Arctic To Desert Challenge Full Trailer

It never ceases to amaze me all of the great things people do -to raise money for charity and MND and the novel ideas they come up with [just wish I could think of them first !] I enjoyed watching this video and the music -thought I would share it-good luck to Matt ,Lee and Jim !
Jim`s mother - Jane died from M.N.D in 2005 and he wanted to do something to honour her-apparently she use to be a midwife and really enjoyed her work often sending juniors off for a cup of tea so she could deliver the babies herself !! So far these guys have raised £1 632.00 their target is £10 000.00 You can donate http://www.justgiving.com/Artic2Desert
So ! for a free M.N.D awareness band can anyone name the artist singing this song ?

Travelling Bands strike again !

Well, it`s been a while but we have a new photograph for our travelling bands / where are they now competition ! Can you name this famous character and tell me where he is ?

And number 21`s new name is...........

The above picture is of John announcing and naming[ and saving little piggy`s - number 21`s ] bacon ! She has in fact got two names now- [ a double barreled name, posh ! ] one picked from the internet and the other from the raffle drawn this afternoon-we thought it only fair as we had such a brilliant response from everyone-so are you ready ? It is ...............drum roll please .................

........................................................................Margie Flower ....................................................................

Congratulations to Eric Woods from the United States-you will receive a welsh love spoon and CD of The Trelawnyd Male Voice Choir not forgetting the best bit [ I`ve saved this bit for last ! ] a trotter and snout signed [ can`t wait to see this ] photograph plus a certificate stating you saved this little piglet and named her for M.N.D- she also promises to send you a Christmas card and 6 monthly updates !! Lucky you x

I did promise to take lots of photographs but as usual as soon as we got busy-the time just flew by-I did mange to take a few snap shots just before everyone starting arriving - a huge thank you to all of the tea ladies Judy and Carol pictured here with Chris, Jayne and the the two Gwyneth`s, Sue , and hubby Ned- you all worked incredibly hard xxx

The weather was gorgeous-and there were hoards of people ! I met fellow blogger Diane who made a special trip up from Sheffield- [it was lovely to meet you and your hubby - wish I could have spent a bit more time with you x ]
The day was a great success raising in total £1,177.66
John will be donating £700 to the church and £477.66 to the MNDA we already have the £230 we made on the online competition, which bring the total to £707.66 !! A fantastic response !
A huge thank you to Mr and Mrs Barker who kindly contributed to the day by opening up their garden too- [ it is conveniently adjacent to John`s field ]- and to everyone who contributed to the day making cakes and donating bric a brac and manning /selling raffle tickets and doing their bit to help-you were all fantastic ! Thank you .
Time for a glass of wine now -me thinks! Poor John -he was working a night shift last night-when we arrived this morning he was still wearing his hospital scrubs-hope you and Chris have got your feet up by now and are doing the same xxx

Chris versus MND ,flower arranging and cake baking !

I would like you all to meet Chris and his curry eating dog Alfie ! [ Not just curry-but anything you might just accidentally drop on the floor and are not quite quick enough to pick up -eh Chris ? ]
Chris is 36 years of age and lives in the North west of England , he has recently got married to Polly and has a daughter Hollie aged 8, he writes they are my world ! Chris was diagnosed with MND in July 2010, he writes a wonderful blog-straight from the heart, if you get a moment please pop across and say hello and leave a comment-I know he would really appreciate it, his intention is to try and raise a little bit of awareness and log how his battle goes, both the ups and the downs -this is the link http://chris-versus-mnd.weebly.com
It`s a lovely photograph Chris-thank you so much for sending it in !
I`ve been in work all day today-but managed to nip to the florist in my lunch hour and buy two bunches of carnations-I then raided the garden for a bit of greenery and managed to knock up some floral posies for John`s tea tables for his allotment open tomorrow-they do look quite pretty -these photographs haven`t come out very well for some reason but I used peach and yellow flowers..
I have had a steady stream of visitors all day today dropping stuff off at the shop where I work - it`s been like cake H.Q. !! [also lots of bric a brack being dropped off too] Then this evening I started baking-I have made two cakes and have just finished icing them -can you spot the little piggy`s-I couldn`t resist them !
A big thank you to everyone who entered our name the pig and save the pig for MND competition- so far raising over £230.00 !! good luck with the raffle all of you-there are some great names, its still not too late for those of you still thinking of having a go !! Scroll down a couple of posts for instructions on how to enter.
It looks like the weather will be nice for tomorrow, yipee !
Will keep you posted and try and take some photographs this time ! promise !

