Day Zero Project: Catching Up

I started the Day Zero Project back in October 2010 and after six months of enthusiasm mostly forgot about it. In a fit of New Year-ish-ness I decided to see what else I had checked off since I last posted about the project last April and what I would particularly like to do this year.

So, successes over the last few months:

• 11. Fit comfortably into a pair of size 14 jeans. Yay! I am now the proud owner of three pairs of size 14 jeans which I had to buy as every single pair of jeans (and other trousers) I owned had got to large. Pride forces me to add that a UK size 14 is a US size 12!
• 18. Buy a zoo membership and use it at least 4 times a year. Teyve and I took Rose to zoo at the beginning of the month, which I am sure is at least the fourth time we used our zoo passes, and possibly the fifth.
• 30. Swim in the sea - Spain in August.
• 31. Make a sand castle - ditto. 
• 36. Knit myself a sweater - it wasn't the greatest sweater ever, but I finished on in October.
• 54. Watch the entire series of Upstairs, Downstairs. I think we got to the end of Series 5 in July.

Hmm. Not that many, but it makes a total of 33 out of my original 101 ideas so far. I have also made progress on a number of others. I never imagined there was any chance of doing them all, but it is a fun way of recording ideas for things I would like to do and to at least occasionally encourage me out of my comfort zone.

This year I would like to achieve some of my fitness, reading and decluttering goals. Tevye and I are planning to try to go to the cinema once a month this year, I'm aiming to knit twelve pairs of socks (you can never knit too many socks, and I only made it to seven last year) and I am truly optimistic that I can reach my goal of losing 20 pounds, as I think I have already lost about 12 to 15. You can see my whole list here. 

Seven Quick Royal Wedding Takes: 29th April 2011

 

1. I love, love, loved the dress - simple and elegant, with that gorgeous lace. Though the BBC's description of the 2.7 metre train a "short" bemused me somewhat.

2. I also loved the music. The Church of England does music for big occasions so well. I loved Crown Imperial at the end, and the classic hymns. And I hope those choirboys are going to get a good holiday after all their hard work. They deserve it!

3. The hats! Hat watching while the guests arrived was one of our favourite parts. A couple appeared to be satellite dishes attached to the wearer's head. A tall blue creation looked like something from Star Trek (a milliner boldly going where no woman had been before?) and Princess Bea's attracted almost as much comment on Facebook as The Dress. "Pink octopus" was one of the more polite descriptions. Others were clearly giving their wearers trouble, in particular one so wide brimmed its occupant could only see where she was going by tilting her head backwards.

4. Tevye and the girls bought me a bottle of champagne for Mother's Day (which falls in March or April here) and I had been waiting for a good opportunity to drink it ... today seemed as good as any, so I checked off number 94 from my Day Zero Project list and drank champagne for breakfast. Then some more later to wash down smoked salmon sandwiches (with salmon we didn't eat at Easter because it was still Passover and we couldn't have bread). Very celebratory.

5. A bit of wedding trivia ... the first royal wedding at Westminster Abbey took place on 4 January 1243, when Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of King Henry III, married Sanchia of Provence. Most of the fifteen royal weddings at the Abbey took place during the twentieth century.

6. Courtesy of Sally at Castle In the Sea (or rather, of her daughter), the royal wedding name game. The rules are:

1. You are Lord or Lady Somebody
2. Your first name comes from one of your grandparents.
3. Your hyphenated surname is a combination of your first pet's name and the name of the street you grew up on.

That gives me Lady Blanche Jock-Hollingdon. We didn't have a street name, so I had to go with the place name instead. Tevye could be Lord Felix Joey-Parfett. That's what comes of having a budgie for a pet.

7. And finally, wasn't it nice that it didn't rain, particularly after all the forecasts for showers over the past few days.

Read more quick takes at Conversion Diary

Hadrian's Wall

On our trip up north last weekend we made it as far as Hadrian's Wall.

By the time I got to the top, I needed to sit down. The Romans built on hills to make it harder for the Scots. And for future tourists.

This road from Birdoswald runs beside the wall. As you can see, when the Romans wanted to build a wall from A to B, they went in a very straight line. From west to east:

And east to west:

A little further along this stretch we picked up two hikers who were trying to cram the Hadrian's Wall  east to west coast walk into four days. By the time they reached this point they were hitching as one of them had hurt her ankle. We spotted her limping and were able to save them seven miles by dropping them at the campsite they were aiming for.

I had never visited Hadrian's Wall before, which means I get to check off another World Heritage site for my Day Zero Project list (I'm aiming to visit seven, and along with the two in Budapest that gives me three so far).

