Week with Sophia Challenges 1,31,75,91,93

After getting back from Cyprus I was incredibly lucky to spend the next week with my gorgeous Daughter Sophia :) This presented a perfect opportunity to complete a few challenges at the same time as having some really fun days out and experiences with Soph.

Challenge 1 "Find a Geocache"

Luckily there proved to be a number of new Geocaches recently placed quite close to my house. Sophia, with map in hand, was very excited to go find treasure and we ended up finding 2 different Geocaches, one in a nearby woodland and one near a very nice Duck pond. We both had a great time adventuring together, was lots of fun!

Challenge 31 "Send A Message"

This one was a lot of fun :) Sophia and I wrote a message and added my email address for someone to contact me if they found the bottle. We sealed it and carried down to the river. Soph was very excited and insisted that it would be washed out into the Sea and would be "going to Beth in Japan"

Challenge 75 "Fight A Monster"

If I'm honest I was struggling with this one before I had a lightning bolt of an idea. Nobody said I had to fight the monster in real life, so who better to fight a monster with than badass Witcher Geralt of Rivia!

Challenge 91 "Build a Fort"

I think I got a bit carried away with this one lol Previously Sophia and I built a blanket fort and set up the ipad to make an ad-hoc cinema, which she loved! So for this challenge I went one further and got a pair of curtains and curtain rail from Wilkinsons - attached them to the frame of her bed, set up some fairy lights and brought the TV over to make a pretty kick ass under-bunk cinema. Sophia was suitably impressed and insisted on sitting/eating/sleeping in her cinema pretty much the whole time she was here!

Challenge 93 "Get Caught In The Rain"

This one seemed like it would be pretty simple as it rains ALL THE TIME here, however while on holiday I had a pretty cool idea (if i do say so myself) to make this pretty fun :) "This Umbrella....IT DOES NOTHING!"

Challenge 4: Best Street Art/Graffiti

This challenge seemed quite difficult at first as I couldn't decided what criteria I'd use to determined what I liked the best.

Obviously there's graffiti everywhere - mostly rubbish, or abstract murals and I didn't want to settle for anything like that.
Preston is pretty devoid of any culture so I knew I'd have to look further afield and so my search took me to Hipster-Heaven aka the Northern Quarter in Manchester.
I was reading about Bansky and looking into the possibility of visiting a site on a trip to London when I noticed this news article, discussing a Banksy inspired art piece.
As soon as I read it I knew I wanted to go see it and that would be my challenge.
So I set off to Manchester after work and headed to the Tib Street Substation. On the way I noticed several awesome art pieces as the northern quarter is full of them! so I took a few extra pics and finally got the snap I set off for!

Challenge 4 "Best Street Art/Graffiti" Complete!

Manchester Christmas Markets Challenges: 2,3,16,44,50,72

Getting into the Christmas spirit, and taking advantage of the opportunity to get out of the house and do something different I decided I'd check out the Manchester Christmas Markets. They proved a very fruitful place for finding cool things and completing challenges, as well as a really fun day out :)

Challenge 2 "Eat Something Weird"

For this challenge I ate a cake. Now that doesn't actually sound too weird until you realise it was from Stuart Thornley Cake Design (a crfater I used to go to events with) and he specialises in making cakes that don't look like cakes. And so I proudly present - the Cake Pork Pie!!

Challenge 3 "Buy The Coolest Badge"

As soon as I saw this badge I knew I had the challenge in the bag. I thought my robot badge from the science museum was pretty cool but this hand made Crystal Maze badge featuring the legendary Richard O'Brien is just amazeballs!

Challenge 16 "Coolest Freebie"

You have no idea how hard I tried to get something cool for free, but it turns out it's pretty hard! I kind of cheated with this one, in that I did pay for it but it's also kind of free at the same time. Feeling the chill in the  air I decided to indulge in a lovely warming mulled wine - and got to keep the "free" promotional mug :) I know some will say I paid for the mug, but that probably makes the mulled wine free - so either way I'm claiming it as a cool freebie!

Challenge 44 "Best Street Food"

This one was actually recommended to me by Beth - and she was very jealous i got to try it! Only in the North of England can you turn a side street and be confronted by the wonderful sight of a Yorkshire Pudding Burrito stand!

Challenge 50 "Grow Something"

As soon as a saw the awesome stall selling Cacti planted in really funky real ale cans I knew this was the plant I was going to grow for this challenge!

