t do it
hence why it’s on my list and knowing that I don’t have the sweet vocal chords
like an angel this is a big deal for me. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If they say a picture speaks a 1000 words then how many does
a video clip say? This is going to be a short post because I have two video
clips of me “singing” my heart out for you to treat yourself too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first is from a netball social (4 July 2014) and this is
the netball team GALS I play with. I think my experience of going Back to
Netball 2 years ago has been made all the more special to me not just for my
love of the sport but because of these ladies and the friendships that have
been built along the way, I hope we have a good many more years playing and
socialising together. This karaoke really was public because even though we
were in a separate room in Poons Chinese restaurant I am fairly convinced that
the walls weren’t soundproof and when we went in there the restaurant was
full…when we came out it was empty, coincidence?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #167ac6; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 14.296875px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://youtu.be/rphiCFqfIp8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #167ac6; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14.296875px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/rphiCFqfIp8</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously it HAD to be Britney</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This clip is from my good friends Lucy and Mark Fenwick’s 30<sup>th</sup>
birthday (12 July 2014). It was an evening filled with great food, drinks, ping
pong, the not so great bowling and karaoke – my second helping in under two
weeks!</span><br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/XCB3OHzUq_I" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #167ac6; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14.296875px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">http://youtu.be/XCB3OHzUq_I</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m sure we’re all in agreement that I will not be appearing
on X Factor any time soon but I should get points for trying. I did enjoy my
helpings of karaoke and maybe from now on I’ll be quicker to the microphone if
the opportunity presents itself again</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-79617550933776887562013-12-26T03:59:00.001-08:002013-12-26T03:59:31.970-08:0019. Have a pint of Guinness in Dublin<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is an overdue entry but better late than never!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qQ5pZK3JQje97ZEbQ7aFVK6WNilvmhyoE71qvI-6wsRaJF7KUUnzW5r39wqx2odI2jdk3LsZm2ahUIENi0SkTeCUtmuglxICzjf2VqEt-EI7ttuWb2hEcTNhNFNy6zTI8ALv3Zu4xOw1/s1600/20131116_163758.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qQ5pZK3JQje97ZEbQ7aFVK6WNilvmhyoE71qvI-6wsRaJF7KUUnzW5r39wqx2odI2jdk3LsZm2ahUIENi0SkTeCUtmuglxICzjf2VqEt-EI7ttuWb2hEcTNhNFNy6zTI8ALv3Zu4xOw1/s1600/20131116_163758.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view of Dublin from the top of the Guinness Storehouse. You can see the Aviva Stadium on the right hand side.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Friday 15 November myself and Laura Fenwick (who is becoming somewhat of a regular travel companion) flew from Newcastle to Dublin. The opportunity for the trip came about when we learnt that our friend and fellow archaeology graduate Mandi Henderson was being swept away by her husband Neil to Dublin to celebrate her 30th birthday. This came up in conversation and you express an interest that it's somewhere you'd always like to go so Mandi suggested we come along too (much to Neil's initial horror) so we did.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoib2DkMdy2JoJnNg28INIPdPWZZCXSba47OqBQm1euFSJD-ApvkSKVyuZ__7fJSOpCVuGWP2E4VbieBVNecjL4EKwkSvAHyykY0MsAJ86dh9INsDLu94iMRIrVCZtEuJHXIS3JTEIZIj-/s1600/20131116_162728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoib2DkMdy2JoJnNg28INIPdPWZZCXSba47OqBQm1euFSJD-ApvkSKVyuZ__7fJSOpCVuGWP2E4VbieBVNecjL4EKwkSvAHyykY0MsAJ86dh9INsDLu94iMRIrVCZtEuJHXIS3JTEIZIj-/s1600/20131116_162728.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right; Laura, me and Mandi</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone I've spoken to have said how friendly the Irish are but I actually think that it ius THE MOST FRIENDLY place I've been too. When you land at an airport you're prepared for the miserable but at passport control who barely grunts at you...not it in Dublin. [Insert gorgeous southern Irish accent] "Well good morning Kathryn, welcome to Ireland. How are you today, did you enjoy your flight?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also had a very friendly cab driver who took us to our hotel (he gave us his mobile number in case we needed him over the weekend...) And then met up with Mandi and Neil for a few, which turned out to be a lot of drinks and one of their best burgers of my life. I had never considered putting smoked cheese on a burger before but I'd do it again. I resisted having as pint of the black stuff because I wanted I to 'save myself' for the Guinness Storehouse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think Saturday 16 November will definitely feature in the top 5 days of 2013 and here's why;</span></div>
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<li><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amazing all you can eat breakfast to start the day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Visiting Trinity College and the Book of Kells</span></div>
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<li><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indulging in bog bodies and Ireland's prehistory at the Museum of Archaeology</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eating nachos and drinking bulmers in the Hairy Lemon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Visiting the Guinness Storehouse and experiencing a pint (and a half, because that's all I could manage) of the black stuff</span></div>
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<li><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Watching Ireland v Australia in a pub packed full of Irish men</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
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The library at Trinity College</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So in one day I had culture, archeology, rugby, nachos and beer coupled with brilliant company and another thing ticked off my list. I think Dublin was a fantastic city, yes a little pricey but I will definitely go back. I wasn't to fussed with the Guinness Storehouse, far too many tourists for my liking, but the views from the top bar were incredible and the Guinness was smooooth.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpAN_Lmn6bc0lWbP4vhVLDd6G9UbK2slCLMbVwihAguUj3oksZxkih7SnVMjOoeP6nAXwtrB6_VPqewBiRWXNagFfByd_aVjRJ-WWzwGp9A38CcwY12Cw6OQgwriTSQFghXIIf8EQ6OBf/s1600/20131116_162416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpAN_Lmn6bc0lWbP4vhVLDd6G9UbK2slCLMbVwihAguUj3oksZxkih7SnVMjOoeP6nAXwtrB6_VPqewBiRWXNagFfByd_aVjRJ-WWzwGp9A38CcwY12Cw6OQgwriTSQFghXIIf8EQ6OBf/s1600/20131116_162416.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJylqAVtmSfop0zsFBptJIYOkeP1XId-NhxXdXNz_kVidPnArA2OybCvSNtLJp8-nvk0CYtGQXiD6fWT2Qu58BeDllytAVFUxpWXOhTuM5Umz7IFCmvPpCjmUhhMyDnzflVXCsaEXJ3UqT/s1600/20131116_164757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJylqAVtmSfop0zsFBptJIYOkeP1XId-NhxXdXNz_kVidPnArA2OybCvSNtLJp8-nvk0CYtGQXiD6fWT2Qu58BeDllytAVFUxpWXOhTuM5Umz7IFCmvPpCjmUhhMyDnzflVXCsaEXJ3UqT/s1600/20131116_164757.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-84296489226696012202013-10-04T06:29:00.005-07:002013-10-04T06:31:34.469-07:0027. Go and watch a Premiership football match<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqN46sPkgYeafx3C_7hgHNuTVIbrNYR5i2h7R-dmwWrty0jnRFbn3KlgyoMZmW9C7aQ7JzwHgNecVc89wz9_v9U0XUI4lXOy4gXS5zObSStJHe2wQgg9L_0e-xmH_vcqpgqpArd-IiNlk/s1600/P1060964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqN46sPkgYeafx3C_7hgHNuTVIbrNYR5i2h7R-dmwWrty0jnRFbn3KlgyoMZmW9C7aQ7JzwHgNecVc89wz9_v9U0XUI4lXOy4gXS5zObSStJHe2wQgg9L_0e-xmH_vcqpgqpArd-IiNlk/s1600/P1060964.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a sunny autumnal day when I met my auntie and cousin, Emma and Philip Williams at the foot of the Sir Bobby Robson memorial at St James’ Park, Newcastle upon Tyne to watch Newcastle United v Hull City. As some of you may be aware I am more of a rugby follower than a football fan however I felt that my put downs towards the “beautiful” game would have more integrity if I could actually hold my hands up and say I’d been to a live match. Also living in a city for the past 9 years where the football team is integral to the cities culture and not having seen the team play just felt like a travesty! