Monday, June 25, 2012

Birthday Abseil

26th May
Was up in Barton this year for my birthday, primarily for the purpose of abseiling off the Humber Bridge to raise money for the Daisy Appeal. As I write this, we had raised £325 on the just giving page and Mum had raised £200 offline so we were really chuffed.
Fidget’s primary motivation was to visit Great Grandma’s house and play with her little tea set. That was all she went on about in the weeks leading up to our trip.
On the Saturday morning, I opened my super presents. Thanks so much to everyone. I really loved the books, clothes and jewellery and also the bottled shallots and honey from Squidge and Fidget!

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We nipped into Barton to visit a sweet shop then went across to Great Grandma’s house.
We had a lovely time at Great Grandma’s. Fidget got to play with the tea set. She had taken her own tea set too (asking me before she set off whether she should put her name on it to stop them getting mixed up). We also went across to the park. N and P came across with little T and we had lunch and a cake.
Then it was back to Grandma and Granddad's house. It was such fantastic weather so we spent the afternoon out in the garden.
The girls love the trampolines…
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My skin has been alot better recently after being diagnosed as having rosacea so having some treatment for it. So I didn’t mind having some photos taken, particularly showing off my fab new earrings from M….
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More trampoline-ing….
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Little Squidge was loving being out in the garden, she looked so angelic with her curls glinting in the sun, running around in her pretty dress and bare feet…
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The many (crazy and beautiful) faces of Squidge…
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more hanging around in the sunshine…
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Some pictures taken by Fidget…
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27th May
Abseil day! After lunch we headed across the bridge and went to see N and P at the registration desk. N walked up onto the bridge with me and Mum, while M took the girls and went with Granddad to wait for us at the bottom.
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Mum and I were able to go over at the same time, but once I had been asked to come forward to do my abseil, the world closed round me, I did not take in anything beside what my instructor told me and the small amount of view I allowed myself to look at.
The instructor said “come on then, step up here” and I just looked at him and smiled but didn’t move. I just couldn’t reconcile the idea of climbing over the rail, it really didn’t seem do-able. But my instructor was very good, he asked that I just came over an stood on the step.
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Before I knew it, I was climbing over. M took some video, and looking back at it, I can’t believe how quickly I went over. I got the wobbly leg coming on, but the instructor helped by getting me to lock out my legs.
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Other people were doing the leaning back thing, but this required you to release rope until your head was below your feet, then take feet off and swing under the bridge. My instructor suggested we could go for a side-saddle approach as I really couldn’t see me managing the first approach.
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It worked fine and before I knew it I was passed the road surface and then it was just a case of easing down and having a good look around, which was all ok.
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Mum going over…
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apparently it was 110ft.
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Great Grandma continued to be a hit with the girls by providing a constant source of sweets…
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triumphant!…
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P was doing his abseil later in the day, dressed as a daisy…
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Loving my birthday necklace from M…
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Little T, and the girls were enjoying playing together in the sunshine…
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Great Grandma started a sword fight with the kids, Squidge was well into it. Squidge also declared that Great Grandma was not a lady as she was wearing trousers!
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Afterwards we went to a nearby pub with a big play area. The kids had a good play and we all ate.
Squidge enjoying a lime…
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It was a great experience doing the abseil, I’m glad I did it and certainly glad we raised so much money, but i wont be rushing to do another one anytime soon!

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