blog parade...

 I'm not very good of thinking of answers to questions, but thought I'd join in Abigail's blog parade anyway!


1. What’s your favorite time of the day, and why?








In some ways, mid morning. It’s the time I have most energy, and can enjoy doing things the most.  The outside world is bright and new. Mind you, late summer evenings with the golden sun are delicious, too...  I simply love it when life glows in the sunshine.  Plus...late evening in the beautiful hush and lull of twilight.  All right, so it's hard to pick a favourite, when I think about it.


2. If health wasn’t an issue, what food could you live off?


I can’t possibly limit myself to one food. A lot of ‘treats’ wouldn’t work if I had them all the time, either. I absolutely adore ‘waffle berry pudding’ which is Pampered Chef recipe I’ve made a few times recently – raspberries, waffles, white chocolate…so if I could have that once a month that would be lovely. Strangely enough, I’m not so keen on raspberries otherwise…not keen on the texture. But in waffle berry pudding…










I'm very fond of scallops, but feel guilty about the fact as I know they are over-harvested in our seas.  So I wouldn't want them too often.

I also love:

• a (not too big) lamb shank with some kind of mash (mash potato is always comforting, in general)
• stir fries are good
• macaroni cheese when my tummy can take it (Andy can’t eat cheese so I don’t eat much of it in homemade meals these days)

There’ll be other things. I’ll add them later. I think I’m straying from the essence of the question anyway!!

Later...

I can't believe I forgot!  I absolutely adore yoghurt coated banana chips. Whenever I think of them I crave eating them...can I have some now, please?

3. If you could have one wish granted (besides wishing for more wishes), what would it be?

A healed world, unmuddied by deception and delusion and prejudice – is that cliché? I do mean it.


4. What’s one thing that you get teased about a lot?

My nose blowing. I have quite a trumpet. When I was at college, my lovely friends next door would roar with laughter at my nose blowing. (While next door. Yes, they heard my nose through the wall, and I heard them laugh in response. Granted, the walls were quite thin!!)  My brother has exactly the same sound of nose blow, too!

5. If you could choose one movie, book, or TV show to spend your life in, which would you pick? What type of character would you be?


Yeek. I can’t think of one. Too many decisions to make here!! 


6. If you could have one talent that you don’t already have, what would it be?









Like Laura Anne, I want to be able to play the piano. I gave up at grade 1 as I was so shy as a child. I struggle to teach myself now when life is full of so many other things: I would love to simply sit down and play, reflecting my mood.


7. If money were no object, where would you go on vacation?









If money were no object, somewhere in every continent. Is that cheating?  I love places where I can see the natural world in all its beauty.


8. If you were an awesome singer, which genre would you sing?


Folky acoustic stuff with my guitar. I do that anyway, but I’m not an ‘awesome’ singer alas! 


9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, what would it be?


Well, I’m guessing from the question that I would have to spend it in a shop, as opposed to other things… Mmm. I might be really boring and say M&S*. I am boring. But I could run happily round the Per Una section replacing my wardrobe, buy loads of presents for friends and family, get new furniture and have a nice meal at the end!!


10. If you could live in any point in time, when would it be?


I’ll stay where I am, hard as it is. I’m tempted to say the times of Jane Austen’s books, but I doubt I’d be rich enough to sit around all day improving my talents (e.g. piano playing)!!


11. If every outfit in your wardrobe had to be one color, what would it be?






Turquoise.

(Am I allowed some white to go with it?)




12. If you were one of the seven dwarves, which one would you be?
(Doc, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, Happy, or Dopey)

Actually, I’m a bizarre mutation of all of them, come to think of it.





13. What’s the last album you listened to?


Um. Something Andy had on but wasn’t paying attention to what it was. We had Holly Williams 'Here With Me' on last night.


14. What’s something we’d be surprised to know about you?

I haven’t a clue! Do you surprise easily?!



*Marks & Spencer


Please note only images 1 and 7 are mine. 
The others are taken from stock xchng, with the exception of the (NASA) globe, the seven dwarves, banana chips and the Per Una trademark.

25 random things about me

I have done this on Facebook and will reproduce it here for the rest of you!!

