Thursday Thirteen #7: Thirteen Things About Me

I have been tagged by Michele of The Family Centered Life for an 8 Things About Me meme, and by my Multiply (and real life) friend Sharon for My Five Things. Which to do? Aha! Both! Eight plus five makes thirteen, which gives me my Thursday Thirteen theme.

For Michele ...

1. I went to boarding school from just before my ninth birthday until I left school.

2. I hate getting my hair cut and put it off for as long as possible. Maybe I have a Samson complex?

3. I love to have vases of flowers around, but I am dreadful at remembering to throw them out when they wilt. I'm sitting here looking at a bunch of dead carnations.

4. I am allergic to animal dust, which was very inconvenient as I grew up on a farm. Horses are worst. Cats, surprisingly as they are an allergy trigger for many people, are not bad at all.

5. My lovely husband once took me on a surprise day trip to Berlin. It was just after the Berlin Wall came down and we were among the last people to go through Checkpoint Charlie.

6. In my office days I used to grab a breakfast of prawn and coleslaw rolls with hot chocolate on the way to work.

7. My grandfather survived being gassed during World War I.

8. I always sleep with at least two pillows, and often three or four.

For Sharon ...

9. I first learned to drive when I was about thirteen by bumping round a field in an ancient Austin Cambridge.

10. If I am feeling stressed I love to escape by re-reading The Chalet School Books by Elinor M.Brent Dyer.

11. When I was about 12 I tried to teach myself Dutch. Why Dutch, I have no idea. And no, I can't remember any. Not a single word.

12. I used to come home from primary school, run up and down the length of the house several times, then settle down at a little desk and play school, complete with timetable.

13. When the children are grown up and Tevye retires I would love to go and live in Cornwall.

As I am combining two memes from two different places it is far too complicated to try to tag anyone. If you would like to join in, pick eight or five things as you choose.

[A note to people who have left comments on the Multiply version of my blog - I wasn't ignoring you, but I wasn't getting notifications from Multiply. Tesco seems to have bounced the email address I was using there thanks to an unpaid bill of 87 pence which I don't owe them anyway!]