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE89rf4ggsHfkXNKpOoluN9D5RQU8eqpjn3HKBS5pvqE5dgqDaouHKBuljc_N4NX72JPcsd_YEOBERJFEf31QhLehhIbIj3QX5NUh_kaYczkYU-jPoayeeWB0O4RMGZh6ggBiWyny8aM0s/s1600/P1060956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE89rf4ggsHfkXNKpOoluN9D5RQU8eqpjn3HKBS5pvqE5dgqDaouHKBuljc_N4NX72JPcsd_YEOBERJFEf31QhLehhIbIj3QX5NUh_kaYczkYU-jPoayeeWB0O4RMGZh6ggBiWyny8aM0s/s1600/P1060956.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Sir Bobby</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I’d been thinking about this fixture since I was (by coincidence) sat in a pub the day Hull City were promoted to the Premier League. Now the significance of Hull City aka The Tigers is that my granddad, Mr Larkman to many, was born and raised in Hull and has been a lifelong supporter of the team. This is the Tigers shrine in the downstairs loo at his and my grandma’s house in Richmond. Subsequently some of my uncles and cousins have developed a strong allegiance to the team so I had a choice of people that I could get on board to go with me. It seemed fitting that a match played between what I class as my ‘home’ team Newcastle and the family team Hull City seemed a perfect fixture to tick another experience off my list.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DREMKk96n0LHuD6qCxNAbbUOCerX2efiQRiUqihqpwJhCSM9xPX_nuuRZ3o5wNv3So7PjbUJl0g8w2m7chsHTAfhCDrHpAqiVSqpCmzSJAyTHHCDD-kMF_2AHINelOp8nysgLngwRFXG/s1600/P1010006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DREMKk96n0LHuD6qCxNAbbUOCerX2efiQRiUqihqpwJhCSM9xPX_nuuRZ3o5wNv3So7PjbUJl0g8w2m7chsHTAfhCDrHpAqiVSqpCmzSJAyTHHCDD-kMF_2AHINelOp8nysgLngwRFXG/s1600/P1010006.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE3Cb4RgREBgLA3lEh-3yXRlOXwaMJ8vfXna10kBnSIupD2sqGbo5NCA1Y5O4G_inMdEpDx7RZmvEHobRCUA31oNXqq9wZ-jF-U4Jso6-DKG052RfXpwpev-KH6D5MeZVArt4Wy8QKu6gd/s1600/P1010001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE3Cb4RgREBgLA3lEh-3yXRlOXwaMJ8vfXna10kBnSIupD2sqGbo5NCA1Y5O4G_inMdEpDx7RZmvEHobRCUA31oNXqq9wZ-jF-U4Jso6-DKG052RfXpwpev-KH6D5MeZVArt4Wy8QKu6gd/s1600/P1010001.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 'throne' room at Grandma and Grandad's</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Considering that this wasn’t a derby match or Newcastle weren’t playing against one of the top 4 teams I couldn’t believe how busy it was. Me and Philip, my 16 year old cousin had 2 season tickets courtesy of our Uncle Philip’s friends. Gone are the days of a book of individual paper match tickets and in keeping with the age of modern technology you now get a plastic card with an electronic chip in to swipe you in to every match. Now the implication of having these tickets was that we were surrounded by Newcastle season ticket holders, which considering we were cheering on Hull City we had to be extremely restrained in showing our support, especially when Hull City scored. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaucl-kJ-my6ndn726_kaXecpp3rE9eIDTyouHFPin6qXxA0-NqEE12bnuHnG9ZW9Oa8hT2Jqwb3fYLg5e7Y-bzHQD3Enf7XuQFoT4X8cfZ3jCCODmRrq4IjuDE16DdRnL1satkmlCmVgy/s1600/P1060963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaucl-kJ-my6ndn726_kaXecpp3rE9eIDTyouHFPin6qXxA0-NqEE12bnuHnG9ZW9Oa8hT2Jqwb3fYLg5e7Y-bzHQD3Enf7XuQFoT4X8cfZ3jCCODmRrq4IjuDE16DdRnL1satkmlCmVgy/s1600/P1060963.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my ticket</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> As a sport I do find football quite dull however this match was pretty entertaining, 5 goals scored in all and we were even treated to Steve Bruce busting some moves on the side lines, however the most entertaining part was listening to the commentary from the Geordies sat behind me. I picked up some new choice phrases including some xenophobic remarks. I have this belief that football fans can be quite fickle at times which is what came across from the fans that were sat around us. When Newcastle were playing well they were like gods to these fans however one miss kick, some sloppy defending and then they were quickly pulled off their pedestal and called every name under the sun, my favourite quip was made at Ben Arfa who was labelled (in their words not mine) ‘<i>an overpaid French arse hole</i>’ – such a lovely image. The abuse continued to get more derogatory throughout the course of the match at Newcastle’s playing quality declined and the score went from 1 – 0 Newcastle, 1 – 1 all, 2 – 1 Newcastle, 2 – 2 all, 2 – 3 Hull City (final score). </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUpNLixHi0LUuB8tBKa6fFEIIOa9ZunKt12YfkUOnsn5KyvjSYtDaFbFvXBSc3XM0KHffJOcvxENG026JUubIomz3ukTU7kxaWNe1uiR8aDalblAYsv9iYjXiYNzCN5XVbVIY4kCh7zwB/s1600/P1060960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUpNLixHi0LUuB8tBKa6fFEIIOa9ZunKt12YfkUOnsn5KyvjSYtDaFbFvXBSc3XM0KHffJOcvxENG026JUubIomz3ukTU7kxaWNe1uiR8aDalblAYsv9iYjXiYNzCN5XVbVIY4kCh7zwB/s1600/P1060960.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hull City fans celebrating in their pen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all it was a good experience made all the more pleasurable by the sunshine however I won’t be queuing up for my season ticket next year. Compared to rugby as a sport football just does not cut it. Rugby is more entertaining the opposition don’t need to be penned up in the rafters of the stadium to segregate the fans <b>AND </b>at a rugby match I can enjoy a pint in the stands while watching the game. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0vOe_-ssA2EecTx9xsCtQSImT9sqgO-DXwKCF7iN4WsqBZDc1VbXOEfRvpOa3SLpwAXo4ca0MDtb0VS5azcytVwsE3y1ZKf23vIFBUTQHdR99O2GD7D1qCHQJUEgkbFASF8l8I38u0Uu/s1600/P1060959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX0vOe_-ssA2EecTx9xsCtQSImT9sqgO-DXwKCF7iN4WsqBZDc1VbXOEfRvpOa3SLpwAXo4ca0MDtb0VS5azcytVwsE3y1ZKf23vIFBUTQHdR99O2GD7D1qCHQJUEgkbFASF8l8I38u0Uu/s1600/P1060959.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sun shining on St James'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-57528593569235748492013-08-22T12:49:00.003-07:002013-08-22T12:51:53.752-07:0011. Have a massage<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>22 August 2013. Can you think of a more appropriate day to tick something
off my list?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being week 5 of the 6 weeks school holidays, and with the imminent
challenge of packing up my life to move into my own flat and the stress of my
trip to the pyramids being scuppered from the unrest in Egypt I found myself a
little tense so booked myself in for my very first massage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went to the Helen Lloyd Beauty parlour just near Haymarket
which I have visiting previously for some de fuzzing and I was escorted into a
room lit with candles and classical music playing in the background (the
complete stereotype of what I was expecting.) I got ready to lie and the bed
(yes there was a hole where I put my head so I saw the floor) and then Helen
came back in, oiled up and started to work her magic. I was slightly concerned that
it might tickle or I would fall asleep because I would be so relaxed but god I
was wrong. I asked her to add a bit more pressure which resulted in her using
all her weight to push the knots out of my shoulder blades and neck. . .it was
like the same ‘pleasant pain’ I got when I got my tattoo that after a while was
rather nice. At the beginning of the massage she kept on asking me if the
pressure was ok but once it was in full swing she just kept quiet and I DID
have to keep on reminding myself ‘this is a woman performing a professional service’
those with the less clean mind among you reading this will know what I’m getting
at, especially with my sensitive neck issues!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all it was amazing, my back feels like a million
dollars. If I could afford it I’d be back every week for a lunch time session. I
think next time I’m like to try a full body massage though do they massage
everywhere? Now I haven’t got any images in this post because I didn’t particularly
want pictures of me in just my pants plastered on the internet so you’ll just
