# 50 Things To Do While I'm 50



## TheClockworkDodo (May 20, 2016)

On my birthday thread, I mentioned that instead of having one big celebration for my 50th, I'm trying to do 50 small celebratory things instead, and @Northerner asked me to keep you updated.

So, for anyone who's interested, here are my first three (they are mostly photos, I have managed to curb my tendency to waffle!):

1) Walk in Cotswold Water Park

2) Eat A Summer Pudding

3) Visit A Special Garden

More coming soon!


----------



## Diabeticliberty (May 20, 2016)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> On my birthday thread, I mentioned that instead of having one big celebration for my 50th, I'm trying to do 50 small celebratory things instead, and @Northerner asked me to keep you updated.
> 
> So, for anyone who's interested, here are my first three (they are mostly photos, I have managed to curb my tendency to waffle!):
> 
> ...





Oh my giddy aunt. I quite literally salivated at the first photo. Then I saw the second and went straight to the fridge but all I could find was a 4 day old corned beef sandwich with the corners curled up. Your third picture is the best of the crop. Actually no, they all made me beam from ear to ear . I cannot wait for your next instalment​


----------



## Diabeticliberty (May 20, 2016)

PS very happy 50th. Sorry I almost forgot to add that


----------



## Caroline (May 20, 2016)

Happy 50th birthday. Hope you have a good one and complete everything on your list


----------



## Annette (May 20, 2016)

I hope you dont mind my asking, but in the summer pudding blog you mention you cant eat non organic soft fruit. Do you know what it is they put on/spray (I'm assuming thats the problem) that you are sensitive to? I'm trying to be as organic in my veg/fruit garden as I can, but some of the info put out by organic associations is just ridiculous!


----------



## Northerner (May 20, 2016)

Absolutely beautiful


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (May 20, 2016)

Thank you all  and @Diabeticliberty thanks for your compliments about my pictures   Not all of my other 50 things will be quite so photogenic! - but Heale Garden in particular does lend itself well to photography - I think I must have taken eighty or so shots and it took me quite a while to whittle them down to the 19 in the post!

Thanks too DL and Caroline for your birthday wishes - the actual day was last month, but I'm quite happy to take birthday wishes all year


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (May 20, 2016)

@Annette Anderson - I'm sorry, I don't know which chemical it is on the soft fruit which is a particular problem for me.  I have multiple chemical sensitivity, which means I have an allergic-type reaction to all chemicals.  I garden completely organically myself, but I can eat non-organic apples, pears, melons, grapes, peaches, etc, just not currants or berries, especially blueberries, so it's either something which is used just to spray soft fruit, or it's something about the way the soft fruit absorbs the chemical.  I'm sorry, that's not much help, is it!

All I can tell you is that non-organic soft fruit tastes like I'm taking a mouthful of chemicals, really horrible   And R can taste it too, although he doesn't have MCS - living in a completely chemical-free household means he notices chemicals much more than other people would.  Neither of us can eat supermarket bread either because it tastes of the perfume used by people involved in making/packing/selling it


----------



## trophywench (May 20, 2016)

Lovely pics of photogenic subjects - including the pudding - haven't had one of them for donkey's years.  I defo am salivating ....  LOL

And I should say I'll be glued to the screen early evenings next week - cos Chelsea Flower Show will be on so more salivation - so it isn't just the pud that did it!


----------



## Stitch147 (May 21, 2016)

Lovely pics. Can't wait to see what else you get up too.


----------



## Flower (May 21, 2016)

Lovely pictures. The Cotswold Water Park is one of my favourite areas to spend time, it is just such a beautiful part of the world


----------



## trophywench (May 21, 2016)

I've been there exactly twice - attempting to learn to water ski, with friends!  LOL


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (May 21, 2016)

Thank you all, glad you liked the photos 

Oh yes, Jenny, I will be glued to Chelsea all week too 

We hadn't been to the Cotswold Water Park until we moved here, now it is just down the road.  Are you in the Cotswolds too, @Flower?  I know several people here are, but haven't quite taken in which, sorry!


----------



## stephknits (May 21, 2016)

Lovely photos and a great blog.  Look forward to seeing/reading more.  I definetely want to visit more gardens after looking at it.


----------



## Carolg (May 21, 2016)

Happy birthday and a lovely idea-I couldn't find them, but enjoyed them through all,the lovely comments


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (May 21, 2016)

Thank you, Steph.  I thoroughly recommend Heale House if you are ever in the Salisbury area!

Thanks, @Carolg, but sorry you couldn't find the blog posts  - do you mean the links wouldn't work for you, or that you couldn't see the links at all?  If the latter, they are in the first post of the thread - you just need to click on the blue bits starting walk, eat, and visit to see the photos.


