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

Task 47: Make a beaded necklace and wear it for 60 days

As I'm sure you'll know by now, during the process of developing my sixtyat60 list I invited friends and family to contribute ideas, to ensure that the tasks pushed me outside my comfort zone and were as rich and varied as possible. When it was my friend Jenny's turn to cast an eye over the list, she quickly spotted a lack of creative activities (just as my potter friend Jane had done) and decided this must be rectified..... 

Two of Jenny's creative interests are drawing pet animals (see her lovely pictures of Alfie and Mabel below) and making beaded jewellery. Thankfully she didn't suggest drawing (at best my art could be described as primitive) and instead proposed a session of necklace-making. I thought this sounded a grand idea and then in a moment of mini-madness, I upped the stakes by declaring that I would wear the necklace for 60 days. 

Last Thursday I arrived at Jenny's house hot-wired for an afternoon of creative craft. I bore with me a tray of lime drizzle rasberry slices for the following reasons: 

1.  to show my gratitude to Jenny for helping me with Task 47 

2.  to test out the formula that I'd developed when I did my pot throwing task with Jane. Just to refresh your memory (and mine)......

                           Fun + (Frustration x Fear of Failure) x Friend + Food = Fulfillment

I walked into Jenny's dining room and there in front of me was a table festooned with beads of all shapes, sizes, colours, textures and patterns. 

Wow.....it instantly dawned on me what a mega-challenge I'd taken on. There was so much choice!!  And I had to come up with a design that would be appropriate for all occasions, including the festive season. If my finished necklace was a complete dog's dinner, I'd still have to wear it for a whole 60 days. Fear of failure (see formula above) began to creep in.

Jenny and I sat down at the table and I took a deep breath. Jenny placed a bead board (see below) in front of me and very patiently went through the principles of how to create a beaded necklace.  

I knew I wanted to create a simple necklace (Andrew rightly describes my sartorial style as 'understated'). Other than that, I had no idea of what to make.  Jenny handed me the piece of thread. 'Just try a few ideas out' she said. This proved to be very sensible advice. I soon learnt that small beads of very modest appearance when sitting in the hand could look fab when threaded.  Gradually the design of the necklace evolved. 

I found the process of threading the beads very therapeutic. It was exciting to see my embryonic necklace coming to life, and the need to concentrate 100% on what I was doing meant that I couldn't worry about the fact that I hadn't started my Christmas shopping (aargh.....)    

Once I'd completed the threading of the beads on the board, it was time to end the necklace using bead tips and a clasp. That all proved to be quite tricky, especially since my eyesight is far from keen these days. Ooh yes, I could definitely feel some frustration beginning to bubble up.......but Jenny zoomed in to lend a hand and the beads were soon safely anchored and fastened in place.  

And here's the finished article........I'm really rather pleased with it!    

As I began to gather up my things to leave, Jenny looked thoughtful. 'You know' she said, 'It would be rather nice if you had some matching earrings.....' and by the time I'd finished doing up my coat buttons she'd made me a pair - how amazing is that! 

With the necklace duly completed, I'm now wearing it for the 60 day stint. It's been out to dinner, coffee, tea and lunch (please don't get the impression I'm enjoying my retirement or anything), on dog walks, around shops, to a saxophone lesson, and even to a Crystal Palace football match (of course Palace won that day - the necklace clearly brought them luck).  Eight days down - 52 to go.......

A massive thank you to Jenny for a brilliant afternoon of beading.  I really enjoyed the whole experience and the formula developed during pot-throwing with Jane proved to be spot on  - fun....failure....frustration....friend....food......and as the necklace was admired by our supper companions last Saturday evening, I'm pleased to confirm that I definitely felt a whoosh of fulfilment!

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

    

Task 31: Visit Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam

l was 14 years old when I first read Anne Frank's diary. I remember being very moved by it - especially so because I was the same age that Anne had been whilst she was writing the diary, and also because she was born just 18 months after my mother, who herself lived through World War II in the English countryside as a young evacuee. 

Twenty years ago I attended a conference in Rotterdam and joined a group of colleagues taking a train to Amsterdam for the afternoon in the hope of visiting Anne Frank's house and museum. However the queue was unusually long that day and we ran out of time, so I returned to Rotterdam disappointed. Nevertheless it remained etched on my mind as an important place to return to one day, and it very quickly found its way onto my sixtyat60 list. 

Since the flight from Gatwick to Amsterdam takes just 45 minutes, Andrew and I decided to visit the Anne Frank museum as a day trip. We boarded the plane at 8am and by 10.30am we were in a electrically-powered taxi gliding silently and smoothly along the uncluttered streets of Amsterdam. Apart from my brief foray 20 years ago, I haven't spent any time in Amsterdam and I hadn't realised what a beautiful city it is - I was transfixed by the quirky and characterful townhouses and the tranquil canals.

 

Outside Anne Frank's house the queue was already stretching around the block - even in December, it seemed that people were drawn from all over the world to hear her story.

