Number 37. Have Afternoon Tea at The Ritz.

Number 37. Have Afternoon Tea at The Ritz.

This was one of the more exciting things on my list, and something I always have wanted to do. My hubby didn't fancy sharing this experience with me so he suggested I have a nice girly day out instead....which was no problem at all!

I have so many lovely girlfriends, and I would loved to have shared this experience with all of them, however that just physically wasn't going to be possible so I decided to ask 2 special friends, Helen and Sabrina.
Helen has Multiple Sclerosis so I knew it would be a personal challenge for her but I wanted her to experience the same as me, so Sabrina and I made sure that everything was in place for the day to go smoothly for her and show her that a wheelchair isnt a hinderence!

The date for our girly trip to London was arranged for Tuesday 4th June 2013, The Ritz was booked , the train was sorted, and we decided to also treat ourselves to a manicure at Fortnum and Mason,and we also had booked a table at Henry's bar opposite The Ritz to have cocktails...all were amazingly helpful when we explained that one in the party was in a wheelchair and although Helen was anxious, Sabrina and I felt confident that the day would go without a hitch, and we were right to feel that way as it all went according to plan, and infact Helen was treated like a VIP all day!

The sun was shining gloriously from the minute we woke up until we got back home, just couldnt have asked for better weather!

We went by train from York to Kings Cross, had a cheeky bottle of Prosecco on the train (good plan Sabrina!) and then got a black cab to Fortnum and Mason, did a little bit of shopping/browsing and then had our manicure. We then walked to The Ritz for our Afternoon Tea!

The minute you walk in The Ritz it feels special, there is such a lovely atmosphere. Afternoon tea is served in The Palm Court Restaurant which is beautiful. We were absolutely stuffed when we came out, tea, sandwiches, cake in abundance, very good value for money, infact there was so much we couldn't eat it all!

This is the menu for Afternoon Tea:

• Ham Sandwich with Grain Mustard Mayonnaise on White Bread
• Cheddar Cheese Sandwich with Chutney on Onion Bread
• Cucumber Sandwich with Cream Cheese, Dill, and Chives on Caraway Seed Bread
• Chicken Breast Sandwich with Horseradish Cream on White Bread
• Scottish Smoked Salmon with Lemon Butter on Rye Bread
• Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich with Chopped Shallots and Watercress on White Bread
• Freshly Baked Raisin and Plain Scones with Cornish Clotted Cream and Strawberry Preserve
• Assortment of Afternoon Tea Pastries and Cakes

After The Ritz, we had a quick walk in the park to burn off our indulgence! the park took us through to Buckingham Palace which was nice to see as it was also the Queens 60th Coronation Anniversary.

We then went to Henry's Bar for cocktails before our taxi came and took us back to Kings Cross...none of us were ready to leave we could have quite happily stayed!

It was truly one of the best days of my life so far, we met so many lovely people, from the man in Starbucks whom Helen had a little twizzle stick flirtation with, to the lady on the train whose little dog shit on the floor, the guard who helped us at Kings Cross, the American man in Fortnum and Mason, the Amnesty man who shouted to us that we were all beautiful, all the staff in Fortnum and Mason, The Ritz, Henry's Bar, the taxi drivers and the train staff !

We laughed so much and to see Helen so happy and relaxed and relishing in the day made it for me...when shall we do it again?!!!

Number 22. Ride on a Rodeo Bull.

Number 22. Ride on a Rodeo Bull.

So I added this to my list thinking it would be a fun thing to do that I'd never done before....how foolish was I!!!

My son James had ridden on one last summer at Driffield Showground at the Steam Engine Rally so in my head I thought I would do it there this year. I hadn't seen James do it but he was apparently very good!

Bank holiday weekend 24th-28th May we had arranged to go camping with our friends, Caroline and Rich and their children to the Golden Square Campsite at Helmsley, we had seen that Duncombe Park in Helmsley were having a Country Fair on Monday 27th May and a Rodeo Bull was going to be there so it was agreed that if the weather was good we would go and then I could tick this off my list!

Monday 27th May 2013, glorious day and a brilliant weekend, so we all headed to the Country Fair and we were all looking forward to it, there was a lot of banter from everyone about how they couldn't wait for me to ride on the rodeo bull!! I had no nerves about doing it beforehand was just a little worried about injuring myself so wanted to do it at the end of the day before leaving!

Soooo I did it, but OMG was I scared, it didnt help that as I sat on the inflatable step to take my shoes off I somehow fell off and was rolling around on the floor much to the amusement of the man working the rodeo bull and everyone else!

The first problem I had was actually getting on the bloody thing, I'm not the most flexible of people, I do have arthritis but I think being slightly large doesn't help! I had to stand one foot on the man's hand, jump up and throw my other leg over the rodeo bull....not easy when you are pissing yourself laughing and thinking about your sweaty feet having to touch the mans hand!! Anyway I was eventually on it, however that is when I realised there was no going back, I felt really high up, I only had a little stick thing to hold on at its neck and I was petrified of how I was going to fall off as I really didnt want to hurt myself!

It started going round, I had various tips given to me about leaning back, and even hooking my feet under the bulls horns but those discussions entered my head for the briefest of moments as fear and anxiety totally took over! I laughed and screamed which drew quite a crowd...believe me this was one thing I didnt really want an audience watching but I can understand why it would have been funny to observe!!

I stayed on between 30-40 seconds longer than anticpated, and shook like a leaf and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest afterwards so its safe to say I will definitely NEVER ever do it again!!

Anyway please feel free to laugh at my photos and video...my family all have!

Number 33. Have a weekend in London.

Number 33. Have a weekend in London.

I've been to London many times, I added this to my list of 40 things to do because we didnt go last year so I really wanted to make sure I went this!

My Dad kindly bought us a family ticket to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio for Christmas so the weekend was planned around that.

We booked a Premier Inn at Kings Langley which was about 10 minutes away from the Harry Potter tour but also has a train station about a mile away from the Premier Inn which has loads of parking and takes you direct to London Euston.

We had the best drive down that we've ever had and we were most impressed with Kings Langley a lovely village, and the Premier Inn was in a lovely set back from the road position with a pub next door.

The Friday night we had just got unpacked, and had settled down for the night when the fire alarm sounded!James and Lydia completely freaked out, Rund was telling me to get up and out of the room and people were running down the corrider, but the alarm kept stopping and starting so I didnt think it was a genuine fire alarm, plus I was in my nighty I didnt really want to evacuate!! Under duress however I was forced to get out of the room by my family and gather with the masses in the reception area in my nighty, styled up with a scarf and cardigan...ultra glam!! Anyway it was a false alarm, I bloody knew it!! A new member of staff had accidentally walked through a fire door and set it off!

Saturday, we got up and caught the train to London, we had planned to go the British Museum at 10:30am to visit the Pompeii and Herculaneum Exhibition which we all enjoyed, was very interesting, I've always had a fascination with Pompeii. Then the highlight of our plans for the day was meeting up with one of my best friends Zoe and meeting her baby daughter Erin for the first time. We had a wonderful day of Covent Garden where James helped participate with a street entertainer, lunching and catching up and cuddling Erin, plus lots of shopping, M & M World, Hamleys, Selfridges all did very well out of us......utterly fab!

Sunday morning we had a nice leisurely start, big breakfast and then made our way to the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio! Rund and the kids are all Harry Potter mad so they were all excited, I have only watched the first film, so was really just going along for the others, however from the minute we arrived in the carpark I was hooked, and the whole experience was fantastic, a really good day and very well organised, absolutely loved it, especially the Butter Beer!