Week ending May 1, 2009

The following day, April 26th saw us getting up nice and early in order to go to Joy’s best friend’s baby daughter’s christening.

Joy's God-daughter - and mum

Having not climbed into bed until 2am sunday morning, I was particularly pleased to be woken at 8am to try and make myself presentable….. which is a difficult job at the best of times.

We duly arrived at the church, where Joy was asked to do a reading. She had no idea what it was, but coped admirably in front of the expectant crowd, who did.

Previous conversations with Juliet gave rise to the idea that Joy should be ‘arch godmother’ to her three children, as the boys might miss out if the little one alone had special days out with Joy. She agreed. Joy’s godchild tally is now about 12 children - which is lovely. She wouldn’t want time on her hands to sit and do nothing; that would be an obscene waste. I, on the other hand, have cunningly managed to avoid the Godfather trap so far. Perhaps my penchant for sitting down and wasting inordinate amounts of time has been noted…

Anyway, we were both then asked to get up in front of the vicar. He discussed the trip and asked anyone who would like to, to come up on stage with us and pray for us. This was something quite unique for both of us. It was actaully very reassuring to know that all these people - friends, acquaintances and others -  were actually thinking about us at that moment, and praying that we would enjoy the trip and return safely. It was a very welcome distraction from the frenetic activity that was going on around us.

Ho hum. We got to Juliet’s place, helped organise the food and drink and spent several hours in their gardens with more people enjoying the weather and the friendship - and the pavlova. Splendid.

On leaving, which involved saying our final goodbyes for two years to many, Jo said that she would arrange the mother of all parties to welcome us back in two years time. This reinforced the fact that we would return. The trip, whilst potentially of 2 years duration, would end, and we would come home to see all our friends and families. It was quite reaffirming.  Which we liked.

Finally got in, sat down and fell asleep. Funny that.

Week ending April 26th 2009

For weeks and months Joy and I had been planning a leaving party, in which our friends, neighbours and families would take part in dancing, singing, eating and drinking and auctioning.

A great gig. Thank you 'The Juliets'.

We hired our friends’ band ‘The Juliets’, (free of charge) a group of varying numbers, with a range of lead singers, who performed their inaugural event at Juliet’s 40th birthday in Cambridge last year.

We then organised for our local chippy van to visit at 8pm to serve the traditional fish and chips to ‘maybe 40, maybe 120 people.’ Perhaps not the best request for a caterer, but it was handled with great effect.

The venue was to be our local village hall in Swaffham Prior, a great location with good facilities and parking.

The guest list hovered around the 120 mark, but as usual a few last minuters backed out, whilst a few friends’s friends turned up.

The auction was to be organised by Joy and run on the evening by Alastair and his wife Helen.

Alastair, the auctioneer mentioned at the start of proceedings that Best Man Phil, who had arrived with his entire gang (mum and dad, sisters, sons and partner) was in 12 hours time to run the London Marathon in aid of the Actionduchenne. A round of applause rippled through the masses.

(As it turned out, and despite training problems with various muscles which Phil hadn’t realised existed, he made it round the course in just over 5 hours. An excellent effort for one so wedded to beer, it fully justified the money he raised on his justgiving page, www.Justgiving.com/running-for-george )

…..The result of the evening was simply fantastic.

110+ people, lots of drink, a terrific range of promises offfered by friends and a grand total of more than £5,670. Various of the promsies were so fought over that the promisors offered a second chance for another bidder to receive it again for the same money - so today, we continue to await the total total. Needless to say, it will all go the charity, via our Justgiving page.

Thank - yous galore are clearly required……

• Alastair and Helen, we couldn’t have done it without you. You held it together and were simply brilliant. Even your wig, Alastair.
• Heather, Ben & Josh, Kaye and Katie B who worked admirably on registration, projector, kitchen and other domestic duties, as well as afterwards during the ‘great clear-up’.
• Phil Morris who came up from Devon to be with us, and made a terrific dent in the clearing away and washing up.
• Mark and ‘The Juliets’ for such a great gig. Great sound (just about loud enough, guys….) and full of character.
• Everyone who offered a promise. The range of offers was excellent and appealed to the audience perfectly.
• Everyone who bid and/or won the promises. You helped raise more money than I knew existed.
• The clearer uppers, in particular Ingrid’s gang, the Ducks, Jo Dening the band and those already mentioned.

Josh, Joff and Ben. And the drinks we consumed....

Thank yous also go to various friends for one thing or another…

• Susan and Kim for the Vendee bids.
• John and Lesley.
• Oshrit.
• Katie Mac and the planning gang.
• Richard P.
• Jayne Mac. (let’s not leave it so long, next time..)

It was lovely to see so many people from so many walks of our lives, and it will probably not happen to us again. Thanks a million to everyone who took part, and we look forward to seeing you when we return.

Adios Amigos.

Week ending April 24th 2009

Having chased up all the television stations under the sun, including some on the dark side, we had a call from Anglia - which, as it turned out, was thanks to the PR company working on behalf of ActionDuchenne - they wanted to come and film us for the evening news, were we available…?

