Afterwards – Lady Denman Cup – What next?

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is ‘Afterwards’. This is also the week I will be reading to our WI the story I wrote for the Lady Denman Cup. Actually, it won’t quite be the story I sent in, because I didn’t win. However, I was shortlisted to the level where I received feedback from the judge, which was very helpful and so I have made a few changes, based on the judges comments.

For Illustration Friday I have cheated wholeheartedly, I have taken the photograph that was the basis for the Lady Denman Cup story. It was selected by the WI nationally, along with the title ‘Every Picture Tells A Story’. I have recoloured it with pastels, I actually like the image and my story is to a certain extent about what happened afterwards…

If you would like to read the story it is only 500 words long. Below is the opening paragraph. If you donate to my Aspire fundraising page HERE and leave me an e-mail address I will e-mail you the story in pdf format. If you read the story you will see there is a connection.

“What makes a man? Clemmy expected the Welsh dragon to appear any minute, hoist high on the mast, proclaiming that Huw had reached the checkpoint. Whilst it was pleasant sitting in the shade, she was acutely aware that her heart was fluttering; two grown men fighting for her affections. When they stood at the start, touching the silver birch, scowling at each other, she had known they were serious and actually going to go through with their harebrained idea.”….

 

Stig Bird – Racing, Zoggs Goggles and Sport Count – Aspire Update

 

Sorry, can't divulge who it is, under contract; wait for the biography

 

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is ‘Racing’, I haven’t attempted one for a long time but suddenly had an image of a Stig racing pigeon – admittedly it’s turned out more like a chicken, but that could just be a clever disguise.

Time for an update on the Aspire channel swim. I am about half way now to completing my 22 miles in 12 weeks.  One of the problems I was having early on is that I can’t count. I discovered I am not alone in this, some people are counters and others like me have problems. I really knew I was struggling when I couldn’t remember if I was on lap two or four – pathetic! So I invested in a SportCount length counter, this is worn on the finger and at the start of each lap you click the button to start the next lap count. It has definitely been a worthwhile investment, to be honest the pale blue version that just counts laps would have been fine as I am never going to be worrying about split times.

I have also been really lucky with winning on-line competitions recently. One of my winnings was the Zogg goggles, not due to be released to the public until 2011. These are designed to cause less marking around the eyes than traditional goggles. The rim is very thin and extremely comfortable. On one occasion I had leakage but had rolled the thin edge as I put them on, once repositioned all was well. The only marking I get is on the bump of my nose, although the nose bridge is very comfortable I do end up with a line there. They also don’t steam up and look super cool in their BBC iplayer colours.

So I am plugging away up and down Framlingham College pool; very lucky to have such a fantastic facility close by. I still have a long way to go.  If you feel able to sponsor me, my charity page is HERE.  The swim is for Aspire, a charity which works with people who have spinal cord injuries.

 

Status at 23rd October