Daily Archives: December 31, 2013

So how did I do?

‘To Do’ list for 2013!

Try something new

I needed to find a new hairstylist. It took two efforts. The first girl I tried, asked what I wanted, then went and did her own thing, she was a FRINGE person. A no eyebrows fringe person. That should have been a clue, so I changed again in August and so far so good.

Take an unplanned, spur-of-the-moment trip.

I combined this with: ‘Document “A Day In My Life” in photos’, see below.

Visit a cultural icon.

I did visit Elly several times this year, does she count? 😉 Back in April, while staying with Elly & George, I found The Wonderful Barn, a corkscrew-shaped barn built in 1743 on the edge of Castletown House Estate, which borders Leixlip and Celbridge, Ireland. The stairs ascends around the exterior of the building and it is flanked by two smaller dovecote towers.

Wonder if I can count the Shandon Bells here?

Give a sincere compliment every day for a month.

It was November before I got round to this one. Although I was not outdoors every day I managed to compliment at least one person everyday. If it was not face to face, then it happened by phone, Skype, Facebook or, twitter.

Clear out 12 cupboards of clothes and household items that I am un-lightly to use again – one a month.

I did manage a good clear out this year, passing many items to charity. I may begin again come the new year and reduce things a little more – sure it will make Elly’s job easier when I cock my toes! 😉

Make three renovations.

On target, two outdoors and one inside completed.

Try to arrange for a coffee shop to begin ‘A Coffee for the Wall’ idea. 

This was a failure, but you cannot win every time.

See a play in a theatre every other month.

I only managed a few – ‘ground kissing’ kinda got in the way! Mind you, one was part of the Dublin Fringe, in which I had some input.

Attending Classical concerts.

Only three at the Ulster Hall, blame the ground kissing again. 🙁

Visit at least 3 museums or stately homes that I haven’t been to before.

Two museums visited, one in Dublin and the other in Cork.

Pamper myself with a manicure.

In my clear out I discovered a battery operated manicure/pedicure set. All it took was a newly recharged couple of batteries and it made easy work of achieving this aim. Atrixo hand cream (green tub) worn over night under cotton gloves, has really helped to improve my hands! It works wonders on cleanly lifting any dry scabs from cuts or scrapes. Make sure the wound is not open.

Take a picture for each letter of the alphabet.

I managed to complete this task and blog about each photo.

Get up and go for a walk as the sun rises.

My aim was to go for a walk and catch the scene as the sun rose. I didn’t manage this one. We had a very cloudy year in my neck of the woods alas the bright mornings were when I was off my feet following falls.

Take a moonlit walk on a beach.

This sounded like a good idea way back last January, but I never managed to be near a beach in the moonlight.

Write a letter to someone I admire.

I finally managed to complete this on yesterday!

Enter a writing contest. Anyone know of a contest that calls for no more than 100 wurds?

I found one calling for one hundred words, and entered! 😀

Kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve – Come on, I might as well dream…. that there is still some life in the old girl yet!

I still have time ….. a chance ….. a very slim outside chance…..

Document “A Day In My Life” in photos.

In July while staying with Elly, I decided to let the train take the strain and went to Cork via Portlaoise. Again I photographed my day and posted about it here.

Pamper myself with a foot massage. 

I do this myself and now make a regular habit of it. When finished, I feel like I could dance all night. 😀 Again, I use the Atrixo hand cream liberally on my feet after my daily shower and just before I put my socks on. Wonderful!

Be a movie extra.

Planet Korda Pictures in association with RTÉ made a documentary film, about all aspects of the cinema-going experience from people of all ages within the island of Ireland. I could not resist adding my tuppenceworth to the stories already gathered. I made the final cut, but you would need to be quick to catch me! The programme was aired on RTÉ on 1st April 2013. I was invited to join the director, producer and other contributors for the showing.

Talk to a stranger everyday. 

Those I counted so far: 443. Back in January I kept a rough count after each outing to see how I was doing and kept this going month by month. During a three week stay in Dublin in July, I did some travelling within Ireland and had a great opportunity to meet new people, fellow passengers on buses and trains, I heard so wonderful life stories and this made the journeys shorter and all the more interesting.The breakdown for the first ten and a half months were 47 – 36 – 51 – 53 – 21 – 44 – 123(July) – 32 – 15 – 11 – 10. My outings were curtailed last September after I was told not to drive for the foreseeable future. I may have left out a few in the latter part of the year but I gave up counting in early November. With the colder weather I stayed closer to home, thus having fewer opportunities to meet new people.

Tame my garden.

Partly done, but may need help to subdue the remaining wilderness.

Grow some vegetables. 

Fail. 🙁 This one will have to wait until next year!

Live until the end of the year. One breath at a time! 

Nearly there! 😉

♥+♥+♥+♥+♥

PS: I have with the help of a team of my Toyboys, brought my old blog up to date. It now has the Twenty Eleven Theme (same as here), It is all bright and cheerful with a header picture and a different coloured background to this one. Over the next couple of weeks we hope to finish moving the latest posts and comments. When the task is completed, I hope to to move back to https://grannymar.com full time, but don’t worry, I will will give you notice. At this stage there are 2,669 Posts produced over the past seven years.

To all my precious Toyboys who played any part in this mammoth task, I pay special tribute and offer heartfelt thanks and a hand-full of virtual hugs! 😀