After buying some sunglasses and changing my socks, we welcomed the cameras in. In fact, Anglia TV amounted to 1 cameraman and a microphone with a request to film us for a slot of between 20 seconds and 1 minute…. still, at least we made it to the tele before we even set off. Surely, this would boost the coffers of ActionDuchenne….

I can see right up your nose from here

Joy and I both answered the questions, I gave it my best Bruce Willis look, and then we cycled up and down the road, packed our panniers once or twice and smiled some more for the camera.

…But, come the editing suite, it was clear they preferred the pretty, literate one to the gauche, bald one; or even the action footage of real cycling and pannier packing.

At least the words ‘Charity’ and ‘Muscular Dystrophy’ made it to the finished item, even though we were at pains to explain what Duchenne is, and why we chose to do the ride in aid of this charity; as well as how people could donate.

On our next appearance I need to produce and direct - being infront of the camera is so faux;  and while I struggle psychologically to express my inner Joff, Joy is just happy posing for the camera…

Week ending April 17, 2009

We had decided quite early on that we would open our garden, along with a couple of others in the village, in aid of Duchenne.

Spring Daffs

The Three gardens are in the National Gardens Scheme Yellow Book, which means that they are open at certain times of the year, primarily in aid of the Macmillan Nurses, a British cancer care charity. However, in this instance, the 2 other gardeners agreed to open their places up as a special one-off, in aid of our chosen charity.

The date was set for April 13,  Bank Holiday Monday of the Easter weekend. Grass was cut, daffodils dead-headed, edges edged (?), tables laid and cake made. in the end, with all the offers from friends and neighbours, we had well in excess of 20 large cakes, which included carrot, fruit, chocolate, ginger, Victoria, Fairy and Lemon. We catered for gluten and dairy intolerance (care of Darwin Nurseries in Cambridge, who very kindly donated two cakes) as well as children.

The day was a great success.  We had well over 300 people attend, from as far afield as Beckenham in Kent, and Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. Friends and family helped out in the kitchen, on the gate, serving food and drink, chatting to people about the illness and discussing the planned cycle ride. We made £1985 for Duchenne.

Cake on the lawn. Splendid.

Becki and George turned up, as did Becki’s family, as well as a photographer from the Cambridge News who photographed the proceedings. If you click the following link, you can see a short video of Joy explaining things for the Cambridge News….. 

 http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_cambridge/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=407940 

There were several memorable cameos, including one in which a miserable chap who felt the gardens were ‘disappoinitng’ asked for his money back. Ben, our 12 year old doorman told him that it was for charity and that it was only £3 for 3 gardens. So no, he couldn’t have it back. Good on you, Ben.

On a more positive note, we met several people whose children suffered with the illness, who were very positive about our efforts at fundraising, and said that they would spread the word about our website. we did however meet one couple whose son had died several years ago from Duchenne, aged just 16. What do you say to parents who have gone through this?

By 4pm, when the last few people were leaving, we had a short clear up and a long sit down. As the last of the helpers for the day were leaving, Best Man Phil took this photo.

Ben, Joy, Joff, Becki, Josh and Lewis

Week ending April 10, 2009

George, a bike and some unashamed PR

Becki and Bill came over today with George. It was good to see them all together, and to meet George of course. We went to the swings where he played and ran about without a care in the world - or so it seems. You can’t help wondering though what is going through his mind as he puts all his energy into climbing the rope ladder. Apparently, as he is on steroids this week, he appears physically quite capable and full of energy. But, after 20 minutes in the park George asks to get in his buggy to go the 100m back to the house.

 Bill and Becki have chosen to start George on an intermittent steroid regimen - 10 days on and 10 days off. This is supposed to minimize the side effects of steroids - weight gain, bone thinning and mood swings to name a few. During the 10 days off, he’ll struggle to cope with walking or climbing and will tire much more easily.

In the garden, George loved climbing up to the ‘tree-house’ and asked if we could build a roof…which is bad news for Joff, who has not even finished his own house yet.

The good news is that everyone enjoyed Joy’s new chocolate and Smartie cake recipe! So hopefully it should sell well at the Open Gardens on Easter Monday.

Week ending April 3, 2009

We went to see Dr Auriel Forrester, a real bike doctor. (She was, amongst other things, the 1999 and 2000 World Champion for pursuit racing, in the 40 to 49 year age bracket.) Auriel offers personal coaching for cycling and triathlon, as well as for those who happen to bimble about on bikes - thankfully.

Joy had on occasion been quite uncomfortable on the bike, particularly her back and arms, so Auriel tinkered with the various elements of the set-up. It immediately felt better and so, in combination with the work by Garry the physio, she thinks she will now be able to get over the crash she had five years ago, which affected the muscles, tendons and ligaments in her left leg and left ankle. Lets hope so…. And no, I don’t want a tandem or an Xtracycle, thanks Joy.

Week ending April 3, 2009

Despite not finishing work officially until Friday, Joy had her last teachers meeting on March 31, and was slightly overwhelmed by the card and the necklace she received as a leaving present. She had only worked there for a few months, but it seems she had already made quite a difference both to the children she taught, and the other teachers in the staff room. She’ll miss the place and all those who work there - as well as the kids -  but we’ve got a bike ride to do…