The ones that got away… #3 Ride in a helicopter
It’s been rather a long wait for this challenge to come to fruition! I received a voucher for a helicopter ride over Cardiff, Cardiff Bay and the South Wales valleys and coast as part of my birthday gift from my wonderful friends. After four cancelled dates, today (two days before I turn 51) the weather…
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The ones that got away… #2 Volunteer
In 2016, I discovered that becoming a volunteer is not as simple as it sounds. In fact, I wonder whether the fact that volunteers are often thin on the ground could be linked to the bureaucracy and roadblocks faced by those who try to offer their time! I tried to volunteer at a church-run night…
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The ones that got away… #1 Record a CD of flute music
If you read my reflective post of 1st January 2017, you would have read that there were some challenges which I had intended to do in 2016 which, for various reasons, just didn’t happen. And you would also have read that I planned to make sure that those got done in 2017… So, here goes…
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45. Sit my DipABRSM – part 2
Just last week I had an email from the Associated Board for the Royal Schools of Music, apologising for the delayed issue of Diploma results from the winter session. So, when I opened the mailbox this morning to find inside a large envelope from the same people, I was a little taken aback! In fact,…
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The End?
It’s relatively early on New Year’s Day 2017; quiet in the house and a good moment for me to reflect on the year I have just left behind. I partied hard last night… celebrating all that I achieved in 2016, but also glad to be at the end of that year and welcoming in a…
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50. Blog my adventures
Challenge number 50 has been ongoing throughout the year and throughout the course of my challenges, and was to set up a blog and post about each of my adventures. I love writing, and I have loved writing this blog. It has given me the opportunity to create a record of each challenge and to share…
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49. Give 50 free hugs to passers by
New Year’s Eve 2016… Two challenges remaining (though one already ‘in the bag’, as blog number 50 will reveal). I had a strong urge to end on a high… and boy did we achieve that today! ‘Free hugs’ is a concept that I found out about back in May – another learning to come out…
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48. Make a Baked Alaska
There is one over-riding reason why this challenge made its way onto my list… and it’s because I fundamentally don’t understand how you can put ice-cream in the oven without ending up with an unholy mess!! No matter, I was keen to have a go and was prepared for the post-challenge clean-up operation, should it…
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47. Go off-roading
I like driving. And there are several types of driving that I fancy having a go at… skid pan, rallying, supercar… and off-roading, which I tried today 🙂 After challenge #18 I struck up a conversation over Twitter with Tori James (www.torijames.com), a fellow adventurer… albeit with somewhat more experience than me!! Tori’s Dad, Richard ‘Jumbo’…
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46. Learn to make cocktails
It’s Christmas Eve eve now… 00:40 to be precise… and you’ll have to forgive me if my typing goes awry at times… because I’m sitting in bed after a fabulous evening with fabulous friends who came round to help with my challenge of learning to make cocktails 🙂 This challenge came to be because frankly,…
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45. Sit my DipABRSM
I have taught the flute on and off since I was 16, and since settling back in Cardiff with my family I have had a busy and regular private practice of flute pupils. I have prepared pupils for exams from the Prep Test for (absolute beginners) to Grade 8 and helped my pupils to gain results often in excess…
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44. Learn a new Ian Clarke piece
Before I even get into the details of this challenge, I have a confession to make… What I actually wrote on my list of 50 things was ‘Perfect a new Ian Clarke piece’. Perfect. Verb – make (something) completely free from faults or defects; make as good as possible. I hope you’re not going to hold…
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43. Read a ‘classic’
How hard can it be? For a double literature graduate, a self-confessed poetry lover, one-time avid reader and ex-English teacher to read one novel by a classic author? Think ‘pulling teeth’… and you may be halfway there! This challenge began as far back as May, when I asked friends for recommendations for a good classic novel…
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42. Paint a canvas
Ok, I admit it… Friends, the canvas you bought me for my birthday has been wedged (unpainted) behind a cabinet in my living room since May… Until tonight… The issue with this challenge… is that I fundamentally didn’t believe that I could paint. Which is obviously why it was on the list of challenges, and…
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41. Pay for someone’s shopping
I didn’t set out this morning with the intention of accomplishing this challenge. And I have to say that at the point at which I decided to do the challenge today, I could not have imagined what learning this would throw in my path. I have once left money behind the till at a coffee…
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40. Do yoga
After my most recent challenges of walking and dancing, I was quite glad to have a day of yoga in the diary for today. A chance of some calm time to reflect whilst stretching my aching body sounded just the ticket! The last time I did yoga was when I was pregnant with my now…
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39. Pole dance!
