Bring Me Sunshine

Sidey’s Weekend Theme is Sunshine.  Here in Stockport we don’t get much sunshine, being the English equivalent of Twilight‘s town of Forks, minus the pretty vampires.  So, just rain, then.

We have to make our own sunshine, so here you go – some fake sunshine, courtesy of You Tube:

Now that you are as depressed as we Stopfordians usually feel, here’s something that actually works like sunshine is supposed to:

Have a great weekend, flowers!

Big Sunflower (Photo credit: eggheadsherpa)

How to have fun in spite of rain:

 

Finding My Inner Child Wasn’t That Hard

It was at the end of a five-minute walk to the local park.

I couldn’t wait any longer to complete my latest 101 task: I grabbed the Hub and how he wished that sentence ended there, but it doesn’t – it ends at the play area on Gorsey Bank.

First up: The Wall.  Hub’s first mistake: not taking a photo of the whole thing.  It could be three feet tall for all you know.  It isn’t; and I didn’t get to the top; but I did get off the ground.

The walls have fears 

Next: The Spider Web.  This is the one I’ve been itching to tackle.  It hangs between two Walls, so you can get an idea of the height from the next photo:

When I said ‘Come into my parlour’ I meant walk in like a lady.

Tilly had just spotted the Maltesers her husband had dropped on the other side

Tilly’s reputation for grace and dignity had been somewhat exaggerated

I was chuffed to reach the top of the Web but not stupid enough to try climbing over it.   I went back the way I came.  That’s when the Hub made his second mistake: I had one foot on the ground and my other foot caught in the last link, sending me flat on my back, bum, elbow and stringing me up like a, well, fly trapped in a spider web.

The Hub, instead of taking a photograph, rushed over to help me.  It was a Hub’s Rush, of course, so I had time to call an ambulance, check myself out, cancel the ambulance, and yell at him for missing the best pic of the day.

I wasn’t badly hurt: just my elbow, backside, hip, hands and head ache this morning.

Grime on my hands

There are little benches dotted around the park; nobody knows if they are for sitting or balancing on.  I promised to go on everything, however, so I did:

She was perfect for the James Stewart role in Stockport’s new production of ‘Vertigo’

Next, three rocks:

As her confidence grew, Tilly became boulder

I’ve never been a swinger, but I did enjoy it for a while.  They are not really built for my crisp-bearing hips, however.

Swing low, sweet Tilly Bud

The stilts were easy: low, and fixed to the ground, which I kept my eyes on at all times.

You can’t see the Bud for the trees

Finally…the slide.  I saved it till last because it had been raining (but I’d ironed a spare pair of trousers specially).  The Hub said all he could hear from me was …thud…ow…ow…eek…bang…ouch…thud…  I added an aching ankle to the list, after almost bending it backwards when I caught it on a corner.

What goes up…

…must…

…come down…

I had no grace, no dignity, and no pain I can’t deal with; but you know what?  I had loads of fun!

101/1001 (1)

Sarsm had a good idea: let’s do 101 challenges in 1001 days.  I didn’t think it was a good idea at first (too much like hard work), but I’m always banging on about grabbing opportunities so I thought I’d better grab this one and hold it gingerly by the fingertips and see what happened.  Once I’d hit on my first challenge and was able to start with something already done, I began to warm to it. 

This is how blogging about the challenge is going to work: I’ll put a copy of this post on its own page, for reference; I’ll update it regularly.  When I do something interesting relating to the challenges, I’ll blog about it as normal.  When I’ve completed a challenge, I’ll highlight it in red and bold. 

1. Accept a challenge I don’t really want to do.
2. Find another 64 challenges for the list.  (0/64) All suggestions gratefully received but not necessarily acted upon.  I’m a wimp.
3. Get a job.
4. Hit 100,000 visitors on my blog (39,036/100000)
5. Learn how to upload new photos from the camera to the computer for my blog instead of relying on the Hub.  I’ve been blogging for almost two years; I think it’s time.
6. Learn how to scan photos for my blog  See comment in Challenge 5.
7. Hug a stranger.
8. Submit thirty poems to competitions or publishers (0/30)
9. Blog 1111 times (1/1111) I don’t think this one is really a challenge for me but I need some that are achievable to keep me going.
10. Try out three new recipes (0/3)  To make up for the last one, this is a huge challenge: I hate cooking; I hate new recipes more than I hate cooking.
11. Try three new foods (0/3)  I’m not adventurous with food but trying new ones is how I discovered peppers, my favourite vegetable, so I’ll give it a go.
12. Read thirty books (0/30)  I lost the habit of reading for pleasure while studying for my degree.  I’m looking forward to this one.
13. Watch 101 new films (0/101)
14. Tell a joke every day for the next 1001 days (0/1001)
15. Visit five new museums/galleries (0/5)  This will be harder than it sounds because I’ve visited all the local ones and travel finances are restricted.
16. Make home-made lemonade. 
17. Manage ten real sit-ups.  Never ever managed it in 47 years of life.
18. Manage twenty real sit-ups.  I was going to make this a challenge on its own but I need to do it in baby steps; I did consider the challenge, ‘Manage 5 real sit-ups.’
19. Write 101 new poems (0/101)
20. Get 101 different flags visiting my blog (134/101) This was a little easier than I expected; I just went to the flag counter and I’ve already had 134 flags visit even before I start the challenge.  So, to make it harder and make up this list…
21. Get 101 different countries visiting my blog (78/101)
22. Save £1 for each completed task.  Once I get £101 together, I can treat my family.  £1 per task is my limit because, as the saying goes, there’s always too much month at the end of the money.
23. Finish editing SA Poems.
24. Send off SA Poems to a publisher.
25. Start learning to play the guitar.
26. Buy a guitar.
27. Walk the dogs for 1001 hours (0/1001)
28. Lose some weight: more than a little; less than a lot.  This is deliberately non-specific because I don’t care enough to work that hard at it, but I could do with shifting a couple of kilos for my health now I’m approaching heart attack season (I suddenly realised the other day that in fifteen years I’ll be 62 – that was enough to give me a heart attack there and then).
29. Go back to computer school.
30. Get the first series of Glee on dvd.
31. Mention Maltesers in my blog for 10 consecutive days (0/10)
32. Don’t mention Maltesers in my blog for 10 consecutive days (0/10)
33. Go to the theatre.
34. Reach 13000 comments on my blog (5204/13000)
35. Learn all the words to the South African National Anthem.  I did start to learn it for the World Cup last year but I never quite got there.  When I know it, I will post a video of me singing it with my eyes closed, to prove I know it.  It will have to be with me singing along, though, if you want some tune to it. 
36. Learn how to post videos on my blog.
37. Decorate our bedroom.  We’ve been in this house 14 years and it has never been decorated (if I discount the sticky-back plastic).

As you can see, my list falls somewhat short of 101 things to do so if you have any decent/amusing suggestions, I’m all ears.

By the way, if you think this sounds like a fun thing to do, why not join us?  You tailor the tasks to yourself and set your own start date.  You’ll love it.  We have a badge and everything!