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!
The Monthly International Culture Challenge - part one. The whole challenge was each month to watch a foreign language film and to read a book by an international author in translation. Mostly worked out this way. For the books, I somehow ended up specifically reading books written by women from various different coutnries. I also mostly read books which have been translated, though The Bone People which is a New Zealand book was mostly in English but does have a lot of Maori influence. And, since I was covering so much of the world I wanted to include Australasia.
So, what did I read. In quick form, these are the books I chose:
April: The Hen who Dreamed She Could Fly - Sun Mi Hwang - South Korea
May: Butterflies in November - Audur Ava Olafsdottir - Iceland
June: Like Water For Chocolate - Laura Esquival - Mexico
July: Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky - France
August: Mayas Notebook - Isabelle Allende - Chile
September: Persepolis - Marjane Satrape - Iran
October: Girls of Riyadh - Rajaa Alsanea - Saudi Arabia
February: The Bone People - Keri Hulme - New Zealand
March: Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector - Brazil
April: Island of A Thousand Mirrors - Nayomi Munaweera - Sri Lanka
What can I say? I don't know whether I just chose well but there was not one dud book in this list of thirteen. I've been transported all over the world, into every continent with so many different ways, and eras of life being described. The fact they were all womens voices was actually inadvertent, I think. I pretty much loved every book and got something different out of each.
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky was written during the Second World War and was about France in the Second World War. This was an amazingly stunning book. I cried, I gasped, I was interested, and I cried again.
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea - pretty much an ordinary chick lit book but happens to be the only Saudi Arabian chick lit book round so gave a glimpse into the lives of women in a country which we pretty much don't normally get to hear about. I've passed this book around quite a lot as friends were so interested.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was a graphic autobiographical novel about growing up before and after the Iranian revolution. Again, not something I would ordinarily know much about
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun Mi Hwang what initially seemed like it was going to be a really sweet and innocent novel about a chicken but in actual fact was dark and bloody.
And then the rest, some by established women authors like Isabel Allende and Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie. Each book was a revelation and completely transported me into different lives.
I freaking LOVED the success of this challenge. I've already started compiling a list of books by women authors from every different country and I can't wait to keep going. So, this one carries on...
My name is Lesley, I am a quiz geek! There - I've said it, and it's out in the open. For many years it wasn't out in the open and I have no idea why not? It's like a dirty secret - but no longer. For virtually most of my life I've loved general knowledge and useless facts and the natural grown up progression to the pub quiz.
Probably my first memory of quizzing was being asked to be part of a primary school quiz team for a PTA (Parent Teacher Association) fundraising night. I remember the thrill of being being chosen and desperately wanting to do well. Seriously wanting to do well. For so many years I believed I wasn't a competitive person, what a load of tosh. I've consistently cried, or thrown a huge wobbly if I wasn't able to remember the capital of a country, the period of a particular king or queen or who invented the thermos flask (James Dewar - a Scotsman if interested).
After the Primary School PTA quiz night I took part in a local area competition competing against various local primary schools. We didn't win, and I was gutted. I remember clearly it was on the night that Brian Clough won the European Cup Final with Nottingham Forest- and I was asked as a question which two teams were playing, I thoroughly impressed my Dad by getting it right. I also amused my parents by the infamous wrong answer, and explanation. 'In which country is the river Rhine?' - my answer, the USA. Mum and Dad asked me afterwards how on earth I got that wrong - all I could think about was Glen Campbell's the Rhinestone Cowboy and using my skewed logic....
Anyway, to this years ongoing task. Compete in 50 Pub Quizzes which I completed finally on Sunday. I didn't do this task as planned, originally I was hoping to go round loads of different venues and quizzes but to be honest the vast majority of quizzes clocked up were in our local Wetherspoons. I did though do take part in quizzes in Caernarfon and Torquay, a quiz in aid of Guide Dogs, a quiz in aid of osteoporosis, an international quiz, a University inter departmental quiz and another local pub one. If you remember, last year we were looking after a guide dog in training, Timber - during his stay with us he was a regular at the Wetherspoons quiz!