The Prestatyn Trefoil Guild

Meet the wonderful members of The Prestatyn Trefoil Guild- This organization has over 20,000 members here in the U.K. and is mostly made up of women and men who have all been and still are connected to guiding [ and scouting ] A couple of weeks ago, The Prestatyn Branch which meet up on the 1st Monday in every month, held a coffee morning to raise funds and awareness for the motor neurone disease association ,Babs Clarke who organized this event and held it in her home said they were delighted with the response they received after sending out fliers to friends and neighbours-a lot of people were very generous , we were pleasantly surprised and had a lovely morning -these ladies all work very hard for the community and are a very modest lot-never seeking recognition for their work says Babs [pictured in the middle of this photo to my right ] so enough said !! I have just sent our local paper this photograph-so fingers crossed !!
Ann and I were presented with a cheque for the wonderful amount of £180.00 -thank you so much ladies-that takes some doing -we really appreciate all your hard work and it was lovely to meet you all !!

John`s open day postponed and a lovely tattoo !

After checking the Met Office Weather forecast today for this weekend John has decided he has no other option but to postpone his open day-the forecast is for rain all day with blustery winds-not good for an outdoor event ! It is such a shame-he had a lovely write up in the local paper [which came out today ] giving him some great free publicity [thank you to Rhian for that by the way ]
But the field is rather exposed to the elements and he didn`t want to lose [or damage ] any of the borrowed gazebo`s-also he has an army of villagers making over 50 cakes-not fair to them if there is a poor turn out due to bad weather -Still , it has only been put back a week-to the 24 th !
Thank you to everyone who has entered into the spirit of things and made a donation to save little piggy`s bacon here! We have been very touched and delighted with the response we have had so far and are having a great time reading all of the suggested names as they come in - You have given us a few laughs along the way too-I have a few favourites -but I`am not telling ! Have you got a favourite [scroll down to read them all ] ?
Finally , thank you to Sam McDonald for sending in this photograph -I thought it was lovely, so I just had to share it. Sam lost her brother to MND and she writes this tattoo represents my 2 brothers and my sister in law, there is a dragonfly , a forget me not , Ivy for everlasting life and 3 stars. What a lovely way to remember someone- thank you for supporting our awareness campaign Sam -we really appreciate it x

Can you name her and save her !

Let our competition begin ! All you have to do is to think up a fabulous name for our little piggy here [ funny , daft original-you choose ! ] donate to MND [ every little bit helps ] and help save her from getting the chop !! If you scroll down and on the right hand side of the page- the donate button is situated above our fundraising thermometer, click on that-make your donation and where is says" purpose " fill in your chosen name ! Simple ! [ this is a safe and secure paypal site ] You will then be automatically entered into our raffle -to be drawn at my brothers " Allotment Open " at St Michael`s Church field ,Trelawnyd on the 17th July starting at 1pm. I`am looking forward to seeing what you all come up with !! For those of you who live locally you can come and meet her in person so to speak- before you make up your mind on a name that you think suits her -there will be lots of home made produce available to buy-eggs, jams ,cakes and homemade bread ! yummy ! The Trelawnyd History exhibition to enjoy not forgetting John`s chickens and allotment to inspect !
Admission £1.50 Children 50p [ complimentary tea and cake ]

So far we have ......." Cockette " from http://tracey-craftyscraps.blogspot.com/

"Little Nipper" from My brother Andrew [wonder why ? snigger ]

"Mandy" from Moondance Ranch [thanks Terry ! x] http://www.moondanceranchco.blogspot.com/

"Bootsie" from http://mybabyjohn.blogspot.com/

"Peppa pig " from Linda in Australia [ and yes Linda - you can have another go ! ] x

"Pork Chops " from http://manchesterlassnowandthenblogspot.com/

"Petunia " http://jabacue.blogspot.com

"Liberte` from http://acceptingchanges-maybe.blogspot.com

"Cracklin Rosie " from www.revisinglife.blogspot.com

"Queenie " from Dorothy Fish [ have posted some bands off to you x]

"Bacon Bits " from http://texan.blogspot.com

"Swines Herd`s Girl " from Bridget Measures

"Lucky Swine " Bridget again x

"Chicken Killer " Aunty Judy -yes there`s always one ! x

"Oink " from Chris Etches, http://growfisheat.blogspot.com/

"Hyacinth" from A Brit in Tennessee http://abritintn.blogspot.com/

"Mabel " from A Brit in Tennessee

"Margie " from Eric Woods, Don`t shoot your Meatloaf blog. http://mountainrambler.blogspot.com/

"Wilhelmina " from Megan Halli
"Petronella " " "

"Derr" from Molly-aged 11 months

"Johny2 " from George-aged 3 3/4 [Thanks Nia ! x]

"Martha " from Lydia Osbourn

"Button " from Mrs Tess Hines.

