My abseil adventure

A 150ft cliff, a set of ropes, a thorn bush, and me....when you put it all together you have the makings of a disaster.

Though I am proud to say that I completed a charity abseil down Uphill Quarry with just a cut elbow, a few scratches and aching muscles.

I had organised an abseil in aid of Sunshine Hospital Radio, and in my role as fundraiser this not only meant me taking part, but also being the first one down the sheer cliff face.

Sensibly (or stupidly?) I had not visited the site to see I would be throwing myself off, so when I arrived I was not prepared for the size of the drop.
I so convinced that the instructor was joking when he pointed to the cliff that it took him a while to convince me he was not.
But before I would be attempting to abseil down the cliff I had another challenge to overcome - correctly putting on the safety harness.
Now anyone who knows me will know that a safety harness is a very good idea. Two safety harnesses would be even better.
First I had to master the strange looking contraption, which once I had struggled into it was as uncomfortable as it looked.
After a short practice session on the ground, where I managed to fall on my bottom, we headed up the steep climb to the top.
Putting on a brave face, with gale force wind battering me, I inched towards the edge of the cliff, preparing to descend.
Above all the hardest part was actually taking the first steps off, and I was shaking so much that I could hardly feel the rope.
However after some coaching from the lovely instructor I was over the top, and on the side of the cliff.
At this stage I had a false sense of confidence, and even managed to wave at the supporters on the ground.
The confidence lasted until I was half way down where the cliff side seemed to slope in and I lost my footing.
This resulted in my spinning round, and ending up facing the other way, which highly amused everyone watching.

After a bit of motion sickness I managed to steady myself and carry on, at a much faster pace as I was so keen to get to the bottom.

Once I reached the bottom I gracefully  landed in a thorny bush, instead of the flat, clear ground that had been marked out for us.

The pain from the thorns was welcome though, as it meant I was on the ground, not suspended 50ft up spinning round and round.

Now that I have safely completed the abseil I feel a sense of pride, though I am in no hurry to ever do it again!

Well done to everyone else from Sunshine radio who completed the abseil, and thank you to all the people who came along to support us.

Things to do before I am 30!

Ok, so in 1 month and 1 weeks time (or 41 days) I will turn 26. While age is only a number 26 has always been my 'scary' age. I can no longer say I am in my 'mid twenties', and instead have to face the fact that I am on the downward slope to 30. So I have decided to embrace that fact, and have complied a list of things i want to do before I reach the big 3 0. Over the next four years I have set myself the challenge of completing them all.

I would love to hear your suggestions, and if I like the sound of them I will add them to my list! Wish me luck!!

*Go in a hot air balloon

*Go in a helicopter

*Visit Australia

*Own a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes

*Get a new car with power steering, and electric windows (and not one that is prone to breaking!)

*Write a book

*Do an abseil

*Visit New York and do the Sex and the City and Friends tours

*Go paragliding

*Learn how to whistle

*Swim with a dolphin

*Go snorkelling

*Make an origami animal

*Go wingwalking

*Win a toy on one of the grab games

*Hit a bulls eye on the dartboard

My almost cake disaster!

I am useless at baking. I am always envious of people who manage to make delicious cakes with seemingly the minimum of effort. However there are moments when I kid myself that it is not that hard, and that I can make tasty treats from scratch.

One such incident was when I decided to hold a charity cake sale, and needed to bake something to sell.

Mum beat a hasty retreat from the kitchen when at 7pm one evening I decided to create my masterpiece. Fairy cakes were the plan, as they looked pretty simple.

Following a recipe from one of mum’s old cook books I was ready to go. All started off well, with me carefully weighing out the ingredients, and putting them in the bowl. Disaster was narrowly averted by mum, who informed me that I needed a tea spoon of baking power, not a table spoon!

However chaos seems to follow me around, and I ended up wearing most of the ingredients when I got a bit too adventurous with the electric mixer. A quick clean up and an apron later and I was ready to try again.

This time it went to plan, and I soon had cakes in the oven cooking. Feeling smug I was ready for my next challenge, making the icing.

20 minutes later, there was water and icing sugar over the floor, and a bright blue runny mess in my bowl. So I did what I usually do in times of need, admit defeat and call for mum. She is used to sorting out my messes, but I don’t think she expected to be making icing and washing the kitchen floor at 10pm at night though!

With mum on the case things went much more smoothly, and soon there was a line of neatly iced cakes. Step forward guinea pig Dad, who was given the task of trying a cake. He looked pretty apprehensive, but is still alive to tell the tale, so I believe my baking attempt was a success.

Relieved I put the cook book away, and packed the cakes into tins. Next time I am thinking of buying cakes from Tesco, and passing them off as my own. I think mum would approve of this plan!