5 things we have done (admirable, illegal, amazing, unusual etc)

1) As a student, I once spent hours trying to catch a cockroach. Managed to catch one and brought it to the biology class.

2) Married DH who was my penfriend

3) Set up a website in my spare time and as a result, we sold and shipped vintage collectibles worldwide, mostly all over America.

4) Attended garden party at Buckingham Palace twice and a Christmas Party and concert at Saint James Palace.

5) Stopped a man from breaking into our hotel room. He was drunk holding a beer bottle and on drugs, muttered through the door that he would like to smash my face in when I told him 'You got the wrong room number’ and tried to kick the door down.

6) Was involved in a road accident once but my DH was able to control the car before it hit the stone wall and there was no incoming car at that time. Pure luck.

7) Paranormal experiences. Run in my family, my siblings had them as well.

Sorry 7 things instead of 5.

Interesting, inspiring and sometimes devastating experiences here.

My 5 :
Took part in a beer drinking competition.
Completed a half ironman (1.2 miles swim, 56 mile cycle, 13.1 mile run) when I was 60.
Started my own business and ran it for 26 years.
Punched a guy who groped my bum.
Did a bungee jump.

I had a poem published in my 60s. Only one and I'm not well known.

Had a book of 300 crosswords I compiled published
Met 2 murderers; one I knew was one and one I didn't at the time
Danced with Wayne Sleep round the foyer of the theatre where I worked
Touched a basking shark that swam alongside the ferry I was on in Cornwall
Can't think of a fifth!

Performed in the Royal Albert Hall in front of a full audience

Kayaked in Antarctica with penguins and leopard seals

Rode my sister's bicycle when I was 4. Had to stand on the pedals as I couldn't reach the seat

Passed my motorcycle driving test and rode (and crashed) a motorbike and sidecar

Crossed Canada from east to west without flying - by train, car and ferry.

Well:

I moved house on my own. OH went away on business to Nigeria for 6 weeks and was out of contact. We hadn’t exchanged contracts when he left (my solicitor's was an absolute star) and when he returned home we had moved. I said that if we move again I am going away for 6 weeks.

I saw Hendrix at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970.

I rolled the best 5-paper joints on the back of a Pink Floyd album, back in the day.

Brian Nay came to my office twice looking for the Hreen Room when he was playing at the church attached to the Theological College where I worked. He is quite short in real life and has loads of grey curly hair.

I had a motor bike accident when I was 17 and broke my neck and arm. I have the best scars.

Wow. These are so impressive.

Whew! I'm so relieved. After reading the "I've never.." entries I almost lost hope re UK women. Far from being frightened of ladders & bicycles, you are an admirable lot, with all your adventures & escapades. Bravo! I did my second parachute jump on my 80th birthday, have visited 5 continents, driven round Australia, got 2 uni degrees, spent a year in China, &, best of all, have been married 57 years & have 19 descendants.

Had a neglectful and semi abusive childhood but despite this, thrived and sent my DC to prep and grammar schools and thence to university .

Taught is a series of very responsible series of roles for 34 years full time.

Am on the parish council and am joint editor of our village magazine.

Survived teaching burnout, a spine operation and continuing arthritis and diverticulitis.

Am an avid cake maker.

Ran the London marathon twice, age 40 and again age 50
Flew to Bahrain age 18 with my 15 year old sister, arrived late at night, no family to meet us so we decided to get a taxi to their house. Didn’t know where we were going but could remember the name of BIL’s employer, the driver took us there and thankfully we were reunited with family
Went to university in my 40’s, qualified as a nurse age 46
Sat in the royal carriage as a child (i don’t remember)
As a hospice nurse for 17 years had the privilege to care for many patients and families at end of life

Cared for my parents for over a decade through terminal cancer and dementia at home till their passing.
Gave my inheritance to my children as they needed it more.
Still in a wonderful marriage after 50 years.
Saved a piece of land from being built on by greedy investors which is now enjoyed by the local community for community events.

What a great bunch you all are. Some fantastic achievements to be celebrated.

Poured Prince Philip a cup of tea when he was awarding DoE Awards (I achieved my gold)
Met Princess Anne several times when I was CEO of a charity
Did a degree at 47 while DCs were doing GCSEs and A levels (not the cleverest planning!)
Saw the Rolling Stones and many other groups before they became famous, at Bath Pavilion in the late 60’s/early 70’s.

What amazing adventures you've all had! Mine sound fairly tame in comparison, but here goes!

I have run around the gardens of Robert Maxwell's house in Oxfordshire with the Maxwell children. Ghislaine would have been about 6 months younger than me. I was about 4 I think. They had peacocks!

Have been on a maiden voyage on the QE2 when it was docked in Southampton. I was 7 at the time and my father was working on the ship in the print room. The families of the company he worked for got the opportunity to go on a free trials cruise around the Canary Islands!

I have come fourth in a national writing competition run by The Mail on Sunday. We had lunch with the judges - Fay Weldon, Minette Walters and a male author called James something. I sat next to Fay Weldon - lovely lady and such a wonderful experience.

I attended a lunch and book signing in London - Lulu, Jenny Murray, David Nichols, Wendy Cope and others were there. We met Maureen Lipman in the loos!

Been on a speedboat around the Gulf of Mexico with a lovely man called Bill!

There's probably other things involving writing, singing and various actor types! I seem to have attracted many friends recently who are in those worlds. Lucky me - they are lovely people and great company 😍

Met David Attenborough on a bus where he dropped a large wedge of money which I picked up and gave back to him.
Spoken to Cliff Richard’s dad at his house in N London, sadly Cliff wasn’t there.
Learnt Dutch.
Broke my left elbow twice at 7 years old and 9 years old.
I too kissed the Blarney Stone and not stopped talking ever since!
(My greatest achievement been married for 57 years with 2 wonderful children).

