As a woman who has not felt the need to announce my age for some years; I have decided to take the plunge and go public!
For a very good reason.
On the 13th January 2019 I will be 60!
And to celebrate I am planning to do 60 challenges starting on my 60th birthday and ending on my 61st. Some of them are a bit nerve-wracking, some are lifestyle changes, and some are long held dreams.
And here they are!
1. Parachute jump
2. Walk up Snowdon
3. Swim 2 mile
4. Keep a weekly blog; 60-4-Sixty
5. Learn a sentence in Welsh every month
6. Start each work day with Tai Chi
7. Write that book!
8. Spend time every week relaxing and enjoying nature
9. Read at least one book a month
10. Swim weekly
11. Get a tattoo
12. Sleep under the stars
13. Learn a new skill
14. Volunteer
15. Walk to Weymouth from Swindon
16. See the northern lights
17. Cruise the Norwegian fjords
18. See St Petersburg in the snow
19. Do a fundraiser for Steve
20. Get plastic free
21. Eat NO processed food (not even sausages)
22. Be processed sugar free
23. Make 2 or more new friendships
24. Visit Helen on Colonsay
25. Make a speech at Speakers Corner
26. Have a monthly dinner party
27. Practice mindfulness
28. Start a community-based group
29. Set up True You for February, online
30. Do a family picnic
31. Do a family Christmas party
32. Spend one evening a fortnight at least with friends
33. Think of and do an unusual fundraiser
34. Organise an event for National Disability Day
35. Help get Jezza into No10 (fingers crossed)
36. Go to cinema monthly
37. Go to live music gig monthly
38. Continue being a political activist all year
39. Do something kind every day
40. Do something with family monthly
41. Have a celebration!
42. Join a reading group
43. Go on an organised mushroom and wild food forage
44. Go to Zipworld
45. Decorate the house
46. Help Kate Linnegar get elected
47. Learn to type
48. Institute a phone/pc/tablet free day weekly/monthly
49. Use old photos to make a family history book
50. Reduce stress in my life
51. Bake day once a month for grand-kids
52. Take a photo everyday
53. Have some photos printed monthly
54. Organise wardrobe, be ruthless
55. Learn something new daily
56. Do a car boot sale
57. Learn a dance routine
58. Take part in a karaoke fundraiser
59. Make sure those that matter to me know they matter to me
60. ?
Those who know me, will know what a challenge all this will be; but also, how much various things on the list mean to me. I may fail, I may triumph, or somewhere in-between. Whatever the outcome I will do my best!
You may have noticed the fundraising items on the list. I am hoping to raise funds for three charities which work in areas that have touched mine and Ants lives.
They are:
1. Prospect Hospice, Swindon. The amazing staff and volunteers at this incredible place looked after my Dad, Fred, my eldest sister Sheila and our friend Steve. I will be using Steve’s Bluebell page for donations.
2. Trimar Hospice, Weymouth. The day service staff and volunteers were wonderful to my friend Maxi. Through them she wrote a poem “We Laughed”. Billy Bragg put music to it and released it on CD with the Rosetta Stone charity to raise funds. It reached number 11 in the charts.
3. Alzheimer’s Society. Ant and I looked after his Mum, Lavinia who had Alzheimer’s for a few years before she died. My mum developed some kind of dementia around the same time and needed to move into a nursing home. Those years were frustrating, funny, lovely and exhausting. We felt blessed to have them.
So, that’s the plan! Want to support me? Want to join me on some items? Want to donate? Want to know more?
Use the contact page to let me know you’re there and keep watching for weekly posts from 13th January 2019.
Meanwhile Happy New Year
60 for Sixty 