Bad Hair Day.

We've now raised over £1000! Half the target of £2000. To be honest we never thought we'd get that much. Thank you to everyone who has donated so far - you're all SO generous. Jon's cousin Dawn has taken a collecting tin and isn't accepting assignments from students unless they give a donation. Not sure it's ethical but it's raised £30.00 so far! People have been so generous with their time too - one of the lecturers at work hosted a horse racing evening for us and managed to raise £50.00 - so we really are very grateful for all your efforts.

Today we've been buying exciting things like spray-on plasters and 1001 different methods of killing mosquitos. Actually the spray-on plaster is so brilliant to play with that I think we'll have used the tin up by the time we're ready to go!

We've taken this photo of us in our MRF t-shirts to send to the charity and to the local papers - it was a bit breezy which is why I look like I'm having a bad hair day - but after 5 mins Jon was bored, so we'll stick with these pictures until I can drag him out to pose for some more! Still, not bad considering that the camera was propped on nextdoor's wheelie bin with the timer set and Jon had just raced half the length of the carpark to get back behind is bike in time!

Bank Holiday Monday was the Lacock street market so we went for a mosey around. We avoided buying bric-a-brac but did join in the balloon race - I do hope it doesn't land in Tony and Cherie's garden as I'm not sure we could stomach a signed photo...Still, must be useful for scaring the birds off the new grass seed. We also went to the bell ringing demo at the church and got to ring the bells! Jon was especially chuffed to have been offered a go. Sadly, no comedy 'man disappearing through church roof' moments though!

Jabs and Jaunts

We've had our last jabs for India. As you can see from the camera shake Jon was a bit nervous as he took a photo of me, but I was cool and calm about the whole situation (well, I can say that as you can't see the expression on my face!). The nurse even gave us stickers for being so brave (see below). So, all we have to do now is go shopping for mysterious things like 'DEET' and get a visa. Oh, and pay the rest of the balance on the trip - the REALLY painful bit! The good news is that we're now flying Virgin not Aeroflot, so there's a chance we might get there and back in one piece.

The fundraising is going very well and we're almost up to £700 - so if you've not contributed already please click on the 'sponsor us' link on the right and support us online. You can, of course, give us money or send cheques (payable to Meningitis Research Foundation please). Don't forget that we're paying our travel costs so everything we raise goes directly to the charity.

We're just back from a few days biking in the Lake District. The weather on the way up was dodgy to say the least with sideways winds and rain, great fun on a bike! We stopped off at the lovely Egerton Arms in Astbury, Cheshire - an excellent sized room with John Lewis towels! We thought the lady behind the bar was looking at us a bit odd for being rough bedraggled bikers, but when we'd changed and got back to the bar we got chatting and found that her and her husband had a bike. She'd obviously been to check out the bikes 'cos her opening remark was 'Are they both Suzukis?'. Then we stayed in the Black Bull in Coniston, home to the Coniston Brewery. Which, as you can imagine, we found rather pleasant... We had a very nice room across the back yard with its own entrance, so we didn't have to tramp our soggy bike gear through the pub. The Lakes must look lovely in summer... That said we did get some walking in and caught the 'ferry' (pictured) down to Torver to walk back.

On the way back we tried to stop in Hawkshead but found BIKES had to pay carparking charges! Just where are you expected to put the sticker? (I've already emailed the Parks authority to suggest a few places) So we pressed on to Windermere via the ferry - great fun. Saw Simon Calder and a BBC 'film crew' of one bloke and a large video camera. We stopped off overnight at my parents. Mum's very well and has put on about a stone and a half - and looks much better for it - it's probably the only time she's been happy to go round telling people she's put on weight! She's only got 3 more chemo sessions to go and luckily they're not making her feel too ill.

I've just got back from my first Open University Summer School at Queen Mary Campus in London. It was 'proper East End' with the Blind Beggar pub where the Krays used to drink just down the road, and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry nearby too. For those of us who remember tiny halls of res. bedrooms, the student rooms today are a revelation! Proper comfortable single bed with en suite, and a full sized kitchen-dining room (bigger than ours!) to share between 4 bedrooms. I decided I could cope with becoming a full-time student again! But perhaps not with the £15K loan! I'm looking forward to my final OU exam...3 days before we fly to India... Thanks to those who sponsored me whilst I was at the Summer School.