To keep on top of my Day Zero Project I thought I'd do an update post every once in a while. It'll help to keep me focused and give me the nudge I need to get things done. I'm two months in (with 940 days left) and so far I've completed five of my 101 goals, and a further thirteen are underway. I had no idea that this post would end up being so long. Make yourself a cuppa, and get comfortable.

In progress

001. Read 101 books
Six, half way through the 7th.

014. Go on a date with my husband at least once a month (outside of harvest)
April - A trip to see the bluebells
May - Back to see the bluebells and a cinema trip to see The Lego Batman Movie

021. See a psychic
Reading booked for January 2018, this was the first available appointment with the guy I wanted to see.

029. Grow something edible in the greenhouse
I've grown mixed lettuce leaves, lambs lettuce, spring onions (2 varieties), garlic chives, cucamelons, electric daisies, and raspberries. So far we've eaten (a lot of) lettuce leaves, and jolly nice they are too.

054. Take part in a beach clean up
I discovered details of a clean up when a local business posted on Instagram. It's in the diary and I've got my fingers crossed for a little sunshine.

063. Create a 1 Second Everyday video for items ticked off the list
So far so good.

070. Make five more loans via Lend With Care
One more made. With repayments from my existing lending, I was able to lend £30.00 to Mrs Ol Pol, a 57 year old farmer in Cambodia. The day before she’d requested a 12 month loan of £492.46 in order to purchase fertilizer, pesticide, weed killer, as well as to pay for ploughing costs and labour costs. You can read her full story here. After I loaned her £30 she had £67.46 left to raise. Within a few hours two more lenders had loaned her some money and she’d reached her target. In total 15 lenders made up the loan in less than 24 hours.

I’ve said it before but I think it’s a fabulous idea. My original loan was £75.00 to a tradesperson in Vietnam two years ago, since then I've been able to lend money to four others with the repayments from that original loan.

072. Do ten things I've pinned on Pinterest 
I'll do a separate blog post when I've done all ten, I'm half way there.

076. Give geocaching a go
I've signed up to the website and selected the first location I'm going to attempt.

081. Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the Alphabet
If the film starts with the word 'The' I decided to ignore it, e.g. I count The Man From Uncle is an M. And so far I've watched five.

084. Keep a change jar for a year and buy something frivolous with the proceeds
Current total: £13.23. I don't carry cash very often so this might not be very fruitful but my idea is to empty my purse of anything but pound coins after I've been out spending.

086. Read a book set in my hometown
I have the book, 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson, and it's in the to-be-read pile. A friend of mine used to live on Britannia Road so I've spent a lot of time on this street. Weird coincidence - the day after this book arrived the character from the book I was reading at the time, The Girl In The Red Coat, visited my home town, Ipswich.

090. Take a one second clip of myself every first day of the month and create a video
This means I have to brush my hair at least once a month. Two captured so far, 31 to go. I'm using the 1 Second Everyday app, which date stamps the clips, so no possibility of me cheating and waiting for a good hair day...


If at first you don't succeed

018. Run a marathon a month
The idea here was to run 27 miles over the course of each month. The main aim being to get me in the habit of exercising regularly. As I started mid month I set a target of 14 miles for the first month, and failed to stumble a single mile. Same goes from the second month.

057. Take part in a world record attempt
On May 6th a local food hall celebrated it's 10th anniversary and as part of their celebrations they attempted the record to get the largest number of people eating a sausage roll in one place. I thought that this was too good an opportunity to miss, so I popped it in my diary. However, before leaving home I checked the start time only to discover that is was actually an unofficial record attempt (which surely just makes it a large group of people standing around eating sausage rolls?). So the search continues...


Completed

047. Create a bee friendly area in my garden
This will be an ongoing project as I intend to keep adding bee friendly plants and shrubs, but I have started by creating an area with a bee bath and lavender to entice the bees to a sunny spot.

058. Climb a tree
In my garden, so it's a bit of a cheat but I'll keep my eyes peeled for another good climber. The problem is a lot of low branches are cut off to stop such activity!


077. Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years
Done. The question is where do I put it so a) I'll remember it and b) I won't lose it?

078. Answer the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind
I can't say my mind feels freer, but some of them did make me stop and think, my answers, if you'd like to read them, are at the end of this post.

100. Make a video about a typical day of my life
I thought I'd do this early on in the project and then maybe do another one near the end to see how life has changed. I filmed on May 18th and now need to edit all of the clips together, so any recommendations on simple editing software, and editing tips would be gratefully received!


Here are my answers to the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind (answered 19/04/2017):

How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
Younger. I've never been in a hurry to grow up. Most days I don't feel like a grown up and yet I'm currently 41, married, self employed...

Which is worse, failing or never trying?
Never trying. What's that saying? You only regret the things you did not do...

If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
Fear of failure, fear of judgement. Also because sometimes we have to do things (work, food shopping, laundry) in order to live. Sometimes out of duty, feeling that we should do something 'because it's the right thing to do' even when we don't want to.

When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
Without a doubt, I'm full of ideas and plans, less so of action.

What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
Greed and the corrupting need for power

If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
Being outside, growing things, creating beautiful spaces

Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
I'm taking 'doing' as work. I'm doing what I know, what I'm good at. I do believe that good design is helpful, but I doubt it's the thing that will being me the most happiness

If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
I'd have a family in my 20s.

To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
I've always said that our lives are set to take a certain path so I've allowed myself to wait for life to come to me on occasion, other times I've made decisions that have altered the course of my life, but all of these things, I believe, have led me to be where I am today. And where I am today is exactly where I am meant to be.

Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
If I do something I like to do it well, but it depends on what the 'right things' are, who decides?

You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?
Stand up for my friend.

If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
Do the things that tug at your gut, make your heart swell, and refuse to leave your thoughts. Listen to your inner voice, your instinct.

Would you break the law to save a loved one?
Save them from what? Death, injury, hurt? yes absolutely.

Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
I don't think I have

What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
I don't believe that I do anything differently.

How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
Because we're all different

What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?
More travel. Holding me back are funding and my husband's dislike of flying

Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
Certain elements of the past would be better off forgiven and left behind

If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?
I'd live by the sea, it's calming and restorative

Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
No, and no.

Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
Joyful simpleton. Life is never dull for the simple minded.

Why are you, you?
I'm a result of all the experiences I've had in my life

Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
No

Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
Losing touch with a friend hurts no matter what

What are you most grateful for?
My husband, he's my best friend

Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
Tough one. My memories make me who I am, being unable to make new ones means I wouldn't change from who I am today whilst everyone around me moved on, changed.

Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
Yes

Has your greatest fear ever come true?
No

Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?
Yes, and not anymore

What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?
Climbing a large fur tree with my big brother, we'd climb as high as we could and then let go and drop down through the branches. It was so much fun, we laughed and laughed. We didn't have a care in the world and thought of nothing but doing it over and over again. We wandered home exhausted, muddy, sticky with tree sap, but happy.

At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
Our wedding day, it was awesome

If not now, then when?
As soon as I pluck up the courage

If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
Nothing

Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
Yes. 

Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
Because people are afraid of losing the love they believe in

Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
Yes

If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?
Yes, work is not my life

Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
I'll take less work if I can earn the same

Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
Today? No.

When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
When I left work to work for myself

If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
My husband and my family. I'd text my best friends to tell them I loved them, and that they made me a better person.

Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
No

What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
Everyone is alive, living is filling your life with love and adventure

When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
When you can't stand another day of not doing it

If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
Because nobody likes or wants to fail

What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
Maybe botox on my frown lines

When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
Just before I go to sleep at night

What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
My husband. Yes.

In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?
Five years from now I'll remember this time in my life, maybe not what happened on exact days but I'll remember the events of this time.

Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?
I'm making the decisions in my life right now. Some things are beyond my control (and the control of others) but I can say at this point I am making the decisions, along with my husband. We're doing it together.