have to use your imaginations or go for one yourself! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What to pick to do next, oh the possibilities?!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-54189946311396734452013-05-30T10:17:00.000-07:002013-05-30T10:19:02.647-07:0014. Have a surfing lesson<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me first start this post by apologising for the lack of images. This was through no fault of my own. Firstly, the nominated photographer, Lyndsay Airey was still on a train up from London because she'd left her bank card at home and had to go back for it. . .and then the photographer from the Chronicle Live on behalf of NCJ Media who approached us and asked to take our photos for the paper, who we were so willing to oblige (especially considering a wet suit is not the most flattering outfit to have a photo shoot in) did not publish our pictures in print or online therefore apparently I am not able to get a copy of them, queue a strongly worded email back.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwSuitqteikhq9yFHaXn0w_MlLTCvHyj7q14LJD3TxADlylOkIObU4orZs5GL73ubQGSr2O_H47v20FC5voFTLeM2kdwGZ-Ha31Zo4pfEOzIFqrDQyh5ESrBBJyMuOvvPga7BDJpLQHT7/s1600/photo+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwSuitqteikhq9yFHaXn0w_MlLTCvHyj7q14LJD3TxADlylOkIObU4orZs5GL73ubQGSr2O_H47v20FC5voFTLeM2kdwGZ-Ha31Zo4pfEOzIFqrDQyh5ESrBBJyMuOvvPga7BDJpLQHT7/s320/photo+(3).JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barry's surfing van</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway back to the event. It was the afternoon of Saturday 25 May 2013 and I was 27 and a day. The sun was shining and the waves were rolling. Now a seasoned surfer would probably tell you that they were actually tiny little waves but let me tell you that when you are waist deep in the water getting prepared to fling yourself on your board to ride a wave then they look pretty damn big!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxayy1I16s7OWCpvm9-vDXCFXqXukhyphenhyphen2VsB2eWo9E4R7CTL47Mr3Il-zG8xJlbGprDMTqH-1ORAf4g5aonNANhcT1r-KhtqP1SW1nbAVBz-hHseiC2iK2oDHsbJKNszdeUL2z9pQejAY8M/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxayy1I16s7OWCpvm9-vDXCFXqXukhyphenhyphen2VsB2eWo9E4R7CTL47Mr3Il-zG8xJlbGprDMTqH-1ORAf4g5aonNANhcT1r-KhtqP1SW1nbAVBz-hHseiC2iK2oDHsbJKNszdeUL2z9pQejAY8M/s320/photo.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking good ladies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My partners in crime were Laura Wilson, Sarah ‘Buttness’ Butler, Victoria Lowery, Laura Fenwick, Catherine Mullen, Hannah Kerrigan, Gemma Beggs, Eileen Hoey and Alex Johnson. Our instructor for the day was Barry from Longsands Surf School, who was awesome. A ‘hands on’ instructor who was in the water with us at all times and had some good banter. If you fancy trying you hand at surfing then I would definitely recommend booking a lesson with Barry to give you a few pointers and then you can hire the equipment and go it alone. <u style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.longsandsurf.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.longsandsurf.com/</a></span></u></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did find that the basics of surfing are fairly simple:</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><ol type="1">
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get into wetsuit</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attach surf board to leg</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get in the sea (it’s pretty frickin cold even in a wet suit)</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Climb on surf board</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lie down on surf board</span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Await a wave</span></li>
</ol>
</ul>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Dq2R_2TKAuQYxR7TaWVY95XYJ1MsScIH2ldRBEdVlElH1GHrviCIYErc7u9nVtSUAKBWgtfkXC8rUrqn4UQYvlTCZKwuZ4nbvxQ_kSmJF_Y6-tttrW6M3hEMXe6K3XGILBHW8SOJ5Efh/s1600/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Dq2R_2TKAuQYxR7TaWVY95XYJ1MsScIH2ldRBEdVlElH1GHrviCIYErc7u9nVtSUAKBWgtfkXC8rUrqn4UQYvlTCZKwuZ4nbvxQ_kSmJF_Y6-tttrW6M3hEMXe6K3XGILBHW8SOJ5Efh/s320/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10 minutes later. . .</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think everyone managed to do the above which I think is quite an achievement. The most challenging part of the day for me was getting myself into my wet suit (lol) and when I got on my board not rolling off the other side straight away. . .the next step was to try and stand up on the board and ride the waves. We tried this on dry land first to make sure we knew was position our bodies had to be in. For this the instructions were as follows; when you see a big wave coming at ya then paddle (like crazy) with your arms for 5 strokes, and then 2 more for luck. At this point you should be ‘riding the wave’ so push yourself up with your arms on to your feet, your legs should be wide apart on the board and your body should be in a squatting position that should resemble, to quote Lyndsay Airey “like you are about to drop the kids off in the pool” and voila you should be surfing. In reality this did not happen for me, I got up on to my knees but then my arms gave up so I just went with it. It’s no surprise though that Hannah Kerrigan and Alex Johnson were the two up on their feet catching the waves.</span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all I had an awesome time, apart from the two occasions that I got wiped out by the waves and swallowed half the North Sea, but don’t just take my word for it, get yourself down to your nearest beach for a lesson. Here’s to hoping that the next thing I tick off my list is as fun!</span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-44604621252697426012013-03-26T12:03:00.000-07:002013-03-26T12:03:37.635-07:003. See the Aurora Borealis<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After only having 80 minutes sleep in the last 34 hours
obviously my priority is writing this blog post. This was definitely the most
challenging task on my list to complete to date so keep reading to hear about
the saga of hunting down the Northern Lights. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9xCHm-RTPBfsr5qV_ZdXY3-Od09g_Ajd4nBJFYFVDfHtMjlnbtMGcVhTlTTpa8mzG5ueaE-acbLiNqQS6i3uz9qnC2Exkbu4B4cwFoiMrpWTzmtoRmoZ17XpVXvsHXhrsDB59eO7W_6P/s1600/P1060547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9xCHm-RTPBfsr5qV_ZdXY3-Od09g_Ajd4nBJFYFVDfHtMjlnbtMGcVhTlTTpa8mzG5ueaE-acbLiNqQS6i3uz9qnC2Exkbu4B4cwFoiMrpWTzmtoRmoZ17XpVXvsHXhrsDB59eO7W_6P/s320/P1060547.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">An<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><b>aurora</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> (plural:
aurorae or auroras; from the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 115%;">Latin<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>word <i>aurora</i>,
"sunrise") is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the
high latitude (</span>Arctic<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Antarctic) regions. In northern<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>latitudes, the effect is known as the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i>aurora borealis</i></b><span class="apple-converted-space"> (or
the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><b>northern lights</b>), named after the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Roman<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>goddess<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>of dawn, Aurora,
and the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Greek<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>name for the north wind,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Boreas, by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Pierre
Gassendi<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in 1621.<span style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #666666; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span>There are three conditions that you need to have a chance of seeing the
Lights which are;<span style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #666666; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">1.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Clear skies</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">2.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Auroral activity</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">3.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Patience</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However even with all three conditions the Lights have unpredictable
behaviour and sightings cannot be guaranteed. A bit of science behind the
Lights which have interested the human race since before the time of the
ancient Greeks are a phenomenon caused by particles or electrons given off from
the sun, an analogy the guide used was like a volcano erupting lava, which are
then carried by the solar wind to the planets in the northern part of the solar
system. The frequency of the activity is based on the strength of the eruption
given off by the sun. The particles take approximately two days to travel to
earth where upon they find the gaps in the earth’s magnetic shield at the North
and South Poles. The electrons can thus travel through the field and they make friends
with the atoms in the earth’s atmosphere upon which the Northern lights are
produce. The Lights are made upon of trillions of electrons and atoms having a
party together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Round One – Saturday 23 March 2013</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me and my good friends Laura and Vicky (they’d organised to
go to Iceland and I invited myself along) arrived on the Friday and we had a
trip booked to see the Lights on Saturday night. After a strenuous day at the
Blue Lagoon Spa, supping on fizzy wine in the open air of the natural geothermal
pools and an afternoon exploration of down town Reykjavik we headed back to the
hotel to prepare for the bus picking us up at 9.30pm to head off into the night
on a Northern Lights Hunt. I was quite excited because it coincided with Earth