Simple Woman's Daybook: 22nd March 2011

Outside my window ... a little grey, but forecast to be a nice spring day. I actually managed to go out without a coat yesterday. So glad it is finally spring!

I am thinking ... about plans for the Easter holidays. Star is spending a long weekend in Devon with a friend. There is likely to be a zoo trip for Cherub and Little Friend N, and Angel and I are planning a mother-daughter shopping trip while Star is away.

From the learning rooms ... Angel has lots of PE this week, preparing for practical GCSE assessments over the next couple of weeks. She came home with aching legs yesterday after three hours of rounders. One of Cherub's topics this week is bird's eye views - their theme this half-term is "In the Air".

I am thankful ... Mum is well on the mend after last week's medical dramas. The antibiotics have done their job and her foot both looks and feels much better.

From the kitchen ... chicken in some shape or form tonight, I think.

I am wearing ... black and white pyjamas.

I am creating ... still working on the aran cardigan and mountain view cardigan. I have a few other project plans building up.

I am going ... away for the weekend with Tevye. Can't wait!

I am reading ...  South Riding by Winifred Holtby, which has gripped me even more than the TV series. I would have finished it before now if life hadn't intervened and curtailed my reading time. Winifred Holtby was a extremely gifted writer. So tragic that this was her last book - she died while still only in her 30s, and South Riding was published posthumously. I'll write a proper review once I finish.

I am hoping ... I can manage to get some studying done today despite having Cherub home sick with a cold.

I am hearing ... Tevye and Cherub discussing breakfast. I really should be getting up!

Around the house ...  Cherub has moved in with Star so that Grandma can have her room. They are the best combination as Angel and Cherub are light sleepers and Star a deep sleeper who is less likely to be disturbed by Cherub. Having said that, if Cherub wakes, Star has been climbing into bed with her to settle her. We keep finding them curled up together.

One of my favourite things ... seeing the beautiful relationship between Cherub and her big sisters.

A few plans for the rest of the week ... trying to get a couple of assignments for my course finished before we go away on Friday; going to watch Star's Year 8 play (Merrick) tonight; doctor's appointment for Mum tomorrow morning (after which we are hoping she will get the all clear to go home); band practice tomorrow evening; archive on Thursday; weekend AWAY!!!!

A picture thought I am sharing ... Happy Thing Number 6 - sharing books with Cherub

 Find instructions and links to other daybooks at The Simple Woman

Simple Woman's Daybook: 7th February 2011

Outside my window ... a day of two halves: overcast, cold and windy this morning; bright and breezy this afternoon.

I am thinking ... mostly about archive stuff.

From the learning rooms ... Space Day for Cherub today. She went off dressed in a starry headdress and wearing a rather oversized magician's cloak decorated with stars and moons - she told me she was a "shooting star". She had been lent an astronaut's outfit, but decided it was "too itchy" and we had to switch to Plan B (a bit of inspired last minute improvisation on my part!).

I am thankful ... for our new wireless printer. Being able to print from any computer, anywhere in the house is wonderful - even more so in comparison to the old printer which would only work with the old laptop, so that files had to be transferred from the iMac to print them.

From the kitchen ... cottage pie tonight, experimental Thai red chicken curry tomorrow.

I am wearing ... jeans, a grey long sleeved t-short, hand knitted socks, earrings.

I am creating ... still socks for my brother (nearly done) and my aran cardigan (back finished, part way up the first front).

I am going ... to try to get to sleep earlier. I have got into the habit of staying awake too late, even when I'm tired.

I am reading ... still The King's Speech, plus lots of archive stuff.

I am hoping ... that Cherub will start sleeping better. She is waking a lot at night again.

I am hearing ... A Question of Sport, because I can't be bothered to get up and turn the TV off. How many decades has that programme been going?

Around the house ... stuff. Too much of it. I am beginning to develop an inner minimalist. One day it will mature and go on a clearing out rampage. It may take a few years, though.

One of my favourite things ... my new desk.

A few plans for the rest of the week ... another nice quiet week, with nothing much out of the ordinary apart from a play date for Cherub tomorrow.

A picture thought I am sharing ... another Day Zero Project completed. I have finally mastered French plaits (braids). Not perfect, but no longer a total mess. It has taken me ten years of trying and failing.

Find instructions and links to other daybooks at The Simple Woman

101 Happy Things

Starting out on another Day Zero Project challenge - take photos of 101 things that make me happy. Here are the first three:

1. My new work space. I bought a cheap desk from IKEA (£35 including delivery) which just fits into the space between my bed and the wall, replacing an old set of drawers that were rather the worse for wear. Getting rid of the drawers also forced me to get rid of lots of junk from inside them.