----------



## Carolg (May 21, 2016)

I will try thanks


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (May 24, 2016)

Here are a couple of quick - and much less photogenic - ones:

4) Have Some Smoked Cheese

5) Buy Someone An Unbirthday Present

I've already done another three or four so there will be some more interesting ones shortly, as soon as I have time to sort the pics


----------



## stephknits (May 24, 2016)

So, what was in the box?!


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (May 24, 2016)

Ah, that'd be telling ... 

I didn't want to say yet, because it would give away the next one of my 50 things, so I want to post that first.


----------



## Diabeticliberty (May 24, 2016)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> Ah, that'd be telling ...
> 
> I didn't want to say yet, because it would give away the next one of my 50 things, so I want to post that first.




This is most unfair . I am the most impatient man that ever drew breath.  As a kid I used to dig out all the Christmas pressies when my mum and dad went out to see what they had stashed away. Could you not just tear the wrapping on the corner a little bit and at least allow us all a bit of a sneaky look? I promise that I won't repeat what's in there. Honest I won't


----------



## trophywench (May 24, 2016)

Got us all hanging on with our tongues out now though, hasn't she?


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Jun 20, 2016)

Here's the next one at last!

6. Adopt An Animal


----------



## Diabeticliberty (Jun 20, 2016)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> Here's the next one at last!
> 
> 6. Adopt An Animal





Not just adopting any animal but a lemur. Get you


----------



## Northerner (Jun 20, 2016)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> Here's the next one at last!
> 
> 6. Adopt An Animal


Love it!  Great cause too


----------



## trophywench (Jun 20, 2016)

Love it !  I once adopted a duck at Slimbridge for someone (well via them, I daresay it flew off at times LOL) on the basis that had my mate's husband actually needed anything - he'd have got it and as they had plenty of £££ themselves, there wasn't anything I could get him that he had a burning desire to own.  He absolutely LOVED it!

Must have a look and see if you can adopt a sloth - I love them as well as pigs!


----------



## Copepod (Jun 20, 2016)

I was very tempted when I saw the price list for pigs in the staff room of the rare breeds farm where I work - £35 for a weaner, Middle White (too pink and ugly), Tamworth Gilt (may favourite pig breed after meeting them at Acton Scott as a child) or Saddleback (also very cute). But house deeds prohibit keeping livestock. A friend who kees Oxford (sandy with black spots) pigs in woodland in Surrey told me about pig walking licences, which mean they need less land.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Jun 21, 2016)

I'm sure there must be somewhere you can adopt a sloth, Jenny   Not via DWCT though, sadly.

I'd love to have real animals here, Copepod, but am allergic, so adopting them is the next best thing for me.  Our next-door-neighbours have chickens (and a huge dog - apparently the chickens are evil and terrorise the dog!).  We encourage as much wildlife into the garden as possible though.


----------



## Copepod (Jun 21, 2016)

Definitely a good idea to adopt animals, until you find a species to which you are not allergic eg fish? 
I'm looking forward to house and pet minding for friends for a week in August - 2 dogs, cat, bearded dragon (lizard), hens and chicks (currently in incubator). I'll take my cat (who doesn't get on with family's cat, so will have to keep them apart!) and harvest mouse (in her travel case), as my lodger isn't too good at animal care and is away every weekend.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Jun 22, 2016)

That sounds fun! - I hope the mouse case is thoroughly cat-proof, especially with the added task of keeping the two cats apart!  We used to pet-mind for friends of my Mum's sometimes when I was little - they also had chicks in an incubator, along with a white rat, and a giant centipede.  I remember finding the centipede halfway up the dining room wall once because one of us hadn't put the lid on his tank back properly 

Unfortunately as well as the allergies, keeping pets is quite difficult with ME as it's such an unpredictable illness - I know someone with it who has recently had to give up keeping fish (and hissing cockroaches!), because things like cleaning the tank and changing the water got too much for her - obviously with live animals you have to drop everything and care for them when they need it, whereas with ME you have to drop everything and go to bed when you need it, and the two aren't really compatible.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Jul 23, 2016)

I've managed to post a couple more (my blogging's a bit behind my actually doing things!):

7. Share Some Seeds

8. Visit A Bluebell Wood


----------



## Northerner (Jul 24, 2016)

Haha! I know the seeds thing - I used to get 'Amateur Gardener' magazine, with free seeds every week, and ended up with hundreds of packets! Someone at the end of your circle will be able to start their own business!   I ended up giving mine away to someone for a jumble sale.

Bluebells are lovely, there was a (locally) famous one near where I grew up and a visit to see them in bloom was mandatory as kids. I have a few appear each year in my garden, but have been considering planting some under a large shrub I have, where I think they will look really good 

Keep up the good work Juliet, you're having a fabulous 50th year!


