Thursday 22 January 2015

January Blues

It's January, I'm half way through my year and this is where I'm at. I've lost 3 of my initial planned events for various reasons so I have a few gaps and the remaining 12 things on my list include some of the biggest challenges... Problem is, I'm running out of time, my business is taking off and I have so many bookings this coming year that fitting scheduled events in is getting impossible and it's looking less ad less likely that I'll be able to tackle the coast to coast before June which makes me pretty sad...

So I'm looking for 2 new events and one that's been suggested to me is the Sheffield round walk which I'm looking into

In the run up to my 2 upcoming half marathons (Sheffield half marathon on 12th April and Leeds half marathon on 10th May) I'll be squeezing in some park runs over the coming weeks and I'm looking at cramming in a tough mudder somewhere too.

Next on the to do list however is a creative illustration project, watch this space
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Thursday 6 November 2014

A Month of Madness

This past month has been insane, some ups and downs and very little time to update my blog here!

So what fundraising antics have I been up to? Well I successfully ran the York Marathon and I have the medal to prove it! It was the Sheffield TENTENTEN the following weekend and I was feeling well and recovered enough to run it until the day before when I had the most stupid accident and tore an intercostal muscle making breathing, never mind running, very painful...

I finished the gorgeous cheeky charity calendar in association with Sarah's Florist which is currently at the printers...


...and to fill one of the gaps I shot another calendar just with the doggies (which sold out in a day!) so I think I'll be doing another run of these very soon.


I've also had the charity Christmas cards back and they are now on sale at the 2 Rain Rescue Charity Shops and will be available on here next week...

Sadly however the Charity Fashion Show that I was organising for next weekend had to be cancelled due to low ticket sales which I'm pretty gutted about, but hey ho, you can't win em all!

Shelley
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ps. enormous thanks to the ladies that re-donated half their ticket costs after they received the cancellation notice and refund, lovely lovely people :)


Monday 6 October 2014

Dissapointments, double bookings and disaterous traininng (or the lack of...)

I'm gearing up to one of my big challenges this coming weekend, the York Half Marathon and I have to admit I have done barely any training, I'm just hoping that my general fit(ish)ness will carry me through, bolstered by my firm resolve and determination.


I've had a couple of disappointments too recently, I missed the Great Yorkshire Run because I forgot I was in Scotland! Missed out on getting a ticket for the Percy Pud (though I'm hopefull I might get a late entry) Aaaaaand I couldn't get a team in for the Dragon Boat Race as it was ludicrously expensive to enter (over £400!). So I'm currently on the hunt for a couple of other events that I can take part in that fit in with my insanely busy work diary...

I'm well behind with my ratio of time passed to challenges completed so I need to really up my game between now and Christmas, though on the plus side the calendar is shaping up nicely and I've some cute Christmas card designs on the go AND tickets for the fashion show will go on sale tomorrow!

Shelley
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Wednesday 10 September 2014

The Doggy Photobooth


This weekend Rain Rescue are having a great big Fun Dog Show and Fayre at Sheffield Manor Lodge and I'll be there with my fundraising Doggy Photobooth! It'll be £3 a go with A3 prints available to order at £20, images will be emailed to everyone that participates and shared on the Rain Rescue Facebook page...

So if you want your pooch to look as awesome as Gremlin here, get yourself there!

11am - 4pm (Dog Show 1pm - 4pm)
Sheffield Manor Lodge
Manor Lane
S2 1UL




Thursday 28 August 2014

Pride of Britain

I literally can't believe it but I've been nominated for a Pride of Britain Award

I had a call yesterday from ITV saying that they would like to come and film me very soon and that it will then go to the judges (Carol Vorderman & some other celeb types!) I am so very very honored and humbled by this and accept this nomination on behalf of everyone at Rain Rescue that spends their time tirelessly trying to combat the awful abuse and neglect that is prevalent in our county.

In fact this is for everyone that works in animal rescue, especially in small, local, underfunded, under appreciated rescues. I will use this opportunity to get every last bit of publicity and public awareness that I possibly can.

