Forgive me readers for it has been a little over two weeks since my last post. Why? because I want to make sure that when I write I have plenty to write about. This way if nothing else it may send you off to sleep on those nights when dreamland eludes you. So before I begin I wonder who spotted the mistake in my last post. Go on go and check, I'll give you a clue check my list. Give up? ok I'll confess I need to go back to school. I posted that I had knitted  32 hats and had 28 to go, that makes 60 hats and my goal was to make 50. What I should have written was 18 to go oooops that's why I'm not an accountant. I'm up to 41 hats now so that leaves ..........1,2,3 .... ummm   more fingers please errrrrr oh I know 9 to go, gold star for me. 

There is going to be wool left over so even though my target was 50 I will keep going till the wool has gone.
Here come the pleading, begging and unashamedly baggering bit. I've had  the pack come through for the Katherine house hospice midnight walk so if anyone would like to sponsor me I would be very grateful but more importantly so would the hospice. They do fantastic work supporting families at such a traumatic time and I for one believe they deserve every bit of help we can give them. They do get government help but have to raise a lot of the running costs themselves, so please don't  be shy sponsor my walk and help the dedicated staff and volunteers to continue to provide comfort and support to those who need it. You can make a difference by making donations via my just giving web site www.justgiving.com/janet-james4. If nothing else sponsor me for wearing this

Right two more things have been completed this last week. The first I'm afraid there is no photo evidence for so I'm asking that you trust I did it. just over 4 year ago I started weight watchers. I have never been particularly happy with my body, like I suspect a lot of women aren't, but I never had enough get up and go to do anything about it. That is until a very dear friend of mine needed support to loose weight for an operation. I went along to weight watchers with her and started the journey towards a new me. I really didn't expect to do very well, I don't have much will power to start with. I am also one of those people who start full enthusiasm but then get bored and give up or move on to something new. Not this time. Unfortunately my friend didn't have much success but I was seeing some good results and feeling like I was being given a new lease of life. Looking back I often wonder whether I was meant to be there to support her or whether she was just the kick up the proverbial backside I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself and do something about how I was feeling. Well three years ago on the 1st  April I reached goal. I had lost 2 stone 4lbs and felt great and so far the weight has stayed off. I did have some help with my brother who joined too at it became like a little competition between us. I was good to be able to encourage each other and kept us going when it became hard or when we had weeks of putting weight on. So what has this to do with my bucket list? Well one of the things to do was to give a talk to a group of people. I find this nerve racking but thought that as weight watchers help me so much and gave me a little more confidence in my self I would like to give something back. So up I stood in front of a room full of about 6 people and told my weight loss story. I handed out before and after photos and answered questions. I'm not too sure how well I did but everyone said it was a lovely story and inspired them to keep going. I'm just pleased to be able to give something back to a group that helped me.

Finally no more excuses. This one is one that I found there was always a reason for me not to go but not this time. This time I made my mind up to just do it. This bingo was a charity bingo for rescue dogs. It is organised and run by a wonderful lady who is the most unselfish person you will ever meet. She works hard running her own hairdressing business but always finds time to help others. It was long over due that I did something to help her and supporting her charity bingo night is how I was able to do that. Watching her run round that hall ensuring there was enough seats and tables just highlighted how hard working she is. She didn't stop and even when the bingo caller asked for a round of applause and appreciation for her she barely looked up from what she was doing as though we we're recognising some-one else. It was a good night and most enjoyable and I would definitely go again Thank you Nettie your one in a million. 

Time for the list update.

Now looking at this weeks dinners I bet your wondering what happened on Wednesday. Well we had a night off thanks to the wonderful suggestion of my youngest son. We went out to eat at a restaurant where my eldest son works and very nice the food was too, of course I taught him all he knows so how could it ever have been anything else but first class. No seriously I can't take any credit for his cooking skills, that has to go to my Nan, even though she died when I was four and half months pregnant with him. I truly believe he inherited her skill in the kitchen, a gift from her to him.
Just as an update, the hats are coming along nicely 32 made that's 28 to go. I am finding my shoulder begins to ache a bit after a while and oddly enough when I start the fingers in my left hand go numb until I find a comfortable position, odd very odd! still they are so cute and I'm am getting a little quicker my record is 1 hour 20 minutes.
I've still not heard from the college beauty therapy course even though I've spoken to a student who said she would pass on my request, think this one is going to need a personal visit. 

Here I am looking like I'm in disguise. I am in fact dressed up against the cold to plant some trees ticking another one off my list. It took a bit of organising this one. To re-cap I tried the County Council, got passed onto the District Council who suggested the Woodland trust, who never got back to me. So where am I planting these trees? Ryton pools that's where. We've used this place a lot with the children so I contacted them to see if they could help and they came up trumps. We planted 6 blackthorn trees with the children and had a brilliant time. It felt really good to be doing something for the environment and to give something back to a place we have enjoyed visiting for a while now. The weather was fine, actually quite mild and not too cold and importantly it was dry. Craig, the ranger I was able to organise today with, showed us what we needed to do and encouraged the children to take part. He explained the reason for planting these trees was to help the butterflies spread through the park by giving them areas to lay their eggs near their preferred food source. It seemed such a simple thing to do yet it may mean the the difference between the survival or extinction of a species of butterfly we take for granted. It really has shown me that we need to take care of our environment that we can't keep taking from the planet without giving back. This is one activity that has certainly  given me more than I gave to it. 