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Jul 24, 2016)

Northerner said:


> Bluebells are lovely, there was a (locally) famous one near where I grew up and a visit to see them in bloom was mandatory as kids. I have a few appear each year in my garden, but have been considering planting some under a large shrub I have, where I think they will look really good



You probably know this, but please make sure you get English ones which specify that they are grown locally from cultivated stock and not taken from the wild, won't you?  There are all too many invasive Spanish ones and hybrids around, as well as unscrupulous sellers who dig up wild bulbs to sell.


----------



## Robin (Jul 24, 2016)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> You probably know this, but please make sure you get English ones which specify that they are grown locally from cultivated stock and not taken from the wild, won't you?  There are all too many invasive Spanish ones and hybrids around, as well as unscrupulous sellers who dig up wild bulbs to sell.


I've spent the last twelve years, since we moved to our present house, trying to eradicate all the Spanish bluebells from our garden. This year I was down to two plants, nearly there! ( encouragingly, I have some English ones appearing, I assume from next door where they planted a load in their woodland. When they told me they were planting them, it made me redouble my efforts with my Spanish, so they didn't hybridise.)


----------



## trophywench (Jul 24, 2016)

Good for you Robin!  We used to spend half the year visiting our caravan situated on the edge of a bluebell wood, ancient woodland - part of the original Forest of Arden, as frequently mentioned in various Shakespeare plays.  Also home to a species of very rare native orchid and also bedecked which things that certainly used to be common if you went to a wet wood (ours was actually called 'Water Wood' and had a spring and stream amongst its attractions)

It was and still is, privately owned and the club site is no more.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Jul 24, 2016)

I had to do that in my last garden, Robin - I planted English bluebells on one side and then the Spanish ones which I thought I'd already had removed kept popping up on the other side


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Aug 9, 2016)

And here are a couple more:

9. Make A List Of Things I'd Do If I Were Well

10. Walk Through A Wildflower Meadow


----------



## Diabeticliberty (Aug 9, 2016)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> And here are a couple more:
> 
> 9. Make A List Of Things I'd Do If I Were Well
> 
> 10. Walk Through A Wildflower Meadow




The wildflower meadow pictures are absolutely delightful. The do a PhD thing makes me think that you are something of a high flyer. The wildflower meadow thing though I have gone back to 4 times as it is once again absolutely delightful


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Aug 10, 2016)

Thank you, I'm glad you liked the photos


----------



## Marsbartoastie (Aug 10, 2016)

What a great idea.  Instead of one measly day you've multiplied your celebrations by fifty.  Some might call that greedy, but I call it genius!  I'm really enjoying your blog and look forward to further posts.  Oh...and happy 50th you youngster.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Aug 10, 2016)

Thank you very much, Marsbartoastie


----------



## Marsbartoastie (Aug 15, 2016)

I've just been oop north for t'weekend and came upon something I thought you'd appreciated.  Hartlepool Borough Council has planted 'wild' flower borders by the roadsides throughout the town  They're rather past their best now, but still look glorious:


----------



## Robin (Aug 15, 2016)

OOh, they're lovely. We saw similar last summer in and around Dundee and the east coast of Scotland, they are such a good idea.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Aug 15, 2016)

Those are lovely, Marsbartoastie, thank you  - much more the sort of colour I was expecting from my wildflower meadow!

I think we just haven't had the right weather for annuals here this year - the ones I planted in my garden didn't do much either, and I usually do really well with things like poppies.


----------



## Diabeticliberty (Aug 15, 2016)

The grim north is actually nowhere near as grim as those sissy southern types would have the world believe. We even have electricity and some of us wear dresses. On special occasions northern ladies wear dresses as well,as the rest of us


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Aug 31, 2016)

This was much better than the wildflower meadow:

11. Visit A NGS Garden


----------



## Marsbartoastie (Aug 31, 2016)

Absolutely beautiful.  Thanks for sharing.  What's next on the list please?


----------



## Northerner (Aug 31, 2016)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> This was much better than the wildflower meadow:
> 
> 11. Visit A NGS Garden


Ah! So that's what a garden should look like! Now that I know I'll have to completely change mine...   Gaw-juss!


----------



## Annette (Aug 31, 2016)

Love the house name as well!


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Aug 31, 2016)

Marsbartoastie said:


> Absolutely beautiful.  Thanks for sharing.  What's next on the list please?



You'll have to wait and see ... actually I'll have to wait and see too, I'm doing them in random order, whenever I have time and feel well enough for something!


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Oct 15, 2016)

Somewhat belatedly, here are a couple more:

12. Learn To Play The Keyboard

14. Find A New Footpath

Before anyone says - yes, I know there is a number missing, and the mysterious number 13 will be along shortly:  I can't post it yet for technical reasons!


