Over the next year leading up to my 50th birthday I am looking forward to my very own 50 before 50 challenge. With a mixture of physical tasks, crafts to try, the fun ones like milking a cow to the truly scary like the wing walk!
Air guitars at the ready....In the words of the greatest 80s cheesy rock pop meisters.... Its The Final Countdown, daddle a daaaa, daddle a da daaa.
Just as we're about to enter the merry month of May, my birthday month, I've looked at what I've got left to do from my list and was pondering the big question which is on nobody's mind but my own - 'will she/won't she complete her list BEFORE, she's 50? The easy answer is, nope, I won't. Not a cat in hells chance.
The last proper update I did was at the six month mark in September, I'd completed 20 things. When I updated in February - mid family catastrophe - I'd reached 29 things. Now, a few months on with one month to go, it stands at 41 things completed. Soooo close but with a ton of freaking cool things recently done.
I've skinny dipped and abseiled and snowboarded and ridden a horse without killing myself, and carved myself a silver ring. I walked a lot of miles, volunteered at a half marathon, climbed a mountain - again - and ran a race dressed as an elf!
I've run a race in the dark, and with a ginger beard, I've quadbiking - again without killing myself - I've walked on fire and made my own soap. I've walked even more miles and met my hero 'Derek the weather', completed a year of celebrating a national 'something' each month and I've spent the day cuddling baby lambs.
In short, I've been having an absolute blast. In the middle of all this fun I've also dealt with the utter devastation of the sudden deaths of two absolutely beloved parents. There's no hiding from this...But, they've left me absolutely determined to rock on with 'the final countdown' .
So what's left, and why will I not complete in time. Well, its going to be close. I should be canoeing, and sushi-ING and quizzing and finishing a monthly international culture challenge. I'll even be able to do one more 5k race. That's going to leave driving a tank, getting the final few, selfies and then two items which can only be done in June. The wing walk at the moment is scheduled for June 8th and I've swapped a 10k run for a 10k 'poppy' walk which takes place June 9th. So, should finish in early June. Not actually too bad all things considered. I do have to warn you though. I am SERIOUSLY contemplating something which no other person has done, as far as I'm aware. When I hopefully complete this challenge in June, I'm pretty much set up to do 50 AT 50!!!! Back to back 50 challenges - I'm up for it, are you????
Shwmae!!! Finally - we ended a year long walking challenge of completing at least 50 miles worth of Weatherman Walks. For those not from Wales - most of you probably, Weatherman Walks was a TV series filmed by Derek Brockway, a BBC Wales weatherman of many years standing and as far I'm concerned, a Welsh 'national treasure'! Derek filmed quite a few series of his hikes throughout the whole of Wales, and published some books about his walks. The routes are also available as PDFs which are what we have used over the last year. Today's final walk, up Pen Y Fan, highest point in south Wales was our 8th weatherman walk completed.
To know that the final walk I would be doing would actually be with Derek was something pretty cool. It was also a charity walk, for Velindre - the Welsh Cancer Hospital. Velindre is the hospital where my Welsh Dad, Lawrence, was treated for testicular cancer many years ago - before I had even met Stewart in fact. So, it was serendipitous that something I really wanted to do was so close to my husband's heart as well.
I haven't actually been feeling too well these last few days and wasn't sure I'd actually be well enough to do this - walking in the Brecon Becons is something you never undertake lightly. But, I walked up Pen Y Fan last year - one of my first ever complete challenges - so thought I'd give it a go. Stewart was by my side as usual - well, nearly by my side, he stayed close enough to give me drinks and haribos, but kept his distance in case I puked my guts up!
There were around 40 walkers in total doing this with Derek the Weather and we all gathered beforehand to get a group photo - also got the chance to get the ultimate selfie with Derek, my new celeb crush!
After a group photo by the bridge, we set off. Thankfully we knew it wasn't a race, it was a charity walk, we were to support each other, take our time and go at our own pace. Thank god, because I wasn't capable today of doing much else but putting one foot in front of the other. Tried my best to not look up and just concentrate in putting one foot in front of the other. Slightly difficult as the views around Pen Y Fan can be bloody gorgeous.