I competed mostly with Stewart, we've had a couple of different quiz team names over the years, prior to Wales we were always Toil and Trouble - I toil and he's trouble. Now we are the Richard Dawkins Appreciation Society - long story. But, I don't think it's a secret that me and Stewart actually met on a TV quiz show! In 1993. Catchword. It wasn't actually a general knowledge quiz, it was all about words and trying to come up lots of words or long words.
Stewart had won his first show, came back for his second appearance and met me. Our oft used expression is that I could have won a dictionary instead I ended up with a husband.
From that moment onwards we've joined forces to try and see what we can win with our combined general knowledge. This last year, we haven't actually done so well. I can only count 15 wins, which for a team of two isn't actually shameful but we have done a lot better in the past. Our local Wetherspoons Sunday quiz used to offer bottles of Moet and Chandon as a prize. We amassed quite a few.
Shortly after we drank the entire collection - with a champagne party for workmates, not just on our own - Wetherspoons changed the system so that the prize was not alcohol, but cash. Fair enough, we save our winnings and splurge for special things or occasions. Our current quiz stash is going to pay for various trips on a big holiday we've got coming up later this year. Think in the past our winnings have been used to buy a wine fridge and a few nights away in hotels. Not bad really.
Our quizzing pedigree extends beyond competitive pub quizzing. Between us we've appeared on four different TV quiz shows. Catchword - where it all started, then I went on Mastermind, initially auditioned for a laugh and the hell of it but got to the semi-final, then Stewart appeared on an ITV one series show called Ejector Seat and then most recently I tried the Chase. See me and Bradley at the top of the page. The Chase I found terrifying and I didn't do well, had a serious case of stage fright. But, it was an experience.
When we first moved to Wales, we were regulars at a different pub quiz and played regularly with a gorgeous bloke called Marc and together we ended up representing Wales in a national pub quiz league final. We were the only regional 'runners up' to attend and were the only team of three - every other team had four. In the end we actually came fifth which we were all pretty chuffed with. And guess who we met - yep, the toughest of Chaser, the Beast. This was way before I'd considered going on the Chase.
The Wetherspoons Sunday night quiz has a really good format. The first 26 questions are 'A to Z', so question one answer begins with A, question two answer begins with B and so on. There's then a 10 question 'specialist subject round, subjects normally being picked by the winning team, and it ends with four 'in the news' type questions. When I looked back over our winning weeks the specialist subjects were enormous in range - Victoria Wood, Mamma Mia, FA Cup Finals, 80s pop music, UK Prime Ministers, British Geography, Cars....we can choose anything and everything. I'd say that there's a lot of friendly rivalry. There are a core five teams who go every week with others popping up now and again. It is relatively lighthearted and I have in fact made some proper amazing and beloved friends from a couple of the teams. In fact, the support I got from these friends over the last few months was immense. Truly immense. So the rivalry, and the desire to win, comes second in actual fact.
'I've started, so I'll finish'....I'll end with a quick note about my time on Mastermind. I truly did apply for a joke, my ambition was maybe to get an audition and dine out on that. In the end, I was actually chosen to appear. My main aim was not to make an absolute tit of myself. Thankfully, and surprisingly to my entire family not only did I not make a tit of myself I actually won my round and made it through to the semi final! That was not on my bucket list but I'm not going to lie, I'm still dumbfounded that I can say I was a Mastermind semi-finalist. AND! My semi-final ended up being plastered all over the UK national press as one of my competitors scored the lowest ever score for his specialist subject round. I kind of felt sorry for him but he'd already won a quarter of a million on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire so I'm sure he could suck it up. So, my ugly mug inadvertently ended up being on the front page of countless newspapers.