Challenge 72 "Coolest Socks"

At Christmas time novelty socks are everywhere! I saw some really cool socks with puns, cool characters, adventurer time , Rick n Morty etc. but all of them seemed a bit basic. And then I came across this stall and knew i'd found the socks for me! For each pair sold the company uses the money to help the homeless in Manchester - so not only do they look pretty snazzy, they also help the most vulnerable at a very hard time of the year :)

Challenge 12 "Best Hat" & Challenge 47 "Find a weird Inflatable"

Thank God for the over commercialisation of Christmas! I was thinking this would prove pretty difficult - but a random trip to the pound shop turned up these beauties - an inflatable Santa beard and inflatable antlers and a Turkey Hat - Genius!

Challenge 42 "Best Bridge"

On the way home from dropping Steve and Stu in Hull, after the craziness that was Nottingham and Arse Full of Chips, I decided to stop for a bite to eat and a break from driving. As I parked up I noticed the moon in the sky on a clear winters day, and it was framed perfectly by the twin support towers of the Humber Bridge. Perfect for Challenge 42 and also, I think a really good picture!

Liverpool World Museum Challenges 14,29,48,67,94

After a great morning at the pirate festival, Sophia and I decided to explore some more of Liverpool and I noticed a poster for the dinosaur exhibit at Liverpool World Museum - with challenge 48 firmly in mind we set off to see what delights the museum had on offer.

It was AWESOME! Sophia loved the exhibits, and there were so many varied displays - we saw insects and animals, time and space, ancient Egypt and dinosaurs! I'd thoroughly recommend it - especially because it was free!
The museum was a literal treasure trove for completing challenges and I managed to finish another 5 - bringing my total to 9 in one day!

Challenge 14 "Picture of an Insect"

Although they have been collected for display - I still think these butterflies are beautiful and this is probably better than me taking a picture of a woodlouse in the garden!

Challenge 29 "Find the Oldest Thing"

I think I'd struggle to find anything older than ancient Egypt! - There were so many fascinating items on display but as I've always loved the Egyptian gods since visiting as a child, these amulets of Horus from 332BC are ideal









Challenge 48 "Find a Dinosaur"

Thanks to the awesome display taking up a full floor of the museum I was spoilt for choice with this one. I loved the skeletons rather than the recreations though as they felt more "dinosaury" lol







Challenge 67 "Best Dog/Cat Pic"

Although this is quite a weird one, I just found this mummified cat fascinating.















Challenge 94 "Find the Shiniest Rock / Fossil"

This is a massive ammonite fossil - and I thought it was great as Beth often spoke about collecting these. I even bought my own little fossil from the gift shop as a memento

Liverpool Pirate Festival Challenge 15,88,97 & 99

Just as Beth left for Tokyo, I heard about the Liverpool Pirate Festival at Albert Docks and thought not only would this be a great day out for Sophia, but also a chance to complete a couple of challenges - and boy was I not wrong! The festival itself was lots of fun, Sophia got dressed up as a pirate, we saw mermaids, pirates, jugglers and all sorts of displays. Sophia was very excited when she got to go aboard a real pirate ship and have a sword fight with the Captain. There was a fair and Sophia had a ride on the carousel, we had ice cream and chocolate and all this was only the first half of the day! However in this brief visit I managed to complete 4 challenges!

Challenge 15 "Best Mascot Picture!"

I love this photo as its not just a cool mascot, it's a bright yellow kangaroo pirate! Can't get much better than that :)

Challenge 88 "Go to a Fair/Theme Park"

Now I know this is only a really small fair but it counts! I'm hoping I can get to a "proper" theme park at some point but for now this challenge is done!

Challenge 97 "Get on a Boat"

Once again this feels like a bit of a cheat as the boat didn't actually move, but I was definitely on a boat so it counts















Challenge 99 "Go to a Festival"

This one is kind of a given as it was the Liverpool Pirate Festival :)

The Challenge - an introduction

So Hello!
Welcome to this new blog set up as part of (and being used as a introduction to) a set of exciting/interesting and weird challenges devised by me (James) and my amazing fiancée (Beth)

In September 2017 Beth set off for a 6 month study placement at Toyo University in Tokyo Japan, An I'm left here in good old England. As a way of keeping in touch, and as something fun for us both to do while she's away, we came on the idea of setting each other these challenges. And so, after a lovely weekend away sat in a park in Manchester, we sat down to write the list together - some silly, some serious, some easy some pretty tricky - all designed to get us both to enjoy our time apart more and also bring us closer together.