Not too much else to say about this walk, it's not as if we were passing by particular points of interest or anything, the goal was basically to get to the top. And my goal was to get to the top without losing any bodily fluids!!!! But with the help of nicely timed Haribos and small sips of juice I managed, and we neared the summit.
Finally you begin the last steep, but short, rocky ascent up to the peak where the absolute gold medal winning feeling - reaching the trig point - is. Because I'd felt so rough the last few days when I reached the trig point and had the obligatory photo taken, I actually felt really emotional. Didn't feel this way last year when I reached the summit, but this year....
Even though we had reached the top, we all waited till we knew that all supporters of Velindre had arrived and we had the group photo - with Derek at the centre. It's difficult to tell, but me and Stewart are kneeling down just to the right of Derek.
So, job done. 50 miles of Weatherman Walks completed. This was absolutely the ultimate way for us to finish - it was also probably the only one of his walks where we couldn't get lost! Derek proved to be the affable, lovely man I'd thought he would be. He was charming to all, very generous, even though his weather prediction at the bottom turned out to be completely wrong - not a surprise there! Over the last year and the eight of his walks we've done I've visited parts of Wales I really wouldn't otherwise have seen, we've had thrills and near escapes, and plenty of occasions I thought 'shit, we're really lost', but we also saw lots of splendid scenery and it has gotten us out and about in fresh air - particularly these last few months when I have needed that most. To finish, my attempt at a final sneaky wee selfie with my new found hero, Derek, in the background.
Yee-haaaa! Today I did go horseriding along a beach, and survived - it's a freaking miracle!! I have tried horseriding a couple of times before, once in North Wales while I was still in my twenties, and the last time in west Wales in 1999! Both times I hated it - they're awfy high off the ground. I swore I'd never do it again but, when compiling this list of things to do I asked for family input. This was my sister-in-law Mags' contribution. Mags, a talented and successful dressage horseridey person.
Contemplated doing this in South Wales but when I knew we'd be heading to Cabo Verde thought I might as well do it in sunshine - and also thought the sand would be softer if I fell off. Thankfully, I survived 😍
The first 'challenge' was getting on my trusty steed - a horse called 'Lion' - not a terribly reassuring name for somebody who was scared, but he did turn out to be a gentle soul.
The reason I dreaded trying to get on the horse - they're awfy high as I've just mentioned, and I'm not! I'm 'wee', or to use one of Stewart's historic pet names for me, I'm 'Stumpy'! And they didn't have a box I could stand on. Thankfully, with a bit of effort on my part, and a bit of ungraceful manhandling from Rivaldo, my guide, I did manage to get my leg over!!! At this age its quite something to get your leg over, anything!
Anyway I did, I got settled, and after a lot of patient coaching I eventually worked out how to steer this thing - though I was a bit nervous to find out there was no proper brakes, gears or ignition - though if you read my quadbiking post you'll probably think this is a good thing.
So off we went, an hours trek up the beach, Cabo Verde is very desert like and arid so there wasn't a lot to see, probably just as well as I was concentrating so hard on gripping on to the wee saddley bit in front me - so hard, my hands still ache. 'Relax' Rivaldo kept saying - 'Relax? You freaking nuts!?'. But, eventually I did settle into it. He asked me a few times if I wanted to trot, hell no, I'm walking up a mountain on Sunday and want to be able to keep moving. The first time I went on a horse I had trouble even sitting down for a week afterwards! Right enough, even though I said no, 'Lion' had other ideas and did what he wanted a few times, exactly the reason I cursed that there was no stop button. But, I survived. On the way back we did a detour right to the waters edge and as the sun was dipping it was pretty cool. Don't have pics of this as I gave my camera to Stewart to capture the start and end of the ride. Thankfully, he was able to film us 'coming in to land'.
So, another challenge completed, this was my 40th thing done, 10 to go so I'm now on the final furlong (see what I did there!) I'm 50 next month so it's going to be pretty close, but, I think I've done damn well so far. Below, another few pics of my horseride along a beach.
So, a late addition to this year of challenges - Skinny dipping. Turned out to be a strangely fulfilling and liberating one. After all the shit that has happened these last few months it truly feels like I've just discarded and thrown all my troubles to the wind :) Literally!
