Day 3 of Autumn

 The maple outside our window is starting to blush. It's just a hint, just a whisper, but it's there. The sky is high and clear, and it's slightly windy. Yes, this is Autumn. I love Autumn.

Today I'm going to talk a little bit more about journaling. 

On my Bucket List, there's "sharpen your observational skills by drawing". During the Victorian times, upper-class children were taught to draw and illustrate their journals because photography wasn't as normal as it is today :-D We have "the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady"

You can also practice some other skills with this:

- watercolor painting

- to observe and deduct like Sherlock Holmes

- drawing from memory (It's mostly a practice thing, but I have always wanted to be able to draw from memory, for example people's portraits - to draw accurate portraits of people I just saw once in the bus, or things like that. So that if I witness a crime, I could give the police a drawing that's as good as a photograph... But that would be useful with drawing animals as well. Wild animals don't tend to pose for a portrait :-D)

August 3rd is the International Beer Day and the Watermelon Day. There's plenty of beer related bucketlist goals, to me, brewing beer is the most interesting. On my bucketlist, and Autumn bucketlist is "learn to brew mead, ale, cider, wine". It takes about 4-8 weeks to brew beer from scratch, so if you start now, you can feast with your own homemade beer on October fest. (Also, August 6th is the Mead Day. Two flies with one swat, huh? :-D)

About watermelons. Learn to pick the best watermelon, and learn to conserve watermelon rind. There's plenty to do with that, both sweet and savory conserves. 

Day 2 of Autumn

 The best thing today was seeing a wild rat playing with two magpies. First I thought the magpies were harassing the rat, but then I saw how the rat stopped to wait for the magpies to catch up. :-D

In my October 2019 posts I'm talking about getting better with photographing. Start with October 1st, if you want to go through three different 30 days photography classes :-D Some links might be dead, but - that's internet. I'm sure you'll find something equivalent online.

Then some words about the Autumn Daily

- It is Ali Edward's December Daily, but adjusted for Autumn, so browns, oranges, reds and yellows, with a dash of burgundy, instead of green, red, white, silver and gold. Leaves instead of snowflakes. Forest animals, pine cones, and other Autumn imagery. You get the picture

- It is also for three months and not for one month

- Don't wait for the first day to begin it. Prepare it in good time beforehand. Get inspiration from Autumn themed scrapbooking pages and December Daily pages, collect Autumn themed imagery and scrapbook papers and other things you can think of using in your journal. It is totally fine to make the pages before, and just add the photos and journaling in December. Actually, it's better, because then you can make the pages when you have time and inclination, and it makes it easier, and thus more realistic, to journal the days. 

- Write a preliminary plan for what you want to photograph and journal about. For December Daily, there are several lists about Christmas traditions, like cookie baking and Christmas tree decorating, that can be planned on a certain day of December, and then, of course, you will have your December Daily page about that. 

- You can also leave the photographing for one day of the week... when you look at your journal many years later, no-one will remember or know about you "cheating". I suppose the only thing to change this is the weather. If snowfall is a rarity in where you live, you must go out and take photos of it when it happens. If there are some events on certain days, you have to photograph them when they happen. This is self evident, but most of the days can be photographed on the same day. (If you want to keep your "cheat" a secret, just see that the people in the photos aren't wearing the same things all the time :-D)

- Journaling is best done every day, because you will forget. It doesn't need to be complicated and fancy, just write something short about the things that made you happy that day. If you can't find anything that made you happy, make yourself happy. It could be anything, like the luxury of clean sheets on the bed. (We change the sheets every week, and it's still a luxury :-D). Or getting a special breakfast. Having a movie night. Finding a new, lovely book to read. You could also write quotes in your journal, like song lyrics or Autumn quotes you find online. 

Beginner's Guide to Creating a December Daily Album

It's that time of the year, again :-D

 It's 1st of August, the first day of my Autumn, Eve of Lammas. 

I'll try to tick off posts from my Bucket List - which you know is massive and in all ways rather stupid :-D - as I suffer from "Texas complex". Everything must be bigger and better and HYOUGE!!! 

So I have all kinds of things on my list, totally in spite of how realistic, rational, and reasonable any of them is. 

Now when I'm over 50, I have started to think that perhaps I could adjust my list to my circumstances, being that I'm not a North American 20-something. I'm past my child-bearing years, and I have no interest in visiting all of the United States, for example.

But - following the lead from the last effort of reaching a goal every day of a year, I'll follow the "national days" calendar etc. 

Also, the next three months, I'm trying to do my "Autumn Bucket List".