 

The museum told Anne's story very clearly and with great sensitivity, beginning with her birth in Germany in 1929 and her family's subsequent move to The Netherlands as their lives became increasingly threatened by anti-Semitic government policies. The next part of her story came to life as we walked through her father's offices and up the steep staircase into the secret annex where the family hid for two years. And then we heard about the family's betrayal by an unknown person and Anne's eventual death from typhus in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945, just before World War II ended.

Anne's diary was of course the lynch-pin of the museum. Anne was given her first diary on her 13th birthday, two months before the family was forced into hiding in Amsterdam. Throughout their time in the secret annex, she continued to write her diary in a number of notebooks. Many of the entries were addressed to her imaginary friend Kitty. Here's a page from her first diary below.

One of the most significant and ultimately tragic items we saw in the house was the bookcase that disguised the entrance to the secret annex - still in place 71 years after the two families were arrested and deported.

An extraordinarily poignant sight in the secret annex was the collection of picture postcards and magazine clippings of film stars that Anne had stuck on the wall in her bedroom to make it look more cheerful.

Anne's father Otto (the only survivor from the two families living together in the secret annex) was given Anne's diary after World War II ended, and having read its contents, made the difficult and courageous decision to publish it. In a 1967 interview he said, 'My conclusion is, since I had been on very good terms with Anne, that most parents don't really know their children'.  I wondered whether this conclusion would be a valid one for today's parents?

Quotes from Anne's diary were displayed throughout the museum. I was struck by Anne's hopeful and optimistic view of the world, especially given the terrifying and restrictive circumstances in which she was living. Here are just a few examples:

' I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart'

'How wonderful it it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world'

'What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again' 

'Whoever is happy will make others happy too.'

It's wonderful to think that the messages contained in Anne Frank's diary continue to be communicated across the world.  Anne said in her diary 'I want to go on living even after my death'.  And truly she's doing just that.

After leaving Anne Frank's House, Andrew and I didn't want to do anything else other than have a quiet wander along the canals. The sun came out and the city had a gentle buzz about it. We agreed that we must return to Amsterdam soon for a longer trip. We walked towards the station to catch our train. We reached the station and stopped for a moment in absolute amazement in front of a vast mountain of parked bikes with fine old-fashioned handlebars. Eat your heart out Boris.

In summary, it was a memorable trip to Amsterdam, which has given us loads of ideas for further trips to The Netherlands and beyond - and more importantly than that, has enabled us to pause and appreciate the fact that we have the freedom to do so. 

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

Task 35: Read War and Peace

In my last but one blog, published on Friday 27 November, I shared with you the encouraging news that I had at last immersed myself in War and Peace and was working my way through it like a dose of salts.  The deadline I'd set myself for completing it was Tuesday 1 December......and with 618 pages to go, a serious readathon was required.  

On Saturday morning I headed back to the sofa and picked up the story again. The fortunes of the Rostovs and Bolkonskys continued to ebb and flow (a lot more ebbing than flowing, it has to be said). I was completely absorbed. And then Page 1177 took me by surprise. A certain French commander received a name check. 'Andrew, look, Tolstoy's just mentioned a top level French soldier called Marshall Junot' I said excitedly. Andrew didn't bat an eyelid. 'I've told you about him before,' he said, 'he's that relative of mine who went mad at the end of the Napoleonic wars and used to march up and down the streets of Paris wearing nothing but his sword and epaulettes.' I always knew I'd married into a noble but eccentric line.  

One final war, invasion and subsequent retreat from Moscow later, I made it to the epilogue. That was on Monday afternoon. I loved Part 1 of the epilogue. All my favourite characters had survived to make an appearance and there were some relatively optimistic plot line endings - much more upbeat than East Enders.  Part 2 of the epilogue was a different matter. It contained a 41-page in-depth analysis of the Napoleonic wars..... I skim-read it dutifully for Tolstoy's sake (he'd obviously worked very hard on it) but I rather wished he'd wrapped things up 41 pages earlier. 

On Tuesday 1 December, at 5.15pm, I finally reached the end of Tolstoy's epic tome. By coincidence, The Times featured an article on War and Peace that day to highlight the forthcoming TV series. The author of the article, Professor John Sutherland, expressed the view that because W&P is so long no one has actually read it, describing it as 'the Everest of unread fiction'. Well excuse me!!   Although as I read through his very entertaining Cheat's Guide to War and Peace, I found myself from time to time questioning the accuracy of his synopsis, which begs the question - has Prof Sutherland himself ever read it.....?

My copy of War and Peace is now filed away in the bookcase. That's thirty tasks duly completed at the halfway mark of my challenge - just another thirty to go!  

So now it's time to move the focus of my fund-raising from the older end of the age spectrum to the younger end. For the second part of the challenge my chosen charity is Shooting Star Chase, a leading children's hospice charity caring for babies, children and young people, based in Guildford and Hampton. I've set up a new JustGiving page dedicated to Shooting Star Chase, which is at: https://www.justgiving.com/sixtyat60challenge   

If you visit the new page you'll find it features a gorgeous little girl, Thea Rose Redford, who is the inspiration behind my decision to raise money for Shooting Star Chase. It'll be my pleasure to write a more detailed post about her in my blog very soon.

Always remembering Thea: 2012 -2013