Service - 40 hours
Myself - 40 hours
Teamwork - 10 hours
Skills - 20 hours
Explore my World - 20 hours
It sounds scary when its written like that but the hours are stacking up apart from one category - Myself. I seen to have a problem doing things for myself. The section is divided into three categories Mind, Body and Heritage.
This is a long post as I'm looking back to 22nd February when I started the award to see what I've actually done for myself.
On 22nd February, with Forest Hall Trefoil Guild, i did a Treasure Trail around Tynemouth . We wandered around Tynemouth searching for answers to clues which helped us to find out the murder of a local dentist. I like knowing about our local heritage and found out new facts about Tynemouth. There was a building I've passed hundreds of times which was actually Tynemouths first train station.
This day was special as we also made our Trefoil Guild promise in front of the Priory.
In June I joined some members of another Trefoil Guild to do a city walk in Newcastle. we started outside the Central Station and meandered through the streets of an area that was once a very select place to live. How often when you walk up Westgate Road do you look above the streets and shops to see the buildings above? At one time all the best families in Newcastle lived in these houses. In a graveyard beside the Evening Chronicle offices I found out that before the 1st World War one of the crypts was opened the body removed and a printing press hidden in it. It was put there so if Britain was invaded there would still be a way of promoting the free press. The same happened in the 2nd World War. Nobody knows what happened to the body! We ended up at St Nicholas' Cathedral and had tea and scones. a lovely morning in good company.
I'm trying something new by writing this blog though I need to develop my skills with this, I want to add links to websites and learn to read the data it produces. I think a few people have read it - even in America. I have also learnt if you press a key and the whole post disappears that I should not panic it is still there in draft form (a heart-stopping lesson learnt today)
I've also tried something new by learning to paint a room. My mum always said she never learnt to paint because if she could do it my dad wouldn't. Well I like that approach so followed that philosophy for years but now I've decided its time to learn to paint. I started with my son's room. He wasn't impressed that he was my first attempt but I had to start somewhere.
What did I learn?
No matter how hard you try, paint will always find the bit of carpet that you don't cover.
A white ceiling has a magnet that attracts your paintbrush even though you actually want to paint the wall
There is no point in finding the roll of masking tape after you have finished
You never have enough paint to finish and have to go out for more.
Will I try it again? Of course but as I'm sure as everyone knows preparation is the key to it all so I will try to be more organised next time.
One of the suggestions for this category is to achieve a dream. When I was a child I went to London with my family and I can remember camping in Slough and I think we went to London Zoo. It might be a false memory but I do know that I have wanted to go for a few years but never got there. This year in April I went to London. I googled London Zoo before I went but decided it was too expensive but on the train down I picked up a leaflet with offers on and one of them was 2 for 1 admission to London Zoo so I decided that was a sign that I had to go. We walked through Regents Park to the Zoo and spent many hours there. I loved it and my favourite animals were the giraffes.
Whilst in London - another sign - the Olympic Park was opened to the public for the first time on the weekend we were there so I had to go. When the 2012 Olympics were on I hoped that one day I would be able to visit the park so with the bribe to my daughter of visiting the Westfield Shopping Centre and to my son of going to a football match at Leyton Orient I got to achieve my dream. The actual arena was still closed but we had a wander round and I took many photos of the ArcelorMittal Orbit but couldn't persuade anyone to go up it. I'll just have to go back sometime (maybe another dream for the Silver award.)
Well if you've stuck with me through that well done, looks like I'm not doing too bad for that section - need to check it all is acceptable but it even if it doesn't its a record of some good times and as a learning point for writing blogs, do posts more often so that they are not too long.
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