1) Write an Autumn bucket list

2) write a list of 92 things you love/like about autumn

1. Of course, the colors of Autumn leaves
2. Crispy air
3. Wind
4. Rain
5. Foraging - berries, mushroom, fruit
6. Back to school - school supplies
7. Autumn fashion; the preppy 40s style English country
8. Soup and freshly baked bread
9. Apples
10. Forest - follow a path
11. Hygge
12. The melancholy Autumn songs and music
13. Comfort food
14. Cuddling in a chair with a cat, blanket, a good book, and a cup of something warm
15. Harvest, all the root vegetables, cabbage etc.
16. Autumn flowers
17. Playing in the leaves
18. Calmness, peace, serenity
19. Lughnasadh
20. Mabon
21. Crayfish party
22. Rosh Hashanah
23. Mid-Autumn Festival
24. Oktoberfest
25. Hobbit Day
26. Halloween
27. Baking spiced things, like spice cookies, cinnamon buns, spice cake, carrot cake, pumpkin pie...
28. Mulled wine and apple cider
29. Cinnamon
30. Soft chunky socks
31. Community college / civic college / Worker's Institute courses start (or what ever it's called in English)
32. Homemaking
33. Books, especially cozy mysteries and children's books
34. Stars come out (I live in the Midnight Sun area. We don't see stars during the summer.)
35. Long cozy dinners 
36. Light through the windows
37. Game nights
38. Mist
39. Nesting
40. Cats
41. New beginnings
42. Layering clothes
43. Storms
44. Writing
45. Pumpkin spice
46. Knit stockings
47. Sweaters
48. Tweed
49. Knit tams
50. Salted caramel
51. Caramel apples
52. Candy corn
53. Pumpkins
54. Confort food; stews and casseroles
55. Roasted vegetables, roasted meat
56. Pie
57. Streusel cake
58. Afghans and blankets
59. Boots
60. Tartan
61. Peacoats
62. Apple cider doughnuts
63. Fire; fireplace, campfire
64. Chestnuts
65. Sunsets
66. Sunrise with the glistening frost
67. TV season starts
68. Chili and biscuits
69. Hikes
70. Chai lattes
71. Tights and skirts
72. Corduroy
73. Smoke
74. Lazy brunches
75. Trains
76. Scavenger hunts
77. Geocaching
78. Cooking, especially slow cooking complicated recipes and many course dinners
79. Canning, preserving
80. Gratitude
81. Puzzles
82. Museums
83. Too cold for bugs, warm enough to be outside and enjoy the sun
84. Bike rides
85. Crafting season, knitting, crocheting, sewing...

The best part of today was when my cat went behind the washing machine - it had moved away from the corner enough for her to get behind it - and was purring loudly, and the washing machine was amplifying the purring :-D It sounded as if the washing machine was purring. I love that silly cat.

PopSugar's 100+ things to do before you die

 Some nice ideas here: 100+ Things to Do Before You Die:

Watch a Meteor Shower

Spend a Night in a Tree House

Stomp on Grapes to Make Wine

Try the Latest Food Fad (Like a Cronut)

Go Lavender Picking

Meet an Animal Who Is Internet Famous

Leave Your Mark in This World

Ride a Horse in the Ocean

Dance in the Rain

Literally Reflect at the World's Largest Salt Flat Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia

Give a Shelter Pet a Home

Stay in an Overwater Bungalow

Buy Expensive French Lingerie (for Yourself or Someone Else)

Go on an African Safari

Attend a Music Festival

Swing on the Edge of the World in Ecuador

Go to a Masquerade Ball

Leave a Love Lock Somewhere

Participate in a Holi Festival

Bathe in Milk

Jump Into a Pool (or Bath) Full of Jelly

Bake a Rainbow Cake

Visit the "Real" Santa Claus in Lapland

Live Happily Ever After

Create an Ice Cream Flavour

Celebrate Your 50th Anniversary

Explore a Shipwreck

Make a Snow Angel

Experience Zero Gravity

Eat in an Underwater Restaurant in the Maldives Called Ithaa

Stand on a Boulder Wedged Between Mountains at Kjeragbolten in Norway

Participate in a Flash Mob

Be Part of a TV Show Audience

Attend a Big Horse Racing Event

Build an Igloo

Donate Blood

Dress in Costume For a Book Release

Dress in Costume For a Midnight Film Premiere

Build a Gingerbread House

Take a Pinup-Style Photo

Attend a Comic Book Convention in Costume

Make a Rainbow Rose

Go Flyboarding

Image Source: Flickr user Maguide

Run a Marathon

Make Your Own Pizza

Go to the Top of the Eiffel Tower

Create a Family Recipe Book

Feel Great in a Swimsuit

See a West End or Broadway Musical

Tour Googleplex (why?)

