Monday 27 April 2015

Challenge Update - April 2015

My 2015 challenges are:-

1) Read one book each month.

1a) Read Agatha Christie books in chronological order.

2) Watch films from IMDb's top 100 movies of all time.

3) Support charities.

April has been quite a busy month for me with Easter, decorating and the gardening season getting off to a hectic start so my challenges have taken a bit of a back seat this month. I've still managed to read a book as well as my Agatha Christie book and watch a film but I'm hoping to improve on the amount next month.


The book I read this month was Snowfall In Burracombe by Lilian Harry. This was the book which Lisa from Jumble and Jelly bought me as one of my Twelve Days Of Christmas gifts. This is the seventh book in a series all about the village of Burracombe and its inhabitants, set in the 1950s. I haven't read any of the preceeding books and didn't feel I needed to as it can be read as a stand alone book, but the ending definitely left lots of loose ends, presumably to carry on in to the next book. Thank you, Lisa, I did enjoy reading this book and I've now passed it on to my mum as it's the kind of book she enjoys too.


I'm really enjoying the Agatha Christie books I'm reading, this month it was The Man In The Brown Suit. There were so many twists and turns in this book that I couldn't even hazard a guess who the murderer was so I was quite surprised at the end.


I've only managed to watch one film this month and it's one I've seen before, All About Eve. This film was nominated for fourteen academy awards and won six, definitely a film worth watching again.



National Pet Month runs from 1st April 2015 through to 4th May 2015 so I wanted to help animal charities this month. When we visited Hope Pastures earlier on this month, I decided to adopt Banjo, one of the donkeys there.


Banjo is beautiful donkey who had a horrible start in life, you can read about his story in my Hope Pastures post. It costs £15 to adopt one of the horses, ponies or donkeys and you're sent a lovely photo of the one you choose, an adoption certificate and a letter telling you all about their story. The money raised from the adoptions helps the charity greatly. We adopted Banjo in Mick's name so that gift aid could be claimed on the donation. I'm not a tax payer so it makes sense to do it in Mick's name, the charity benefits more this way.


Each time I've been shopping, I've been popping tins, packets and trays of cat food in to my trolley. They soon add up to a worthwhile amount. I've donated all this food to Leeds Cat Rescue, a group of volunteers who foster homeless cats and kittens in West Yorkshire and surrounding areas until homes can be found for them.


We used to have a cat ourselves, Jake, he was my baby before I had kids and Daniel and Eleanor grew up with him. After he died, Daniel developed an allergy to cats which means as much as we'd love another cat, we can't have one. I still like to do my bit for the unfortunate cats which don't have loving homes and this is one way I can help.


I've been saving all my used postage stamps as many charities are grateful for these, they can sell them to raise much needed funds. Foreign stamps earn even more money than UK ones so I make sure I save them all. I donated this lot to Many Tears Animal Rescue which is based in South Wales but has dogs being fostered in homes throughout the UK. They also have a small number of cats.


Whilst I was looking on their website for the address to send them to, I noticed that they also collect old car tax discs. Tax discs no longer have to be displayed in the windscreen but both Mick and I had our old ones still there so we took them out and whilst I was at it, I had a look in my glove box and found a few more from years past, so I've posted all these off too. What a simple way to help a charity raise money.

We decorated our bedroom over the Easter period so I've been having a good clear out of the wardrobes and drawers in there. I ended up with a dozen black bags full as well as some boxes to take to the charity shop. There were even two of Mick's suits, one which he wore for our wedding nearly twenty five years ago and one which he wore to my sister's wedding a year later. They're as good as new as they were only ever worn once. I did take a photo of it all but I've managed to delete it from the computer when I was having a tidy up on there last week, I'm just hoping that I don't come across anything else I've deleted which I shouldn't have. We took everything to the RSPCA charity shop and I was surprised to be asked if we'd like to gift aid the donation. As you know, I always tick to gift aid monetary donations but I didn't realise you could do it when you're taking in unwanted items for them to sell. Apparently, they can claim gift aid on the amount that the items sell for. I take lots of things in to charity shops yet this is the first one which has asked me if I'd like to gift aid my donation. Of course, this was done in Mick's name again so that they can make the most of what's raised.

It may have been a fairly quiet month on the reading and watching front but I've certainly been busy with the charities.