----------



## Lindarose (Oct 16, 2016)

Hi Juliet. Just want to say I'm absolutely loving your posts. The photos are superb. Thankyou for sharing your fantastic year


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Oct 16, 2016)

Thank you, Lindarose 

My blogging is running rather behind my actually doing things, so I can see the blog having to go on for another year at this rate if I'm going to post them all!


----------



## Rosiecarmel (Oct 16, 2016)

Very interested to see what's next on the list!


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Oct 16, 2016)




----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Nov 21, 2016)

Here are a couple more:

15. Buy A Book From The Booklist
http://50thingstodowhileiam50.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/go-back-to-cricklade.html
16. Go Back To Cricklade ...


----------



## Marsbartoastie (Nov 21, 2016)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> Here are a couple more:
> 
> 15. Buy A Book From The Booklist
> 16. Go Back To Cricklade ...


I love this thread and have just caught up with 12-16.  No 12 is fantastically ambitious and I look forward to the day you post a video link...I always enjoy a nice tune.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Dec 25, 2016)

Goodness, I haven't updated this for ages - sorry!

17. Buy (And Eat) Some Pecans

18. ID Our Bats

19. Join Something Local

20. Find A Village More Beautiful Than Bibury

and especially for Christmas
21. Make Some Christmas Collages


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Jan 3, 2017)

22. Ask R To Make A Carrot Cake (or, I'm a bad diabetic  )


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Apr 17, 2017)

I haven't been here for ages so haven't kept this up to date - so I'll add a few blog posts at a time rather than posting a lot here all at once!  I'm now 51 and I didn't manage to do all my 50 Things in one year, but never mind, it gives me an excuse to keep doing fun things over the next year 

23 Look Through All My Photos

24 Buy Some Plays I Would Have Seen At The Theatre If I'd Been Well Enough

25 Re-String My Guitar And See If I Can Still Play It


----------



## grovesy (Apr 18, 2017)

Well it will give you something to look forward to.


----------



## mikeyB (Apr 18, 2017)

I hate to say this Juliet, but I'm still crossing things off my list of things to do when I was 50.


----------



## stephknits (Apr 18, 2017)

Many happy returns and look forward to your continued quests!


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Apr 18, 2017)

Thanks for your comments, everyone  - and here are a few more posts:

26. Visit The Oxford Dodo

27. Walk Round The Estate

28.  Visit The Cotswold Wildlife Park


----------



## Robin (Apr 18, 2017)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> Thanks for your comments, everyone  - and here are a few more posts:
> 
> 26. Visit The Oxford Dodo
> 
> ...


I love the wildlife park! I used to take the kids there when they were little, and now they're grown up, we all had a trip down memory lane there a couple of years ago. (but I always thought Burford Garden Centre was a better place for tea, anyway!)


----------



## Lindarose (Apr 18, 2017)

I've enjoyed looking at the photos and reading of the things you've done and places you've seen. Lovely


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Apr 18, 2017)

Burford Garden Centre does fab tea & cakes, Robin, but I do wish they wouldn't keep playing such relentless jazz (would be fine if it were background, not so fine when it means I can't take off my ear defenders and we can't hear each other speak ).   We prefer the new GC in Bampton as it's quieter - do you know that? - but we didn't have time to get there that day.

Glad you've been enjoying the blog, Lindarose


----------



## Robin (Apr 18, 2017)

TheClockworkDodo said:


> Burford Garden Centre does fab tea & cakes, Robin, but I do wish they wouldn't keep playing such relentless jazz (would be fine if it were background, not so fine when it means I can't take off my ear defenders and we can't hear each other speak ).   We prefer the new GC in Bampton as it's quieter - do you know that? - but we didn't have time to get there that day.
> 
> Glad you've been enjoying the blog, Lindarose


I know what you mean about the music, we normally avoid busy periods for that reason. When we first moved to the area 30 yrs ago, Burford GC was two small glasshouses in the middle of a field! Don't often get quite as far south as Bampton these days ( used to drive through it on the way to the kids' nursery school in Aston, 20+ years ago). Must investigate the GC, it sounds nice.


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Apr 18, 2017)

Wow, Burford GC has certainly grown since then!  The Bampton one is really new, I think bits of it may still be under construction.  It's much more rough and ready than Burford, but the plants are really good (and cheaper than Burford!) and it has a nice little cafe.  This is the website, if you're interested.

We used to have a lovely independant GC near here, but it has been taken over by Woevales   We are not impressed (and nor is our next-door neighbour, who works there).


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Apr 19, 2017)

These are the last three posts, though I did manage to do a few more things while I was still 50 which I haven't had time to put on the blog yet - will get round to posting them eventually!

29. Visit The Christmas Shop

30. Plant Something Special

31. Learn To Use Video Editing Software


----------

