The first time in my life

I have been going once a month to learn how to trim our little JR barney keep his whiskers tidy trim his underneath bits and clip his nails etc.I have also had my eyebrows waxed and eyelash extentions done as part of a deal with DD on a groupon offer at local beauty parlour,eyebrows ok but not the eyelashes they got in the way of my glasses.

Do Cunard know about GN parties, I wonder?
Can they cope with maniac and me?

They would most probably man the lifeboats and set us all adrift !!! would they stock enough at the bar to keep up with all ?

maniac Sorry I have gone off your topic

Do you know how many bars there are on board? I haven't visited them all yet!

Thats OK then shall we leave it up to you to arrange,don't try and get us all on the Captains table in one go we don't want to frighten the poor man.

He's a funny little man who reminds me of that man who played an ukulele!

George Formby?

That's the one!
Must get offmaniacs thread or shell beat me up[cower]

Back to the topic - this year we have acquired our first chickens and today we celebrated our 100th egg!

We've booked a cruise for November on the Nile, first cruise for both of us.

I've finally learned to swim. didn't realise how much wellie you have to put into it!!!

Oh, well done TendringGran! Swimming is such good exercise, and now you know how it doesn't need to be such hard work! I spend ages just floating on my back - although you have to be careful you don't drift into the path of an energetic 'must do six lengths before breakfast' type....

I tried cross-country skiing for the first time with my friend in Switzerland.

In the last 12 months I've joined a performance group (part of U3A), written for it and acted in it.

I've started growing flowers in my garden, as well as the veggies I've been growing for years.

I've re-taken up embroidery and tried my own version of shi sha embroidery, using the thick metallic cover that my husband's nicotine patches come in, instead of little mirrors. Never done shi sha before.

I've done a bit of guerrilla gardening, chucking sunflower seeds wrapped in dried mud over a fence into a bit of wild land fenced off because of subsidence, and planting spare passion fruit vines against said fence. (Passionfuit grows easily from seed and I find little vines popping up all over my garden)

On Friday I went up in a hot air balloon for the first time and it was amazing!!

ga

I like the idea of guerilla gardening, Joan. Did the seeds grow?
Last year I went to Avignon by train for the first time - I usually fly - and loved it. Oh and I visited the British Museum for the first time, at the age of 70!

Did some real, spectacular off roading in a game park in SA where you could only take a 4x4. No, I wasn't driving, but it was amazing. My friend commented that she was sure it was good passive exercise as we were shaken about so much. And DH loved it, sitting in the front with a map, saying "I think that's a track." Bless him; give him a map and he's so happy. Drove all the way down to the hippo pool, but they were happily submersed.

Last year I went kayaking for the the first time. We were on a cruise in the Norwegian Fjords. Fellow passengers thought I was mad but I enjoyed it.

Then later in the year DH (who has never been on a kayak in his life) and I went kayaking in a fast flowing river in France and had to keep going for six hours as there was no turning back.

DH disappeared under water in the first minute - and lost his precious gold signet ring and our camera in the process. I stayed afloat for longer but got thrown out negotiating some rapids and felt pretty shaky after that.

But I would like to go kayaking again - perhaps in our local harbour when it's warm, calm and sunny. The only trouble is it's nearly impossible to get in and out of a kayak when one's knees are on the blink. So I'll take up with a strong young man before trying to paddle my own canoe again.

Everything exciting I have ever done came after I left my husband when I was 39. His idea of fun was fishing for six hours off Chesil Beach, while the girls and I huddled under raincoats.
I love white water rafting, which I have done in the Pyrenees and I will be trying my hand at kayaking in New Zealand next Spring.

Amazing what doesn't go on at Chesil Beach, isn't it?

I have just checked your profile Greatnan and now see that kayaking might be just up your street. But do check the route and the obstacles before you embark, or you'll spend more time under the water than on it. And it could be days before you're reunited with your loved ones!

Good luck.

Thanks, Jack - I will be kayaking with my daughter, her husband and an assortment of her children, not in a river but in the sea in the Abel Tasman National Park. They bought two two-men kayaks last year.
The white water rafting was in an 8-man inflatable - they draw very little water so they can travel safely over rocks and rapids. I was about 56 at the time, and I think the young people were a bit surprised!
I love being in or on the water - I would be under it, rather than snorkeling, if I could carry the gas bottle.

Can I come? Pleeeeeeeeeeeese!

I'll put you in my case!