Wow, it's a whole six weeks since I completed the last of my sixty tasks. High time for me to provide you with that promised follow-up......
Not withstanding the recent seismic referendum result, life here post-challenge is gradually settling into a nice rhythm, punctuated by whizzy weekend trips to Paris and Valencia, Italian greyhound puppy-minding duties (go Bobby), a nail-biting mens' quarter-finals day at Wimbledon and a 10-day episode of acute lower back pain. Am I missing the buzz and excitement of the sixtyat60 challenge? Do you know what, I'm really not! In truth I'm relishing the peace, space and freedom from juggling multiple tasks. But it was a wonderful experience, and I already have a fantastic album (thank you Lucy) crammed full with memories of my various escapades.
And now the million dollar question - which of those sixty tasks am I continuing to embrace? In no particular order, here are my top five current 'retainers'.
1. I've stuck to my guns and am continuing to learn the saxophone. I've put Year of the Cat firmly to one side now and have started focusing attention on my Grade 1 pieces (yay!) Although I have to confess I'm finding the improvising sections quite a challenge. Added to which I've been very remiss about practicing between lessons over the past few weeks (in my defence, back pain and the sax aren't ideal companions) and I've started behaving a bit like a stroppy teenager when I show up at my teacher Sarah's house - 'the dog ate my sheet music Miss' and so on. Talking of dogs, Alfie still howls manically whenever he hears me play. If only I could get video clips to work in this blog....you can't really tell he's in full flow in the photo below, but trust me, he's loud!
2. Since tracking down my grandparents' house in Aberystwyth in April, I've become a committed Cymru-ophile. I was hugely excited when Wales reached the semi-final of the Euros, and as you can see from the photo below, the charming Wales manager Chris Colman and I are now firm friends (well OK, it was just a chance meeting on East Croydon Station last October after a Palace match....)
3. I'm really pleased to say that our memorable Wales Coast Path adventure in April has inspired me to do further Big Walks. Andrew and I are taking on Snowdon at the end of this month as part of Andrew's training programme for tackling Kilimanjaro in August. We're going to be accompanied on the Snowdon trek by Michael (who's going to be climbing Kilimanjaro with Andrew), together with Liz, Jonathan and Bobby the Italian greyhound. Jonathan intends to power-walk his way to the summit, Bobby is planning to hitch a lift in someone's backpack and I shall probably be bringing up the rear. But I'm really looking forward to it - beautiful mountains, time with my family and those historic Welsh breakfasts.....
4. Running has been off the agenda whilst my back has been misbehaving, but I tried out a very gentle 5k yesterday morning, and was extremely chuffed to discover that I was able to complete my usual circuit without collapsing in a heap. However I can see that it's going to require real discipline on my part to keep up the running, so I've decided to sign up for another 5k or 10k Fun Run in October to help maintain my motivation. And in the meantime I'm going to continue with Pilates classes to keep my back on the straight and narrow.
5. Our mini vineyard is keeping us busy with pruning, spraying, weeding, canopy management and the like. After the incident with those pesky pheasants last September, we're ready to wage war with them this year, newly sourced protective netting at the ready. Although we hadn't reckoned on further unwanted visitors.....three weeks ago a couple of greedy deer managed to find a way of circumnavigating our 'deerproof' fencing and proceeded to feast on the yummy new shoots. Fortunately they didn't munch their way through the entire crop but it looks likely that the harvest will be a modest one again. We will not be beaten - next year we're determined to keep pheasants and deer at bay!!
That's my top five for now. Of course there are many other retainer tasks waiting patiently in the wings.....for instance the Valencia trip I alluded to in the second paragraph was booked with a view to me putting my newly learnt Spanish to use. We had a memorable weekend (it's such a beautiful city), but sadly I lost count of the times I failed to find the right word to use, prompting Andrew to say in a bewildered fashion 'But I thought you could speak Spanish now.....?' That said, when I pronounced a paella dish as 'riquissimo' in one restaurant, the waiter's face lit up like a Christmas tree. 'Muchas gracias senora, y muy bien!' he responded joyfully. My six lessons were worth every penny for that moment alone. Will I sign up for Spanish lessons at my local Adult Education Centre in September? Watch this space guys.
And now the most important question of all - how much money have I raised for my two chosen charities? To date the grand totals are:
1. Alzheimer's Research UK - £1867
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Vivien-Hunot
2. Shooting Star Chase Children's Hospice Care - £1415 https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sixtyat60challenge
I'm so grateful to everyone for their kindness and generosity - I really can't thank you all enough. I'm going to keep both of my JustGiving pages open until Sunday 24th July and would dearly love to reach a final total of £2000 for ARUK and £1500 for Shooting Star Chase. So if you know of anyone who might be interested in reading about my completed challenge and/or making a donation to either charity, do please feel free to forward on the link to my blog http://sixtyat60challenge.blogspot.co.uk/
One final observation. From time to time over the last year, I've had some lovely people say to me, 'So when are you going to write a book about your challenge Vivien?' Reader, I am considering my options. It would certainly be a nice way to try and raise more money for the two charities. I shall keep you posted....