I have to say, when I embarked upon my 50th year I never thought I’d be writing a blog in which I recounted my experience of pole dancing!! But with some encouragement from my friend and ex-colleague Becka (who is Ms Flexible and a pretty mean pole dancer), it came to pass that I rocked…
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38. Walk up Pen-y-fan
Today was definitely a ‘Carpe Diem’ day. I was up early, the sun was out, and mindful of the fact that there are only 8 weeks of this year left (and 13 challenges to go), Pen-y-fan was beckoning. I put out a call on Facebook for anyone who might want to keep me company, but…
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37. Walk behind a waterfall
This challenge has been in its planning stage for quite a long time; as in I’ve known exactly ‘where’…but with a little less clarity on the ‘when’. Finally, it was a visit from the Evans family – friends we met on holiday a good few years back – that galvanised me into action to make…
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36. See a Shakespeare play at The Globe
I’m totally mad about the Bard. The module of study I did on Shakespeare during my OU degree was one of the most enjoyable study-experiences I’ve had, and introduced me to some plays and sonnets that I didn’t previously know. During that course, and since, I have been lucky enough to see some fabulous productions.…
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35. Have a tarot reading
I have had readings before – tarot, angel, horoscope. Almost without exception these have been by people I know…which makes those people none the less authentic or talented at what they do, but which does sometimes bring with it a sense of wondering whether the interpretation of the cards / signs is based on what…
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34. Have an Ayurvedic massage treatment
First of all, may I beg your pardon… It has taken me a full 48 hours to get round to writing this blog post. Partly, I admit, because I’ve been mighty busy. But also partly because (a) I was so spaced out post-massage on Wednesday, I couldn’t have written anything sensible, and (b) I’ve been…
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33. Sleep in a yurt
“What’s a YURT?” If I had a penny for every time I’ve been asked that question, I’d have been able to pay for the overnight stay!!! If you consult Wikipedia, you will find that a yurt is ‘a portable, round tent covered with skins or felt and used as a dwelling by nomads in the steppes…
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32. Visit Barafundle Bay
I’m Welsh, born and bred. Lived here all through my childhood, and most of my adult life. How, then had I never been to what has often been described as one of the most beautiful beaches in Wales (if not the UK)? Hence the inspiration for adding a visit to Barafundle Bay to my list of…
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31. Do the Pretty Muddy 5K Race for Life
Not to put too fine a point on it, I think lesser mortals may well have bottled on this one given the events of my last couple of weeks. Sporting a broken toe, heavily strapped, which meant that the only closed-in footwear I could put on was a pair of Crocs and having spent Thursday…
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30. Watch the sunrise
I have concluded that ‘Watch the sunrise’ doesn’t quite capture my intent for this challenge. I think my meaning was more ‘Watch the day break’ or ‘Watch the process of night turning into day’… whichever description fits, I watched it. The decision to go was based on the forecast for the following morning (via BBC…
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29. Kiss the Blarney Stone
The fact that I am here in Eire is quite amazing, because the fact that I am here at all is courtesy of the generosity of my fabulous friends and the inspired decision of Heather to invite people to club together and fund some of my 50 challenges as a birthday gift. So if you’re…
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28. Purple hair
I *love* having my hair coloured. In fact, I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I remember a time since the age of 16 when my hair was entirely its natural colour! In my life I have been blonde, and blonder, had pink streaks in the blonde (think raspberry ripple) and less successful blue streaks (think…
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27. Throw a pot (100WCGU version)
I spent the day going round in circles… The circle of clay on the circular board on the circular wheel. Controlled by my foot, the wheel began to spin round. My wet hands caressed the clay, wrapped tightly around it to guide the shape to a perfectly centred circle. Round and round. Thumbs into the…
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27. Throw a pot
I’m smitten. Despite the fact that Patrick Swayze didn’t show up at my shoulder, my pot throwing experience was the most engrossing hour I’ve spent in ages. My teacher was Jen from The Village Pottery. She has a pottery-cum-tea-and-cake-shop in Clifton Village, Bristol as well as a workshop in Easton-in-Gordano, which is where I went…
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26. Get a tattoo
This was my foot at 2pm today… and at 4pm: I have wanted to get a tattoo for years, so adding ‘have a tattoo’ to my list of 50 things was a no-brainer. Which just left me to firm up those perennial questions of what and where… I collected a number of ideas on a…
25. Just a brave day