Hour, an international initiative encouraging anyone and everyone to switch off
their lights for an hour to encourage people to show concern for the environment
and take action on climate change, which I thought was a nice touch to link to
seeing the Lights. We had a drink while we were waiting to be picked up only to
overhear the man on reception telling a family that the trip had been cancelled
for the evening due to ‘unfavourable conditions’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my reaction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtM0WemPDsaZxYWgDjKAP7qaG90rshi1l_5uIvCnvjz-XtYPiBZ0H6OwOu8lG6IpKdtAo4XT2ZRJXqS4eOFlix2z9El7hYPXkdrH0qV9L-KA1Wgnea54HWgzg_nNNUzLMJRgHnJhw-sqII/s1600/P1060315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtM0WemPDsaZxYWgDjKAP7qaG90rshi1l_5uIvCnvjz-XtYPiBZ0H6OwOu8lG6IpKdtAo4XT2ZRJXqS4eOFlix2z9El7hYPXkdrH0qV9L-KA1Wgnea54HWgzg_nNNUzLMJRgHnJhw-sqII/s320/P1060315.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is how I made myself feel better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIERjpkmdQMGU97x4OsX5G7l2IbQhumsbNf-WA_xUKBnKW-kxqowZovdIOP449HEshAEJdXdmbxVSFFsOh4tZXfcIXpAVyoOBf2gByBsQDArWQKmliPj_vm8u7P7R0AvhdE-xm9dYWexw4/s1600/P1060313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIERjpkmdQMGU97x4OsX5G7l2IbQhumsbNf-WA_xUKBnKW-kxqowZovdIOP449HEshAEJdXdmbxVSFFsOh4tZXfcIXpAVyoOBf2gByBsQDArWQKmliPj_vm8u7P7R0AvhdE-xm9dYWexw4/s320/P1060313.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Round Two – Sunday 24 March 2013</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After spending the day exploring the Golden Circle we anxiously
waited to hear if the trip would be on this evening. . .RESULT, it was! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Kathryn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyf1L9_ggc9rQdbEJyN7UhqMosmqQM0ySxfsHYdtsio7XyPmuNukjmQ1SKnFngVkg1GmSLLw01zLRGyH7fRt7gfsn1FDBz4vYex8yvDsxy_WXCfsOLKe4M6bekUI748wv0vNP_LsDAHAA/s1600/P1060427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyf1L9_ggc9rQdbEJyN7UhqMosmqQM0ySxfsHYdtsio7XyPmuNukjmQ1SKnFngVkg1GmSLLw01zLRGyH7fRt7gfsn1FDBz4vYex8yvDsxy_WXCfsOLKe4M6bekUI748wv0vNP_LsDAHAA/s320/P1060427.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We headed out to where we had been earlier on in the day,
our guide was very enthusiastic about the lights but unfortunately that didn’t
play to our advantage. They only appeared briefly for about 5 minutes and they
weren’t very strong, just pale green faint lines in the sky. We waited for over
an hour to see if they would appear again, it just reinforced their unpredictability
that they are a force of nature that cannot be dictated to by the human race. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Round Three – Monday 25 March 2013</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to the brief appearance of the Lights the night before the
company offered to take us out again, we were debating whether we should go because
we wouldn’t get in from the Lights until 2am and had to be up for an airport
pick up at 4.30am. . .but we decided that we would be regretting
the decision and we would be full of ‘what ifs’ if we didn’t take up the
opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After 1.5 hours of hunting the Lights there was no appearance
of them so we headed back, I was really disappointed as I felt I hadn’t had a
proper experience of them but something somewhere answered my prayers and they
appeared in front of the bus and put on a show for an awesome shoe for us for
an hour. I managed to get a few shots of the Lights however they by no means do
them any justice, I found that it wasn’t the colour of the lights than amazed
me the most but the movement of the Lights and how they just faded in and out
of sight and then appeared elsewhere in the sky, and how they seemed to dance
along the sky.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dQPwvkEDj-K4KYRHuREpRg9LtPI6BstxnwGO_3Rq8vl_hRB8DKJgtOHTE1uucoPDvLyh9yHz562q06OMzDONgL4Cuv9u7f-wqsL47jzIAwMUBKSOOKAGcSHRJ3JZsOxBm-aY14dyannU/s1600/P1060539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dQPwvkEDj-K4KYRHuREpRg9LtPI6BstxnwGO_3Rq8vl_hRB8DKJgtOHTE1uucoPDvLyh9yHz562q06OMzDONgL4Cuv9u7f-wqsL47jzIAwMUBKSOOKAGcSHRJ3JZsOxBm-aY14dyannU/s320/P1060539.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The guide gave us some pointers to get a half decent shot
which included not bothering with the flash, switch the camera to manual, if
you have a tripod then you’re laughing (something I did not have, so I had to
make do with my shaking hands in the sub-zero temperatures so if anyone would
like to buy me one then I’ll be grateful), increase the shutter speed and have
at least 600 IOS exposure. The guide did say that a lot of the commercial
pictures of the Lights have been tampered with to increase the colour palette which
leads to a misconception that the lights are extremely vivid in the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6rCrgysJYFjYkdYHENK1GDN4hX3uq5s-NRFQOVm3CDQ4Dmk8peL8x-YP38KznbU6ZJ174UJiNg9CAFTT7urEB9CXXQUIchJMbDftklIZ8OZrtUCxS5JepQIhLhEH-fRUSb3Hly98Wx-r_/s1600/P1060544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6rCrgysJYFjYkdYHENK1GDN4hX3uq5s-NRFQOVm3CDQ4Dmk8peL8x-YP38KznbU6ZJ174UJiNg9CAFTT7urEB9CXXQUIchJMbDftklIZ8OZrtUCxS5JepQIhLhEH-fRUSb3Hly98Wx-r_/s320/P1060544.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe79bply0ErJhMjAhX2GC2BQt_O1lPkEHsNrbotqjrUlrsTUVcaYJNyKa9Vs2hievceB3qmWqcMV993yA0qA0VTwNgA9rkAxd2qUZIR1OA8YA3kIKB6L8mkJaankPPLaTS3TRgaGZ74eS-/s1600/P1060546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe79bply0ErJhMjAhX2GC2BQt_O1lPkEHsNrbotqjrUlrsTUVcaYJNyKa9Vs2hievceB3qmWqcMV993yA0qA0VTwNgA9rkAxd2qUZIR1OA8YA3kIKB6L8mkJaankPPLaTS3TRgaGZ74eS-/s320/P1060546.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only negative thing I will say is that I was shocked at the amount of people
of my generation that were sat on the bus oblivious to the Lights because they
were so engrossed in their phones, probably on Facebook. I’m so glad I’m not one of those people. My final
words would be that if you haven’t seen them then get them on your bucket list because
they are an absolutely incredible phenomenon. I’m not suggesting that you need
to go as far as Iceland to track them down, just keep your eyes peeled in the
winter months if you’re out and about in Northumberland or in the Scottish
highlands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-13764007919396823302013-01-07T12:24:00.001-08:002013-08-22T12:52:18.240-07:004. Learn to cook a Sunday dinner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As a woman in my mid twenties I feel that I should know how to do this. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Not that I like to conform to the female stereotype but one day I may </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">have a husband, possibly two children and I will want to whip them up a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">roast dinner on a Sunday from time to time. Now this won't be happening </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">for a long while yet so if I start perfecting my technique now then I </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">can enjoy the outcomes of my cooking attempts with myself and my friends </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">in the process.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOoCSppZm8-Sy52ilswESA7ZK7XLDQsDAilfV6cE50vDHe-RD0GHWu-IOacqPl3nlhcEw6iI7XNro8Kf8zIwdhi5fhN35bSEqgzUH4IwbCfhNZRCsylFJJlykxC2idNtDPxVtNsEYLDgS/s1600/P1060103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOoCSppZm8-Sy52ilswESA7ZK7XLDQsDAilfV6cE50vDHe-RD0GHWu-IOacqPl3nlhcEw6iI7XNro8Kf8zIwdhi5fhN35bSEqgzUH4IwbCfhNZRCsylFJJlykxC2idNtDPxVtNsEYLDgS/s320/P1060103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I asked my three BFF's who I was sharing a post Christmas hot tub and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">cabin in the woods break with if they minded being taste testers for my </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">first ever roast dinner; they were very obliging! I can categorically </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">say that the only help I got from them was instructions on how to make </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">cheesy leeks and a little help setting the table. The rest of the time </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">they were enjoyed drinks and snacks in the hot tub. However I documented </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">their post dinner feedback in my phone while we were sprawled on the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">sofa (which is a good job because I proceeded to get pretty merry to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">celebrate the success.) The food tasters were pretty wrecked at this </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">point too but their feedback was as follows:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Laura (a seasoned chicken connoisseur)</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Comments: "is this what food tastes like in heaven because if it is kill </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">me now"</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Improvements: "more leeks and a bigger chicken" - there will never be a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">bird big enough</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Lyndsay (a notoriously picky eater)</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Comments: "I wish my boyfriend could do to me what this dinner has"</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Improvements: "Thicker gravy" - this was down to the lack of gravy </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">granules and corn flour!