I've just had a look at the winners from last year, and frankly I don't stand a chance but while I've got the ear of anyone influential I'll be using it to full advantage!

Thank you to the people who nominated me, you are very kind, I think I better up my game now!!!

Shelley
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Wednesday 27 August 2014

September Challenges

September is going to be a busy month! I'm starting shooting the 2014 charity calendar in conjunction with Sarah's Florist this weekend, then I'm hoping to do one of my park runs and the Great Yorkshire Run as well as running a doggy photo booth at Rain Rescues Fun Dog Show organised by another awesome Rain Rescue volunteer, Lauren, which is going to be absolutely ace so get yourself there!


Friday 22 August 2014

Peaks Crossed!



I'm sat writing this with my feet firmly up as it's the day after the 2 day cross peak dog walk that we successfully completed in about 16 hours. Myself & Grace Tebbutt accompanied by the lovely Yogi walked 36 miles in total over 2 days, and on day 2 we were joined by a bigger team made up of my other half Paul, Cassie (another lovely Rain Rescue volunteer) her rescue doggy Lola my rescue doggy Sparky aka Gremlin and one of Rain Rescues current residents Duke!

We had a tough 2 days which began at Hunters Bar roundabout, the start of 'Compos Way'. Grace Yogi and myself set off at quite a pace but we were quickly slowed down by the massive hills on the first section of the walk.
On the way up to Stanage Pole we encountered 5 police cars in the middle of nowhere and thought that our walk might be brought to an abrupt end before we'd even hit the moors. They appeared to have rescued a couple of girls which left us worrying about "from what..." and looking over our shoulders for a couple of miles but who knows what was going on!


We stopped for some lunch as we reached the pole and Mr Yogi was still going strong having walked 6 miles already on his own (waaay more than I thought he would manage)

We ploughed on over Edges and past reservoirs stopping for a few photos on the way, it was a really hilly and really tiring day and we were fantasising about chips and cider for  the best part of the afternoon. Yogi only fell out of the bag once...


We'd set off at 9:30 and finally reached the half way point 8 hours later where we were extremely happy to see our lift waiting for us to take us to The Old Horns (Cassie's Pub) where we'd planned to refuel and stay the night so that we could get out and going again first thing in the morning.

It's fair to say that all 3 of us were pretty shattered by the time we got to the pub, Yogi's little legs had carried him 12 miles all on his own before I had to pop him in his bag and carry him up the biggest hill IN THE WORLD!

manic tiredness had set in by the time we reached the pub

Day 2 dawned after a good nights kip and Jon, Cassie's other half, sorted us out with breakfast butties (I don't think we would have made it without these) as well as packed lunches for the day ahead.

On day 2 the team grew and we were joined by my husband Paul and our dog Gremlin, Cassie and one of her dogs (adopted from Rain) Lola, and one of Rain's current residents Duke! We were a lot slower with so many dogs in tow and Mr Yogi gave up on walking after about 2 miles so had to be carried pretty much all the way on day 2 (well done Paul!)

Day 2 Team
Day 2 brought a very long crossing of the moors which felt like it would never end and some much more challenging map reading, if it wasn't for Graces skills we'd all still be wandering around up there I think...


The doggies were great, they all walked so well and for so far (apart from Yogi) they all managed the full 17 miles on day 2 and didn't complain anywhere near as much as the humans! Lola the collie probably covered double the distance the rest of us did too as she was darting about all over the place having a great time. Duke was a pleasure to have with us, especially when going uphill, but he really didn't understand crossing over Stiles and basically threw himself at them to get over, he's a lovely boy and will make someone a fabulous pet but he is a tad dim...

mmmmmm sandwiches
The last part was of course the hardest and going downhill became just as hard as uphill with aching knees and blistered feet but we finally made it. Sadly Sid's cafe (the official end of the walk) was closed so we'll have to pop back another time!


Huge thanks to everyone who sponsored us, if you haven't gotten round to it yet you can still send your pennies here... https://www.justgiving.com/ThirtyAtThirty

Shelley
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