Challenge 4 - EAT HAGGIS

I love food and have never refused to eat anything offered to me, so it made finding something that I had not tried before quite difficult.  Vegetarians look away now, but so far in my gastronomic life I have eaten - and enjoyed - bugs in the jungle, whole little birds complete with feathers in France, bulls balls and brains (separately) in Spain, as well as many unrecognisables around the world.  What could I find to challenge my taste-buds on the south coast of England?

Haggis was the answer  Despite practically being able to see Scotland from my childhood home, I had never sampled the delights of the 'wee beastie'.  So, with good company and a thirst for whisky, I took myself along to a Burns Evening in a fabulously posh establishment, and consumed my first Haggis - surrounded by lots of men in skirts and a few in what can only be described as pyjama trousers.  Delicious.  Haggis and I are friends for life.  Whisky and I are even better friends - Dad would be proud!

To my vegetarian friends, I apologise for the carnivorous content - one of my future challenges is to be meat-free for a month, so your revenge awaits.

Challenge 3 - LEARN A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

This challenge is started but by no means finished.  I am now an L-plate saxophonist, who has already learnt how to put the saxophone together, play B A G and C, tongue (not as exciting as it sounds) and most importantly look cool (the photos below might suggest otherwise).  I also held a long note today for 27 seconds which my teacher assures me is truly fabulous - a testament to my big lungs!! My repertoire so far consists of Three Blind Mice and Hot Cross Buns, but I like to think that I bring my own bluesy interpretation to them.  Gerry Rafferty should be relieved that he departed this earth, just as I picked up the sax for the first time with ambitions of massacring Baker Street before the year is out. RIP

Follow my progress but earplugs are advisory.

Challenge 2 - Blog!

I am blogging, therefore I am completing challenge 2 and you are all sharing in it.  Until a month ago, I didn't know what a blog was and to be honest I still don't.  I have never read one, and after this year will probably never write another.  However, I agreed to blog my year, so here goes.  All I know is, that to a technophobe and luddite like myself, this is the scariest challenge I shall undertake.  I feel naked, exposed, vulnerable and just a little presumptious in thinking that anyone out there might be interested in my antics.  However, if you are, I thank you, and I hope you enjoy the ride - just bear in mind it will be on the teacups and not the big dipper!  Allergic to adrenalin, remember?

No photos -sorry - too boring!  However I am currently drinking a glass of bubbly to celebrate joining the 21st century - that's bringing a smile to my face, if not yours, so job done. Bottoms up. x

Challenge 1 - PLAY THE BAGPIPES

This challenge kindly presented itself to me, barely 1 minute into my fiftieth year, and I seized it with both hands, both physically and metaphorically. To be fair, it wasn't even on my list, but should have been.  What an omission. We were celebrating the New Year in Germany (Burgberg near Sonthofen near Oberstdorf for any geographers or sad sacks among you), to the sound of a lone kilted piper playing 'Auld Lang Sang, when the music stopped and the pipes passed into my hands.  Eager for my first 'new' experience, I grabbed the opportunity and the instrument.  I blew, I pumped, I blew, I pumped, I blew, I pumped until eventually the beautiful sound of Amazing Grace with double harmonies rang out among the hills.  That's how I heard it, - everyone else bizarrely heard a long and flat farting noise.  Still, first tick on my list, and the adventure had begun.

Who and why

Like Amnesty International I will be turning 50 this year - it has crept up on me, because last time I checked I was only 31.  My head is still in its early thirties with little forays into its teens, but my body reminds me now that I am in fact 49.  I refuse to be scared - it is an adventure with a little dose of arthritis and alzheimers thrown in.  So, with the help of my dear and often vindictive friends and family, I have compiled a list of 50 things I want to achieve in my 50th year.  Certain rules apply - I must be doing them for the first time, they must bring a smile to someone's face, they must be adrenalin free (I'm allergic to over-excitement!), and if they embarrass my children, that's a bonus.  I am not publishing the list, as it is fluid and still open to suggestions, but I will share each new experience with you.