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Buttness (a sausage fiend)</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Comments: "Holey hell life will never been the same again"</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Improvements: "Sausages" - someone should set up a sausages anonymous </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">group</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So readers if you would like to get these kind of results follow my </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">methodology below:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 1</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Preparation.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Read Delia Smith's roast dinner recipe and compose a shopping list and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">instructions for cooking a roast.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 2</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Go shopping for your ingredients (I don't have a photo of this step </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">because apparently you get kicked out of supermarkets for taking photos. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">. .</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 3</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Prep the chicken by massaging butter under and over the skin.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROyw9uuxODOEyjk8gQ2zQQzht3vkhhGJejmvsX5hV48ydhHIVHKmOZK6UCHCVoiJo_X8nwY-LltlRtdXHbyBoXe-WntKGvQhTpKnS1UAx__2vxrgv0zfZxEmj9BJi6Z1GQI8TyjlWJUA-/s1600/P1060105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROyw9uuxODOEyjk8gQ2zQQzht3vkhhGJejmvsX5hV48ydhHIVHKmOZK6UCHCVoiJo_X8nwY-LltlRtdXHbyBoXe-WntKGvQhTpKnS1UAx__2vxrgv0zfZxEmj9BJi6Z1GQI8TyjlWJUA-/s320/P1060105.JPG" width="240" /></a><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 4</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Chuck the bird in the oven on top of some veg.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ld6gHFKHgSXx1My-0nFPMM3FO_eOF6BUrtHNgYBWeu8jb-rFlt3yKa5-G8kD0hXR3-njO0JFvOXdYdCMMWXDc3ounjEaNohbjXEzNpnfGAID4mwRBAL1x-hWiTUAvhxgqz1Co9Rm0YkL/s1600/P1060109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ld6gHFKHgSXx1My-0nFPMM3FO_eOF6BUrtHNgYBWeu8jb-rFlt3yKa5-G8kD0hXR3-njO0JFvOXdYdCMMWXDc3ounjEaNohbjXEzNpnfGAID4mwRBAL1x-hWiTUAvhxgqz1Co9Rm0YkL/s320/P1060109.JPG" width="320" /></a><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 5</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Have a drink to take the edge off. My chosen drink of choice Cava and D</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">isoranno.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hnXT5QfPwm94xRiTMYe4U1NhUVW7dMwzK7SKI07DdobVjp1NG68pro-szKgUuiE4hD-jlYcxGtnxlVB6zAlwuIuOcxxb-rNIxiLRQR3rl7zDdRT1i53xqHDtIm9IZcomytmyqE24rLTQ/s1600/P1060110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hnXT5QfPwm94xRiTMYe4U1NhUVW7dMwzK7SKI07DdobVjp1NG68pro-szKgUuiE4hD-jlYcxGtnxlVB6zAlwuIuOcxxb-rNIxiLRQR3rl7zDdRT1i53xqHDtIm9IZcomytmyqE24rLTQ/s320/P1060110.JPG" width="320" /></a><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 6</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Par boil the veg and chuck in in a pre oiled roasting try, whip up </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">some cheesy smoked bacon leeks, make the Yorkshire's and check the chicken!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxN0USK5V9HFnSPDXoKsGQl3FXHsXT6527pkZzND6AO2gezqFSBnmReSRkqJ19ybOwyxW5yBBonck0FIKzjRjOjyutE7sNa0K3ZiygMV9ObiC71fkEqXdI9ERGVGcnnJW7rJg-7W53MSL/s1600/P1060115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxN0USK5V9HFnSPDXoKsGQl3FXHsXT6527pkZzND6AO2gezqFSBnmReSRkqJ19ybOwyxW5yBBonck0FIKzjRjOjyutE7sNa0K3ZiygMV9ObiC71fkEqXdI9ERGVGcnnJW7rJg-7W53MSL/s320/P1060115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 7</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Take the bird out the oven to 'rest' and make the gravy </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitl4pcw611OaydAXArV7Dat4BVK_PrgS7e91e81pDleWtS1_RRXqZ8wk2oEhSvR7t1IMkkCgS9_zWt8bYKXdPJTLbYy9-VEqwEC6MbOQ99nD03arye7rdSHY5oPJx1hu9-Rp-T2PCPw67j/s1600/P1060116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitl4pcw611OaydAXArV7Dat4BVK_PrgS7e91e81pDleWtS1_RRXqZ8wk2oEhSvR7t1IMkkCgS9_zWt8bYKXdPJTLbYy9-VEqwEC6MbOQ99nD03arye7rdSHY5oPJx1hu9-Rp-T2PCPw67j/s320/P1060116.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BB5UjNfygSDynepvwlFyw8AbvX9GvHoLsHIQary4HQHSJ4SEvS3HqQsY5TMPiHgBv6ed2RsSQXFx3wFqC3mT2DzuAQB_9yvKIQ2RBcYffLjarxo4_2rUIjZXMUlPrHofmTxweKueo-kN/s1600/P1060122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BB5UjNfygSDynepvwlFyw8AbvX9GvHoLsHIQary4HQHSJ4SEvS3HqQsY5TMPiHgBv6ed2RsSQXFx3wFqC3mT2DzuAQB_9yvKIQ2RBcYffLjarxo4_2rUIjZXMUlPrHofmTxweKueo-kN/s320/P1060122.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiop9IFdzw1Q04Yaolj8bw4zE_1ahBhYiIZVdfbsuxSxBu_Vw-DMhqhl61pC0R44oWUts1Bi7vOHEd0sADHi6v6CTxzIsStSpIdsuMfCNvImi5_o6uFA0IG_Y_RBXlDOkktU1OobuyS18Eb/s1600/P1060120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiop9IFdzw1Q04Yaolj8bw4zE_1ahBhYiIZVdfbsuxSxBu_Vw-DMhqhl61pC0R44oWUts1Bi7vOHEd0sADHi6v6CTxzIsStSpIdsuMfCNvImi5_o6uFA0IG_Y_RBXlDOkktU1OobuyS18Eb/s320/P1060120.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 9</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Plate up</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hNlNpqeL0VZ9fTHSk5qVdiKjE1_gX6vZkxEKu3TRN6r_tYsrNAW_oOvUWWfrfDDfGjVFzUKLpa2FYex2LQf9G4hwi_FmFcTWoZ7qhfejZmrll1C8tHJ_LOo1CsENt5G1ofYbvcm-noLx/s1600/P1060126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hNlNpqeL0VZ9fTHSk5qVdiKjE1_gX6vZkxEKu3TRN6r_tYsrNAW_oOvUWWfrfDDfGjVFzUKLpa2FYex2LQf9G4hwi_FmFcTWoZ7qhfejZmrll1C8tHJ_LOo1CsENt5G1ofYbvcm-noLx/s320/P1060126.JPG" width="320" /></a><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Step 10</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Eat</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpqWsVTh8Z5BxP5WwOqUMHa7x7i9ZvjDVwY_A-vzznl84XDQVHBmwtTXDqDVRmirWQESAScqdbh0pXfuyGTirubgCucHdnL1qE6S4Z1EfQ_8RpxajzQXaXtU4Ce8NSfovx0GDqHaXf1Vr/s1600/P1060127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpqWsVTh8Z5BxP5WwOqUMHa7x7i9ZvjDVwY_A-vzznl84XDQVHBmwtTXDqDVRmirWQESAScqdbh0pXfuyGTirubgCucHdnL1qE6S4Z1EfQ_8RpxajzQXaXtU4Ce8NSfovx0GDqHaXf1Vr/s320/P1060127.JPG" width="320" /></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8tvVUqJdAdQG3y8ta0bLDOYioZ256dtB-v8mUh9AF2ziCewmtXmq3mOGwPXZfN7OWqNd9iz_mGnvhd2HFrRDvG5HxS9lxGqB9Xr4m7lW3v8CrDSYngy_j7uA5EKSSIDNVIxPREaRCKV-/s1600/P1060128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8tvVUqJdAdQG3y8ta0bLDOYioZ256dtB-v8mUh9AF2ziCewmtXmq3mOGwPXZfN7OWqNd9iz_mGnvhd2HFrRDvG5HxS9lxGqB9Xr4m7lW3v8CrDSYngy_j7uA5EKSSIDNVIxPREaRCKV-/s320/P1060128.JPG" width="320" /></a><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Here's to the next one *raises glass*</span><br />
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xAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-65187340668006217872013-01-02T09:47:00.000-08:002013-01-02T09:51:34.240-08:0015. Paint a canvas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I'm writing this blog entry at 3.00pm on Thursday 27 December 2012 with a glass of wine in my hand (there are few exceptions apart from Christmas time when you get away with cracking open a bottle this early!)</span><br />
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I have a very creative personality and I've always been partial to a bit of artwork – though this was not always encouraged by my art teachers at sixth form (I won't name names but they know who they are), so having never painted a canvas I thought I would add it too my list.</div>
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I knew I wanted to paint a landscape to reflect my love for the outdoors but I wasn't sure about how to present it, so I visited a few galleries in the Toon and was finally inspired by an exhibition at the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle upon Tyne by Julie Dumbarton (<a href="http://www.juliedumbarton.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0066cc;">http://www.juliedumbarton.com/</span></a><wbr></wbr>) - at this point if anyone would like to buy me one of her prints then I'd be a very happy person. Although trained as a fine art painter the exhibition could be described as a series of abstract landscapes, I was particularly attracted to her use of bright colours. I do like traditional landscape artists such as Turner and Constable but I don't think my talent is up to scratch yet to try and replicate the style in their paintings. </div>
