6. Keep trying to be vegan

A few years ago, I remember buying a big packet of cheap chicken legs – there were 48 in there, and I remember thinking: “what a massacre – 12 chickens had to die for those”. Ever since that moment (and the moment a day or two later when I realised that chickens have two legs, not four, and so it was therefore 24 chickens that made the sacrifice for me!), I have felt a bit strange about eating meat and have only eaten it a couple of times since then, mostly at people’s houses when I can’t bear to make someone cook a separate dish for me after being so kind as to invite me round. I can’t give up fish though, see number 21 on my list for info!). Since the beginning of the challenge, I have been drinking rice milk and trying to buy non dairy cheese and cream. I have found this extraordinarily difficult and much, much harder than giving up meat. Rice milk is fine in dishes, in cooking and in smoothies, but it’s an acquired taste in tea and coffee. The non dairy cream is fine too, although it feels a bit synthetic. However, I can’t give up butter and much happier with normal cheese, although I did enjoy Quark, the non-diary alternative. I am going to knock this attempt at being vegan on the head now – at least I tried it for a couple of months....

14. Do more cooking. Have a signature dish that I can make for people

My cooking is legendary. Tales of just how bad it is have spread far and wide, from the time I poisoned my sister with an evil omelette to the occasion when I tried to fry a glass of Japanese Cola in a glass which ended with my housemate trying to tell me off, but laughing too much to be able to do so. So every Monday since this challenge began, I have been allowed into the kitchen to cook something while my partner barks instructions (such as ‘don’t put that in there!’ and ‘how about turning the oven on’. Last night, I made a ricotta and spinach lasagne following a simple recipe from Delia.

(Note - There’s something I should add to my 101 in 1001 list; being so famous that I don’t need my last name any more....)

Anyway.....there were no complaints after dinner and no ill effects so this could be my signature dish. It’s got spinach in it, thereby providing one of your five a day, it’s not got meat in it and it’s got pine nuts in it. What’s not to love?

93. Have someone trust me to look after their dog or child

I now have an inkling of why my friend said she was ill each time I offered to babysit so she and her husband could go out for a romantic meal.....last week was asked by someone to look after their two budgies again after the first time was a lot of fun for birdies and for me. It was so nice to come home to a house with two beautiful blue birds tweeting and going about their business. Anyway, it was all going well until last Wednesday when the two birds seemed to be cosying up to each other a lot in the little house in their cage; they’d not done this before, and I remarked on it to my partner. However, when I got home the next day, there was a fatality. The bigger of the two was lying at the bottom of the cage, so in tears, I called the owner who wasn’t due back until Saturday. Funnily enough, he was about an hour away having decided that three weeks’ holiday was too long. So instead of crying, I then started wondering why the budgie couldn’t have held on for 24 more hours. Anyway, I didn’t enjoy handing over a corpse, nor did I relish the card that they gave me which says: “A big thank you for looking after the bird(s)! Ooops!!” They were very nice about it, saying that 6 years of age is quite old for a budgie, but still.... To make matters even worse, I bought them an orchid to help apologise, which I then realised I had left the price on which now makes it seem that I was only £19 worth of sorry. So I may not achieve this particular item on my challenge list!

87. Dry stone walling

I was able to get my 101 in 1001 challenge off to a good start as coincidentally I had booked for us to learn how to build a dry stone wall! This was in the beautiful location of Birchover in Derbyshire where part of the beauty of the surrounding countryside is in fact thanks to the network of drystone wall. Our instructor is very well known in the field (haha field - geddit?)His name is Trevor Wragg and he's an ex British champion drystone waller and has well over 20 years' experience, yet you can see his passion for the subject hasn't flickered at all. He started off by laughing at our gloves which I had frantically bought the day before for 99p a pair at Focus, before giving us an overview of the different types of stones; the foundations, then the builders, middle fill (or hearting) and then the copers on the top.