2. Pretty earrings found when clearing out the drawers, which inspired me to start on another of my challenges - to wear earrings everyday for a month (I have so got out of the habit - I used to wear them all the time, but probably haven't worn them more than a couple of times in the last year).

 3. No. 7 Pink Crush Lipstick. My current favourite colour (not so bright when it is on as it looks in the tube).

Day Zero Project: January 2011 Update

I have checked off two more items from my Day Zero Project list, bringing my total so far to seven:

55. Watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies in a weekend
I actually watched the extended DVD versions of all three over five evenings, but I'm counting it as the equivalent of a weekend.

64. Write a blog post every day for 1 month
Yes, every single day during December. I'm glad I did this one, as it has got me back into the swing of posting regularly. I'm sure I won't keep up daily posts, but I definitely found that the more I posted, the more I thought of things I wanted to post about.

I have made progress on a few others:

* Watched another classic movie (The Miracle on 34th Street, original version)
* Finished two more pairs of socks - or maybe three? I can't check my notes as the Day Zero Project site is down, a victim of its own success as it exceeded its bandwidth and is having to change servers.
* Read two biographies: (1) So Much to Tell by Valerie Grove, about Kaye Webb, the publisher responsible for Puffin children's books in the sixties and seventies (disappointing, as I didn't find her a very sympathetic character); (2) Boris: the Rise of Boris Johnson by Andrew Gimson
* Read more books to Cherub (again, I can't check my list).

Day Zero Project: 101 Achievements

Another item from my Day Zero Project list - write a list of 101 things I've achieved. I found this very difficult to do, but got there in the end - though I took the definition of achievement pretty loosely.

1. Got married
2. Given birth to 3 daughters
3. Learned to talk
4. Learned to walk
5. Passed 10 O levels
6. Passed 3 A levels
7. Learned to play violin and viola
8. Learned to play piano
9. Learned to play the organ
10. Converted to Catholicism
11. Completed a 120 mile sponsored walk
12. Earned a 1st class degree
13. Passed my Ph.D
14. Sung in a choir at the Royal Albert Hall
15. Learned to play the flute
15. Learned to play the trombone
16. Had two articles published
17. Learned to read French
18. Learned to drive
19. Been to an FA Cup Final
20. Been swimming in the Aegean
21. Visited the Acropolis
22. Climbed Mount Snowdon
23. Had tea at the Ritz
24. Visited Jerusalem
25. Been to Lands End
26. Dyed my hair red
27. Had my ears pierced
28. Passed my driving test
29. Crocheted a blanket
30. Bought a house
31. Driven across Europe
32. Taught at university
33. Been awarded an academic Fellowship
34. Learned to ride a bike
35. Played in a symphony orchestra
36. Played in a chamber orchestra
37. Sung a solo in Church
38. Cooked Christmas dinner
39. Been a witness in court
40. Hung wallpaper
41. Sat on a rooftop
42. Driven a tractor
43. Driven a car at 100mph
44. Been to EuroDisney
45. Seen the Sistine Chapel in Rome
46. Kept a blog for five years
47. Mended a puncture
48. Changed a wheel
49. Seen the Mona Lisa
50. Pitched a tent
51. Taught my daughters to read
52. Learned Latin
53. Ridden a motorbike
54. Flown in a hot air balloon
55. Volunteered for a charity
56. Swum a mile
57. Had tea at the House of Lords
58. Earned my own living
59. Passed professional insurance exams
60. Nursed my husband through two operations
61. Played in a brass band
62. Baked my own bread
63. Run a business
64. Hand reared a lamb
65. Spent the night on a train
66. Drunk champagne
67. Driven through a snow storm
68. Walked the pilgrim's mile at Walsingham barefoot
69. Climbed a mountain.
70. Seen a performance by the Royal Ballet
71. Seen the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford
72. Read War and Peace
73. Been through Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin
74. Stayed up all night
75. Seen in the New Year in Trafalgar Square
76. Knitted socks
77. Worked in the old British Library Reading Room
78. Given a paper at an academic conference.
79. Given lectures
80. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
81. Island hopped in Greece
82. Learned to cross stitch
83. Taken part in fantasy role play games
84. Organised birthday parties
85. Played Santa
86. Hiked through a Scottish mountain pass
87. Read aloud to my children
88. Camped in the wild
89. Visited Anne Frank's house
90. Seen the River Danube
91. Been offered a place at Cambridge University
92. Been offered a place on a masters course
93. Ridden on a camel
94. Swum in the Dead Sea
95. Been up a mountain on a cable car
96. Nursed my babies into toddlerhood
97. Laughed a lot
98. Fallen in love
99. Made many friends
100. Never seriously fallen out with a friend
101. Lived a full life for 50 years