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I used acrylic paint to make sure I got vibrant colours and the thickness of the paint allows the addition of texture to the canvas. As far as technique is concerned there was none. I just whipped my brushed out, squeezed some paint onto a plate, started mixing and slapping it onto the canvas (and not necessarily thinking about what the picture would turn out like.) After a series of painting sessions, normally on a Sunday afternoon when you don't have the work demands of a weekday or the stresses of sorting your life out on a Saturday (or having to be a bouncer for Santa!) I finally finished and decided to give the title of “the path of dreams” to the painting - as a testament to my friend who will hopefully always follow her dreams.</div>
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Now at this point I would love to say that the canvas is no hanging up pride of place in my house but its not. I really appreciated receiving a painting from my friend Laura Wilson for my birthday about three years ago so I wanted to give my painting to a very important person in my life. Now there are three very important people in my life who I do secret Santa with each year therefore this year I decided my lucky secret Santa would receive a Kathryn Wilson original – I think all three of them would appreciate the gesture (or they would at least have the courtesy to at least pretend to like it in my presence, the test will be when I turn up unexpected on her doorstep one day to make sure its hanging on her wall!) This is the moment she opened the painting.</div>
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Anyways watch this space, you never know it might be a series of my paintings hanging up in The Biscuit Factory one day and yes I am available with very reasonable rates for commissions if you would like some of my work in your life.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-91114020771606865322012-10-21T11:02:00.000-07:002012-10-21T11:02:59.912-07:0022. See a ballet<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What – Swan Lake performed by the Birmingham Royal Ballet company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When – Thursday 18<sup>th</sup> October 2012 at 7.30 pm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where – Sunderland Empire Theatre<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who with – Myself (what can I say I like my own
company)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not sure why I added seeing a ballet to my list, it was
possibly as an attempt to add a bit of class to my life but also I had the curiosity
to see whether a production without any spoken dialogue could hold my attention
for 3 hours. . .And do you know what? It did. It was bloody brilliant!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Russian gentleman Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikousky originally composed
the ballet in 1876 and has been performed across the world ever since. Even if
you don’t know the full story of Swan Lake the music is instantly recognisable.
Without a live orchestra then I don’t think they would have been able to do the
score justice. It was superb! I remember in primary school being introduced to
Tchaikousky in assembly. I think we even had ‘Tchaikousky’ on our spellings
list one week – to any teacher’s reading this, please don’t follow in my
teachers footsteps and do this; it’s a really hard word to spell!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not to give too much of the plot away it is a classic good
versus evil story with the hero Prince Siegfried being a typical bloke and
seeing some hot woman that he wants to make his wife but screws it all up when
he falls under the spell of an evil magician (though having no dialogue then that
could be open to interpretation, I personally think he was thinking with his
pants and not his head. . .) There are a few parallel’s with Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet so it would be interesting to know if Tchaikousky was influenced by
his work. You can find more in depth information about the plot line from the
<a href="http://www.brb.org.uk/masque/index.htm?act=Production&urn=537" target="_blank">company’s website </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought I would get a bit bored by the constant dancing but
I could not take me eyes of the dancer’s feet and legs! The way the women can
dance on their tippy toes and the way they can extend their limbs and the
flexibility in their bodies are incredible – this did surprise me considering
how tight the male dances trousers were (it left little to the imagination!) As
a complete ballet novice I could appreciate the dedication, athletic ability
and endurance these dancers must need to sustain the level of dance throughout
the whole show. I don’t think there was one inch of fat on any of the
performers! What Birmingham Royal ballet had also done (which I’m not sure whether
other company’s do) is that they added a degree of theatrics running through
the production that helped to hold your attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For me the person that stole the show was a character called
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Benno, Prince Siegfried’s best mate danced by
Tzu-Chao Chou. The way he was flinging himself around that stage with the
biggest grin I have ever seen on his face that did not falter once was so
impressive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The scene that stole the
show was the opening to Act IV, the final act. The curtain opened to the lake scene
with fog completely covering the ground. As the orchestra started to play the
swans dramatically emerged from the sea of fog and started to dance. It was a
spine tingling moment, the crowd, which had been pretty reserved up until that
point went wild, thundering applause rang out throughout the theatre – a more
than deserved reaction to the opening of the final act. If I could describe it in one word it would be 'stunning'. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">All in all absolutely loved it and will </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">definitely</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> be going to see another ballet (I can't believe it took my 26 years to see my first one!). I think top of the list is The Nutcracker. The only</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> thing that I was a bit unsure about was the Sunderland audiences reaction to the 'baddie' with their booing - may I just remind everyone that this is a high quality ballet production and not the Christmas panto, ha ha</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I think what this post highlights is that one of the fantastic things about my tea cup list is that it is opening the doors to new </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">experiences</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> that don't have to be a one time only affair but they are </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">experiences</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> that are igniting new interests in me and ones that I can share with my </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">friends</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and family. On that note bring on the next </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">experience</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">!</span></span></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-39741043962062775362012-07-23T12:59:00.001-07:002012-07-24T10:58:25.934-07:0012. Travel first class<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgJMLi9EmTsoPwdRFIYXHuHlIOkw5-JgiMBb0uyGSJvuilb9aqNKx6SbKjCSTfUaEltEAASHpsf-7GHjTYvJ1gUj7RaCwGkIknEJxFGZw4rwOwkX3lqpK4BakebNHVN6hdfHbCsF4nONY/s1600/P1040984.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgJMLi9EmTsoPwdRFIYXHuHlIOkw5-JgiMBb0uyGSJvuilb9aqNKx6SbKjCSTfUaEltEAASHpsf-7GHjTYvJ1gUj7RaCwGkIknEJxFGZw4rwOwkX3lqpK4BakebNHVN6hdfHbCsF4nONY/s320/P1040984.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This needed to be done. I don’t like trains (the fact that I
work in a train museum is irrelevant) and if I’m going to travel on the last
day of term after a week at work then why not book a first class ticket to rock
up to Laura’s in style? On my next list
I’m going to include travelling first class on an aeroplane!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So. . .my first experience of first class is that PEOPLE ARE
RUDE! – No one (and there were at least 5 ‘men’ sat in that carriage helped me
to get my case up onto the luggage rack. Normally I wouldn’t have minded but it
was really heavy (probably from the two bottle of Champagne in there?! At least
those won’t be carried back up to the Toon) Oh and my sportswear Laura Wilson
requested us to bring – God knows what she has planned but you know it’s gonna
