The Ten Pin Bowling Adventure

Fantastically Hexham has a brand new purpose built ten pin bowling alley. With 8 lanes is wonderful , just what the town needed thats for sure. Just before Christmas I got a call, 'would you like to come and try it out?' I was asked? That meant free bowling. Of course I would love to go bowling, silly question really, Id go to the opening of a paper bag most of the time.Thinking about it I hadn't been bowling for ages certainly before we lived here, but Ive always had a eye for this sort of thing and considered myself to be proficient at least.

Let me say the facilities are great and Id suggest it to anyone in the area. Me? I turned out to be not so great at bowling these days. First of all I found the balls to be unbelievably heavy, even the kids one. My brain has played tricks on me as they never seemed to be so heavy before but I forget I was a bit more able back then. I tried bowling but found the best I could manage was a slow lob down the lane which then dribbled into the side gutter before vanishing, hitting precise nothing. Then I tried the special ball with a handle rather than finger holes for people with limited hand strength cos thats me. I was marginally better as I did manage to hit a couple of pins. It was still fairly pathetic to be honest, and after 45 minutes I overcame pride, gave in and tried the ramp thingy they have for pushing the ball down. While it made it easier to hit something its not really the same. To me it makes it a lot less than it should be, that buzz of bowling at top speed down the alley isn't there any more. Sadly Ive had to come to the conclusion that I don't have the hand strength or dexterity to do much in the way of ten pin bowing, I shall have to look for another pastime but the kids loved it!

Best Friends

The world is a small place. Remember when you were growing up, how we couldn't even imagine the world of cyberspace, skype, e mail, iphone, wiki-everything? Its was something out of Star Trek or Dr Who. Now we take it for granted, and those friends you used to know have tracked you down on Facebook, sometimes its a blessing, sometimes its not. To be honest I don't have many friends, my husband tells me I must have a bit of a personality disorder, No I say I just like different people, I don't like shopping, I read and watch science fiction, I like mechanical things and I'm a land mine of facts, which is all a disadvantage for a woman! Looking at it that way he might have a point. No I just march to my own tune through life. Well what I wanted to mention here is that I have this friend who remains my friend after so many many years its frightening to think about it. We met at university and ended up sharing a house for 2 years. The funny thing is our lives have take a totally, and I really mean completely opposite paths. Yet through all these years, we have managed to keep in touch, write, phone, visit e mail and Facebook each other but time has marched on and we hadn't seen each other for some years. Too many.

Last summer he was in England, so I said OK I'm coming to have lunch with you. meet me and lets talk. I find these things hard, Ive mentioned it before, meeting up with old friends is like opening a wound, its painful for me and difficult. I give a fantastic impression of being so confident but its a bluff a lot of the time. I'm self conscious of myself, awkward and flap around a lot beforehand. I worry how I will be judged, pitied, humoured. Its happened to me really, its the people you usually expect more from, the ones you trusted most, they are the ones who avoid looking at you in the eye, the ones it hurts the most.

My friend turned out to be the same funny, nice intelligent thoughtful guy I shared a house with and most importantly he was kind without making me squirm in embarrassing. He didn't pry or avoid my eye, he didn't ask terrible questions or shy away from conversation, we were just old friends picking up after a while. He sat and talked rather than making me look up all the time, walked slowly so I could keep up and gave me a shove when I needed it. We shouldnt leave it so long next time.

The glory of friendship is not in the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is in the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.   Ralph Waldo Emerson

Into the Great Beyond

 So anyway moving onwards and ever upwards I have earmarked this year as a year of at least a couple of adventures. January being a very miserable month, a month of grim weather and no money seems as good a time to plan ahead and snap up some bargains. So this years summer holiday is already booked, we are going to Orkney for a week. To be honest I might find it to be very inaccessible but sometimes you just have leap into the unknown. Regardless, I'm sure it will be a fun adventure. 

Midsummer will on the other hand be spent in Helsinki, the exotic and rather mysterious Finnish capital city. I choose my destinations fairly at random, well basically I have my price and then just see where we can go for that. Having been to Paris many times and realising its not an easy destination, I thought, Helsinki, why not? Indeed why not, it will be interesting.

New Year, New clothes, New haircut and some very New spectacles. The new improved me.

Itchy, itchy, OUCH

For the last few months Ive had a problem with my hands and feet. It starts off with an 'un itchable' itch deep within my foot and then spreads to cover the whole of my feet and hands very quickly. Its unbelievably painful, a combination of itching/stinging/burning, its like grasping a large bunch of stinging nettles. It makes me roll about a thing possessed madly ripping at my hands and feet but of course to no effect. I know scratching isn't going to help but its something I have to do. It wakes me up at night and is proving to be very distressing. On top of th, last night I had the mother of all spasms, which was so intense it made me squeal and jump right out of my chair. I never get spasms like this, the most I ever get is a twitchy knee or foot, at most an irritation. My back is really painful today as a consequence. So my GP is sending me off to see a neurologist, to see if its caused by something or nothing. I'm not a fan of anyone who works in neurology or neurosurgery as they tend to treat everyone like a specimen, and seem to have no social skills whatsoever, even my GP agrees with me. So I await with bated breath, not.

So long 2010

And so as I stand on the deck of the good ship 2011, I wave 2010 goodbye with gusto and think Bloody good riddance. Its been a hard year for me and lots of people I know. A relentless sort of trudge, trudge through life with no light at the end of the tunnel. Don t you sometimes think how exciting it would be if something unexpected happened, something really good? We all need out time and life and I'm ready for mine right now. You know, that time when you look back on your life and think Yes thats was the best time of all. Of course I'm one to take and make opportunities but sometimes they just fail to turn up. So it has been with 2010, a year of closed doors and no opportunities. But I have grand plans for 2011 and you will be the first to find out. So keep reading and I hope that 2011 brings every happiness for you.