34 comments:

  1. I've read through book 5 of the Burracombe series, there are 9 in it. I've never seen All About Eve, is that with Bette Davis?

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    1. I enjoyed this Burracombe book, it's so typical of village life with everyone being connected in some way with the other people in the village. All About Eve stars Bette Davis, she's very good in it and received an academy award nomination.

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  2. Goodness Jo - you have been busy and still found time to read !

    Love the picture of 'Banjo' the name seems to suit somehow.

    Do find time to sit and enjoy a nice quiet cup of tea ...

    All the best Jan

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    1. I usually read in bed before I go to sleep. I've been so busy this month that I've been asleep before my head hits the pillow so I haven't read as much as I might otherwise have done. Banjo is such a lovely donkey, he came straight up to us for a stroke when we went to visit Hope Pastures. He's only recently been so bold as he was very nervous when he was rescued, but his donkey pal, Coco, has helped him to overcome his fears somewhat. There's some wonderful stories about the animals at Hope Pastures, it's a pleasure to support them.

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  3. I'm so glad you liked the book and that it'll get another read with your mum. I saw ABE a few years ago, it features an early Marilyn Monroe role which is why I watched it, but it is a good movie.
    Wow to all the things you've done for the animal charities this month. I always keep stamps from envelopes too and send them off every so often to a charity. I've never seen car tax discs being collected though and I have a couple of those too so I'll make sure I send them away as well.
    Lisa x

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    1. Thank you again for the book, I did enjoy it and I know my mum will too. She usually passes her books on to the ladies at the bowling club when she's read them so I shall tell her to do the same with this as I do like other people to have the chance to enjoy books I have read. I can't say I'm a fan of Marilyn Monroe but it was interesting seeing her in an early role, I thought Bette Davis was excellent though. I'm hoping that by blogging about the things I do for charity it will show that you don't have to spend a fortune to help. Anyone can save stamps, that doesn't cost anything yet it can certainly help the many charities which collect them. I often give them to Mick's auntie to take to the WI which she attends as they save them for Guide Dogs but I do like to support smaller charities too.

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  4. Wow what a wonderful way to collect for charity, they say every little bit adds up. Did not know about the car tax disc, I have some in my car, but I am going to keep my last tax disc in the car, just because I can.

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    1. Every little bit certainly does add up. It doesn't have to cost people anything to help a charity, it would be good if everyone could just do something, charities are crying out for help and there's just so many of them.

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  5. I'm so impressed with everything you have done for charities in the past month. It's really wonderful. I often donate things that we aren't using anymore, and sometimes I donate food to the pantries around holiday time but I've never done any pet-related charities. I think that's a really good cause I will see if I can do that here too. We had a dog who was our baby before the real babies were born and he died about three years ago. I always thought I'd want another dog right away but I haven't felt that strongly about it in the actual event. But I would like to help animals if I can. I hope you have a good week, Jo.

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    1. It's just a case of helping out where we can, isn't it? There's so many charities and so many of them are struggling to make ends meet, yet they do such good work, they really need our support. I didn't know you'd had a dog, it's so sad when anything happens to a much loved pet as they do become one of the family. Taking on another dog will be a big decision, I know what it was like when we got Archie, we thought long and hard about it. They're such a big responsibility as you can't just head out, you've got to think of them as they can't be left for hours on end and holidays can be troublesome too. We take Archie with us when we go away as I know he wouldn't like kennels. I hope you can find a local animal charity which you can support, I'm sure they'd be very grateful for any help you could offer.

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  6. You've had another good month in your challenges, Jo. Well done! :o)

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    1. I'm managing to keep up with them, even when I've had a busy month such as this month. I'm hoping to do better with the reading and watching next month though, we'll see.

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  7. I didn't realise that tax discs could be sent to charities in the same way as stamps. Thanks for posting about it... we have masses of old tax discs here. Jx

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    1. I didn't realise either until I was looking for the address on the Many Tears Animal Rescue website to send the stamps to. I much prefer to pass on useless items which can help a charity than dispose of them.

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  8. I've always thought I'd love to adopt a donkey. Well done you :o)

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    1. If only I could bring him home with me, he's such a cute boy.