be filth! (It turns out that it was a boxing bootcamp session. In the words of
Lyndsay Airey “I have never been so ravaged by a man. I’m hot, sweaty, covered
in mud and gagging for more” or words to that effect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway back to my first class experience, not only would no
man, woman or child come and help a damsel in distress with her bag the ‘man’ I
was sat opposite (I didn’t think I’d have to look at someone else’s ugly mug
the whole journey) said to me in ‘oh no there is a pole up my arse so I need to
talk like a tit ’ English “Oh I think I’ll just move over here to give us a bit
more room” – you know the type., you just do that sweet cakes and get out or my
way. Because I have no intention of moving. Those of you that know me well know
how I refuse to sit on a train than in the seat I have booked in advance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve just been brought a complimentary tea – alright then!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve just been brought a complimentary cider (I had to ask
for ice though) wahh!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just looked up from my book, looked out the window and saw
a field full of sheep prancing around in the evening sun – now that’s what I’m
talking about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Would you like another drink madam?” – attendant “Hmm, yeah
why not. Another cider would go down a treat, thank you.” – me AND it is not
some cheapo Strongbow cider its Rekorderlig, Sweden’s finest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7p1xXwTGlwnC2Pggz0v2danKOaQrg1me0TuCqR6crvdNESvKAE4hyFkHYII8x3Dut0HMrRazGgZF12geE6iGp7Lf3oUK6HLZ4UKNtM9IN39T5DiYipEJPdToqYycm9UuhHP0r0kUqLEua/s1600/P1040985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7p1xXwTGlwnC2Pggz0v2danKOaQrg1me0TuCqR6crvdNESvKAE4hyFkHYII8x3Dut0HMrRazGgZF12geE6iGp7Lf3oUK6HLZ4UKNtM9IN39T5DiYipEJPdToqYycm9UuhHP0r0kUqLEua/s320/P1040985.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now people can I just ask, at what age is it acceptable for
someone to refer to a woman as ‘Madam’? I personally don’t mind it. It makes me
feel respectable and sophisticated than old and past it. But maybe it is just a
polite way of calling someone an old bag, wahh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Would you like something to eat madam?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlu_t8B2CztdsxmW4qz4nXuI2K9kQs4I44qL8bRC58HxAtm-61JfjD-xW8XCe4Ojz2WIctKJG__E2Vgh1igHU39nI4XxdbIQcUdvL7XdalFssHk9sGJOIePGUpvNdGvnQyBE63DEVGJfuJ/s1600/P1040981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlu_t8B2CztdsxmW4qz4nXuI2K9kQs4I44qL8bRC58HxAtm-61JfjD-xW8XCe4Ojz2WIctKJG__E2Vgh1igHU39nI4XxdbIQcUdvL7XdalFssHk9sGJOIePGUpvNdGvnQyBE63DEVGJfuJ/s320/P1040981.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Onion tartlet, side salad, rosemary and sunblush tomato roll
and a slice of ginger cake, washed down with another Rekorderlig.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Would you like another drink?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well after 2 hours 28 minutes of pure naughtiness I rock up
to King’s Cross half cut, in need of a wee and on a mission to find St Pancras
and locate the train to St Alban’s. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Onwards and Upwards!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did eventually find the train btw.</span><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-73660034795583519222012-07-14T06:29:00.000-07:002012-07-24T10:57:37.048-07:002. Have something published<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right. Now I know that this is no Harry Potter novel or an academic paper appearing in the British Journal or Archaeology <span style="background-color: white;">but I don't care. It is in print, in the public domain, available for people to read therefore it counts as published in my eyes. Maybe instead of 'have something published' it should have been 'have my name in print' instead? </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHqaTEx7l2RSX6Aww3Y-Kq_bWGBkr2atXzudo-q5ptYrcQ2mYQPCYBuTK0KQ8GY9wW9RO3_vQZ_Micr7Pu6OCKNRYjltjaJlCVF0KWx4uSvqAwlK04F5iEsgSyS1bRxpr8dXZPmF6G9wvv/s1600/P1040976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHqaTEx7l2RSX6Aww3Y-Kq_bWGBkr2atXzudo-q5ptYrcQ2mYQPCYBuTK0KQ8GY9wW9RO3_vQZ_Micr7Pu6OCKNRYjltjaJlCVF0KWx4uSvqAwlK04F5iEsgSyS1bRxpr8dXZPmF6G9wvv/s320/P1040976.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhA2mF3jABV1CCYpepcwtYHaUajceANUb_k8Fxp7u7yJVhM_NmarmGL4NIhWIhPxI-V1G0LtX6aZAgyUWhCqOPtOe5p6GU-P1d-EPqmPRRiCAegYKb_MiRkyalO5Lvd3uJ9ecK_-zv-wp-/s1600/P1040977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhA2mF3jABV1CCYpepcwtYHaUajceANUb_k8Fxp7u7yJVhM_NmarmGL4NIhWIhPxI-V1G0LtX6aZAgyUWhCqOPtOe5p6GU-P1d-EPqmPRRiCAegYKb_MiRkyalO5Lvd3uJ9ecK_-zv-wp-/s400/P1040977.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK16Rt4Gwp-O8Xz-7OckMqQSAK69lHWy76gxR_g6Jyx7gKnorFiOEAQAG6u32UHUen8GbRuXlsa22r82TU2t1PrUkwSPx8yDnEKi4hmN8yZAxIp_oosq-23A3kHADctyY6Bh8d6nTZpKgl/s1600/P1040979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK16Rt4Gwp-O8Xz-7OckMqQSAK69lHWy76gxR_g6Jyx7gKnorFiOEAQAG6u32UHUen8GbRuXlsa22r82TU2t1PrUkwSPx8yDnEKi4hmN8yZAxIp_oosq-23A3kHADctyY6Bh8d6nTZpKgl/s320/P1040979.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">If you'd like to hear more about my exciting scouting activities then just ask. </span><span style="background-color: white;">And you never know this maybe the start of a string of publications - I am intending to write a book called 'A crash course to being a scout leader, surviving and not having a nervous breakdown' just in case you get dropped in it like I have, lol. Oh and also when I visit Lord Baden-Powell's grave in Kenya I will be recounting my experiences to the readers of Scouting magazine. . .</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">x</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-63993202512538988312012-06-10T12:36:00.001-07:002012-07-24T11:00:15.229-07:007. Learn to knit<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kitted up!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLz9MoKXhjZTx6xWtKDHGGVhyphenhyphenEvRiCQwwEvll5bNZ-9IyP0d2JI1Z2ZmIn3dBOqtp1n6pqbYtxjeaBd32jXk1WIKG4p5FxVHgHMnTNboAoasW3mxITo-DkBq1A503zoUYaN0N9g5OBLY7f/s1600/P1040917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLz9MoKXhjZTx6xWtKDHGGVhyphenhyphenEvRiCQwwEvll5bNZ-9IyP0d2JI1Z2ZmIn3dBOqtp1n6pqbYtxjeaBd32jXk1WIKG4p5FxVHgHMnTNboAoasW3mxITo-DkBq1A503zoUYaN0N9g5OBLY7f/s320/P1040917.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm going to see the knitting guru on Saturday that is my Nana (legend!) to get down with the basics, casting on, casting off, turning corners (does that have a special name?) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm thinking that there are going to be a lot of naked sheep around with the number of times I cock it up (sorry sheep!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Nana live in Yorkshire so I can't just pop round when I go wrong so if you are reading this and can knit, or knows someone that can and would like to do their good deed for the year then make yourselves known and we can organise a knitting afternoon with coffee and cake!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ5T_hl8D2SaV-bGXp4sSBHspVLPrzEs79e86yOzZxkB2Dn1lvyaDAk6w7LDG4E7DsNvHKtfgffJxnbr0tgm8hhaVaFd8nyF14YzaXDfI12HEVBVTkMDD3X82hkl_lDh3lP_L0d7s2IjUj/s1600/P1040918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ5T_hl8D2SaV-bGXp4sSBHspVLPrzEs79e86yOzZxkB2Dn1lvyaDAk6w7LDG4E7DsNvHKtfgffJxnbr0tgm8hhaVaFd8nyF14YzaXDfI12HEVBVTkMDD3X82hkl_lDh3lP_L0d7s2IjUj/s320/P1040918.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe I'm being over ambitious but I'm hoping to get really good so I can start making these by Christmas (courtesy of Lyndsay Airey) so if you haven't got your requests in yet then let me know what kind of Meerkat you'd like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's me if I were a Meerkat!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBAcLFOSsmFt8IZVP3_QGZWs9AW_gkqcEZOH1wtDecIgR2snxC_A3xzM4EHuKmNc741s4dZG5nq5xcJaN8s59pzuqQT92Rr5-zyW68DkLevGI0vy57a20Msx0j9zR1fzm-b6LVpIuVdBL/s1600/P1040921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBAcLFOSsmFt8IZVP3_QGZWs9AW_gkqcEZOH1wtDecIgR2snxC_A3xzM4EHuKmNc741s4dZG5nq5xcJaN8s59pzuqQT92Rr5-zyW68DkLevGI0vy57a20Msx0j9zR1fzm-b6LVpIuVdBL/s400/P1040921.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Raaaaaaarrrr</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-8725033756072374692012-06-10T07:57:00.002-07:002014-09-03T00:50:13.593-07:009. Raise £1000 for charity<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought I would start off with something easy(ish) to get the fundraising ball rolling and then work my way up to a more strenuous sporting activity to try and raise my target (The Great North Run?! Biking the Coast to Coast?!) