My Month in Numbers 2014: June

Hello you.

If I'm here with another memory-keeping-by-numbers post then you know it's the end of another month. And if 2014 was an uphill bike race [more on that in a moment] by now we'd have just passed the half way mark!

And so ... with our wheels safely over the brow of the hill how about we round-up the last 4 weeks  before we start on the speedy descent towards the bottom ...

2 = the number of junk journals I've made for myself to document the summer months.

I'll have lots more to share on these in July. One of them holds lots of the events and moments that featured in my Month in Numbers for May and I made it using a kit I've put together which will be available next month too.

Meanwhile the 2nd journal [here in its very initial stages] ...

... will house some of my June/July/August/September photos including these ...

7 out of 21 = the number of Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt items I've crossed off my list so far.
This will be my 3rd year joining in the hunt hosted by Rinda at Gallo Organico and I now need to get myself organised to share some of my finds so far ... and to collect those remaining two thirds before the end of summer!

Lots = the amount of numbers on display on the wall of Baltzersen's Nordic inspired café in Harrogate:

One wall was covered in info-graphics showing statistics of their entire operation. How could I not capture a photo of it for my Month in Numbers?

Countless = the number of bikes sprayed yellow and the miles upon miles of bunting on display right throughout Harrogate and the surrounding area in preparation for the Yorkshire Grand Depart of the Tour de France next weekend:

My friends and I had a day out in Harrogate shopping and found ourselves absolutely surrounded by bunting and bikes and Tour related merchandising. The shop above was even offering a 10% discount to anyone who came in wearing yellow!

There honestly can't be a spare bike in the entire county that isn't on display somewhere; in a shop window display, at the end of someone's driveway, on a fence, roof ... everywhere! As my friend Jean said [there you go Jean, you got another honourable mention!] you wouldn't have dared chain your bike up in the last few weeks without at least expecting to find it sprayed yellow on your return.

Visit the Le Tour Yorkshire website for lots more photos that can tell the story better than my grabbed snaps!

Then the following day ...

2 = the number of bikes sprayed yellow I spotted while visiting Helmsley (also in N.Yorks).
The first, on an allotment, seemingly belonged to Bradley Wiggins:

While the second was hanging up outside a shoe shop ...



I love the shoes stuck to the pedals!

 

And, you know that when you're with me you're never too far away from a new pair of shoes ... so here's my latest ...

 

£19.99 = the amount paid for the 1st pair of 'proper' trainers I've bought since I did P.E at school [I daren't count how many years ago that was ...]

As you might guess by this statistic I'm really not a trainer-y kind of girl.

[So much so I used to think my feet would shrivel up when I put them on as happens to the Wicked Witch of the East when the ruby slippers vanish from her feet.]

But I bought them with the intention of scaling up parts of my occasional morning walks into jogs/runs and so I needed better support. That said ... the main selling point of these for me was not how springy the sole is ... but that they've got silvery bits on them! If I'm going to have to wear trainers ... them being shiny really can't hurt.

For the record: I've only tried the jogging bit twice so far ... so I've got no interesting time/distance numbers to note down just yet!

Now, as a boost to my self-esteem let's move on to something that moves even slower than me ...

9 = the number painted on the snail James found when tidying the garden ...

And the best thing about James finding the snail with a number 9 painted on its shell??

It's that ... it was him who'd painted the number 9 on the snail in the first place LAST SUMMER!!

After having read about snails having a homing instinct he'd marked it and put it up on the garage roof last summer to see if it  made its way back. Then he'd forgotten all about it until he uncovered it, behind a pot, next to the garage this month! While it's certainly done well to stay alive that long ... it won't be winning win any prizes for the 'most travelled gastropod'!

Then, while we were out tidying the garden, we decided it was time to tackle the rubbish/ crisp packets / paper / plastic bottles that get blown down our drive by the wind and that end up trapped between ours and our neighbour's garage ...

38cms = the width of gap I had to squeeze down:

It was positively Dickensian! I felt like a child chimney-sweep!

And if you were ever in doubt about the lengths I'll go to for a good Month in Numbers tale to tell then let me put you straight ...

... when I first decided to just try and squeeze down there I issued James with strict instructions to stand at the entrance to be on hand to:

1. fend off any dogs that might come down and eat me while I couldn't escape ... and ...
2. be able to grab me if I got stuck or fell over.

So he duly stood there as instructed.

But then ... it dawned on me that we were missing a great photo opportunity so ... I made him leave his post to go and get the camera! The things I do to tell a good tale ...

And finally ...

9, 10 & 11 = our seat numbers for the 'Women and the Great War' performance by The History Wardrobe:

The History Wardrobe presents women's history using clothing as a focal point [a bit like the Jane Austen themed fashion-history talk I featured in my June Month in Numbers this time in 2013 - only by a different company].

This presentation showed how women's lives changed during WW1 and it was a privilege to be able to get up close to the original items of clothing:

 

Vintage fashions in a library ... it was like a little corner of heaven to me ...

100 years old [or thereabouts] = the age of the original World War 1 nurses uniforms on display:

And at the end of the presentation we were able to get close enough to even see the brand label ... and who'd have thought you'd have got your nurses uniform from Harrods?

If you're in England and you'd like to see the presentation for yourself then be sure to have a look at their events diary as they travel around the country with their various themed performances.

The 'Women and the Great War' version that we saw will be of particular interest to anyone who enjoyed watching The Crimson Field and who was disappointed at the BBC for cancelling any further series!

You can find The History Wardrobe on Facebook here.

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So, that was my June 2014. How was yours?

If you'd like to join me, you know how by now. I'll be dripping by to see you sometime [I'll be offline next week, so if you don't hear from me, you know why!]

And if you don't all the My Month in Numbers rules/details can be found here. Everyone's welcome. If you've had a month and can throw a few numbers at it ...  then you're in!

You can visit all previous contributions from both me and the entire number-crunching community on the Month in Numbers Pinterest board here.

Here's to a bright and clear July for us all.

Julie x