Race for Life

This Sunday myself and M took part in the 'Race for Life' to raise money for Cancer Research UK. It is for women only and anyone can register to take part. The course is 3 miles (5K) long and you can choose to walk jog or run. We chose to walk on this occasion. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm but rather windy. The course was along the seafront from Bournemouth Pier to Boscombe Pier and back again. The only down side was that we were sandblasted on the way back as the strong wind whipped up the fine dry sand. There were 3,000 entrants and approximately half decided to walk. It was a great fun event with all ages taking part from small children right though to women in their 70s and 80s. M and I walked the 3 miles in 1 hour 4 minutes which I am quite pleased with. I am particularly proud of M as she has never done anything like this before and was rather nervous about the whole thing. In the end we both enjoyed it and are determined to take part next year. Between us we have raised £100. It is a cause that I feel very strongly about. We were each given a card to pin on our backs saying who we we thinking of when we were taking part. When I was writing it on Sunday morning I rather sadly realised that I had quite a long list of family members and friends who have been affected by cancer. In the end I decided to put my Father's name as it is 20 years ago on 18th September that we lost him to liver cancer.






I continue to bead as much as I can. Last year I made a beaded chatelaine as part of a group project. It involved beading around a wooden needle case, a tape measure and creating a beaded scissor case. I based my design on an Art Deco wall tile. I was sitting at the dining room table (where I do most of my beading) the other day, deep in thought and I looked down at the beaded tape measure and realised how much I enjoy using it. Underneath the beads it is a cheap plastic tape measure costing only a few pounds but now it makes me happy just to look at it, use it and to remember the experience of creating it. Joy can be found in so many everyday things, I will try to remember that the next time that I am feeling down or frustrated with my beading.