32 Before 32 - How Did I Do?

 Well I think the answer to that would be probably be 'so-so' accompanied by one of those middling hand movements. 
 

If you look closely you can just see the slight copper/ginger-ish colour in my hair which sort of fulfils number 12 on my list. If you look even more closely, you can see the large bit in the middle which I missed with the hair dye...

 

Let's have a look at how I did on my 32 Before 32 list...

 

1. Go to a bloggers event and learn from other inspirational bloggers
I went to Rosalilium's Blognix event in June 2013 and learnt quite a lot of stuff (full review here) plus I've since been to a few other blogger events as well. Still yet to make it to one of Bristol's Blog Club events though!

 2. Swim in The Tunnels Beaches, Ilfracombe

Nope. Not even close. I'm keeping this one on the list.

 3. Make a really cool 1950's style Christmas dress

I bought the fabric to make a dress and I have a pattern thrifted from a charity shop but operating the pedal on my sewing machine is something I can't do with my dodgy ankle at the moment. I'm gonna keep this one on my list for next year.

 4. Discover a random show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Yep. We went to see 'This Is Your Trial' after spotting a poster at a bus stop during Edinburgh 2014.

 5. Learn to knit
Done. I used the time sat at home after I broke my ankle in September 2014 to get started and my first knitted project was some crutch decorations followed by a scarf, then a hat and I even made some knitted advent calendar bunting.

 6. Walk up Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh

Nope.

 7. Go to a swishing event
Yep. Me and my friend M went to an event in Warminster in October 2013 where I managed to pick up quite a few items of clothing - pictures here and here.

 8.  Do some more work on my family history
Sort of. I ordered some war records for my grandfather and great-grandfather, they arrived and were really quite interesting. There's still lots more I could do but for the moment I'm counting that as one completed methinks.

 

 9. Have a bonfire night/fireworks party
Nope.

 

 10. Visit Arnos Vale Cemetary
We visited once in 2013 when we were Gromit-hunting but we still haven't managed to find the time to go back. Next year hopefully we'll fit it in.

 

 11. Give my wardrobe an overhaul
We have the wardrobes, we bought them back at the start of the summer but they're still in their boxes waiting to be unpacked. Once we've assembled them, I'll be going through all my stuff and sorting it all out.

 

 12. Take the plunge and dye my hair a coppery colour
Kind of done; I dyed my hair for the first time ever in December 2014 with a light copper colour but it ended up being not quite as bright as I'd planned.

 

 13. Complete the NHS Couch to 5K programme
Well we started it (several times) and each time only got to about week three before either it got dark/rainy/busy (i.e. we just got lazy). I don't think running is something I'll be doing anytime soon either.

 

 14. Start digitalising our huge CD collection
I digitised quite a lot of our CDs and we bought a lovely new cabinet from Ikea to store the few ones we're keeping so I'm crossing this off as done.

 

 15. Practice driving Andrew's lorry
I did this a bit last year at one of the steam rallies we took Andrew's lorry to but haven't had much of a chance to do it this year.

 

 16. Have some summer BBQs with friends in our back garden
We had a BBQ with both our families and had some friends round, not for a BBQ but instead Andrew's 4 year old godson helped weed the garden which we thought was excellent.

 

 17. Make a Christmas pudding from scratch
Nope.

 

 18.  Go to London and watch Matilda the Musical again
Yep, managed to complete this in the evening of my 32nd birthday last weekend.

 

 19. Plan an amazing party for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary in December 2014
Well, their anniversary is on 26th December but they've decided they don't want a huge party. We did plan a big party for mother-in-law's 70th though back in July and even better, she didn't realise what was going on till she turned up at the hall so I'm claiming that as a win.

 

 20. Plan, package and post some pretty letters
I joined Miss Beatrix's Post Circle and sent off some bloggy gift swaps - a Summer Gift Swap, a Secret Santa Swap, a Thrifty Christmas Gift Swap and a couple of Blogger Book Swaps.

 21.Make some bunting for my conservatory
I have the bits and pieces for it, just haven't got round to making it.

 

 22. Finish all my half-started mending and sewing projects
I did quite a lot of darning and stitching while I've been off work and at the moment, I think my sewing basket only contains things which need mending on the sewing machine so I'm crossing this off as pretty much completed.

 

 23. Attend the second study school of my postgraduate degree
Done. I had a week studying and partying in Aberystwyth in September 2013. My top tips for distance learning can be found here.

 24. Make time to go on some dates with my amazing husband

Well, we've been on quite a lot of dates out to theatre shows and comedy gigs and also discovered lots of new places to eat (Bagel Boy (thanks Lily!) and also Grillstock). So I have kind of completed this one, I think the problem is just that after almost 8 years of marriage, both myself and Andrew don't tend to see them as dates!


 25. Explore the cycle paths around our area

Nope. And cycling a bike is something else I won't be able to do for a long time.


 26. Re-upholster my Great Aunt's wicker chair and wicker storage box

I started with this one; I bought the fabric and cleaned the chair and box thoroughly but haven't actually done the upholstery yet. A task for the quiet months in the New Year methinks.


 27. Carry on with my long-running 2002 Golden Jubilee cross stitch sampler

Now this probably needs a bit of an explanation. I have a large sampler celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II which I started cross-stitching in 2002. It's now 2014 (almost 2015) and she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee the other year. The sampler's about a third completed and I should probably write a blog post about it really. This one is staying on the list for the '33 before 33' post.


 28. Take a picnic to Chew Valley Lake and share an afternoon with the ducks

No, we didn't manage this one although we did spend several lunchtimes at work with the ducks there. The problem with Chew Valley Lake is that they charge for parking which puts us off going.


 29. Go to Library Camp Bristol and spend a day with fellow library enthusiasts
Yep, done back in July 2013 when I went to Library Camp South West - full review here.

 30. Raise money for a good cause by taking part in the Marie Curie Cancer Care Ladies Driving Challenge
This one wasn't to be unfortunately as I found out earlier this year that Marie Curie were no longer running the driving days. However, as well as driving weird and wonderful vehicles, it was also about raising money and I did raise £204.60 at work by wearing silly jumpers and selling cakes for Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day back in December 2013. I'm crossing that off as completed as I reckon I made more money that way than I would've done by driving vehicles.

 31. Learn to ice skate properly (instead of hovering near the handrail)

No can do. The last time I went ice skating was at Somerset House in December 2012 (which was amazing) but I reckon my ankle won't ever be strong enough now to support my weight on the ice.


 32. Walk up to the Stone Circle at Glastonbury Festival for an spectacular view of the show
At Glastonbury Festival 2013 I did walk up to the Stone Circle, but unfortunately a large amount of the view was obscured by trees. Pictures of random trees can be found here.

So that makes 16 out of 32 completed and 4 others started or halfway there. That's a 50% success rate - pretty respectable methinks.  I'm about halfway through putting together a '33 Before 33' list which hopefully I'll be able to share on here next week.

 

Have you got a similar list? How are you doing with yours?