A summer well spent

Summer has gone :( We had our traditionally beautiful weather for the first week of September, but now the forecasts are full of dropping temperatures, rainshowers and high winds.


It was a great summer - I managed to make the most of the nice weather and enjoyed a range of different activities. How did my summer ambitions go?

1) To get surfing again - achieved! On one of my favourite beaches in Hendaye.

2) Do 3 ballet classes in one week - achieved! And I'm now planning to make two classes a week my regular timetable - not easy to do around my other commitments.

3) Spend some quality time working on my Spanish - partly done. I did use every opportunity on holiday to use my Spanish, even when the locals spoke to me in English, only reverting when I was completely stuck. It didn't go completely smoothly (there was one dinner where I didn't exactly order food we enjoyed!), but I at least gave it a go. Still plenty of room for improvement though!

4) See some live music - partly done. With the exception of rigging fireworks behind the stage at Marvellous Festival, I didn't manage to organise this. I would love to see a band live, and did get as far as looking up gig lists, but that was it :(

5) Make sushi - still not got any further with this one (although I have eatten sushi on several occassions). Autumn/winter will have to be the time for sushi.

6) Make more pies - achieved! There was the chicken and ham cobbler, and the slightly disasterous but eventually recovered quiche. Almost pies :)

Additions to the list:
7) Get to work crocheting again - achieved! I have been rippling all over the place!

And now I enter autumn having visited more places, eaten more food and tried some more great activities...

An update on ambitions

Almost exactly a month ago, I wrote a summer ambitions list, so I guess it's time to revisit it and see how I'm getting on!

1) To get surfing again - planned (roughly). I know when I'll be in a good surfing location, haven't booked any lessons yet but this one is definitely happening!

2) Do 3 ballet classes in one week - achieved! In fact I did four classes, including two on the same day. I wish I had the time and money to do this all the time - it was so good for me to concetrate on one thing and work my body a bit harder than normal.

3) Spend some quality time working on my Spanish - not really done. I got as far as downloading a couple of free apps onto my phone. Oops...

4) See some live music - partly done. As predicted, I was in the vicinity of live music at Marvellous Festival, but was busy rigging and setting off the fireworks so it doesn't really count. Will need to see if I can fit this in better in the next few weeks...

An entirely unflattering pic of us wiring in the shells at Marvellous

5) Make sushi - not got any further with this one :S but I will!

6) Make more pies - - almost done. Had a (pretty dodgy attempt) at making an apple and pear tart a few weeks ago. Also, I am entertaining next week so will crack out the pie recipe books again :)

New things to add to the list:
7) Get to work crocheting again. I popped out to buy beautiful new wool colours the other day and am ready to get to work!

Summer ambitions

I've read some fantastic Summer Bucket Lists recently, including this amazingly long one from meals and moves. That is going to be one fantastic summer!

My list is somewhat less "wow", but I've tried my best to add in some ambition along the way!

1) To get surfing again. I don't mind if it's in the UK or during my summer holiday, but I've got to get back on the board and work on my skills! On the girlie surfing weekend last year, I just about stood up a couple of times and I desperately need to practise more to master this tricky skill. Note to self: do some upper-body workouts before surfing to limit muscle soreness afterwards!

2) Do 3 ballet classes in one week. I'm all set with a timetable of drop-in classes with teachers that have been recommended to me, so there's no reason not to up my number of lessons :)

3) Spend some quality time working on my Spanish. I'm not great with languages and often freeze up when abroad; hopefully a bit of revision and practise will up my confidence and make sure the words that I do know are close at hand in my brain :) Maybe...

4) See some live music. Erm... This one is totally unplanned so I've no idea how and when it might happen. I'll be in the vicinity of live bands in a few weeks when rigging a firework display, but that's hardly the same as being in the crowd.

Pic from last year's Marvelous Festival, expertly taken on my phone!

 5) Make sushi. I've just been gifted a great iPad video-book-guide-thing and have to try it out!

6) Make more pies. I had a bit of a flurry of pie making after Christmas (after receiving two great pie recipe books) and then haven't touched them again!

What are you going to do this summer?

Twinkle toes?! Not quite!

Ever since I left school, I've been saying that I miss ballet classes, so after a 12 year gap I've finally got myself organised and trundled along to a class.

Organising myself was a nightmare - I had to get to a dance shop and buy some ballet shoes for a start. At least the woman in the shop was helpful; she even helped me sort out what to wear, which was my second problem...

More things to try

I've been getting all excited with making plans and adding to my must-try list:

Ballet
I desperately want to watch a professional ballet - I studied ballet until I went to university and am considering re-starting adult classes. I wasn't any good but I would love to see a real performance.

A brightly coloured tale

Over the last 6 months, I've quietly re-discovered crochet. It's been something easy to pick up on quiet evenings (on the few occasions that they happen!) and I find it very relaxing.

Then, last week I got ill. Nothing more serious than a bout of flu, but bad enough to be stuck at home for days on end with little energy and a woolly brain. As I recovered, I started to pick up the crochet again.

I ordered a special package from ebay...

And coupled it with a great crochet pattern from Lucy at Attic 24: summer granny square pattern...

Image from Attic24

And I got going...

They don't look quite as polished and neat as Lucy's, but I'm pleased. I'm going to make a blanket :)

I have never...

Radio 4 has a comedy/chat program called "I have never seen Star Wars". The other day I was listening to it on the way home from work - Ian Hislop trying four things he's never done before:
- buying and wearing jeans (!)
- playing Grand Theft Auto 4
- meditating
- baking a cake

It was pretty funny, but more importantly got me wondering about things I have never done before...
... played a team sport (well, not since school so I think that counts).
... sung in front of an audience (eeeek!).
... spent a night (or evening) star gazing.
... worn dungarees.
... erm ... that's all I've thought of so far! 

Now, I'm not considering these activities to be must-tries (especially the singing one!), but I guess it doesn't hurt to try new things. Does it?! :S

Must-try list

I've spent a bit of time updating the info pages for this blog (which hopefully you can find by links above).

I've also add a loves and must-tries list - a bit like a bucket list of things I want to try. Please comment and add suggestions for new activites (or places I should visit). I plan to keep busy! :)