Day Zero Project

I came across the Day Zero Project a few weeks ago thanks to Pamela. The idea is to list 101 things you would like to do over the next 1001 days. Given my love of lists and planning I had to give this one a try. Unfortunately my implementation rarely lives up to the planning, but I'm not going to let that dampen my enthusiasm. My birthday seemed such a tidy day to start, so I spent some time over the last week compiling my list. It was hard! 101 is a bigger number than it sounds, but with a bit of help from the prompts at Day Zero and browsing through other lists, I got there. A lot is fun stuff, some more serious. I found it useful to see what I would like to do more of, and the progress I would like to make in various areas. I'm hoping it will make me do more, and putter about online less.

I cut and pasted the entire list into this post. It is long. Please don't feel obliged to read the whole thing!

1 Qualify as an archivist

2 Get a part time job

3 Get a Wii Fit

4 Do Wii Fit at least twice a week for three months

5 Swim twice a week for three months

6 Use the cross trainer twice a week for three months

7 Exercise regularly for a year

8 Swim a mile

9 Do a 20 mile walk

10 Lose 20 pounds

11 Fit comfortably into a pair of size 14 jeans

12 Go to an art gallery

13 Watch an Olympic event live

14 Go to Lincoln Christmas market

15 See a musical in London

16 Attend a ballet

17 See a Play

18 Buy a zoo membership and use it at least 4 times a year

19 Go to the London Aquarium

20 Visit the Eden Project

21 Visit Kew Gardens

22 Ride at least 10 roller coasters

23 See at least 7 UNESCO World Heritage sites

24 Visit Budapest

25 Visit Prague or Vienna

26 Visit Edinburgh

27 Visit every county in England

28 Go on a cruise

29 Go camping.

30 Swim in the sea

31 Make a sand castle

32 Go sailing

33 Knit 12 pairs of socks in a year

34 Knit 6 pairs of socks from Around the World in 26 Socks

35 Knit myself a cardigan

36 Knit myself a sweater

37 Take part in Ravelympics 2012

38 Learn to spin

39 Sew a garment

40 Complete and frame unfinished cross stitch projects

41 Read 10 classic books

42 Read 10 biographies

43 Read 101 books to Naomi

44 Ask 20 friends to suggest one book, and read them all

45 Read a book in one day

46 Do a 48 hour book challenge

47 Spend an afternoon reading at the park

48 Read a book in French

49 Learn conversational Spanish

50 Watch 10 classic movies

51 Spend a rainy day watching movies in my PJ's

52 Watch a film from the year of my birth.

53 Go to the movies once a month for a year

54 Watch the entire series of Lost

55 Watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies in a weekend

56 Create a photo journal for one week

57 Photograph all these tasks as they are completed and blog them.

58 Take a photo of the same place every month for a year

59 Take 101 pictures of things that make me happy.

60 Photograph a sunset

61 Scan my old photos

62 Finish a scrapbook for my mother

63 Start scrapbooks for each of my daughters

64 Write a blog post every day for 1 month.

65 Back up my blog

66 Write a love letter to my husband

67 Write a list of 101 things I’ve already achieved in this lifetime

68 Try 20 new recipes

69 Try out 6 new local restaurants

70 Go to a sushi bar

71 Bake my own bread for a month

72 Learn to play high B flat on the trombone

73 Learn to play Fiddler on the Roof on the violin

74 Clean out the garage

75 Declutter my house

76 Do 40 trash bag challenge

77 Paint my kitchen yellow

78 Redecorate the dining room

79 Go through every item of clothing in my closet and decide what to keep/throw out.

80 Get an iPhone

81 Buy a pair of red shoes

82 Learn how to french braid

83 Wear earrings everyday for a month.

84 Build a snowman

85 Don't complain about anything for a week

86 Go a week without buying anything

87 Be at least 5 minutes early for everything for a week

88 Pay off our mortgage

89 Go on a silent retreat

90 Write a letter to my daughter for her to read on her 18th Birthday.

91 Do the Race for Life

92 Go for a spa day

93 Get a manicure.

94 Drink champagne with breakfast

95 Make champagne cocktails

96 Send flowers anonymously to a friend in need

97 Save one hundred £2 coins

98 Plant a rockery

99 Grow tomatoes

100 Grow sunflowers

101 Complete three items from this list each month