Ride a Gondola in Venice, Italy

Ride an Elephant

Create a Reading Nook

Walk the Streets of Kyoto

Get a Henna Tattoo in India

Zip-Line With Family or Friends

Make a Call From Red Phone Box

Stand Under the Hollywood Sign

Cuddle a Baby Tiger

Visit All 7 Continents

Float in the Dead Sea

Watch Baby Turtles Hatch

Visit All 50 US States

See the Northern Lights

Skydive

Finish a Diary

Go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride

Pay a Stranger's Restaurant Bill

Jump Off a Cliff

Spend a Night in a Teepee

Go Dogsledding

Go Zorbing

Visit Stonehenge

Ride a Vespa

Skinny Dip

Break a Guinness World Record

Feed a Giraffe

Be a Movie Extra

Throw a Coin in the Trevi Fountain in Rome and Make a Wish

Be in 2 Countries, States, or Counties at Once

Learn a Language

Take a Photo Every Day For a Year

Donate Hair to Cancer Patients

Watch the Olympics in Person

See Wimbledon in Person

Go to the World Cup

Finish a Book in One Sitting

Cage Dive With Great White Sharks

Backpack Through Europe

Go Deep-Sea Fishing

Drink Beer at Oktoberfest in Germany

Watch the Sunset in Santorini, Greece

Cook a 5-Course Meal

Visit a Chocolate Factory

Swim in Devil's Pool at Victoria Falls in Africa

Soak in the Blue Lagoon Hot Springs in Iceland

Take a Helicopter Ride Over a Volcano

Hear Oprah Winfrey Speak in Person

See a Famous Opera Singer Perform

Meet Grumpy Cat

Forgive and Let Go of Grudges

Fly in a Private Jet

Walk Behind a Waterfall

Swim With Dolphins

Watch the Cinderella Castle Fireworks at a Disney Park

Travel Somewhere New Every Year

Name a Star

Prepare a Care Package For the Homeless

Send a Message in a Bottle

Swim in the Largest Pool in the World at San Alfonso Del Mar, Chile

See the Fairy Pools in Scotland

Find 10 most exciting adventures and do them

 Find adventures anywhere, from movies, television, books, real life, anecdotes, newspapers, where ever you find any. Start collecting them.

101 of the world's most mindblowing adventures to add to your bucket list

23 big bucket list adventures

30 adventures guaranteed to make you more awesome

27 AMAZING ADVENTURES AROUND THE WORLD – THAT WE’VE DONE

60 Essential Adventure Movies

100 Best Adventure Books of All Time

The 10 Female Adventuresses You May Not Have Heard Of

Get F*d Up, But Not Really

 

101 places to get f*cked up before you die

So, what to do to get the most out of a wild night out partying?

* get comfortable dancing. Learn club dancing, and get fit to dance all night

* learn to drink smart. Yes, get tipsy, but not so f*d up you don't understand what is happening.
- eat, before, during, after. 
- drink plenty of water. An easy rule is to have a glass of water between every alcoholic drink. You can disguise your glass of water by asking the bartender to make it look like a gin and tonic. Some people find water drinkers in a club annoying.
- find your favorite cocktail that doesn't make you drunk too quickly, and stick to it. Mojito and Cuba Libre are good drinks because they are served in a glass that doesn't fall easily. Piña Colada comes usually with fruit that's good. Cosmopolitan tastes good and looks pretty, but comes in a glass that falls easily. Mai Tai comes usually in a good glass also. Anyway, experiment and test until you find your signature cocktail, and stick to it. (It's of course totally fine to drink shandies, cider, spritzer, or white wine. Whatever rocks your boat.)
- KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR DRINK. People could try to slip in something you don't want to drink. If you have turned your back to your glass, don't drink it. Better to waste the money than wake up raped in some back alley. Or not wake up at all.

* take cat naps during the day

* dress for comfort - test your clothing before the party. See that you can dance on the table without popping out of your dress or breaking your ankle because of your shoes. Sure, heels are sexy, but swollen, sore feet are not. 

