My 29th birthday is only a month away, and I’ve been pondering how I want to spend my last year as a twenty-something, specifically, what I want to have achieved by the time I reach 30. So here, in no particular order, is a list of 30 things I’d like to do by 28 May 2008.

Achieve a monthly grocery budget of £50 (currently £80)

Make myself another skirt

Take a photography course

Have an article published in a national newspaper

Learn ten new tricks in Photoshop (3 completed)

Climb Snowdon

Have a campervan holiday

Sort out proper stash storage

Grow 20 different crops (in progress)

Have a BMI of less than 24

Learn to knit

Finish my New Zealand scrapbook album

Finish my Switzerland scrapbook album

Clear out the drawer under the spare bed(!)

Go whale-watching

Try three new foods

Write a sample chapter and book proposal

Re-read the New Testament from start to finish

Have a skiing lesson

Play my flute at church

Learn to make baked alaska

Write a song

Walk the South Downs Way

Get back in touch with my old friend Danielle

Invent a culinary masterpiece

Take part in an inchies swap

Go badger-watching

Conquer the art of making flapjack

Complete a family tree with at least 50 people on it

Introduce 10 people to mince pie toasties

And if I complete all those, I’ll be throwing a party.

PS Any family or friends seeking birthday present inspiration might find it here, but in the spirit of creative simplicity, really, I’ll be happy with a packet of seeds or something friendly and home-made, like a cake (see above). Or you might choose to spend your money on something useful, like a chicken from the alternative gift catalogue. Cluck.