I love my husband, my two sons and grandson more than anything in he world but as a female there are times when i don't want to stand on the side lines of a football pitch, play cricket, roll around in mud and generally do so called male orientated activities. I do realise that there are female sports teams and that the things we have got up to as a family are not just for the men in my life but I can hardly ask them to join me in painting nails, putting on face packs and watching chic flicks. I get the impression that if I ever did there would be sudden urgent places they had to be! Now this isn't to say that I've never painted my nails and enjoyed a foot spa or sat and watched chic flicks but it really isn't quite the same doing these things on your own however much the peace and quiet appeals. This dear readers is the reason for this one being put on my list. I now have the perfect opportunity to be girly and do the things girls enjoy all thanks to the two lovely young ladies I have now adopted as daughters. I know this post may not sound politically correct and some reading this may criticise my thinking but I'm hoping that there will be some out there who will totally understand where I'm coming from. Sometimes in life girls do 'girl things' and boys do 'boys things' and as far as I'm concerned that is fine so long as each respect the other. Having decided on this activity I was faced with a bit of a dilemma, what do girls do on girly dates? You would think that I would have some idea of what I wanted to do but never having really done this before i wasn't sure where to start. Between us we got together a basket of bits and pieces, face packs, nail polishes, files and nail buffers, face creams, foot spa and the all important chocolate cake. The wine and drinks poured and we got started. First on the agenda was finding out baby photos of the boys so their girl friends could see them. I can assure you a few smiles were raised along with a few ahhhhs and ooohs. We had our foot spa each and did our nails and settled down to watch a DVD while eating chocolate cake, we didn't get to do the face packs which was a pity but the night went so quick, still we can't do every thing in one go the excitement might just be too much!. All in all it was a lovely evening and I'd loved to spend more time doing this sort of thing or just enjoying the company of Amie and Lucy. Tonight was a start for me to feel really girly and I really hope the girls would like to join me in doing other things together again. Maybe next time their Mummy's would like to come along who knows it could be the start of some thing bigger. Watch out boys the girls are biting back.

Now for another update on the list

Here they are all 50 hats for the premature baby unit. I must say I hadn't realised the benefits of knitting before undertaking this task. Oh I had knitted the odd item years ago, 24 years to be more precise, before my eldest son was born. But until now I hadn't appreciated knitting as a form of exercise. Now, I realise some of you must think I've gone mad or that turning 50 means I'm loosing my marbles but hear me out. Holding those needles and moving them back and forth repeatedly and then winding the wool round takes a great deal of dexterity. I actually found my upper arms ached a little after knitting the third one on the trot, that's about 4 hours of knitting with the odd loo break of course. Unfortunately it wasn't good exercise for the bladder! On top of this the mental exercise is great too, after all you need to keep count and make sure that you are decreasing/increasing the right number of stitches at the right place following the pattern. This is actually a great activity, passive but challenging some thing that will help to keep minds active. Maybe some research should be carried out into the health benefits of knitting. The end results are great too there are so many different patterns and designs out there and making your own up could be good fun too. I've enjoyed doing these on so many levels and the interest the children have taken in the hats and knitting is amazing. My grandson has even asked for a rainbow snuggle blanket so sometime over the next few weeks I'm taking him to the wool shop to buy the wool to make his blanket.

Time for an update. The calendar shoot is looming and everyone seems both excited and nervous about it. A couple of weeks ago week had a meeting about it. The photographer came and met most of the cast and we made some decisions about the style of photo, poses and props. I'm not going to give away much more,you'll have to buy the calendar to find out how it turns out, but suffice it to say I really hope that we can sell  lots for children in need.

We all have dreams of doing something or been out and about and wished of having a go at something that feels just beyond our reach? Whether that's for financial reasons, confidence or just not sure its for you, many of us put off trying things and then look back with a little regret. Well sailing is one of those things for me. I've never been overly confident in water although I can swim I wouldn't class myself as a strong swimmer and the fear of drowning tends to stop me from really enjoying water to the full hence the reason for sailing being on my list. Before I go any further I must explain that I have been offered the chance to go sailing and I would still very much like to take that offer up, what I have done today was just a taster  and I can't honestly say that I sailed for real but I am very grateful to the Oxford Sailing Club and especially Sue and Ben for giving me the chance to have this experience. So what happened? well I didn't fall in and I didn't get wet so if your looking for a chance to laugh at me you'll be sorely disappointed. I wasn't nervous either and considering my 'healthy' fear of water I think that's pretty good. Maybe having done some of the things I have already has helped me step outside my comfort zones with a little more confidence, either that or it was the fact the it was calm and watching the others go before me I realised I wasn't going to be in sole charge of a sea faring vessel. Oh and the fact that I over heard two of the helpers discussing no-one had got wet so far might have had something to do with it. This was going to be great I was really looking forward to it. I find boat trips quite relaxing and if the waters did get a little choppy what the heck I don't actually mind that and I was wearing a life preserver. I registered with a lady called Sue who asked if I done anything like this before, I explained I hadn't and why I was doing this. She was quite interested and asked me to let her know how I got on when I got back to dry land. I said I would, got fitted with a life preserver and made my way down to the pontoon. I finally got allocated a small sailing dinghy and met my 'Captain'. He could only have been about 15 I was sure he had drawn the short straw after all I had no idea of what was going to happen, what I was meant to do or even if I was going to enjoy it. Poor Ben I did feel sorry for him. I try chatting to him but he was desperately trying to get us away from the quay side no mean feat when there's no wind to catch the sails. I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get more than 4 or 5 feet away from the side. Eventually the wind picked up a bit and we were off. He asked me to duck a few times so the boom could swing round and I managed to avoid being hit in the head and knocked over board as you see so many times on the television. When we got out into the waters a bit more he asked if I would like to have a go steering. Here we go it was the closest I'd ever been to sailing and it was great. I wasn't in total control because Ben was guiding me, the waters were quite busy as you can imagine. The wind was amazing not strong but I could definitely feel the difference in speed when it picked up. The control Ben had just by managing the sail was amazing. I certainly have more appreciation for sailors of yachts and the skill it takes to control such vessels, although I haven't fully experienced the full thrill of sailing I admire those who race and take on round the globe adventures. After getting back to shore I went to find Sue and told her how pleased I was to have tried something new and that although the wind wasn't too kind for us I'd enjoyed it immensely. She asked me to wait for a bit and disappeared off to return with an envelope for me. In it was a personalised certificate for taking part, which I thought was a really lovely touch we chatted for a bit and she wished me luck in completing my bucket list. After tday I am really looking forward to trying to arrange the sailing trip I've been kindly offered, I can't say that today will ensure that I will be of much use but hopefully I will learn something new and feel just a little of what makes people want to take on nature in such a way.
A huge thank you to Sue, Ben, the volunteers and helpers at the Oxford Sailing Club.

As the pictures show I did it I had a taste of sailing and I didn't get wet!