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Brand New Spirit Midas Jewellery Collection is launched today!

Monday, September 6th, 2010

The new summer 2010 Collection from Spirit Midas is now available online

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Spirit Midas artisans, Holly and Linda Budge, have officially launched their new range for the southern Summer 2010. True to form, we have trawled through treasure chest’s around the globe to collect the finest trinkets of brightly coloured, semi-precious stones and exotic beads to bring to you everything that is bright and delicious! And what better way to celebrate the beginning of a new season than adorning yourself or your special friends & family in strands of jewels and strings of beads that sing with the colours of summer?

Unique and offbeat, this thoroughly modern Collection takes it’s cues from the fluctuating rhythms and paradoxes of nature’s  five elements – Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Space. The result is bold and independent designs that run the length of the Collection.

To receive your special 10% discount off all Spirit Midas Jewellery, simply enter the following code at our online checkout: 10launch
* This offer is valid until 10.09.10

You can view our latest Collection online at www.spiritmidas.com

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E-FLI makes headline news!

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

E-FLI is the cover story in this month’s E-Learning Age magazine.

Last November, E-FLI scooped up the prestigious E-Learning Age award for Excellence in the Production of Learning Content.  Judge, Barry Sampson recently wrote this article covering how the E-FLI model was born and how it has raised a few heads in the e-learning industry.

Check out the article in digital version here or the E-Learning Age website here.

E-FLI - A Leap of Faith?

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E-FLI Struck Gold at the E-Learning Age Awards

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Last night E-FLI beat off tough competition, including Sky, B&Q, Ford & Legal & General,  to collect E-Learning Age’s Excellence in the production of learning content- private sector award. Hosted by E-Learning Age magazine and the eLearning Network, these prestigious awards are in their fifth year. Their objective is to recognise real excellence in the e-learning industry.

E-FLI award winner

Kate Vose from Biz Media says “The Excellence – Private Sector category is a very popular category attracting a great number of entries so winning the Gold award is a real achievement.”

Holly Budge, founder of E-FLI says “This award is great recognition for 6 years of hard work and dedication to get this product to the standard it is today.”

Check out E-FLI here

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I’m finished…

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Well I finally finished, and will be taking my place in the Guinness Book of Records for taking part in the world’s longest horse race. This was confirmed yesterday.

I’ve been finished for two days and am now chilling out at the finish line. A South African guy called Charles won the race and he finished 4 days ahead of me. The rest came in today, so everyone finished which is great. I ended up middle field as I had some really good horses for the last few legs of the race. Although I did manage to get stuck in a bog and my horse started to sink which was a little scary.

But its a great atmosphere at the finish line. Everyone’s reflecting on what we have achieved, although we are all very tired. You really don’t realise how tired you are until you’ve stopped.

We’re having a big party tonight now that everyone has finished with a prize giving and then I’m going back to the capital tomorrow.

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Lost My Horse

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Well if its at all possible… I managed to loose my horse whilst competing in the world’s longest horse race!

I got caught short of reaching the next checkpoint as it started getting dark. I set up camp for the night in the middle of the Mongolian mountains about 16 kms from the next checkpoint and tied my horse to a rock. My fellow competitor, Sasha, hobbled her horse… but these Mongolian horses scare easily and before we went to sleep that night the horses ran off at about midnight.

There was nothing we could do as it was dark and we couldn’t chase them. The next morning we called the organisers and it took them 5 hours to come and try and find us in the mountains. We had well and truly kissed goodbye to our lead at this stage.

Whilst waiting for the organisers to find us we went looking for our horses, and we did manage to find them… but do you think we could catch them? In the end it took 4 Mongolian men to capture our horses and it was midday. At this stage, we had also been without water for 14 hours which was getting a little worrying, especially as it is so hot during the day.

Due to the delay, its very difficult to catch up and everyone is about a checkpoint in front of us. Also the time limits on when you can ride is making it virtually impossible to get back into the running, as we can only ride from 5am to 8.30pm every day.

Yesterday was epic though, I rode 100km on my own covering 3 sections in the pouring rain. I was soaked to the bone and it was very lonely at times. I came across a group of wild horses and a couple of them came towards me and I realised the enormity of what I was doing, being out in the middle of the mountains completely on my own… it made me appreciate having a companion and today I was back riding with Sasha. We’ve riden another 80km today.

I think its still going to take another 5 or 6 days to complete the race. I’ve also had to ditch loads of equipment, including my tent, so I’m really hoping I don’t get caught short of the checkpoint again.

I managed to get a shower at one of the checkpoints yesterday, my first in 5 days and that was fantastic. I’m also really not fairing too badly with chaffing. Some competitors have got horrific chaffing on the backs of their legs, some even with open wounds.

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In the Mongolian mountains… somewhere?

