Task 22: Complete a 2000 piece jigsaw

Right now my life is well and truly in pieces - 2000 of them to be exact. Task 22 is finally on the table. Literally.

The jigsaw I've chosen to complete is the famous van Gogh painting 'Starry Night'. Did you know that the painting shows the view from the window of van Gogh's asylum room where he was being treated post ear-removal? Yes, you probably did know that, just as you knew that the Taj Mahal isn't anywhere near Mumbai. 

So why did I decide to include this particular task on my sixtyat60 list?  Well, that's an easy one.  In truth I have a bit of an addiction to jigsaws, especially those of an online variety. I'm a frequent visitor to a website called Jigidi where I compete against various unknown puzzlers all over the world to complete small to medium sized jigsaws in the fastest time possible. Oh dear, I've just made my life sound rather sad haven't I. Anyway, as you can tell, I regarded Task 22 as one of my more indulgent challenges and I was well up for it.

Until, that is, I made a start on Starry Night 2 weeks ago. And now, as I sit at the dining table day after day sifting through a veritable tsunami of blue swirly abstract jigsaw pieces, I'm beginning to experience something of van Gogh's inner turmoil and despair. Whenever Andrew comes into the dining room and sees me hunched over the table and cursing silently under my breath, he says in a mystified - albeit supportive - voice 'Why did you have to choose that jigsaw?'  A very reasonable question.  My response?

a)  I love impressionist and post-impressionist art
b)  Vincent (Starry Starry Night) by Don McLean was the song that Dave Lee Travis played on his radio show one memorable summer's evening back in 1973 in response to a postcard sent snailmail (ah those were the days) to the BBC studios by Jane, Loretta and me .
c)  I love a challenge. On second thoughts, can I change my mind about c)?

So how am I getting on with Task 22? Here's the fully deconstructed jigsaw 2 weeks ago.  Looks harmless enough doesn't it.

Here it is on Day 3 with the frame almost completed (yes, believe it or not, it took that long just to do the frame) and multiple pieces waiting patiently to be found their rightful place.....

Two weeks on and this is what the puzzle looks like now. All the time it's getting more and more difficult, as the few obvious little quirks like the cyprus tree (that dark pointy mountain-like structure on the left), the iconic crescent moon and ten (or is it eleven??) shiny stars are now pretty much completed, leaving a cornucopia of random blue frenetic brush-stroked sections to tinker with. Don't get me started.

I've now lined up all the unallocated pieces in rows. See the photo below, which I showed my hairdresser Will yesterday. 'Ooh Vivien' he said ' that's a bit OCD isn't it?'  Fair comment Will. Although in my defence I'm so stuck at the moment that I can't find anything else to do.  

I've worked out that if I'm to finish Starry Night by 30th May, I have to fit 16 pieces a day. Aargh.....is that honestly achievable?  Watch this space. Keep the faith Vivien - oh and stay well away from that ear.


I'm doing the sixtyat60challenge to raise funds for Shooting Star Chase children's hospice care in memory of a very special little girl called Thea Redford. 

For further information or to make a donation please visit my JustGiving page at  https://www.justgiving.com/sixtyat60challenge/

If you would like to follow this blog click here for information on how to do so 

Task 54: Shake hands with Crystal Palace legend - goal-keeper Julian Speroni

Of all the tasks in my sixtyat60 challenge, this may seem the most left-field one of the lot. Let's face it, I don't fit the standard profile of a Crystal Palace football supporter. Married to a a lifelong Palace fan, it's fair to say that for the first 35 years of our relationship, I struggled to cope with Andrew's CPFC passion. It's best I don't tell you the words I used to mutter under my breath whenever I heard that Match of the Day theme tune or those football pundits in full flow.  To make things worse, Andrew passed on his Palace allegiance to Michael and Jonathan. At family meals, Lucy and I would roll our eyeballs in girlie solidarity as the three Hunot males entered into yet another conversation about Palace's latest transfer deal or table position. In Lucy's/my defence we managed to put our negative attitudes to one side on Andrew's 60th birthday, when a party of 10 of us raised a glass to him in the Directors Box, visited the Selhurst Park dugout and watched Palace lose to Newcastle 2-0. And I did think the mascots were very cute.

That's how life was for us until May 2013. Then three things happened in quick succession. 