So that's it. This was a very spurious blog, but hopefully you've enjoyed it anyway. Well into the final countdown now for this year of challenges. We already know that I will be going beyond my actual birthday which is this weekend, but I doubt anybody will give me a hard time about that. And besides, I should definitely be completing in June, so not too tardy. See you next time- and thank you SO SO very much for sticking with me. If I hadn't had this challenge and this blog, then I'm honestly not sure how I'd coping right now. This has been therapy, and good therapy. So thanks. xxxx
Having spent a year subjecting myself and Stewart, Stewart in particular, to a challenge to make a meal from a different country each month with varying results I thought that perhaps I should seek professional help!!! Could have been all sorts of professional help but, seeing how my Japanese meal of teriyaki salmon scored quite highly, thought I'd give sushi school ago. After all, doesn't actually involve cooking, so it couldn't be that hard, could it.....
So yesterday, me and Stewart - he feels I need proper adult supervision if I'm going to be involved in food preparation AND be around sharp implements - headed to Cardiff's St David's Centre and Yo Sushi in particular. Each Saturday morning, they hold a 'sushi school' to help folk get to grips with the basics of making sushi.
The class was two hours long, held under the expert supervision of Basia who had amazing 'tekkers' (technical skills for those who are not up with footballing lingo) and had six participants. Couldn't see the couple at the end of the row but I know I was the worst of the four folk I could try and copy. Firstly, me and Basia!
We were all sat in a wee row with our chopping board (pink! - was seriously tempted to half inch it, but didn't) and professional sushi 'rolling' mat which we got to keep at the end. There was a tub of oil in front of us, and a tub of seasoning and sesame seeds. And a huge tub of sticky rice and weighing scales.
We would make various different types of sushi through the morning and were also treated to a sushi masterclass where Basia demonstrated more technical rolling. I couldn't even really cope with the beginner's rolling, in fact I probably belonged more in the 'mini ninja' kids class but apparently the younger you are the better you are making sushi so would have been bottom of the class there. But, I was up for having a go and trying my best. First up sushi dish, and the easiest, was cucumber maki where the nori sheet (the green seaweedy looking thing) would be on the outside with the rice and cucumber on the inside. You first of all had to wear your gloves which you had to keep slathered in oil so the rice wouldn't stick to you. Having weighed out the correct amount of rice you then spread it across the nori sheet.
With a thin slice of cucumber laid across the middle of the rice, you then roll all the while trying to keep the ingredients inside. You are trying to achieve a square shape with this one but quite frankly if I could just keep everything inside I didn't care what shape I achieved. I was actually quite happy with this one.
The second one we tried was a mini iso - where the rice would be on the outside and the nori sheet on the inside. You started the same with spreading the rice across on the nori sheet, we then sprinkled with shichimi powder which I'd never heard of before but actually really like the taste - and then the technically bitty, you have to flip the nori sheet over so the rice is flat on the mat. You then put cucumber, inari (fried tofu) and tamago (sweet omelette) on top of the nori sheet and again, start rolling. This was more difficult trying to keep the rice on the outside and the ingredients on the inside, but I vaguely managed this one though you can see that a lot of my rice abandoned ship at one end.
To get individual wee sushi bites, you cut your 'roll' in the middle, put the best sides together and then do your slicing. Next up was three slightly different ones but I can't remember their names. It all starts with three 'blobs' of rice. I think one of them - the one on it's side which looks like a cup, is called a masago gunkam and was filled with fish roe which tasted like sweet popping 'bubbles'
Finally, we moved on to the most technical one, a California roll which was also described as sushi ice cream - no, it's not a dessert like I thought, it's described as icecream because you roll the nori sheet to the shape of an ice cream cone with a few fillings inside. I chose chicken, cucumber and chilli sauce. Crikey, I can't believe I was actually allowed near that knife! And - I survived with all digits intact!
You can see what my California roll looked like below on my tray of finished sushi treats
Actually, they don't look too bad though when I compare them alongside Stewart's neat tray I can see where I wasn't so successful. But it looks alright though doesn't it - think I must have slightly punch drunk by the end of this adventure as I do look rather proud of myself!
All in all, this was actually really enjoyable. It was quite funny towards the end as they opened the restaurant while we were still playing with our own creations and we did get a few bemused looks. But, it was good value, Basia was an absolute pro and obviously really into her craft, and, whatever we made we got to take away to eat later. Very enjoyable.