So, what to say about skinny dipping - we're spending a week here on Cabo Verde - idyllic islands off the coast of west Africa. The trip was booked as a healing time for me and a way of saying goodbye to the shit times, and hello to tomorrow. Its working. It was a short walk down to the waters edge and I did it early evening when hopefully the beach would be deserted. Having to walk past security guards/police was a bit nerve wracking! As was the fact that this beach is rocky with strong currents. I had anticipated gentle seas and miles of sandy beaches....
Today, after just the right amount of pina coladas I decided the time was right. Stewart escorted me down the beach, we found a secluded enough spot, and I went for it. Hopefully the following pics and video are tasteful enough. We tried!!
Spoiler alert - I DO get naked, and I AM nearly 50! Thankfully the light was right for sparing the worst of my blushes - me - who always freaked back in the days of communal changing rooms in Chelsea Girl and Miss Selfridges.
Dun, dun, duuuun. Well done to Stewart for filming the following, think it cut out just before I fell over on the rocks when the Big wave came and knocked me over. Rather than filming and laughing his head off he rightfully stopped to help me back out the sea. I'm fine - and it was pretty refreshing!
As this was a public beach, concentrated on getting clothes on as quickly as possible to walk back up through the resort chortling away to myself. Job done!
So, yep, I'm the person who can burn a salad and yet I chose to do a year long cooking challenge: 'Can't Cook Wont Cook - The Challenge My Husband Didn't Want Me To Do - Cook A Meal Each Month Using A Recipe From Around the World'. This at least wins an award for the longest challenge title!
Historically, me and kitchens and cooking do not go together - this isn't to say that I haven't tried over the years, oh goodness how hard I've tried. But, I really shouldn't be let near kitchens, it just doesn't work. Never mind the dangers of me being near sharp implements I even badly sprained my wrist once when trying to make sweet potato crisps.
Anyway, if you want to understand for how long I've tried to cook and for how long I haven't been very good at it, I have included a wee video below. In 2000, me and Stewart were featured on Channel Four's Real Holiday Show- we were followed on our holiday to west Wales where the 'story' was that I would be doing the cooking yet, as I proclaimed to the nation - 'I can burn a salad'!
But anyway, to this years challenge. For the last twelve months I have endeavoured to find a meal I could try to make each month, from around the world, twelve different meals, twelve different countries. That's a challenge in itself I think. Carrying it out though proved to be much harder. The list below is of the countries I've picked, the meals I cooked, and the scores that Stewart gave me for each meal - do not be hard on Stewart, I was the one who insisted he marked me and gave me honest feedback - I figured that it would be helpful to know where I've gone wrong, and what I've done correctly. And, for the record, Stewart is an excellent cook who does all the meal planning, all the food shopping and all the cooking in this relationship. I've got it made, believe me!
So, here it is:
April - Japan - teriyaki salmon and caramlised vegetables - 8 out of 10!
May - France - chicken chausseur - 6 out of 10
June - Belgium - steak frites - 7 out of 10
July - Thailand - gang massaman curry - 9 out of 10!!!!
August - USA - homemade burgers and slaw - ZERO out ten!!!
September - Hungary - goulash - 7 out of 10
October - Italy -homemade pasta with pancetta, peas and leeks - 6 out of 10
November - Wales - cawl - 7 out of 10
December - Jamaica - jerk chicken, rice n peas - 6 out of 10
January - Greece - beef stifado - 8 out of 10
February - Morocco - lamb steaks with fruit couscous - 4 out of 10!
March - Mexico - chicken fajitas with lime rice AND Mexican cocktail - 6 out 10
The biggest disaster was my American month - homemade burgers, sweet potato chips and 'slaw. Oh god, it couldn't get any worse. Totally didn't understand the volume of ingredients and it took me at least an hour to make the slaw which ended up being enough to feed the street. The disaster though was right at the very end - I've done the sweet potato chips, I've done the slaw, I've mixed all the ingredients for the burgers, they just need seasoning - cue, a wee bit of pepper, the pots in my hand, I gently tap the top - and the bloody lid fell off emptying the entire tub of pepper into my gooey burger mix. Cue, snotty hysterics. It was horrific. Stewart, who'd waited hours for this meal was starving and he tried his best to rescue the meal and made me go ahead and cook the burgers. I took one small bite and couldn't manage another morsel, Stewart was so hungry by this time he at most of his. His only comment - a tad peppery!