1.  I decided that I'd retire from work in May 2015 when I hit my 60th birthday. 
2.  Andrew received a tempting offer for a Palace season ticket.
3.  Palace got to the Play-off Final - and then won it.

We were sitting in Andrew's office a few days after the play-off final. Andrew was looking at the season ticket offer. 'Shall I buy one?' he was musing - more to himself than me really. All of a sudden it occurred to me that I was being very narrow-minded in my attitude towards the football world. Was it fair to be so critical about something I knew nothing about? Maybe it could be an interest for Andrew and me to share in retirement?  'Why not get two season tickets? Perhaps I could come along with you sometimes' I found myself saying. Andrew picked himself up off the floor...... 

Three months later, Andrew and I were sitting in our newly acquired seats in Block D. Kayla the eagle was flying back and forth from goalpost to goalpost. Pete the Eagle and Alice the Eagle were getting the crowd going around the edge of the pitch. The Crystals were doing their cheerleader thing.  Ian Holloway led the team onto the pitch to play their first game back in the Premiership. The stadium rocked to the sound of the Dave Clark Five and the home crowd went crazy. Blimey, what an amazing atmosphere - I loved it!

 


For a year I attended a number of home games. I enjoyed the general ambiance but I still didn't really get what supporting Palace is all about. And then on 14 September 2014 Palace played Burnley. It was 0-0 in the 85th minute when Burnley was awarded a penalty. Their fans went wild with anticipation. I found myself feeling sick with despair and hopelessness. We were bound to lose the match now. Scott Arfield took the kick.......and oh my lord, Julian Speroni actually saved it - what a legend!!!!!  Palace fans throughout the stadium, including Andrew and me, were all leaping up and down in utter joy and relief (tragedy eh Burnley fans). 

In that single moment I learnt what it was like to really really care about the game and I've never looked back. That sense of connection comes at a price of course.  My goodness, the highs and lows I go through now when I watch Palace play (take yesterday's game against Chelsea - what a low.....) But the CPFC family suffer and celebrate together, which is a great feeling. Oh and although Lucy was initially a bit put out that her mother was now taking part in transfer deal conversations at home, she's started attending the occasional game (go Lucy).

When I put together my sixtyat60 list, I wanted to be able to acknowledge my newbie Palace commitment in some way. In my book Julian Speroni stands head and shoulders above all others - and so Task 54 had to be to shake him by the hand.  After 12 years of stellar performances for CPFC, he's recently been replaced by Hennessey as first choice goal-keeper, and Andrew and I had to sit tight for a few weeks until he was selected to be on the bench.  

Last Sunday, when Palace was playing Swansea at home, the word was out - Speroni's on the bench today! After the match, the all-knowing doorman at the directors' lounge informed Andrew that Speroni would be making his exit from the building within the hour, so we hovered outside in anticipation like a pair of veteran strikers in the box. Steve Parish (Palace co-owner) came down the steps and everyone bowed (only kidding, but I think some of us wanted to).  Then all of a sudden Speroni appeared at the door. Andrew and I readied ourselves for action.  Andrew moved forward, saw his chance, took a shot, shook Speroni's hand, passed to me, I took aim, and yay......!! I had my Speroni handshake moment!!!  My friend LInda thinks I look like Mrs Overall from Acorn Antiques in the photo and I agree that the resemblance is quite uncanny (macaroons anyone?)



A very big thank you to Julian Speroni for being a true gentleman as well as for being an outstanding goal-keeper for Crystal Palace. I must also thank him for his role in saving Andrew and me from a further 20-30 years of Match of the Day tiffs.  And now, with sincere apologies to any of my girlfriends who think I've taken leave of my senses over the last 3 years.....be loud......be proud.......be Paaaaalaaaaace!



I'm doing the sixtyat60challenge to raise funds for Shooting Star Chase children's hospice care in memory of a very special little girl called Thea Redford. 