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  9. Just on catchup Jo. Well done on the charity front and I'd love to be able to adopt a doneky too. Do you think they'd allow me from way over here? We've taken "heaps" to our Charity shops over the last few weeks and have a lot more to take now. I'm really in declutter mode and really should try and do a post today or tomorrow, as a sort of breather. I quite like Lillian Harry books, but didn't know she'd written a series, but don't have a lot of time at the moment to read. Take care.

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    1. I don't see why they wouldn't allow you do adopt a donkey, there's an email for enquiries under Contact Us on their website, you could always drop them an email and find out. There's two donkeys available to adopt, Banjo and his best pal, Coco. Now I've started decluttering the bedroom it's got me in the mood to move on to other areas of the house. We've got so much stuff that it's driving me mad so the charity shops may as well make use of it. I haven't read any other Lilian Harry books but I enjoyed this one.

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  10. You've certainly been very busy and I'm sure what you've done for the animal charities is very much appreciated. That's interesting about tax discs.

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    1. I wouldn't have known about the tax discs if I hadn't seen it on Many Tears Animal Rescue's website when I was looking for the address to send the stamps to. I think it shows that anyone can help charities, there's so many different ways to do so.

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  11. You did so well on your challenges this month Jo, especially all of the charity ones. How great!!! Well done you. I didn't realise that charities still collected stamps, we only get a very few on our mail - mostly bills I guess!! - but I should consider this. Thanks for the idea. I hope that you enjoy next months challenges as much! xx

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    1. I think I need to do a bit better on the reading and watching front in May, I'm hoping that I have a little more time to do so. There's so many different charities which collect stamps still, it used to be a common thing to do years ago, I think they probably need to remind people that the scheme is still in operation.

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  12. Oh aren't you good with all of the cat food. My mum would love a cat but still has my brothers dog with her! I had the Burracombe book for my Christmas read last year & really enjoyed it. I think I would like to read the rest of the series x

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    1. We'd love a cat, I'm not sure how Archie would take to one, but the issue won't arise because of Daniel's allergy. It's quite severe and brings on an asthma attack so any thoughts of bringing a cat in to the house is definitely out. I enjoyed the Burracombe book, it's left me wondering what happens to some of the characters so I may read the next one in the series at some point.

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  13. Well you have been busy Jo, what with all that going on its not surprising the films went by the wayside. I love having a clear out, it's amazing what we hold onto isn't it. If Archie could read I bet he'd be wondering what all the cat food was for! We collect stamps for training Guide Dogs for the blind, a very worthy cause. xx

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    1. It's a long time since I've had such a good clear out, I must say that I feel much better for letting so much stuff go. I kept all the cat food in the porch whilst it was mounting up, Archie couldn't wait to get in there each time the door was opened so he could have a smell at it. He knew what it was alright. I usually send my used stamps to the WI, they collect them for Guide Dogs, it is a worthy cause.

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  14. I don't remember that Agatha Christie book. That's such a good film.
    You're doing really well with the charities, and it shows how we can support them without necessarily making a direct donation. Flighty xx

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    1. I really enjoyed this Agatha Christie book, lots of twists in the plot. Not everyone can afford to support charities with monetary donations but there's lots of ways to help which doesn't cost anything.

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  15. Hi Jo

    I had seen this book about around before Christmas but as I still had so many to read I did resist. I had't realised it was part of a series of books. I absolutely love the film All About Eve it is one of my favourite films but then anything with Bette Davis will get my attention. You have been busy with your donations and what a lovely idea to adopt Banjo. We used to have an owl sanctuary not too far away from us and we adopted a number of owls over the time.

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    1. The book is part of the Burracombe series but it can be read as a stand alone book, it does leave you wanting to know what happens next though so I may read the next in the series at some point. I bought my mum the DVD of All About Eve one Christmas as she loves Bette Davis too. I love the idea of adopting an animal, it's all very well and good to make a donation but it's more appealing in some way to be connected to one of the long term residents.

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  16. Hmm. Makes me think about creating my own challenge. I can do the 1st and 2nd challenge here. :)

    Wonderful day! :)

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    1. I think it's good to set yourself some fun challenges, it certainly helps me to make time to do things I want to do.

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  17. You've certainly had a busy time, I didn't realise it was so easy to help some charities, I'll have to start saving stamps.

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    1. There's lots of way to help charities, it doesn't have to be by the way of a monetary donation or even giving time, saving stamps is such an easy way to contribute, something which everyone could do.

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