And so to work. A stretch of wall had falled down, so we extracted the stones and sorted them by type. Our section of the wall looked to be the most difficult since there was a distinct drop on the other side. Beyond the neighbouring field were lots of sheep and a campsite. It was a baking hot day and after shifting about two stones, I was already out of breath. We laboured on, shuffling with stones of various sizes, and checking with Trevor to confirm that they were indeed the types of stones we thought they were. In no time at all, we had laid the foundation for our wall. Then a much-needed tea break from the very nice farmer. After that, we were back to work. Trevor insists on working with sticks and bits of string to measure the height of each level within the wall, although some people use pre-fabricated A-frames. We tied the blue string eight inches above the first layer to ensure our wall was even in height (although it tapers so is wider at the bottom) and also to ensure there are no stones sticking out of the wall ("looking pregnant" as Trevor said). Another layer done here, and I have taken care not to mention that I had already sustained three minor injuries through my stupidity - pinched fingers are the norm here, so while taking a step back every now and then to ensure the wall looks straight from a distance, I checked that the number of fingers was the same as when I started. We kept laying the stones down from each side - boys on one and girls on the other, with the string rising every so often. In no time at all, it was resembling a wall, and looking far better than the other segments of wall completed by similar novice groups. Then a lunch break where we heeded Trevor's warning that if you construct a wall without wearing gloves you can be liable to catch Weil's disease. There can be other nasties in the wall such as hypodermic needles and broken glass - however, in our section of wall, we found a rather more interesting artefact - a gas mask, as well as some old glass bottles containing what appeared to be some sort of old-time sheep medicine. After a not-too-filling lunch - "If you eat too much, you can't bend", the day was flying by, it was now just time for the top layer - the coping stones on the top which complete the wall. These D-shaped stones were heavy and had to be lifted the greatest distance. But how satisfying when complete! Before we left, it was time for some pictures of our handiwork and then a tour of the wall which included a gargoyle from the Norman church which was on the site in years past, a section of wall that popped out easily so people could hide their money in it, and a lead bell and gunpowder container from another section of wall - possibly dating back to the civil war. It was truly a brilliant way of getting up close to history and also of stamping a little bit of immortality onto the Derbyshire countryside.

41. Keep sending tastes of home parcel to my lovely Ma

I got the following email from my mum this morning:

....I got your parcel on Saturday, I can’t believe you spent 11 pound sterling to send me some old socks! Joking.
The pile of birthday cards will come in handy. It took me a little while to figure out the brownish lump was in fact fudge- all melted in the intense heat. I am wondering I still can eat it, it seems an awful waste to throw it out. It’s still in the fridge.

Thanks for the parcel again, thank you for thinking of me, lovely thought. But please, no more jam, out of date biscuits, chocolates or fudge.

Mum xx

So, any ideas for lighter English products that won’t go off much appreciated!!!

60. Drive around Silverstone in a car with more than a 1.6 engine

I mention 1.6 in particular because I was involved in a fleet event where I drove a Renault Clio 1.6 around the track, hence the caveat of a bigger engine for my 101 in 1001 challenge. However, I had the opportunity to go back to Silverstone very soon after I'd finishing compiling my 101 in 1001 list. It was for a magnificent Renault summer fleet event which ended up being filmed! http://www.renault.co.uk/corporate/whyrenault/renaultevents.aspx
After briefly meeting former BTCC champion Jason Plato and his Fifth Gear co-host Tim Shaw, we started the day with a couple of driving exercises which included throwing the New Renault Grand Scénic a very, very difficult course and then manoeuvring a Renault Trafic van in a confined space which unleashed my inner white van man....Then – the track bit complete with crash helmet! I started off with another Grand Scénic, except this was an automatic –which was an interesting experience for me! Then whizzed around the track in a Mégane Coupé which was absolutely brilliant. Made me realise just how talented a racing driver and how you have to know the circuit inside out to hammer round at top speed. Then after whizzing round, we did the opposite and drove excessively slowly trying to get the maximum mpg possible out of a Mégane Hatch, still beaming from the track experience!

21. Make sushi at home.

This week I finally got round to doing something with the endless packets of sushi rice that I have bought during those moments of culinary enthusiasm (that get replaced quickly with a fervour for drinking cider). Reading the ingredients, it looked like I needed some mirin and Japanese rice vinegar to make the rice sticky, so I bought that, and then set about making handrolls with avocado, cucumber, cooked fish (as raw fish is usually quite old by the time it makes it to me!) and LOTS of wasabi. The sushi looked a far cry from anything you buy in the shop, but taste-wise went down a treat with OH. I then did my usual trick of seeing just how much wasabi I can take! I never learn my lesson, and this time it ended with me dancing round the living room trying to stomp it out of my nose!