Nass and the 10K Run,Catie Ross, Sheffield Park, Old Friends & other stuff

August 15, 2017

Nass and the 10K Run,Catie Ross, Sheffield Park, Old Friends & other stuff

Arundel Festival is on its way

It starts this weekend.

Ten days of music, art, street theatre...........

and madness...

Come and see us if you make it through the crowds
...our antiques warehouse is open every day

Heres where you will find whats on

http://www.arundelfestival.co.uk/

Events such as the Arundel 10 k run

are big in the festival..drawing big crowds to either
participate .....or line the streets to watch

..Oh Lordy

The 10 k Run & Nass

My husband is amazing.

Sometimes I tell him so.

Usually in an exasperated derogatory tone.

Joker that he is.

You know what I mean?

" My God! You are truly amazing!"

As I look on stunned at the latest antics.

But mostly I'm in awe.

Don't you ever tell him I said so.

A few years ago Nass was diagnosed with MS.

Not great when you love sport.

I met him 27 years ago when he was my sons young sports teacher.

Lucky ole me.

I was going through a divorce.

It took the edge off that very nicely, thank you.

Nass taught and loved all sports,

favouring football and rugby.

He was a brilliant boxer.

Ran regularly.

Played cricket for Slindon village and Arundel Castle.

So when he was diagnosed with MS we felt our lives falling apart.

What mostly annoyed
Nass at the time

was he only went to the docs for a corn on his toe.

While he was there he mentioned he was leaning to one side as he walked.

I asked him to as he tripped me up if we were out walking together.

He kept wandering across my path.

Months of tests followed.

When the diagnosis came we were both shell shocked.

For a long time we couldn't think straight.

Then one evening Nass announced,

"Hmmm. I'm not taking this lying down."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to sign up for the Brighton Marathon. For the Chestnut Tree."

(The children's hospice just outside Arundel)

I sighed and worried.

He signed up.

Did a little training....and I really mean a little

And ran it.

I asked him how he did it???

" I just focused on the nicest woman's bottom in front of me and followed it."

Yep that's my Nass

Clearly this highly skilled training method can work for some....though I suspect not all

Raised a lot of money.

The following year came round.

"What shall I do this year?"

I looked at him.

" Your legs aren't great."

He shrugged.

"Then I'll cycle."

Nass had never cycled in his life.

He bought a bike three weeks before

The London to Brighton Cycle Ride.

As he took it out the car, all shiny and new, I asked,

"So where will you train?"

" I'll give it a go now."

He wobbled down Fitzalan Road while I put my head in my hands.

A week before the big ride he had done a few trips to

The Black Rabbit and back.

That would be around 3 miles tops.

I went away with friends.

Been planned for a long time.

Marrakesh.

No...really....I promise you.... thats not me

It was good for my nerves.

I received emails from Arundel friends.

" We know Nass must be training hard....as he left The White Hart before dark last night."

This did not bode well.

But again, I hadn't counted on his sheer determination.

56 miles he cycled.

For The Chestnut Tree and Brain Tumour Charity.

Nass and our lovely friend Amy who cycled with him.

He was so not tuned into cycling he

was the only person not wearing a helmet.

never even occurred to him.

I wept as he came over the finishing line.

How could I ever have doubted.

He took a year or two off

Well, off the sporty stuff.

We organised a dance/ auction/supper

charity event at Arundel football club.

The last bid on the auction was a night out at a restaurant with Nass

Our friend Jan bought it...though she has never actually taken it up...too nervous probably

It was hard work but fun.

We raised a lot of cash for

The Brain Tumour Charity

& The Chestnut Tree

thanks to all the friends who helped and supported the event.

I thought that might be the the end of it.

But no.

When Nass is touched by a story he wants to do something about it.

However hard it might be for him.

Along Came Catie Ross

We have an antiques warehouse in Arundel.

And several US clients who visit, once, maybe twice a year.

One of them has in his life, the gorgeous Catie Ross, his neice.

The more we heard about this baby the more it touched us.

And Nass in particular.
He couldn't forget her.

In and out of hospital since birth.
She is one brave little girl.
A year old a few weeks ago.

Nass wants to raise some money for Catie Ross.

So her family can give her a little treat among all the hospital visits.

He also wants to raise more money for

The Brain Tumour Charity

Brain tumour has touched many of our friends.

Some have come through.

Sadly, many have not.

So far he has raised a £1000 to split between the two

The Arundel 10K

During the Arundel festival in August we have the 10K run.

It's up and down all the hills within the Arundel park.

I'm told its not the easiest.

What do I know? I'm not a runner.

I like to walk over those hills with an audible book plugged into my headphones.

Well, Nass is determined he wants run it.

Even if he winds up walking the last few K.

I worry his legs will let him down.

That he will fall, as he sometimes does.

And not get up.

Nass says Catie Ross and The Brain Tumour Charity are special.

He just says he will do it.

So he will.

If you would like to sponsor him

Here are the links
Catie Ross Gorgeous Girl

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/brenda-nassarian

and
The Brain Tumour Charity

Brain Tumour Charity

Old Friends

When my son Jay was 5 years old I ran into an old school friend.

(Yep thats him, always loved his clothes.)

The friend said

" A few of us together every couple of months for dinner. Want to come along?"

I joined.

Weve been dining ever since

Now my son is 40!

That's him, on the left now a menswear designer living in the US,

caught on camera outside NY Fashion Week
Still loving his clothes

Anyway back to the friends.....

We have dinner regularly.
Dined our way through all of the ups and downs life has on offer......

.......but we also have some fantastic days out.

Mostly in Sussex, so its easy for us all to travel to.

Yesterday we went to Sheffield Park & Gardens.

Haven't been there since childhood days in my dads old Ford Poplar car.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheffield-park-and-garden

It was absolutely stunning.

There were some interesting characters
drawing or painting,

or just strolling around the park,

or sleeping in the August sunshine.

Come and walk around with us.......

In the 1980's the land was sold to the National Trust and the house to a developer.
It's now very smart apartments, so you can't visit the house itself, which is sad.

posh people live there innit?

one of the granddaughters joined us.
Bless her, she was very patient strolling round with the olds.

I wont tell you who, but having never
actually seen one of these without a
garden gnome sitting on it,
one of our party were convinced it
was a plastic item, just put there as another sort of plant.