Today would have been my 20th wedding anniversary. But it’s not. I keep telling myself that now it’s really ‘just another day’… quite a difficult one this year though. I have been anticipating this day since the start of the year. I hadn’t been anticipating spending it alone. I actually spent the past week desperately trying…
24. Give blood
Scenario A: I’ve been having far too much fun with these challenges of late, it’s about time I did something really brave… Scenario B: I’m feeling a bit down in the dumps at the moment, I’ll do something to cheer myself up… Actually, I think I’ll try both of the above. But today it was…
23. Eat at The Ivy
OK, I’m prepared to admit that this may not exactly qualify as ‘brave’… I think the word we decided on over lunch was ‘audacious’… so that will have to do! That, plus the fact that this went onto the 50 things list because eating at a well-known and upmarket venue seemed like it would be…
22. Go parasailing
This challenge has been a long time coming…. The first time I got the urge to go parasailing we were on holiday in Cyprus. I really wanted to have a go…but there was no way my then husband Mike was letting me try it. I suppose looking back that he had a point, given that…
Musings from halfway
It’s 1st July today, and I am wondering where the year is going! Six months in to my 50 Shades of Brave challenge, and my total challenges met currently stands at 21. Which is OK… but not quite good enough!! Since my escapades up Snowdon I haven’t made any further blog posts, but that doesn’t…
20. Take the train up Snowdon (Part 2)
So, refreshed after challenge #21, we had reached the ‘flat’ bit. Apparently. OK, it was definitely flatter than the initial descent, but compared to flat? Nope. By this time my knees were complaining bitterly, with my thighs not much better. But inspired by the stunning scenery, and tricked by Alison’s claims at every corner that…
21. Skinny dip!
What?? Oh yes. It was on the list of challenges. And what better time and place than when you’re hot, achy and exhausted, halfway down Snowdon in a clear cool lake? We (not sure who was leading who astray here…!) at least had the decency to take ourselves around the corner from the main track.…
20. Take the train up Snowdon… and some more… (Part 1)
I was very clear that this challenge involved transport other than my legs. Yet as I write this I am aching and exhausted! Oh, and giggling a little… But that’s for number 21… This challenge was facilitated by Alison Godwin, a friend who lives in North Wales. Early bird tickets were purchased as my 50th…
19. Have a big 50th birthday party
Where do I start? Well, I’m writing this the morning after the night before. I’ve had about 4 hours sleep, but the birds are singing, the sun is out…so I’m up. And there’s one heck of a clear up operation on the agenda for today!! Yesterday was pretty manic from start to finish…From waking up…
16. Part 2 – have false eyelashes removed
Just to say that I will NEVER have individual false lashes EVER again! Of the 2 weeks promised, I managed 6 days wearing them. As the days went on they became more and more uncomfortable, until on Thursday night I found myself hardly able to sleep for the pain of the rigid lashes digging in…
18. Be a speaker at an event
“Enlighten us, but make it quick!” That’s the message from Ignite Cardiff (www.ignite.wales) for potential speakers at their bi-monthly event. It’s an evening of motivational, inspirational, educational talks which features around nine speakers from the local area. The brief is that you have 5 minutes in which to share your personal or professional passion with…
17. Eat caviar
I wanted to do this because I had never tasted real caviar. And I wanted to know what the fuss was about. Well, I’ve tasted it now…and I still don’t know what all the fuss is about! My caviar arrived by mail order, courtesy of Fine Food Specialists of New Covent Garden Market in London (www.finefoodspecialist.co.uk)…
16. Wear false eyelashes
Bela Lugosi once said “Women have a predestination for suffering”. He must have known a bit about what women choose to subject themselves to in search of ‘beauty’… waxing, threading, sculpting, plucking, extending… and the application of false eyelashes. I think this ‘challenge’ appeared on my list for much the same reason as ‘Have my own…
15. Wardrobe weeding
There are some advantages to your husband leaving you out-of-the-blue… For example, the initial period of shock and sadness might bring side effects such as losing your appetite. The ‘divorce diet’, as I have come to know it! The downside of that (or maybe another upside?) is that your clothes begin to hang off you……
14. Rugby tour
Maybe some of you won’t think this brave. Maybe some of you will find it strange that it took courage for me to smile and tell my son ‘Of course I’ll take you on the rugby tour’. Maybe some of you will find it difficult to believe that the night before the tour I was…
13. Get divorced
This is a difficult post to write. Some may say an unusual thing to have on a list of 50 things to achieve in my 50th year. But it has been a long, hard haul to this point, and the final rubber stamp of Decree Absolute has been something I’ve been keen to achieve so…
12. Go on a date
Well, sort of… In truth, I think I cheated a bit, but hey it’s a start! Speed Dating for the almost 50s is not an easy thing to find. So when I stumbled on http://www.SpeedDater.co.uk advertising events for the 38-50 age range in Cardiff I signed myself (and my friend Jo) up. We were supposed…