* test the makeup and hairdo - choose something that still looks good after hours of partying

* go with friends and have a pre-party. Don't get drunk yet, though.
- agree on regrouping times and locations when you enter the party space. Regroup about once every hour. That gives you the freedom to find new friends without failing the old ones.
- make new friends. Keep moving and invite people to dance with you. (The more you dance, the less you drink, and the better you feel the next day.) 
- set signals - what to do to get your friends to rescue you from unwanted attention, for example, or if you are starting to feel bad and need to go home

* pack your purse - it should be small enough to be on your all the time, something that is not easy to steal or lose or pickpocket. You should have your credit card, smartphone, ID, some light toiletries so that you can keep your makeup nice, tissues, and keys. See that your phone battery is fully loaded.

* arrange for the ride there and back. See that you have enough money to take a taxi back home, or a friend to pick you up or something. 

* you'll probably need to wait in line a lot. Learn some waiting games and activities you can do with your line neighbors. Maybe simple magic tricks.

* Have a positive, friendly attitude, but prepare for some people being drunk and obnoxious, and trying to do things you don't want to happen. Think what to do when someone gropes you, tries to kiss you, says something stupid, tries to start a fight, spills your drink (or their drink on you), steps on you, whatever can happen so that it won't spoil your night. Try not to piss off anyone. Learn to say "no" in a nice way. 

* have a plan on giving out personal information. You could for example have a burner phone so you can forget all the people you don't want to meet again, but still give an option for people you like to reach you. 

* be aware of that the restrooms are probably in a horrible order, especially as the night gets older. People puke and pee on the floor, it can be slippery and every surface you touch is nasty. 

*prepare to have a hangover day after. Keep drinking, eat something, take a cold shower, and sleep. 

Remember that clubs are really just places that are loud, crowded, and hot. The music is often bad as well. It's OK to leave and go find another place. 

Top 10 European Sky High Thrills

1. Hot air ballooning in Mt Blanc & The Alps

A hot air balloon is definitely the more casual way to take in the vista’s from the top of Europe’s highest mountain. 

2. Sky-diving in Seville, Spain

Talk about getting high! This is the best you can get in Europe—a whopping drop of 15,000 feet. And if you’re a bit of a pussy, a diving virgin, or a broke-ass, you can opt for the 10,000 foot drop for 185€ instead. Jump early in the morning and hit the ground in time for siesta.

3. Paragliding at Babadag (Olüdeniz), Turkey

 Pilots flying from the Babadag mountain in Turkey can fly over the Olüdeniz lagoon before landing on one of the top 5 beaches in the world.

4. Hang gliding at the Alps

The Alps region is a superb destination for hang glider pilots. It offers great conditions above high mountains and the most amazing scenery to explore. It is the Mecca of free-flying.

5. Bungee jumping at Verzasca Dam, Ticino, Switzerland

At 220 meters, the Verzasca Dam is the only bungee jumping site where you can test your jumping nerves in the wee hours of the night, and it's the third highest jump in the world. (It was also featured in James Bond's "Goldeneye"... and you can get a "007 classic" :-D)

6. Dragon Khan, PortAventura Park, Salou, Spain

After the 161-foot drop, you're subjected to eight inversions and a stomach-turning 4,100 feet of spinning.

7. Zip wire at Fantasticable, TerrAltitude, Ardenne, France

"Fantasticable" slings thrillseekers down a steep hill and over the river Meuse on the Franco-Belgian border. It offers a peaceful, pastoral landscape through which you can plummet, screaming and cursing, at 80mph.

8. BASE Jumping on Eiffel Tower or Trollveggen in Norway

"BASE jumping is illegal from the Troll Wall because rescuers have a hard and dangerous time getting to jumpers if something goes wrong. That's why experts say only experienced BASE jumpers should attempt a jump from The Troll. The rock face is loose and craggy, but the views are spectacular."

9. Climbing The Matterhorn, Switzerland

For many climbers, ascending the Matterhorn, the birthplace of the sport of mountaineering, represents a return to the purist traditions of climbing. Its summit is 4,478 meters (14,690 ft) high.

10. Indoor Sky Diving in Bottrop, Germany.

Indoor Skydiving Bottrop is home to Europe's highest flight chamber, where those who suffer from vertigo can still experience the feeling of flight!

+ Snowdonia's World Class Thrills - “Europe’s Biggest Swing” and the “World’s Tallest Powerfan Plummet”

+ Zip world UK - Longest Zipwire in Europe

A thrill-seeker’s guide to the 10 most adrenaline-pumping things to do in Europe

50 Best Adrenaline Activities for Thrillseekers

Reap thrills: world's top 10 heart-pounding experiences

Top 11 experiences for adrenaline junkies