Here's the list of challenges:

1. Find A Geocache
2. Eat Something Weird
3. Buy The Coolest Badge
4. Best Graffiti/Street Art
5. Coolest Art/Statue
6. Replicate A Statue
7. Get Involved
8. I Need A Hero - Do Something Heroic
9. #Instagram# - Take Some Basic Photos
10. Go To Different Country
11. Spell Countries Name In Coolest Way
12. Best Hat
13. Best Vandal Eyes - Put The Coolest Googly Eyes On Something
14. Picture Of An Insect
15. Best Mascot Picture
16. Coolest Freebie
17. Make Your Flag - Coolest Medium
18. Climb A Tree
19. Weirdest Antique/Gadget
20. Best Thrift Shop Purchase
21. Riddle Treasure Hunt
22. Best Postcard
23. Coolest Stamp
24. Get An Autograph
25. Stay In A Hotel/Hostel
26. Picture On The Most Modes Of Transport
27. Wield A Sword
28. Play Dnd
29. Oldest Thing
30. Picture Of Stars
31. Send A Message
32. See Fireworks
33. Give A Gift
34. Best Doppleganger
35. Coolest Notebook
36. Best Cloud Pic
37. Fit In The Smallest Space
38. Watch A Movie
39. Find A Cool Nerdy Place
40. Best Photo Of A Grape
41. Find An Australian
42. Best Bridge
43. Coolest Texture
44. Best Street Food
45. Best Vending Machine Purchase
46. Win Something In An Arcade
47. Find A Weird Inflatable
48. Find A Dinosaur
49. Weirdest Poster/Flier
50. Grow Something
51. Best Halloween Costume
52. Best Christmas Tree
53. Pic Of Something You Don’t Understand
54. Find Something For The Wedding
55. Coolest Origami
56. Sit On/In The Best Thing
57. Buy Ava/Soph The Coolest Thing
58. Coolest Packaging
59. Pic Of A Robot
60. Pic Of A Wild Animal
61. Sunset/Sunrise Pic
62. Go To A Wood/Forrest
63. Find Snow
64. Find A Dungeon
65. Find A Dragon
66. Best Plush
67. Best Dog/Cat Pic
68. Best Lego Sculpture
69. Crudest Thing
70. Pretentious Photo
71. Scary Photo
72. Coolest Socks
73. Sex Toys
74. Get A Tattoo
75. Fight A Monster
76. Make A Short Film
77. Best Photo Taken By Someone Else
78. Best Photo Of Someone Else
79. Coolest Building
80. 5 Random Pics Of Anything
81. Fire An Arrow
82. Alphabet Photos
83. Read A Book About The Country
84. Write A Blog
85. Write A Poem
86. Make Some Money
87. Get Dirty
88. Go To A Fair/Theme Park
89. Go Camping
90. Catch A Fish
91. Build A Fort
92. Best Mini Golf
93. Get Caught In The Rain
94. Find The Shiniest Rock/Fossil
95. Visit A Movie/Tv Set
96. Impossible Pose – Holding Up A Monument Etc.
97. Get On A Boat
98. Go To A Gig
99. Go To A Festival
100. Pose With A Bear
101. Make A New Friend
102. Get As High As You Can
103. Going Underground
104. Buy Something Cool For A Dollar
105. Cook Something Traditional
106. Dress A Member Of The Other Country
107. Make Something For Each Other
108. Get Wet
109. Go To A Beach
110. Go To A Performance
111. Mark Something
112. Learn A New Skill
113. Sketch Something Outside
114. Go On A Picnic

As you can see there's a massive and wide variety of challenges - and for each one we would have to take a photo/memento to show the other how we'd completed it. When Beth came back from Tokyo we would then get together, go through all the photos and have amazing stories, memories and mementos of our time - coming together despite the distance.

Unfortunately, as with most things, life doesn't work out how we plan. Beth and I have since separated and the reason for completing these challenges is now over. However - I've really enjoyed having the motivation to try and do something new, to push my self to go out, embrace new things and discover new opportunities. As such I am going to complete this list as a cathartic, personal farewell to my relationship. I love Beth, I always will and I wish her the best. I hope one day she can read this and smile fondly about some of the memories we've shared along the way. I know I will :)

Well with the first post written, the challenges introduced and everything all ready it's time to complete the remaining 113 challenges, as that's Challenge 84 "Write a Blog" done :)

wish me luck!