My Secret Love

As mentioned in my about page, one of my favourite things   is my Kindle.  That is no secret but here are my reasons for loving it:

  1. It fits into my bag and can easily be brought out to read if I am hanging around waiting.
  2. Nobody knows what I am reading.
  3. It doesn’t take up much room when I am travelling so not adding to luggage allowance when I am flying.
  4. It is so easy to download books.
  5. I said it was easy to download – nobody but me knows how many books I have.  Let’s say that if I get stranded somewhere, it will be many years before I run out of reading material!

There are a few things I miss about having a physical book.  Opening the first page of a book is such an enjoyable experience.  Going into a bookshop and buying a book (yes I sometimes feel guilty about contributing to the closure of small bookshops.  You’ve Got Mail is one of my favourite films).  I do sometimes wander in to look at the books.  One of the things I miss most is not having books as presents. I do get vouchers to buy but sometimes someone buying you an unexpected book is just an enjoyable experience.

That said, my daughter is a very keen reader, (at 20 years old, she only reads proper books.  She has to carry her books in her own hand luggage!) and she often gives me the money with strict instructions on what book I have to buy with it.

Challenge 5 is to read a book every month of a genre you don’t/ don’t often read with June’s book chosen by her and August by her brother.

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Challenge 6 is to read her 10 favourite books in paperback.

The June book chosen by her is Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and is a book for teenagers.  I started reading it a week ago and was given a quick brief about the book by my daughter.  The main character of the book is Cath who is an identical twin, horribly shy and writes fan fiction.  Not really understanding fan fiction, I did have to put it into the search engine.  From what I understand it is where fans of books write there own stories of  characters or scenes.  I think that if it had been around when I was a young girl, I would have enjoyed writing stories about the characters of Mallory Towers although it would not have taken the same route as Cath’s characters.

In Kindle terms, I am 62% through the book and I would have liked nothing more than to finish the book today but unfortunately I have other things I have to do (guiltily watching ELO at the moment).  I will certainly finish it by the end of the month though.  I am enjoying the book and I do like most of the characters.  There are a few characters that I haven’t got to like or meet yet.  Maybe my opinion will change.  I will hopefully review it later.

 

 

Turning 50

Challenge no 50, and should hopefully be the last of the challenges ticked off, is on the 6th June on your blog, write about how you found being 50.  I thought that to begin with I should try to sum up how I felt about turning 50.

When I was 30, I had a three year old and a young baby so it never felt old.  At 40, I didn’t feel a lot different.  When I thought of being 50, I felt I was getting old.  I didn’t feel it; I was fit, healthy and positive.  In fact, I still felt like I was 25 but the number itself seemed frightening.

One thing I was certain about was that I didn’t want any big or surprise party to celebrate my birthday.  In the end, I opted for a holiday in the sun with my Son and Daughter.  We flew to Lanzarote two days before my birthday so birthday celebrations actually started a few days before that. My last day of 49 reading by the pool was perfect.

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The big day came and apart from having my daughter singing Happy Birthday to me at 3.30 am, it didn’t feel any different.   After opening so many presents from my wonderful children, and with my 50 badge proudly on, we set off to take the boat across the water to visit Fuerteventura.   The weather was glorious.  We enjoyed shopping in Correlejo, walking bare feet on the sand dunes then jumping through the waves at the beach.  The journey back on the boat was very memorable watching the crew run around with sick bags as the ride was very bumpy.  This is not something they tell you about when booking the excursion!

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We were not affected by the boat ride and walked back to our hotel stopping for one of the many delicious ice-cream we enjoyed on holiday.

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The good news is 50 is only a number and I still feel good.  I am still able to put on my trainers and enjoyed running along the beach on holiday,  I even took on a few of my challenges:

1 Learn how to skip – I managed 5 – will try to improve!

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47 Buy and use a nail varnish colour you wouldn’t normally – note the lovely ring!

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I am having the longest birthday and enjoying it too.  It will come to the end in a just over a week’s time when I will be enjoying celebrating with my friend who will be 50 in August.  Looking forward to sharing that adventure with you.

 

 

50 things to do in my 50th year

Your mission: to complete all 50 tasks between 7th June 2016 – 6 June 2017

The Rules

1  You can complete the the tasks in any order.

2 When completed you must:

a) tick the box on the task’s page

b) create or keep a keepsake in the the 50th year box/scrapbookIMG_20160620_215950

c) HAVE THE BEST YEAR EVER

  1. Learn how to skip
  2. Visit The Ritz
  3. While in London for The Ritz,  go and see a show you haven’t seen before
  4. Revisit learning French
  5. Read a book every month of a genre you don’t/don’t often read – June will be chosen by your daughter – August will be chosen by your son.  Write a review in your scrapbook
  6. Read your daughter’s 10 favourite books …. in paperback!
  7. Cook a three course meal consisting of three dishes which belong to three different cultures.  Rule: there must be something in each dish you haven’t made before
  8. Host a MacMillan Tea Party
  9. Sign up for a 10 k and run with your daughter
  10. Sign up and run the Great South Run
  11. Grow your own plant
  12. Pick out and plant a vegetable of your choice
  13. Bake a cake you never have before
  14. Frame a photograph you have always wanted to
  15. Go and pick yourself out a new outfit
  16. Visit your daughter in Cardiff
  17. Visit your son in London
  18. Learn 7 – 10 (new) German words a week
  19. Spa day with your daughter
  20. Try some sort of course with your daughter
  21. Watch 3 “classic” films of your choice
  22. Visit somewhere in England you never have before
  23. Day trip with your daughter this summer
  24. On a sunny day:  make your own ginger beer, make a salmon & cream cheese bagel, make banana muffins…..and sit outside and enjoy
  25. Change your running route one day
  26. Take an arty picture, print it and put in in your scrapbook
  27. Buy yourself some flowers
  28. Take a dance class with your daughter
  29. Start and complete a new sewing project
  30. Make croissants
  31. Buy some kind of baking machine
  32. Make “something” with the baking machine and document in scrapbook with a photo and maybe the recipe and tips
  33. This Summer, go to Brighton with your daughter
  34. In Brighton, take pictures in a photo booth together
  35. DVD night with your kids
  36. Buy a physical copy of copy of an album
  37. Buy a new lipstick
  38. Have a pamper night – use lush bath bomb, light a newly bought candle and use face mask
  39. Mum and daughter pamper evening – bake whoopie cakes, eat cakes and watch 13 going on 30 and paint nails
  40. On a perfect summer’s day, make a picnic (including all of the traditional stuff) and eat it down the beach with your daughter
  41. At Christmas make……yule logs, mince pies and cookies for Santa
  42. At Easter make an Easter show-stopper
  43. Upcycle/DIY something from a charity shop
  44. Go out for dinner and pick something that sounds awesome but you wouldn’t normally pick
  45. Write a short story of 1500-3000 words.  RULE: write final version out nicely on lined paper and stick and fold into scrapbook
  46. In Lanzarote buy a “LANZAROTE” frame and at home print and put a picture or you, your son and your daughter in Lanzarote in it
  47. Buy and use a nail varnish colour you wouldn’t normally
  48. Take up swimming on some level
  49. Make blog
  50. On 6th June on your blog, write about how you found being 50