The Brighton Jotter

"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." – Mary Oliver

101 Things in 1001 Days

Start: 11th September 2023. End: 8th June 2026

Review days: 20th December 2023, 29th March 2024, 7th July 2024, 15th October 2024, 23rd January 2025, 3rd May 2025, 11th August 2025, 19th November 2025, 27th February 2026.

Green = Complete; Yellow = In Progress

  • Reading and Writing
    • Move my notes to ROAM – I have a heap of notebooks and journals that I’d like to mine for anything that’s still useful. This will be a big job and I’m likely to get distracted going through the journals so we’ll see how it goes.
    • Join a theological library – Gives me access to expensive academic titles. Complete.
    • Get something published – I have one particular essay in mind that just needs a bit of work to get ready.
    • Read 120 books – In progress
    • 50 lists blog project – I did a 24 list project on my other blog and I really enjoyed that format. – In progress
    • Read five Miles Franklin Award Winners – Breath (2009), Chai time in the Cinnamon Gardens (2023), Too Much Lip (2019), Eucalyptus (1999)
    • Journal for 30 days in a row
    • Do NaBloPoMo – not this year because I’ll be travelling but hopefully next year. – Complete
    • Update pages on my blog
    • Download and delete my old blog
  • Running and Fitness
    • Sub 1:50 half-marathon – this is very much a stretch goal
    • Run a marathon
    • Foam roll for 30 days in a row
    • Recover strength for 30 days in a row Mobility for 30 days in a row
    • City to Surf
    • Run a sub 25min 5km again – it’s been a few years but I think it’s doable.
    • Run 2500km in a year
    • Parkruns (x10) – Balyang Sanctuary 13.1.2024, Albert Park 3.2.2024, Studley 16.3.2024, Torquay 30.3.2024
  • Home
    • Get artwork (bedroom and living) – living complete.
    • Get a storage unit for our bedroom
    • Clear out the boxes in our wardrobe
    • Set up the home automation with our photos on the display – the photos on there are beautiful but how much better to have family photos catch my eye while I’m cooking.
    • Clean out and organise the study – some of these organising tasks are co-dependent, wardrobe, study and hall cupboard all have some overlap.
    • Clean out and organise the hall cupboard
    • Install awning over our table. Complete.
    • 2nd outdoor sitting area
    • Fix our automatic computer backup – this has not worked since we moved. I do have cloud backups of my photos and most important documents but it would be good to be able to recover everything easily.
  • Sustainability
    • Get a bike. Complete.
    • Build or buy a wicking bed for veggies
    • Get ten things secondhand instead of new. Puzzles (lots of puzzles), Tshirt, Copy of Catcher in the Rye in New York, jumper, two jars for pantry storage
    • Repair something instead of replacing it. Complete.
    • Start a worm farm. Complete.
    • Do a waste audit and then reduce waste by 25%. Waste audit done.
    • Make weed tea
  • Neighbourhood
    • Finishing walking or running every street in Brighton, Elwood and Gardenvale. In progress.
    • Write 10 blog posts about something I learned/saw while walking every street
    • Learn about our local First Nations peoples, neighbourhood history and environment Read/visit/watch 5 resources in each of these areas.
    • Go to five neighbourhood talks, festivals or activities. – In progress.
    • Go to Elwood Famers Market
    • Try five new neighbourhood restaurants or cafes – Sons of Mary, La Provence, Bottarga
  • Melbourne and Surrounds
    • Visit a gallery or exhibition (x5)
    • Try 5 new restaurants – Complete: Park St Pasta, Indu, Albert Park Hotel, Smiths St Bistrot, Victoria by Farmers Daughters
    • See the Fairy Penguins in St Kilda
    • Be a tourist in my home town (x2)
    • Local Hiking (x6) – Ferny
  • Travel
    • Three Capes Track. Complete.
    • Visit four Victorian National Parks – Yarra Ranges National Park
    • E’s Germany Trip. Complete.
    • Israel
    • Family holiday
    • Five-year travel wish list (for post-2024)
    • Short breaks (x5)
    • Travel for two of Hubby’s marathons. In progress.
  • Memories and Photography (this section is very ambitious, LOL)
    • Finish the kids’ books and hand over all their stuff. In progress.
    • Major trip books (x5)
    • Put together trip videos (x4)
    • Go on an outing to photograph birds/wildlife (x2)
    • Finish a 1s a day monthly video project
    • ABC photo project – In progress.
    • Colour project
    • Everyday object series (x3)
    • Finish year books (x4)
    • Make a magazine
  • Faith
    • Get a mainly music group up and running. Complete.
    • Try out some new rituals in my QT (x5) – Starting prayer, praying from Evelyn Underwood’s book of Prayer
    • Go on a retreat
    • Read the bible in a year. In progress.
    • Try examen for 30 days in a row
  • Community
    • Donate blood
    • Volunteer with a local community group (x2)
    • Pick up rubbish (x5)
    • Invite our neighbours over
    • Giveaway some produce from the garden. Complete.
  • Experience
    • Do something fun outdoors that is outside my norm
    • Go to an outdoor movie
    • See a platypus in the wild – this one will require nature’s cooperation
    • Go to a live show (x4) – & Juliet
    • Go to some live music. Blues Music tour in New York
    • Internet free days (x15) – 30.9.2024, 25.12.2024, 7.1.2024, 1.3.2024, 2.3.2024
    • See the Northern or Southern Lights – once again will require nature’s cooperation
    • Swim at a beach/river/lake (x15) – we are out of the El Nina weather pattern and expecting a hotter summer here so I expect I’ll have more swimming opportunities over the next couple of years. – 2023 – Pt Lonsdale x1, 2024 – Pt Lonsdale x2, Elwood x3
    • Make some playlists to listen to at home and listen to them (x4)
  • Food
    • Finish cooking all the recipes in Tenderheart Cookbook. In progress.
    • Make pasta. Bologna Pasta Class.
    • Make roti bread
    • Bottling or preserving (x10). Silvan Berry Jam, Sweet Chilli Sauce, Green Cherry Tomato and Lemongrass Pickles
    • Make a reverse pantry list
    • Put together a set of go-to recipes for entertaining and taking places
    • List of my go-to breakfasts, lunches and snacks. In progress.
  • Family and Friends
    • Big gatherings (x4)
    • Small gatherings (x10). S – October 2024, Small Group end of year dinner – December 2024, S – Feb 2024, Post Carmens Brunch – Feb 2024, School friends over – May 2024, K’s family – May 2024
    • Games night
    • Celebration dinner for each family birthday (including a special celebration for E’s 21st). S 2024 – ?, E 2024 – Indu
    • Organise an activity with friends (x2)
    • Organise an activity with family (x4)
    • Family 2000-piece puzzles (x5). Complete.
    • Update our wills and POA’s – the kids are adults now so no guardian is needed and the checks and balances we put on need a rethink. In progress.
    • Have my school friends over. Done 3.5.2024.
  • For later (three things I picked partway through the challenge)
    • Camino di Santiago – we’ve booked this for October
    • Finish my online French course
    • Make a new list