I thought it was about time I published an update on my progress so here is the revised version of my list. At this point I would like ask if anyone reading this post can help me achieve any of the items in black then please feel free to contact me.

1)Go and watch a real football match. 
2) See the local Christmas light switch on 
3) Go to local canal day. 
4) Host a cocktail party where everyone brings the ingredients for their favourite cocktail.  26/1/13
 5) Have a cocktail made and named after me. 26/1/13
6) Go to at least one charity bingo nights. 
7) Adventure day at somewhere like go ape.  30/4/13
8) Send an individual message to every friend I have on Facebook. 22/2/13
9) Visit a town in England I have never been to before. 9/3/13
10) Visit the natural history and war museums in London. 
11) Find and make contact with a school friend I haven't seen for over 25 years. 
12) Go to the races. 
13) Go to a Shakespeare play. 
14) Take dance lessons. 
15) Go to a music festival. 
16) Do a charity moonlight walk or similar. 
17) Choose a cookery book and cook every recipe in it. 
 18) Create my own web page. 
19) Write a Blog of my 50 for 50. 
20) Give blood. 
21) Plant a tree. 8/4/13
22) Read all three 50 shades of grey books. 
23) Give a talk to a group.
 24) Take out life insurance. february 2013
25) Save all my 1p and 2p coins for a year and give to charity. 
26) Buy a something to eat and drink for a homeless person rather than passing them by. 23/2/13
27) Have a professional photo shot done. 
28) Have my make up professionally applied and then learn to do it myself .
29) Spend a weekend in the country with my husband. 8-10/3/13
 30) Have a go at a winter sport like ski-ing .
31) Try sailing. 
32) Go horse riding. 30/3/13
 33) Visit Bruge Christmas ice sculptures festival. 
34) Decorate a room in my house and have it 100% complete. 
35) Create a calendar girl style calendar. 
36) Have something published. 
37) Register with the organ donor bank. 8/2/13
38) Do the Local circular walk. 
39) Trace my family tree. 
40) Take a photo of myself every day and create a time line of it. 
41) Work in a professional kitchen for a day. 
42) knit baby hats for local maternity unit. 
43) Volunteer at Katherine House Hospice. 
44) Have a girly day doing girly things. 
45) Visit all the squares on the monopoly board. 
46) Go to Hyde park winter wonderland.
47) Do something on impulse. 
48) Eat at a restaurant owned by a top chef. 
49) Get a mention on tv or radio.
50) Left to my family and friends to shock, surprise and/or entice me!!!!!!

more of the something old. Last time I wrote about the hats for the local maternity unit I had done 5 now there is 14 and its taking a lot less time now about 1 hour and 25 minutes per hat not bad eh. The children are intrigued with them and ask what they are, how I make them and want to see one in action. Its great watching their little faces as the work grows and transforms. This months theme for the children is animals so think I can work the knitting in with that one very nicely.

