A Perfect Weekend

and start to my 5th decade

Again there was no newsletter last week but again there was good reason. These good reasons and skipped newsletters won’t come often, there just happens to have been two in the last month 😬

My excuse this time is that I was in the middle of my 50th birthday weekend with my family and closest friends. Thought maybe I’d be able to write a quick one after the guests had all left on Sunday but was so tired I decided it was better to skip a week.

I’d paused all projects the week before the party so I could do a bunch of much needed housework (nothing like inviting guests to your house as incentive to clean and tidy up) and of course prep the food.

This party, in case you’re new here, had a duel purpose. Of course I was delighted to have my friends and fam celebrate my half century birthday. I had a big memorable party for my 30th and 40th too and that’s about as far as I go for birthday celebrations, each decade is plenty.

It was also a way for me to get footage of a vegan buffet for the cooking course.

Although I wish I’d taken a little more footage of the prep (but can always get that again when I next make any of the components), my friends and sibling helped ensure lots was taken while we collectively created the grazing table. So now I just need to sit at my laptop, go through all the footage and actually make the video 😅

Bus Conversion

Before I start on that I desperately wanted to get back to the bus as I was really making good progress before pausing to prep for the party. The weather is still pretty good, mostly dry, warm and sunny but rain is definitely coming at some point and when it does it might well be a deluge.

So, the floor must go down. I worked out a way to move the very heavy steel sheets from my garage to the tent, using a mobile clothes rail I bought years ago, that I remembered claimed it could take extremely heavy weight.

Used rope to tie the board to the frame and simply wheeled it over there. After months of pondering over who I could ask to help, or how I could put the sheets on a sturdy platform with wheels, this was ridiculously easy and took zero strength.

So now work has begun on cutting and fitting the floor.

Can’t actually fix it to the frame until I can get hold of the mechanic and get the green light to close off access to the undercarriage. I believe he has one last job there. Really wish he would answer my messages, one way or the other. Then I’d know how much I need to push to find a replacement. For now there’s still several months of work I can do before that’s necessary anyway.

Base Submission Grappling

Landlord gave us a signed lease with our business name on it, which meant I could then finalise the opening of the bank account. Now that’s done we can give students new bank details to set up their payments and see who we might end up losing and who’ll be sticking with us when Leigh leaves.

Jiu Jitsu

Three of my party guests also train so I dragged them, after a very late night, to the gym for open mat the morning after 🤣

It’s weird having close friends (and my bro) who train and yet I only roll with them every few years. They’re all bigger than me and in the past rolling with them has sometimes felt a bit clunky, with them trying not to hurt me but also not patronise me, and me trying to impress them but also keep myself save. This combination does not make for smooth rolls.

This was the first time I had genuinely great rolls with all three of them. They all felt so much more experienced (two of them are now black belts, one brown) and of course I am too, so we were much more able to meet in middle ground where clunkiness and clumsiness disappeared. Loved it.

Next Week…

Three weeks out from taking over the gym and still need to do some administrative things like get students to change their standing orders, sort out the business rates changeover, get insurance in place and set up the app we’re using for class bookings and attendance. My partners are dealing with website and social media.

Aiming to get the first bit of flooring in place, in the boot area at the back. Plus continue work on the first storage box.

Having completed a very successful diary, started back in January 2025, that was specifically to help track and push all projects but also various good habits and health and fitness goals that I wanted to reach by 50 (giving me 18 months at the time), I have now started a new one! The notebook and method of entry I’ve been using means it’s perfect for a year and a half, so it’s time to set some new goals for 31st Dec 2027, and continue to track all projects, including the new gym.

Hope you’re all staying healthy, happy and hydrated out there.

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Main Website with links to everything

PLANT BASED STUFF
Cooking Course - Restaurant Quality Plant Based Meals at Home
Instagram - post some food pics when I remember, every week or so

JIU JITSU STUFF
Grappling Nolej - articles on note making and other aspects of training and learning, plus a shop selling notebooks and stickers
YouTube - home of The Grapple Travel Show and other grappling and travelling content
Instagram - a lot of post training team shots but also some useful short form videos I make with my coach and teammates sometimes.