50. Alum Bay and the Glass Vase

Well, I spent my 51st birthday on the Isle of  Wight and finished off my 50/50  experiences with a a trip to Alum  Bay and a ride on the rickety old chairlift down to the beach.

Steven then treated me to this beautiful iridescent vase from the glass studios there. It is a tall blue glass vase with green/yellow/purple overlay and looks stunning in the light.

I have really enjoyed the last year and ended up doing some fun things - highlights include not 1, but 2 trips to New York, eating at the restaurant at the top of the BT Tower and amazing  WW1 battlefield tour of Flanders.

I was treated to some great experiences by others such as the Harry Potter Studio tour from Jared, the ride round Central Park in a horse drawn buggy by Mum and an Aqua Massage from Angie!

I also enjoyed learning to crochet from Laura, making my own Christmas wreath, having my DNA tested and even cooking my first home made curry!

I tried to do some good along the way and raised £100 for the Blue Cross, bought a Poppy from the Tower of London and Crowdfunded a charity and a book launch

Although the year is over now, I hope to carry on saying YES to things I might not have done - and have started by being involved in a publicity photo shoot for St Elizabeth Hospice and impulse buying a new car! There is still a long list of ideas that I never got round to doing which I will keep and hopefully cross off  as time goes on.

Thanks to everyone involved along the way and my advice to you all is Give It A Go and Have Some Fun!

2. Purchased a Paul Cummins Ceramic Poppy

This is something that I would have probably thought was a good idea but never got round to doing - so I went and bought one as soon as I could!  

It is a fabulous idea by Paul Cummins and Tom Piper to remember the 888,246 people who died in World War 1 - and they looked stunning against the Tower of London, there were hundreds of people looking at them when we went to see them in September - and the volunteers will be putting them out until November.

My poppy is number 247,779 and the money raised is going to 6 different charities - the Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO), Combat Stress, Coming Home, Help for Heroes, the Royal British Legion and SSAFA (formerly the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association) and could raise up to £15m.

 The poppy will be posted to me in January. You can find out  how to buy one or more information here
http://poppies.hrp.org.uk/