11. Firewalk!
Just one word. BUZZING!!! What an absolutely amazing experience. Adrenaline. Focus. Commitment. Ecstasy. Exhaustion. I felt them all. As I drove down to Cardiff Bay for the 5.15 sign on, I wasn’t really sure how I felt. Not yet excited, not yet nervous… non plussed might cover it. Outside Wales Millennium Centre, I gave…
10. Have a Brazilian wax
Ok, so how much detail do you want…? This one has given rise to reactions varying from fingers in the ears singing la-la-la, through suggestions for max-strength painkillers, to utter disbelief! I decided to accept a recommendation for where to go for my wax, as you can’t be too careful with your ‘lady-bits’!! So I made…
9. Cycle a lap of the velodrome
Someone didn’t get the message… A LAP was the challenge, just A LAP! I have long joked that no-one would ever see me on a track bike. I have spent many a day and night sitting in the stands at Newport Velodrome watching my daughter cycle, and I have resolutely refused any suggestion of…
6. Grade 7 flute – part 2
The results are in! I’d like to say I’m delighted to report that I got a Distinction. In truth, if I hadn’t I think I’d have quit the day job… And frankly, I’m a *little* disappointed with my marks…. Here goes: List A – Telemann – comments included ‘acute awareness of style’; ‘eloquent rendition’; ‘lines…
8. Go to a dance class
I’m musical. I can do rhythm. I therefore assumed that my brain, upon feeling rhythm, would be able to tell my body and feet what to do without too much trouble. I was wrong. My buddy Helen was the facilitator of this challenge. She and her boyfriend are regulars at Cardiff Lindyhop (www.lindyhopcardiff.com) dance…
7. Silent retreat
Buckle up, the challenges are about to come thick and fast for a couple of weeks…! Many (most?) of my friends would probably say I like to talk… but I can be quiet… honestly I can. Hence this challenge. A one-day Silent Retreat. I have to say I was definitely feeling challenged today – Saturday…
6. Grade 7 flute – part 1
Part 1 Why, oh why, oh why? Actually, pretty much everyone has asked my why I decided to do this one… So, here are my answers: When I did my flute grades as a kid, there was no Grade 7. It went 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. So I decided to ‘fill in the gap’.…
5. Go to the Bingo
For some years now I have had an inexplicable desire to go to the Bingo. I don’t gamble much in other ways – the odd lottery ticket and a couple of ‘close-but-not-quite’ flutters on the Grand National. But something about dibbing (dabbing?) those numbers was calling me… One of the things that had held me back from…
4. Have my own signature fragrance made for me
To be honest, this ‘brave’ activity has caused some consternation amongst those who know me. I have long been known to actively dislike fragrance… The last time I wore perfume myself, I was probably 21; I wear unperfumed deodorant; I have never wanted my man to wear aftershave; I run through the perfumeries of department…
3. Apply for a job I’d like to do even if I don’t think I’m qualified for it
This was always going to be a tough one. Putting myself out there for something I want, and risking rejection. The very wording of the task – ‘even if I don’t think I’m qualified for it’ – set me up for a bit of a punt. But hey, this is all about being brave… so I…
2. Get my ears re-pierced
I arrived at ‘Frontiers Tattoo and Piercing Parlour’, HighStreet, Cardiff at 1.15pm, only to find that the piercer was at lunch until 1.45. I did feel at that point that there was a possibility that the world was trying to tell me to give up on ear-repiercing, since this was the second time this week I’d made…
1. Buy The Big Issue
“Big Issue my darling?” “No thanks” I walk on by. I don’t know why… that’s just what I usually do. So, onto my 50 shades list goes ‘Buy The Big Issue’, and today I did just that. Albany Road, Cardiff, outside the Post Office. “Big Issue my darling?” “Yes please”… I hand over £2.50.. “God…
What’s it all about?
This blog is about two things…. It’s about the fact that I am in the midst of great change in my life at the moment, brought about by an unwanted and unexpected divorce and the fallout from that, which has at times in 2014-15 sent me reeling… So, this blog is the beginning of the…
50shadesofbrave 