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got a flyer through my door for the St Oswald's Hospices 5th midnight walk (</span><a href="http://www.stoswaldsuk.org/support/midnight%20walk/">http://www.stoswaldsuk.org/support/midnight%20walk/</a>)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and it sounded like fun - I may have also been </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">encouraged</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to join in with the promise of a cuppa and bacon sarnie at the finish line! St Oswald's provides specialist care for local adults, young people, children and their families. They do some amazing work across the region and have helped a tremendous amount of families through </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">difficult</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and challenging periods in their lives. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know money's tight at the moment for most people and you'll have other friends and family asking for sponsorship so I'm not asking for a big donation but how about the price you'd pay for a pint or a glass of vino? - so next time you go out have one less drink so then technically you won't be out of pocket?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/willythe1st">https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/willythe1st</a>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So hit the link and get donating. . .If I reach my target of £333.33 then I will do the walk in this! (now there is an incentive!)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAOFvYIQ1H1csrSCB2-aXpV6-WR9UZvCM_hnuFcjkCPq1FFSC69qhpT-1KH-Moiu8Jc9BXcpww9Qr-ofQNFSYc83QXlwx8jvuEhByPrlSrEruYt1By3YWclsRfaX0GgjXtOkqn543AgP-/s1600/P1040916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAOFvYIQ1H1csrSCB2-aXpV6-WR9UZvCM_hnuFcjkCPq1FFSC69qhpT-1KH-Moiu8Jc9BXcpww9Qr-ofQNFSYc83QXlwx8jvuEhByPrlSrEruYt1By3YWclsRfaX0GgjXtOkqn543AgP-/s320/P1040916.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bring on 7th July 2012!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello everyone</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You all be glad to know that I've completed the walk, firstly a massive THANK YOU to everyone that sponsored me - you are all awesome. I didn't reach my target (which I am glad of because wearing that hat would have been ridiculous!) but I did make an amazing £279!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It wasn't a race but 12th out of 1000 ain't bad! It was an awesome event to take part in, spirits were high and everyone was ready to go. I made the mistake though of cycling to the event - didn't think through having to cycle the two miles back at 2.30am! Didn't have to dodge too many drunk people.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeInL98tS7pc80QZlCG99xZC0rIZ9RV5uYwVqRaSdRuZcSAMnkWp6VMMzwU58xBhR9OL3IbHf3dAqHZ9FmSyFov1CdIvwGxjIqooHhNMraLBBXgdGhnSFiLX2c0HB6AY7hXfIn1T3Uofq/s1600/P1040974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeInL98tS7pc80QZlCG99xZC0rIZ9RV5uYwVqRaSdRuZcSAMnkWp6VMMzwU58xBhR9OL3IbHf3dAqHZ9FmSyFov1CdIvwGxjIqooHhNMraLBBXgdGhnSFiLX2c0HB6AY7hXfIn1T3Uofq/s320/P1040974.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQePA-b2gNjJMU0T9MPniHMvOHmpvkPK0u80_Sfsf9PRIbJfLW9SOXUCn7q715lxzcuOXtik-AlXE-yBFKIIx1T5XBrbjwQupjwgWx2MsSePQzhcsuqs1_ORZlZpj93RxRKKfpPMfBc8O/s1600/P1040967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQePA-b2gNjJMU0T9MPniHMvOHmpvkPK0u80_Sfsf9PRIbJfLW9SOXUCn7q715lxzcuOXtik-AlXE-yBFKIIx1T5XBrbjwQupjwgWx2MsSePQzhcsuqs1_ORZlZpj93RxRKKfpPMfBc8O/s320/P1040967.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> That's a lot of pink!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zw4NZUnv8WScB6YoEgj1guOZzB9DhKXT9OqqI5gEgoDAGHqb9Fo6QPK-wUOKj35VP1J0gGUFdE3TBgmeIZaFtMzv0UW6iJoHp2eetoupS1CVWTuS7CIH4WqM5h1HaGN0yMOVtO9FQCU2/s1600/P1040973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zw4NZUnv8WScB6YoEgj1guOZzB9DhKXT9OqqI5gEgoDAGHqb9Fo6QPK-wUOKj35VP1J0gGUFdE3TBgmeIZaFtMzv0UW6iJoHp2eetoupS1CVWTuS7CIH4WqM5h1HaGN0yMOVtO9FQCU2/s320/P1040973.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Action shot!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feel free to make some suggestion on how to raise the other £721 (and no I am not doing the Great north Run) but I like the idea of cycling the C2C. . . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New entry - Wednesday 3 September 2014</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a quick post to say that I have joined the masses and been nominated (by Laura Fenwick) and completed the ALS ice bucket challenge. This is a really good article from the BBC highlighting the positive effects of this so called 'fad' by some critics <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29013707">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29013707</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even if the ice bucket challenge now fades into memory it has still raised millions of pounds for charity and has raised an unmeasurable amount of awareness for motor neuron disease. My video is at this link </span><a href="http://youtu.be/oQtehDuh_cc" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #167ac6; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/oQtehDuh_cc</a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">another thing that it has highlighted is that I need to lay off the biscuits and up my exercise regime!</span><br />
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xAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5620967909164087409.post-24507830650457685302012-05-20T11:31:00.003-07:002012-07-24T10:56:51.424-07:0021. Celebrate a birthday abroad<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well ladies and gentlemen, as the dawn of my 26th birthday looms I am busy writing a 'to pack' list for my and Laura Fenwick's excursion to eastern Europe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've heard amazing things about this city (a castle, sex museum and beer?! what more could a girl ask for) and have been wanting to visit for the past few years so no better time than the present. All I need to do now is survive three days in Sunderland, four Ancient Greek & Olympic poster workshops, three minibeast workshops and an evening at Scouts (a task easier said than done!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Watch this space for a blow by blow account of 24th May 2012, it's going to be epic. . .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well what can I say? After having a few days to reflect on
my break in Prague I can hand on heart say that it is one of the most beautiful
cities I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. I think the glorious sunshine could enhance
the appearance of any city but the Czech people obviously take great pride in preserving
the cities architecture and heritage. I would recommend to everyone reading
this that if you haven’t been to Prague then get yourselves on low cost
holidays and get booking a trip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walking into the Old Town Square just took my breath away. It’s
an image that you’ve seen time and time again in the media but actually being
there, seeing it for real just adds another dimension to it. The astronomical
clock is as awesome as I thought it would be - The oldest astronomical clock
still functioning in the world! The little skeleton (a representation of Death)
that rings the bell on the hour every hour to allow ‘The Walk of The Apostles’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent an afternoon looking around the Josefov (The Jewish
Quarter) including the Old Jewish Cemetery that is thought to contain over
100,000 graves which was extremely humbling. The exhibition of pictures drawn
by children held within one of the Nazi concentration camps reemphasises how
much the Czech people, especially the Jews suffered under the Nazi rule and
occupation of the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Vltava River splits the city in two and offers stunning
views of the castle on the North West side and the Charles bridge, we took a
stroll along before having beer and some really good Czech food (you may also
be shocked to learn that I made Laura Fenwick drink my free shot because now
that I’m the wrong side of 25 I’ve turned over a new leaf not to partake in the
drinking of shots!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven’t even mentioned the Castle, the Charles Bridge, the
Cathedral, the Loreta, Petrin Hill, Salvador Dali’s exhibition, the Sex Museum,
multiple beer & ice cream pit stops, the arduous climb up to the top of the
lookout tower, Wenceslas Square or the most incredible buffet breakfasts (and I
mean the ones that would make Laura Wilson quiver at the knees – sorry I didn’t
manage to get a photo taken) I’ll fill you in over a pint if you want any
further details of my escapades in Prague because there is too much to choose
from to go into here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all it is going to have to be something pretty special
next year to beat turning 26. Thanks for reading and check out my Facebook page
to see more photos of the trip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">x<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543480092866620823noreply@blogger.com0