For further information or to make a donation please visit my JustGiving page at  https://www.justgiving.com/sixtyat60challenge/

If you would like to follow this blog click here for information on how to do so

Task 36: Pluck a chicken

Back in April I was on the phone to my friend Linda about my sixtyat60 list. She'd just proposed an additional task for the list - to go for a spin in a Caterham car. "Wow Linda, love it.....you're such a ideas person" I said admiringly. "Any other inspired suggestions up your sleeve?" Quick as a flash - "How about plucking a chicken?" she asked. Well now, I didn't see that one coming. Turns out Linda was an expert chicken plucker in late childhood, courtesy of visits to her aunt's farm during school holidays. But do you know what? I didn't bat an eyelid at Linda's challenge. During my own childhood my GP father received more than the occasional brace of pheasants from grateful farmer patients. After a disastrous first attempt at pheasant-plucking, my mother always called upon the services of our kindly village butcher to prepare them for the oven. It seemed high time to have a go myself.  So onto my list went chicken plucking, with the proviso that Linda would be my fellow plucker.

For several months Linda and I scratched our heads over how to source two chickens whose clogs were popped and in need of plucking. Then during the summer I visited a local waterfowl breeder called Simon, to take delivery of a pair of domestic ducks to keep on our pond (that's another story......) "I'll have 50 fat chickens to pluck and gut this Christmas" he said. "You can pluck a couple of them if you like." Task 36 and Christmas lunch duly sorted - hurrah!

Three days before Christmas, Linda and I rendezvoused at Simon's small-holding deep in the heart of the country. Linda's partner Peter attended as official photographer and chief plucker-supporter. It was a dark and stormy afternoon. We donned heavy-duty wellies and waterproofs and I wore a woolly hat, which gave me the appearance of a bag lady. We followed Simon, who was holding a huge and recently deceased chicken casually by its legs, across a field through the driving rain to his plucking shed, where he'd thoughtfully placed three chairs for us. We sat down and readied ourselves for the pluckfest. Simon placed a protective dust sheet over our laps (complemented my bag lady look perfectly) and handed us our two fowl. 

The body of my chicken lay across on my lap in a relaxed fashion, with its neck draped rather gracefully down my right leg, which meant that I could avoid its baleful stare. Linda's chicken had a very fine pair of pins on display.  

The plucking process was surprisingly therapeutic and soothing. As we plucked away, we all got chatting.  In particular, we heard about Simon's recent distressing experience of being raided in the middle of the night by people calling themselves the ALF. They had let out his 100 prize ducks and chickens, many of which were then caught and eaten by the local fox population. I mean, how 'liberating' could that possibly be for the poor chickens and ducks??  

After about 30 minutes I had pretty much removed every surplus feather from the body of my bird (see photo on left). Not bad for a virgin plucker eh.  Linda found that all her childhood plucking skills came surging back, and Peter provided a grand supporting role at her side.  Simon was quite impressed with our efforts. Satisfaction all round!

Of course Simon had plucked at least two chickens in the time it took Linda/Peter and me to pluck a single one each. Here he is at work.

Then Simon worked his magic on the chickens' guts and other bits that were superflous to requirement. This created an odour reminiscent, as Linda said, of her baby grandson's filled nappy. But it was worth it, as the chickens were transformed into oven-ready birds fit for a Waitrose chiller cabinet.

Dusk was falling fast. The rain lashed hard and the wind whipped wild. Linda, Peter and I left the plucking shed, two bagged birds in hand, and battled our way, slightly bloodied but definitely not bowed, back across the field to our cars.  

I'm proud to report that my chicken went down a storm on Christmas Day - it fed seven hungry meat-eating adults with seconds all round!  

 

So that's my chicken plucking capabilities finally put to the test. I do hope my mother would be impressed. Perhaps it's time to step up to the mark and find out if my newly honed skills would be transferable to a brace of pheasant. Although it might be wise to give our local kindly butcher a heads-up first. 

A huge thank you to Simon for setting up such an excellent chicken plucking experience for me.  An equally huge thank you to Linda for coming up with a second great idea for a sixtyat60 task - and to Linda and Peter for being such plucky plucking pals.  Oooh, one final question - did you happen to spot the piece of jewellery I was wearing round my neck in the plucking shed?  Yes indeed, another outing for that special necklace of mine. 16 days down, 44 to go......

I'm doing the sixtyat60challenge to raise funds for Shooting Star Chase children's hospice care. For further information or to make a donation please visit my JustGiving page at  https://www.justgiving.com/sixtyat60challenge/

If you would like to follow this blog click here for information on how to do so