One thing I'm very proud of is, together with my husband 20yrs ago. We got into a awful run-down scrap yard in the middle of the night. Our mission was to rescue a poor Alsation dog from this terrible place. The poor thing was tethered, dirty & starving, nothing but skin & bones. He was also cowed & frightened!
In the dead of night we broke-in with wire cutters, grabbed the willing dog & made a fast escape.
The dog seemed to know what we were about and he went to live a happy life with a lovely older lady, who had recently lost her own dog. It could have turned-out badly but I'd do it again in an instant.
Ps. It also made me love my husband more, for agreeing to go along with my mission.

Easy to see why your name is Ilovedogs! What a great story.

Over my lifetime (I am 80), my family has had many dogs and other animals, every one of which was a rescue.
Years ago, my grandmother watched an army lorry driving past her house, and to her horror, a little dog was thrown out deliberately onto the road. She rescued it, cleaned it up, treated its wounds and then kept it! At the time she got the dog, she already had 10 cats (3 really, but one of them had just had kittens) and two other rescue dogs. Luckily, they all got on!
My late husband used to take in injured animals and he had an excellent record for making them well again. At one point, he took in three chipmunks which had been traumatised. He kept them all! One of them was particularly friendly and when I was following my hobby of card-making, she would run across my head and shoulders, and all over my work table (and often the card I was working on!). One of the other chipmunks used to love sitting on top of the curtain pole and would stay there for ages!

Crossstitchfan

Easy to see why your name is Ilovedogs! What a great story.

Yes, but I could be called I love cats as well or possibly I hate custardskin!
My DH showed what he was
made-of on that day & still impresses me driving for 100's of miles if our Boy's need help.
Yet he still makes me swear a lot still! 😉

Blessed at the Vitican by the Pope.
Climbed, walked parts to Great wall of China.
Toured behind the wall in East Berlin, prior to 1989.
6 Continents.
Loving enjoyable family.

Love your dog rescue story Ilovedogs

Love this so much!
Was a whistleblower from childhood, picked up my satchel took my myself home to my mother and reported the latest exploits of HT. Didn’t return to school for several weeks until situation was resolved. Learned to be strong ( and polite and respectful) from a young age.
Yet another who attended garden party and met HRH and Prince P although locally not Buckingham Palace.
Entered a beauty contest didn’t win but met Jon Entwhistle and had photo in paper with him.
Traveled plenty and adventurous antics aplenty, paragliding, zip lining, and Coral Reef snorkel too. Traveled plenty was after children had flown the nest.

Crossstitchfan

Easy to see why your name is Ilovedogs! What a great story.

Well yours is a great story too!
How people can be so cruel & callous is beyond me.
The penalties for incidents of animal cruelty must be a lot harsher. Sometimes, I really just want to cry, useless I know!

(in chronological order rather than order of importance)

1: Got my HGV licence (although I've now let it lapse) and drove trucks for 15 years.

2: Met Paula Yates and her then young children by the boating lake in Hastings. (I was shocked at how wrinkly she looked close up!)

3: Sold my flat in Hastings in 1989 for £39,950 (having paid £16,000 for it 3 years previously!), bought a house in Hull for cash and travelled round the world on my own for 9 months, including some very scary train rides in India, hiking up a glacier in New Zealand, where I also went whale watching and left in charge of a cafe for the weekend by someone who had only met me the day before and weeding a palm plantation in Australia.
I then put the house up as collateral for a business loan and bought my own truck until:

4: Had my wonderful son and brought him up on my own as he had a useless waster of a father! (He himself is now a devoted and dedicated father of two)

5: Packed up and left England to move to France with my partner. We no longer live in France but are still happily together after 17 years.

(I know there shouldn't be a six but...)
6: Got diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 66! (Would be fascinated to know how many other Gransnetters were late diagnosed.)

Five things I have done:

1. I attended World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto and I got to see St. John Paul II in person.

2. I have worked in northern Canadian communities that are fly-in only, no road access.

3. I have lived in three countries (U.S., Canada, and Brazil).

4. I married an autistic man and we have been married for almost 14.5 years. (I did know he was autistic before I married him. There is very little I would change about him.)

5. I attended a post-secondary institution I neither applied to nor was accepted at.

That last one may require some explanation. At the time, in my Canadian province, there were two options for becoming a registered nurse (RN). You could do a 2.5-year diploma, or you could do a 4-year Bachelor of Nursing. (Today this is changed and a Bachelor of Nursing is required to enter practice. Nurses who have previously completed a diploma and were licensed prior to this requirement are not required to obtain a degree to remain licensed, but they may decide to complete a degree or it may be required by their employer. There is a post-diploma Bachelor of Nursing, also called a post-RN degree, that they can obtain. This is effectively the last two years of the degree program.) In my area, the nursing program was a collaboration between our local community college and university. All RN students attended the college for their first two years. After that, diploma exit students would complete a summer term and a fall term at the college and finish; degree students would complete two more years at the university. As of the year I applied, all students who intended to complete the diploma applied to the college, and all students who intended to complete a degree applied to the university. When I accepted the admission offer for a degree and paid my tuition deposit to the university, it was transferred to the college. I was given a placeholder registration at the university, meaning that I received a university ID and had access to the library, but I wasn't charged tuition at the university until I started attending there in my third year.