Even though it only scored 6 out of 10, I was actually quite proud of my Italian pasta dish as I handmade the pasta from scratch without the use of any wee gadgets to get the pasta thin. That was my downfall actually - everything was there for this to be a great meal but the pasta was just too thick. But, I was quite chuffed with myself for trying, and it tasted OK, it was just the texture. Must admit though it did make me question why on earth anybody would go the bother of making their own - just buy it in the shops!
The prettiest meals I made? The last two actually, yesterdays Mexican feast complete with Mexican Mule tequila cocktail, and the Moroccan lamb with fruity couscous - neither scored highly but they looked nice!
So, that leaves me to talk about the high point of my cooking year - July's attempt for Thailand month, beef gang massaman curry. I'm delighted that this turned out well. When we lived in Leatherhead, our favourite local restaurant The Plough had a Thai restaurant and gang massaman was our favouritest meal - so the thought of me trying to get close to this was stressful. I also knew that Stewart would have strong expectations, so when I made it, using ingredients I hadn't even heard of! - and he scored it 9 out of 10 - that was an absolute winner!
Unfortunately, it kind of gave me false expectation that perhaps the year of cooking challenges wouldn't be that bad. Never got close to the heady heights of Thai month! But, as you can see I can did keep going. My average score over the year was 6 out of 10 so at least the food I made was edible. Think I've just got to accept that cooking is not an area I'm ever going to excel in. It's just not my thing, so instead I'll just have to sit back each evening and wait to be presented with delicious healthy meals that my husband makes!!!!
Whoop - could have completed this walking challenge today, if I'd only looked at kilometres instead of miles. As of finishing today's 8 mile circular walk we're now at 45 miles which is 72 kilometres. But, we're so close to ticking off the 50 miles that of course we'll keep going. Particularly as the next walk is scheduled for two weeks time and it's the biggie - we'll be walking WITH the weatherman himself, the legendary Welsh national treasure that is Derek Brockway - 'schwmae'!!!!
Anyway, back to todays little expedition, a town and country walk in and around the town of Merthyr Tydfil. We started at Cyfarthfa Castle and would follow a fair amount of the Taff Trail before going off-piste and off up an awfy big hill, Morlais hill.
Merthry Tydfil over the centuries became famous for its ironworks. Cyfarthfa Castle in fact where we started and ended was the former home of the family who owned the ironworks. The first couple of points of interest on the walk were when we crossed the oldest surviving cast iron bridge, pont Y Cafnau and then we visited the site of the original ironworks.
From the ironworks we were on the Taff Trail - unusual for us to do a weatherman walk on a proper walking path - and we headed up to a huge viaduct. We were heading up and out of the town. I liked the viaduct, Cefn Coed it's massive, has 15 arches and we would later be able to see from miles away when we climbed the final summit. I liked the 'feel' of it as we walked across.
Once past the viaduct we were back on the Taff Trail for a few miles properly heading into the Merthyr countryside.
From the Taff Trail, Derek takes you on a detour along a really dodgy track - there always has to be an 'off road' dodgy incident and when we hit the really dodgy track we came across a few really dodgy dead trees - directly in the pathway. But, we just had to clamber over them to continue on. Turns out he includes a detour so that you can visit a wee church. Must admit, it was interesting to find a headstone here of a lady who lived to be 106 who was born in the 17th century!
Anyways, after the detour we began the climb of the day. Up through a quarry - it was so high there were youths doing rock climbing, we walked higher than them, and up the summit of Morlais hill which happened to have a castle on it, though only the crypt remains now. Had a wee rest here admiring the views.
We then scrambled our way back down, going down was actually harder than going up, and made our way alongside a riverside path back to Cyfarthfa. The riverside path near the castle was actually one of the prettiest parts of the walk. So, that's it, nearly done with this challenge apart from our expedition up Pen Y Fan in the company of Derek Brockway himself. Can't wait!