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Well, I’m about 16km from the next checkpoint and had to stop as it started getting dark. I’m riding as part of a team with a girl called Sasha from South Africa, and we’re squashed into a small one man tent in the middle of the mountains in Mongolia. We’ve got our horses tied up to a rock and are really hoping they are still going to be there in the morning.

The horses scare really easily and so far just about all of us have fallen off. Our tent is flapping in the wind, and I hope it doesn’t scare them into running off tonight… otherwise we’ve got a long walk to the next checkpoint tomorrow morning and we’ve lost £500 each.

We’ve covered about 50km today, but were delayed this morning as a Spanish rider fell off his horse and had to be airlifted back to base due to spinal injuries. But we’ve been doing about 13.5 hours of riding each day; covering 80km on Sunday and 90km on Saturday. But its dawned on me that its going to take a bit longer than I originally thought, maybe 10-12 days. The distances are really long and you are really doing well if you manage to cover off 2 sections of 40km per day.

We’re doing really well though and are currently lying in 4th and 5th place in the race respectively. We took a bit of a chance and left the last checkpoint at 4.30pm this afternoon, thinking that we would make it to the camp at the next checkpoint, but the distances are very long and it got dark so we’ve just had to pitch up in the middle of no where.

But its really luck of the draw with the horses, or should I say donkeys in some cases! I’m on my 7th horse now in the race. At each checkpoint the horses are all lined up to choose from, if you ask the Mongolians which is the best horse, they are pointing out absolute donkeys.

I’m extremely sore, tired and have only eaten an energy bar today, we’ve hardly got any water between us. And need to be up at 5am tomorrow to reach the next checkpoint. Fingers crossed that my horse will be there in the morning.

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Fermented Mare’s Milk

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Today, I haven’t really done a huge amount, just getting ready for tomorrow.

The race starts at 9am tomorrow morning, so we’ve spent today getting all our equipment and kit ready and making sure its under 10kg, as we’re only allowed to put 10kg on the horse.

Everyone has had their kit spread out everywhere, struggling to get it down to 10kilos. I had to get rid of a few bits of clothing and some food, which was a bugger. But the rider weight limits has worked in my favour. The maximum weight limit for riders is 85kg, and if you’re not 85kg you can make up the extra weight with additional kit. So I’ve been able to take an additional 17kgs of stuff.

Once I had all my saddle bags packed, I went for a short ride of about 1km to make sure they were comfortable.

Some of my fellow competitors having been playing polo against the Mongolians. And tonight there is a big party planned complete with Mongolian wrestlers. They are apparently going to make all the competitors drink a special drink of fermented mare’s milk, sounds delicious! Its 12% alcoholic, I think I’m going to pretend to drink it.

Tomorrow we get weighed at 8.45am and the race starts at 9am. I’m hoping to cover 120kms tomorrow, riding from 9am until 8.30pm.

The weather is really going to test endurance. Its incredibly hot during the day, probably in 30s and then absolutely freezing at night. I’ve been wearing all my clothes and sleeping bag and am still cold.

Unfortunately Richard Dunwoody has pulled out of the race as he’s going to return to England to participate in Strictly Come Dancing but he’s going to come back and ride the first leg with all of us.

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Mutton, Mutton and more Mutton

Friday, August 21st, 2009

I arrived in Ulaanbaatar two days ago. Unfortunately the airline lost my tent so my first drama was finding somewhere to buy a new place to sleep!

I met my fellow competitors that evening for a meal, and it was really good to get to know everyone. Yesterday we had a 6 hour drive to Khairorun to complete which ended up taking 10.5 hours, (a good chance to get to know each other!). The Mongolian countryside is beautiful; amazing, huge, rolling steppe with blue sky overhead, and the people are lovely. The food is mainly mutton based (and as I don’t usually eat lamb it has been mainly energy bars for me). The toilets are very very basic so everyone is avoiding them until they are really necessary!

We had a party last night before spending our first night in our Gurs and woke up this morning for a 30km ride. The horses are feisty and need a firm hand but are very accommodating, dropping to their knees (like camels) to let us mount them. I nicknamed my horse today ‘Sydney’. He was only a small 13 hands but even still was hard to handle.You have to keep a firm grip on the reins but with my huge sheepskin rug I am quite comfy.

A couple of the rules have changed since my arrival here. Firstly, we have an imposed curfew during the race meaning that everyone has to stop riding at 2030 and is not allowed to set off until 0500 the following day. Secondly, every 40km the horses need to be checked by vets to establish that thier heart rates are sound and they have not been pushed too hard. If the horses heart rate exceed the guidelines then a penalty rest time of either 6 or 12 hours can be imposed. Two penalties mean elimination from the competition. As a result of this, the vibe of the competition has completely changed. I was planning on a slow(ish) race though, so my game plan has not altered as much as others. I am currently riding in a group of five in a real team effort.

Tonight we have another meal (mutton again) and then have another 30km ride in the morning before starting the race proper on Saturday.

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