"Betty Blue Eyes "

"Jaws " Both from Ann Williams x

"Atinlay" from Comfort-and-joy-gifts .

"Chop suey " or Sue for short from Marie Grime [thanks Marie x]

"Miranda " from Cara Grime



All proceeds to this competition are going to the motor neurone disease association-the winning entry will be drawn out of a hat [or mnd bucket ] and will be notified on the day and receive a prize and signed certificate and photograph of said pig complete with trotter print-good luck !

Natalie`s Skydive for MND

Meet here one very brave young lady-Natalie Barclay [pictured above ] preparing herself for a 12, 000 foot tandem sky dive jump at Headcorn Parachute club [ www.Headcorn.com] in Kent last month.
Natalie lost her beloved "Pops " three years ago to motor neurone disease and since then her and her mum Tracy has been involved in raising funds for MND
I don`t think, looking at this I could do it-could you ? It looks an awful long way down !!
She`s smiling !
Looks like you are having a great time - WOW-what an experience - I`am sure you will never forget it !!

PHEW !
Well done ! what a perfect landing !
Natalie set herself a fundraising target of £395 she has exceeded that-the total raised so far stands at £620.00 and the money is still coming in !!
If you wish to donate you can find Natalie`s Just Giving Page at www.justgiving.com/nataliebarclay
Pictured above with Natalie after the jump- is one very relieved and proud mum Tracy [centre ] and nan Phyllis
-Tracy laughs Natalie has always been an adrenalin junkie ! next year she plans on a wing walk but only if the plane goes upside down !
We haven`t seen the last of you yet then Natalie !!

Name the pig and save the pig for MND !!!

I popped up to see my brother John tonight-after a rather frustrating computer free week [hubby downloaded a virus last Saturday] I had asked John`s partner Chris to download some extra security software on my laptop for me, for those who follow my brother`s Going Gently blog-you will already be aware that John is opening his allotment to raise funds for St Michael`s Church in Trelawnyd on the 17th of July-he will also be making a donation from the proceeds to the Motor Neurone Disease Association. One of the MND fundraising ideas John has had is to name the pig and save it !! So while Chris was busy with my laptop I went for a wander round his allotment.
John was given two rather gorgeous piglets a few weeks ago [for his birthday ] to fatten up for the freezer !! Hmmm ? One is rather cute-she is the female pictured here above- enjoying a good scratch-she is in fact a little bugger !! Armed with camera I thought I would get a few photographs of her for the blog -Last time I had met her she was a timid little thing !! this time she marched up to me and decided to bite my shoe-I jumped a mile-sensing this was going to be fun-as I`am such a scaredy cat she aimed her next nip at the back of my calf- at this point the only squealing taking place was by me as she continually charged me [ John found this exceedingly funny and tried to reassure me she was only playing] I in the mean time fended her off in true matador style with a metal feeding bowl !!
Seeing a close up of her teeth now- I`am rather glad I did ! John rather patiently explained it was best I stood my ground and be firm with her and in the end that worked a treat- she got bored with her game and gave up and pottered off ! [though I hasten to add while John wasn`t looking I gave her a bit of a twang with the feeding bowl -naughty I know ]
Well if you want to save her from getting the chop -enter our competition !! Starting from Monday 11th of July we will be asking people to think up a name for her and then by making a donation to MND [on this site] you will automatically be entered into a raffle-plenty of time to come up with a really good name then !
The open day starts at 1pm -admission £1.50 adults- children 50p[complementary tea and cake ]
There will be raffles/stalls/produce/Trelawnyd History Exhibition/poultry and of course the piglets !!
If you get the chance do pop along and join us and say hello- [ I will be serving the teas ] You can find John`s allotment situated behind St Michael`s church,Trelawnyd- look forward to seeing you all there then !!