Inspiration

The news report yesterday of Sir Ranulph Fiennes reaching the summit of Everest included this footage of the Andrew North making the journey to Base Camp.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8060747.stm

Just the inspiration I need to commence with the next stage of fundraising.

Half way there....

My final blog entry of the day, wow...did I have a lot of catching up to do.

After counting all the cash from the Ceilidh plus some Jigsaw donations that I had, I have updated my Just Giving page to realise, to my total chuffered-ness that I have just passed the half way mark!!!!!

Suddenly, Everest Base Camp looks like it might actually be more than a hypothetical possibility.

This is the first major fundraising I've done since being a part of SCROLL (Scotland Romania Language Link) back in 1993-95 and I really had no idea what to expect, whether raising this sort of money in such a short space of time would even be at all possible. It has been so amazing to realise the extent of people's generosity and willingness to support something like this. It has surpassed all my expectations.

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful support so far... this might be the point where it gets a little bit more difficult - a perfect metaphorical parallel to the trek itself. Head down, one step, then other...

First Hill - Ben Ledi

Sunday saw the first hill of the training regime (if you can use the word 'regime' when you really have no plan at all as yet).

We decided to walk up Ben Ledi as it is within convenient driving distance from Edinburgh, doesn't require any real forward planning and has some great views from the top (added bonus being its proximity to ice-cream shops on the way back too!)

It was pretty cold and windy on the way up but was worth all the effort for the panorama across the Trossachs to the Lomond hills from the top.

Legs held up well for a first proper prolonged uphill walk in quite a while. So now very excited about planning a summer trip to the Alps and a few days walking the Tour Mont Blanc. A couple more practice walks in Scotland first... perhaps

Heeliegoleerie Rock!

Despite the gale force winds, the hammering rain, the fact that I almost didn't get the room after a misunderstanding about confirming the booking. Despite almost going into meltdown with the stress of organising a Ceilidh in a week where I was also serving as a juror at the Sheriff Court. Despite all that,  the evening was a brilliant success. The credit for this most surely lies with the fantastic band we had for the evening - Heeliegoleerie. Their already quite sizeable fanbase got just that little bit wider after Friday. They have a great funky but folksy sound and the ability to teach people new and interesting dances with patience and humour - they rock! The raffle was also very successful, largely thanks to the star prize of tickets to the closing film of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and closing night party. Altogether we raised £760!

And yes, even though at 7.30pm on Friday evening I said never again, I would totally organise another evening like this. It was a lot of fun, the atmosphere was great and everyone was having such a great time. Next time, I may try and eat a little bit more than one cocktail-sized spring roll before the evening starts.

Wanna buy a ceilidh ticket

I'm now learning a lot about fundraising, event planning and generally being organised these days. I think somewhere down the line I might have missed out on a(nother) vocation as I'm loving it! Apart from the sleepless nights where no-one turns up to the Ceilidh and I'm left trying to drown my sorrows in £400 of cheap Union ale (the required amount of takings the bar needs in order to get the staffing for free - yeah, well it made some kind of sense in my dreams!). Or indeed the other Ceilidh-related dream where hundreds of surprise guests arrive and the venue turns out to be intended for sedate bible-readings and is therefore the size of shoe box with maximum seating capacity of six. Despite the fact it's keeping me awake at night, I'm really looking forward to it.

Tickets are selling well (I wasn't over-exaggerating when I told all my colleagues they were selling like 'hot cakes' - I don't know about your oven but I can only make about 10 at a time in mine ;-))

Base Camp Jigsaw is also going well. I've now completed the bottom row thanks to some kind neighbours, friends and local Portobello businesses. 

So that only leaves training...does obsessive watching of The Wire count in any way at all?