Not withstanding the recent seismic referendum result, life here post-challenge is gradually settling into a nice rhythm, punctuated by whizzy weekend trips to Paris and Valencia, Italian greyhound puppy-minding duties (go Bobby), a nail-biting mens' quarter-finals day at Wimbledon and a 10-day episode of acute lower back pain. Am I missing the buzz and excitement of the sixtyat60 challenge? Do you know what, I'm really not! In truth I'm relishing the peace, space and freedom from juggling multiple tasks. But it was a wonderful experience, and I already have a fantastic album (thank you Lucy) crammed full with memories of my various escapades.
And now the million dollar question - which of those sixty tasks am I continuing to embrace? In no particular order, here are my top five current 'retainers'.
1. I've stuck to my guns and am continuing to learn the saxophone. I've put Year of the Cat firmly to one side now and have started focusing attention on my Grade 1 pieces (yay!) Although I have to confess I'm finding the improvising sections quite a challenge. Added to which I've been very remiss about practicing between lessons over the past few weeks (in my defence, back pain and the sax aren't ideal companions) and I've started behaving a bit like a stroppy teenager when I show up at my teacher Sarah's house - 'the dog ate my sheet music Miss' and so on. Talking of dogs, Alfie still howls manically whenever he hears me play. If only I could get video clips to work in this blog....you can't really tell he's in full flow in the photo below, but trust me, he's loud!
2. Since tracking down my grandparents' house in Aberystwyth in April, I've become a committed Cymru-ophile. I was hugely excited when Wales reached the semi-final of the Euros, and as you can see from the photo below, the charming Wales manager Chris Colman and I are now firm friends (well OK, it was just a chance meeting on East Croydon Station last October after a Palace match....)
3. I'm really pleased to say that our memorable Wales Coast Path adventure in April has inspired me to do further Big Walks. Andrew and I are taking on Snowdon at the end of this month as part of Andrew's training programme for tackling Kilimanjaro in August. We're going to be accompanied on the Snowdon trek by Michael (who's going to be climbing Kilimanjaro with Andrew), together with Liz, Jonathan and Bobby the Italian greyhound. Jonathan intends to power-walk his way to the summit, Bobby is planning to hitch a lift in someone's backpack and I shall probably be bringing up the rear. But I'm really looking forward to it - beautiful mountains, time with my family and those historic Welsh breakfasts.....
4. Running has been off the agenda whilst my back has been misbehaving, but I tried out a very gentle 5k yesterday morning, and was extremely chuffed to discover that I was able to complete my usual circuit without collapsing in a heap. However I can see that it's going to require real discipline on my part to keep up the running, so I've decided to sign up for another 5k or 10k Fun Run in October to help maintain my motivation. And in the meantime I'm going to continue with Pilates classes to keep my back on the straight and narrow.
5. Our mini vineyard is keeping us busy with pruning, spraying, weeding, canopy management and the like. After the incident with those pesky pheasants last September, we're ready to wage war with them this year, newly sourced protective netting at the ready. Although we hadn't reckoned on further unwanted visitors.....three weeks ago a couple of greedy deer managed to find a way of circumnavigating our 'deerproof' fencing and proceeded to feast on the yummy new shoots. Fortunately they didn't munch their way through the entire crop but it looks likely that the harvest will be a modest one again. We will not be beaten - next year we're determined to keep pheasants and deer at bay!!
That's my top five for now. Of course there are many other retainer tasks waiting patiently in the wings.....for instance the Valencia trip I alluded to in the second paragraph was booked with a view to me putting my newly learnt Spanish to use. We had a memorable weekend (it's such a beautiful city), but sadly I lost count of the times I failed to find the right word to use, prompting Andrew to say in a bewildered fashion 'But I thought you could speak Spanish now.....?' That said, when I pronounced a paella dish as 'riquissimo' in one restaurant, the waiter's face lit up like a Christmas tree. 'Muchas gracias senora, y muy bien!' he responded joyfully. My six lessons were worth every penny for that moment alone. Will I sign up for Spanish lessons at my local Adult Education Centre in September? Watch this space guys.
And now the most important question of all - how much money have I raised for my two chosen charities? To date the grand totals are:
1. Alzheimer's Research UK - £1867
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Vivien-Hunot
2. Shooting Star Chase Children's Hospice Care - £1415 https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sixtyat60challenge
I'm so grateful to everyone for their kindness and generosity - I really can't thank you all enough. I'm going to keep both of my JustGiving pages open until Sunday 24th July and would dearly love to reach a final total of £2000 for ARUK and £1500 for Shooting Star Chase. So if you know of anyone who might be interested in reading about my completed challenge and/or making a donation to either charity, do please feel free to forward on the link to my blog http://sixtyat60challenge.blogspot.co.uk/
One final observation. From time to time over the last year, I've had some lovely people say to me, 'So when are you going to write a book about your challenge Vivien?' Reader, I am considering my options. It would certainly be a nice way to try and raise more money for the two charities. I shall keep you posted....