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream....well, in this instance it was the River Wye in Herefordshire, a beautiful part of the country. We went for our canoeing adventure on Bank Holiday Monday and the weather was AMAZEBALLS!
Chose a half day, eight mile stretch of the River Wye. You start from the most beautiful wee place called Symonds Yat.
First of all, we arrived at the base for the company we used, Canoe the Wye
Got ourselves signed in, were advised to go for a walk to the river so that we would recognise the landing point on the way back - basically we knew we'd have to 'look for the big rocks' and a pebbly beach which would probably be rammed with loads of ankle biters paddling in the water. After we familiarised ourselves with this we went back to get our kit. Lifejackets, paddles, and a big dry barrel that we could store our stuff in so it would be safe and dry, should we capsize. No bloody way! I had no desire to fall in. We were also given a 'map'.
I've never been able to remember the difference between kayaks and canoes, but for us it was Canadian canoes - we went with my stepson and daughter in law, Gareth and Chelsea, who incidentally also joined us for the Segway challenge AND the Bird of Prey day as well. So, two canoes for us, a couple in each. This is what I mean:
By the way, for this blog I'm pretty gutted - because of the potential risk of capsizing, I woosed out and locked my camera in the dry barrel which is such a shame as I could have taken so many cool pictures. Instead I only have a few photies. So we eventually got geared up:
There was then a safety briefing which was fun, and useful, we were told what we should do should we capsize, how to best avoid capsizing and then how to steer. Then got in a boiling hot minibus for the short drive to Kerne Bridge which would be our starting point.
It was when we reached Kerne Bridge, our starting point, that I realised that perhaps this wasn't the best idea I've ever had. Everybody was supposed to muck in to get the canoes off the trailer and down to the launch area. Now, I totally believe in team work and mucking in, and I really really WEALLY wanted to help, but I couldn't. I tried, but had to stand back. Why? Think I've mentioned it before but I've got a bit of a screwed right arm and shoulder. And have had for three years now. It took a while to eventually get a diagnosis but I basically developed a pretty bad case of something called frozen shoulder, which is over quickly for some people, but for others like myself it can take three to five years to resolve - and even then I will never completely regain full use and strength. I've described it before like being my 'broken wing'. So basically, canoeing was maybe not my cleverest idea! But - haven't let it stop me trying things before and was happy to give this a go.
So eventually, off we went. Me and Stewart in one canoe, Gareth and Chelsea in the other. Because in Canadian canoes you have one paddle per person I had thought that I could use my good arm and be OK, but for 10 miles there's no way you could keep that up so I had no choice but to keep swapping. Stewart knows that I was trying my best and paddling away but I don't think he was that impressed with how much it was actually working or getting us anywhere! But I like to think he couldn't have done it without me. I have no photos of us - camera being locked in the dry barrel - but try and use your imagination and pretend these are us.
Even though it was truly bloody hard work, it was just such a glorious day and the scenery down the river is just gorgeous. It was SOOO peaceful, well, it was when Stewart wasn't belting out the theme tune to Hawaii 5-0! We saw lots of wildlife, the obvious ducks and geese and swans and also pheasants, and cows and sheep actually in the water trying to cool down. Symonds Yat is famous as well for its peregrine falcons but we didn't spot any. When you do this trip it is possible to stop off at a couple of places for a rest and a picnic but we just kept going. It was quite tough and the boat wasn't the most comfortable. And my right arm was in absolute agony, but as it was my idea in the first place I pretty much had to put up and shut up. Eventually, after probably a couple of hours, we spotted the big rocks and headed for the landing bitty which DID have a lot of ankle biters in the water, we just had to shout at them to get out the way, and QUICK as the canoes are big and heavy and could easily take out little uns. I'd say that from a physical point of view this was probably the toughest challenge for me. My shoulder has impinged on some of the things I've done previously - archery, the indoor skydive - even the zipwire - but this is where it was most noticeable. But, I'm not whinging, it didn't stop me and thankfully I had Stewart to help. Once we were all back on dry land it was straight to the famous Symonds Yat riverside pub, Ye Olde Ferrie Inn for pints and wine. We'd so earned it!
