Extreme Knitting Redhead: 50 things I've never done before

Friday, June 22, 2007

50 things I've never done before

At the start of this year I decided that it should be full of new experiences so it would be an extra special year to remember. But, I didn't write anything down so I'm just going to jot some of the things down on here as I do them otherwise I'll forget what I've done! In no particular order:

1. Do more than 2 marathons in a year (6 so far!)
2. Run an ultra marathon (over 26.2 miles) - done 2!
3. Knit a pair of gloves
4. Try FairIsle knitting
5. Knit my way round the London marathon
6. Get a Guinness World Record
7. Appear on national/local television
8. Do a live TV interview
9. Attract interest from the national newspapers (not just the local ones) for the work of the Alzheimers Research Trust
10. Make Elderflower cordial
11. Go to a performance by Michael Collins (clarinettist)
12. Knit in a public place
13. Start a blog - oh yes to that one!
14. See Peter Katin (pianist) play live
15. Run a marathon with a balloon attached to me!
16. Try willow weaving
17. Try enamelling (albeit briefly)
18. Visit the De La Warr Pavillion in Bexhill-on-Sea
19. Collect shells on the beach at Glyne Gap
20. Visit the Science Centre at Herstmonceux
21. Go to England's Medieval Festival at Herstmonceux Castle
22. Try my hand at 'horse whispering'
23. Win a competition (see here at Peruvian Connection)
24. Stay up and watch the Swift-Tuttle meteor shower
25 Ride a Haflinger pony (and buy one into the bargain!)

Wish List:
Knit some socks
Knit a lace shawl
Auction something on eBay
Walk or run our Parish boundary (or as near as I can using the footpaths)
Race a 5k (although I've run several, they've always been for charity and I've never actually raced to see how fast I can do it)
Make a clay pot and smoke fire it in a pit or maybe a dustbin outside
Make Rosehip syrup
Visit All Saints Church, Tudeley to see the Chagall stained glass windows
Organise a local team for the Cancer Research UK 'Race for Life'
That's as far as I've got with it but I'll come back and add things as I think of or do them. It's quite hard to think of interesting things! As I'm now officially in my 50s I shall try to complete these things before I turn 51. It will be interesting to see which, if any, fall by the wayside.

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Mum's Story

In 1997 my mother, then aged 81, had a series of minor strokes. Shortly after that we started to notice behavioural changes notably memory loss and confusion over everyday items. We thought it was just old age finally catching up with her. Then she started wandering and had violent mood swings. Although she already lived with us it became obvious that she couldn't be left alone for long and so I left my job to care for her. The next few years saw a gradual decline into the blackness that is 'vascular dementia'. My normally placid mum became violent and aggressive. She had psychotic incidents where she would see imaginary people (children hiding in her wardrobe, Russians sitting on the stairs, women stealing her clothes) and she would shout at them and sometimes throw things too. She was so convincing that we used to go and check that there wasn't anyone there! When my sister died mum did not know who Judy was or that she was her daughter. There came a point when I suddenly realised she no longer knew that I was her daughter and this was a terrible time for me. In the last 2 years that she lived with us, life for us all became almost unbearable as she needed 24 hour care - she couldn't be left alone at all because she would either wander off or hurt herself, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time during the night, she became incontinent and incapable of doing anything for herself. Finally my husband and I realised that we could no longer provide her with the care that she needed and she went to live in a special care home where the team did a splendid job caring for her in the last few months of her life. There she lived a zombified existence unaware of who she was, what she was or where she was. It was heartbreaking. She died in March 2005, the day after her 89th birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to read mum's story and I hope you'll dig deep and sponsor me using the link below to help find a way of beating this destructive disease.