Now for the something new. Its the bit I hope most people will identify with a little bit. It involves taking risks, facing obstacles you didn't think would be too difficult and feeling good about achieving something that turned out to be a lot harder than you ever thought it would be. How many times in life do we think to ourselves I can do that, that's not so bad, that looks easy enough, only to realise when it comes to actually doing it it's not so easy and that you find out that there are fears and challenges in life that you have never thought about. Well that's what I faced at the weekend. 
I've always had a nervousness around horses and felt a little intimidated by their size, weight and unpredictability. But I can't say that I've really been afraid of them.  I've been happiest when seeing them at our local horse sanctuary where there are fences between me and them. I've never felt comfortable enough to actually want to take riding lessons or have a go on one hence the reason for this challenge on my bucket list. I had booked a taster horse riding lesson for me and Dylan, Andrew wasn't interested in doing this one but happily walked beside Dylan. We arrived at the stables and got kitted out then went to meet our horses. Oh my goodness they seemed big, well mine did anyway! How was I going to control this beast, how was I going to make it do what I wanted it to do? The nerves and panic began to set in. We were told to stand by our designated horse, mine was called Herbie, and talk to it! yes I was supposed to stand there and have a conversation with this huge hunk of muscle. I was required to make friends with Herbie and form a bond, well sorry Herbie but at this stage I just wasn't feeling the love, I was too busy shaking. I did manage to ask Herbie to be kind to me to take it easy as I was a novice. The staff got us mounted and seated correctly in the saddles, and gave us some initial instruction on how to hold the reigns. This was already getting complicated and seemed a lot to remember when all you can think about is whether this horse will bolt or whether I will actually remain in the saddle the whole time. We were lead round to the training paddock, when I say led all the other horses were led and I was left to ride my horse on my own! I seemed to be doing ok and managed to steer Herbie to where he was supposed to go. I was quietly pleased with myself to think I was doing this until I realised this horse knew exactly what he was doing and where he was meant to go. We got to the paddock and was taught how to steer using the reigns and how to make the horse walk on. This was fine except having to give Herbie a kick didn't seem a very nice thing to do and it was hard to get my head round the fact that doing this gave me control of the horse. At this stage the nerves began to settle a little although my confidence still had a long way to go. Well next we had to raise ourselves up and down in the saddle easy you would think. Well all I can say is you try using only your legs to stand up in stirrups on a moving horse without wobbling. A bit of practice and I was just about getting the hang of it. Next step, oh yes there was more, Stand up in the stirrups and lean forward so you look like a jockey. Hahaha she was having a laugh surely. No she wasn't, ok I can do this, I can do this I did this yey. Now what, more instructions talk about pushing ones confidence and abilities on the first lesson. 'Now the horses will trot round the paddock and as they do I want you to rise and sit in time with the horse' That's what she said rise and sit, rise and sit. Oh no I need the loo, I feel a tenna moment coming on I'm not going to be able to do this. My turn rise and dribble sit, rise and dribble sit oh heavens above please lets get through this without any major accidents, rise and dribble sit, 'well done Janet, heels down push with your legs rise and sit' what do you mean rise and sit its rise and dribble and sit. The joys of getting older. I just about get through that bit without any major catastrophe how I don't know but I did. After a few more steering, stopping and walk on exercises our instructor decides to finish on a fun game. Now the mind is doing over time surely we haven't learnt anywhere near enough stuff to play games on a horse, I mean I've just manage to stay  on it and trot round without wetting myself. But she insists a game we will play, round the world she called it. Ok lets have it, after all it can't be any worse than trying to control a leaky bladder while trotting round a paddock on a huge hunk of a horse can it? We had to turn full circle yes full circle while sitting on the horse. This does not mean we made the horse turn full circle no, the horse stood still, well in theory anyway. We had to turn full circle on top of the horse. If that wasn't a test of nerve, balance and trust I don't know what was, I managed it though and it did make the ride back to the stables seem a piece of cake. All in all a great experience and one I would love to repeat or take further only thing I would do different is be more prepared if you get my meaning!. 

After the horse riding experience I thought I'd be prepared for feeling anxious but oh no. The next day and we are off tree trekking. For anyone who hasn't heard of it, it is crossing a variety of bridges and obstacles up in the trees. Go Ape is one centre that specialises in this type of adrenalin activity. Centre Parcs is another and as we were there for the Easter weekend that's where we did it. We went along to the registration point and looked up. I honestly thought at this point that we would be backing out. I Really thought that this was going to be the first thing I would have to admit defeat to. As we watched people crossing ropes and rickety bridges I was getting seriously worried. It was only when we heard the centre staff giving instructions to other participants that I realised what we were looking at was in fact the tree top adventure, and for the more advanced and experienced adrenaline junkie. We got harnessed up and the old feelings of nerves came flooding back. Thank heaven I'd just been to the loo and came better prepared, I fear this could be a potential for another dribble saga! We went up to the start point and surveyed the challenge ahead of us. It actually didn't seem too bad the climbing wall looked a bit scary but hey we are harnessed up and only about two metres off the ground,. That's not so high and not so bad is it? Well we set off, Andrew went off Dylan next followed by me. The first bit was a zip wire believe it or not that wasn't as easy as it looked from the ground. Having trust in your equipment when you've never used anything like it before takes some doing but once I got going it was actually quite enjoyable. Once we landed there was a narrow platform to walk around to get to the first of 5 bridges. These five bridges were varying in difficulty from poles up ended to planks connected by ropes. All were free moving and of course above the ground. The distance between the equipment and the ground  seem much greater once we were up in the trees. It's funny how perspectives can play tricks on you. We got to the climbing wall and off course this had to be crossed above the ground. This was the bit I was most dreading. The thought of having just tiny foot hold and hand holds to use while being high above the ground was almost too much to bare. My legs began shaking and I almost gave up. It was only for the fact that we had to talk Dylan across and that he, at only 6 years old, conquered his fear and done it that made me carry on. I was so relieved to make it across and made the decision that once was enough for this activity. I'm afraid there aren't too many photos to enjoy for this one but as you can appreciate when your trying to tackle something like this all your energy and concentration is needed for the activity.

this post is very short and sweet. I just wanted to reassure everyone I've not given up on writing this blog. I realise its been over a week since i last posted anything but we, and by we i mean Andrew, Dylan (the grandson) and me were away for Easter weekend. No it wasn't just a break away I have actually managed to achieve two more things on my list. You'll have to wait to find out what because there is so much to tell, so keep watching, can you feel the anticipation rising? No oh well, talk later.