1. I am fascinated by colours.
2. I have never felt good at drawing noses. At least, not so as they look like the original. I find it quite frustrating.
3. I love feeding (& watching) our garden birds. I would be quite pleased to get a whole variety of bird seed/mixes as a birthday present. Yes, I’m odd, and I know it.
4. I can get very excited / delighted by seemingly little things.
5. If I’m at a wedding and I have a camera with me, you’ll usually find me contorted in a strange position or climbing onto walls trying to get an ‘interesting angle’.
6. I frequently overanalyse my motives (Do I? Really? I’m not sure…). I’m so keen on doing the right things for the right reasons that I can end up partially frozen (metaphorically speaking).
7. I’m a fast reader.
8. It’s not unusual for me to have moments where I think ‘ooh! I exist!’ and find the fact of it mind bending.
9. My ears are quite inconspicuous.
10. I mix the profound and the trivial quite easily. Have you noticed?
11. I am battling Chronic Fatigue, after suffering a relapse 3 or 4 years ago. It’s boring, but a fact. Saying ‘I’m tired’ feels a bit over-obvious, broken record-ish and something of an understatement, but sometimes I just need to be able to say it.
12. I like doing bits and pieces in the garden.
13. I love doing crafty things (as in cards, scrapbooking – not as in sly!)
14. I’m a Christian, and want to spend more time getting to know / drawing closer to God. I struggle with the discipline factor. I do think we are all made in different ways and there is no one template for an individual’s faith journey. God doesn’t do pigeon holes.
15. I don’t like sweetcorn. It’s annoying, because eating corn on the cob looks fun.
16. Pond life is fascinating.
17. I think it’s great having the facilities of communication we do with internet, email, etc. But I think we need to remember how much tone of voice and body language contribute to the meaning of what we say – so extra care is needed to avoid misunderstanding and misrepresentation. Other people might read my email in a different ‘tone of voice’!
18. I thrive on creativity and variety, and have a tendency to have several projects on the go at once.
19. Writing is my love and my hate. It just won’t let go of me, but it’s difficult to know where I’m going with it.
20. I have some lovely friends – very grateful for them.
21. I would like to cuddle a lion cub. While wearing sleeves.
22. I hate cold calling. Having to disentangle yourself from whatever job your doing and rush to the phone for something you are uninterested in is very annoying (we do have caller display but you still have to get to the phone). But door to door is the worst. We get a lot of double glazing salespeople, who I can dispatch quite easily, but it’s the ones who want to start off with ‘a few questions’ who are the worst, especially if I am feeling exhausted. Then they get all stroppy when you don’t want to answer the questions or show them your electricity bill. Stroppiness will not sell, people!! There’s one company I simply wouldn’t sign up with because of their door to door tactics (yikes! Rant over.)
23. I have held a baby penguin.
24. I went to Chicago in 2003, and loved it.
25. I feel things acutely – whether it be joy or sadness.

"kreativ blogger" award

I have received my first blogging 'award' from Lora- how exciting!

It comes with the following instructions:

1. Post the award on your blog, and link to the person who gave you the award.
2. List seven things you love.
3. List seven blogs you love.
4. E-mail or comment on those blogs to let the people know you've given them the award.

Here goes...

Seven things I love:

1. Learning about God and getting to know him better
2. Relaxing with Andy
3. Spending time with friends and family
4. Taking photographs
5. Nature and wildlife watching
6. Making things (e.g. cards, scrapbook pages...)
7. Colours - I love colours in our garden and the natural world (see #5) and capturing them on camera (see #4), and I love colourful papers to use in crafting (see #6). I love it that our world is so full of various colours - it's wonderful.

Seven blogs I love:

This one is quite difficult. I love more than 7 blogs! But I will select those who I think will appreciate having an award, and also have a 'kreativ' aspect!

1. Lynn over at help I work with children. I reckon you need quite a bit of creative thinking to be a children's and family pastor!


2. Brunette Koala over at Learning from Sophie. Currently promoting 'The Art of Joy' with random acts of kindness, among other things. Check out her blog for more details.


3. Bring on the Joy - last I looked, she wasn't feeling very well. Hope you feel better soon, BOTJ!


4. This one goes to Art in the Wind - thoughtful musings from a fellow rabbit owner!


5. The entire "bunyard" at Furrybutts. Gorgeous rabbits, lovely photographs.


6. Artistic Abigail over at the newly named Rear Window: Observations of 32nd Street. Great new blog design, too!


7. Last but not least, AngelJoy over at Hippychick. She has a beautiful blog.

***

It's Andy's birthday this week and his parents are coming to see us this weekend, so am getting guest room ready. Feel absurdly excited at the first use of our new guest towels (!) So I may not be posting much until next week.

Garden drama - the increasingly resident goldfinch pair were very indignant this morning at the arrival of a third - went into frenzied pursuit.

Today: 4/10, medium - high