Trying to keep track of where I'm up to:

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1 of 70 Start a BLOG

2 of 70 Make my own birthday cake = trifle

3 of 70 Watch a Little Owl fly

4 of 70 Try Pithivier (new food)

5 of 70 vist The Black Bull, Old Langho Village (new place, never been there before)

6 of 70 Have my HAIR DYED BLUE

7 of 70 Go into a pawnbroker's shop

8 of 70 List things for sale in Facebook Marketplace

9 of 70 Buy something through Vinted online

10 Proofread a doctoral thesis (ongoing)...

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11 Try Sri Lankan curry - Amba Maluwa with Sambol

12 Dip (and drip) in Bath's thermal spa

13 Go inside Bath Abbey

14 Watch the whole Academy Awards ceremony "the Oscars" live on TV.

15 Create a This Is My Life! photograph album covering all 70 years (ongoing)...

16 Attend Cathedrals Group Universities Choir Festival in Chester.

17 Watch a live performance of new play The Motive and the Cue by Jack Thorne, filmed at the National Theatre in London but showing on screen in Chester.

(See the sun rise and set on the same day. Didn't manage this.)

18 Venturing inside a betting shop.

19 Placing a bet on a horse race (the Grand National).

20 Becoming a member of the Parochial Church Council (PCC).

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21 Being woken from a deep sleep by police officers knocking at the door.

22 New food "South Indian comfort food" at Dabba, Chester - tried a dosa and blueberry lassi (I'd had mango lassi before but not blueberry). Delicious.

X Didn't happen! Tried to see the aurora borealis = northern lights visible over much of the UK 10.05 - 11.05.2024. Try again!

23 New drink: Bubble tea (not with tapioca pearls; mango flavour from Costa) didn't like it much.

24 Visited Royden Country Park on the Wirral at the right time to see the laburnum arch in full bloom inside the walled garden (new place).

25 Bought DNA testing kit and sent my sample to Ancestry.

26 Bought a National Lottery (lotto) ticket.

27 New drink/dessert: tried Affogato at Sergio's, Chester: vanilla ice-cream, a shot of Amaretto liqueur, and half a cup of espresso coffee stirred together.

28 Attended a class teaching Makaton (for church worship).

29 New drink: watermelon lemonade (at M&S).

30 Picked my own strawberries - Claremont Farm, Wirral.

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31 Took part in Chester Heritage Festival, selling copies of the anthology 30 Years of Chester Writers, during a series of heritage talks, and at open mic event The Word on the Street.

32 Tried the local beer in Glen Affric brewery, in Birkenhead where I was born.

33 Visited Birkenhead Priory (900 years old).

34 Ate in a restaurant (Frankie's and Benny's) where the food is brought to the tables by robots.

35 Listened to Sliced Bread podcast by Greg Foot on BBC Radio about the value and meaning of results from Ancestry DNA kits.

HALF WAY THROUGH!

​36 Sent two films (my front garden and my back garden) to BBC Gardener's World, hoping they'll show one of them on TV.

37 Successfully completed a Sudoku (NY Times easy puzzle).

38 Visited BEYOND VAN GOGH immersive exhibition in ecl Liverpool.

39 Organised a (house)painting party for a friend.

40 Met my sister in the dark to watch the Perseid metior shower (plus second - failed - attempt to see the Northern Lights).

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41 Wrote (copied) a message, to accompany a gift, in Ukrainian.

​42 Pruned a fig tree.

43 Had a lesson in beekeeping from a friend who's training to be a master beekeeper.

44 hiked barefoot along Bamburgh beach for miles.

45 visit Alnwick Castle.

46 made a clay tile in mediaeval fashion - lesson.

47 spent a whole day in Barter Books sencond hand book shop (and cafe).

48 came close (touching distance) to little owls and barn owls in Alnwick market place.

49 had solar panels fitted on the roof of my house.

50 joined a Pilates class.

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51 tried pink chai.

52 had gel nails painted on with a flowere on the ring fingers.

53 ate a baked sweet potato.

54 went into a tattoo parlour, talked to tattoo artists, didn't like the artwork on the walls!

55 tried gingerbread latte (Costa) and pumpkin spice latte (Starbucks).

56 signed up for NaNoWriMo.

57 went to Harrogate Theatre for An Evening with Monty Don ( presenter of BBC television's Gardener's World)

58 visited Ripley Castle in Yorkshire

59 made our own 2D Christmas tree

60 had a picnic on Christmas day

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61 saw a kingfisher in Britain on the Shropshire Union canal (& two weeks later a pied kingfisher diving in the River Nile)

62 drank hot eggnog (nightcap)

63 read books by authors I hadn't read before

64 went to Egypt, in Africa

65 and visited Aswan, Kom Ombo, Philae, Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, and Hurghada (all new places)

66 sailed on a cruise ship for a week down the River Nile

67 African wildlife: touched a (pet) crocodile; saw a hoopoe; three camels with riders passed me in the street.

68 Watched sunrise and sunset on the same day

69 swam in the Red Sea

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70 spent my (January) birthday on the beach. Sat under a palm tree. Drank a Red Sea special rum cocktail.

                  THE END

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