This England: Marmite

Marmite on hot buttered toast ...

Marmite sandwiches ...

Marmite flavoured crisps (potato chips) ...

Marmite flavoured cashew nuts ...

Mmmm!!!!!

Does that make you think "yum"? Or "yuck"? Or "huh????"

Marmite is a peculiarly British delicacy, which even here is definitely in the "love it or hate it" category - so much so that there have been adverts based on the "love it or hate it" theme and the official Marmite website has different entry portals for lovers and haters. In our family Helen and I are the lovers and Tevye, Marie and Rose the haters. In my experience Americans tend to be baffled by marmite (basing this on expat homeschooling friends!) as it doesn't come with instructions and they don't know what to do with it. Marmite is a very salty, yeast extract based ... can't think of the right word to describe it ... goo? The consistency is a little similar to chocolate spread, but trying to use it like chocolate spread would be a disaster as it is very strong tasting. The key to marmite is that a very little goes a long way. Marmite on buttered toast is particularly good as the marmite kind of melts into the butter. Marmite is even good for you (if you ignore the high salt content!) as it contains lots of B vitamins. According to Wikipedia marmite was used in the 1930s in experiments which identified folic acid for the first time. Last but not least, the jar shape and labelling is an instantly recognisable iconic design to anyone living in England.

So ... Marmite. Do you love it or hate it?

This England: Edward Elgar

One of the pieces I played in my orchestra concert a couple of weeks ago was Elgar's Enigma Variations, which is one of the best loved pieces in the English classical repertoire. Here is the best of the best ... the ninth variation, Nimrod, played by a military band at the national commemoration of Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph in London.

Edward Elgar was born near Worcester in 1857, the son of a piano tuner and musician. He had little formal musical training and was a self-taught composer. After a short spell as a clerk he became a music teacher, conductor and musician. His reputation as a composer grew slowly during the 1890s until 1899 when the Enigma Variations was first performed to great acclaim. He was knighted in 1904, produced his last great work, his cello concerto, in 1919, and died in 1934. He was one of the first composers to make gramophone recordings of his own works. The house where Elgar was born is now a museum and the statue below stands near the cathedral in Worcester.

Elgar's other best known contribution to English music is the Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, which as "Land of Hope and Glory" has become one of the unofficial national anthems of England along with Blake's "Jerusalem". Here it is played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms (a post in itself!) and sung enthusiastically by the Promenaders (the music starts two and a half minutes into the clip).

Finally, here is a short extract from Elgar's Cello Concerto, performed by Jacqueline du Pré.

This England

Linds suggested in the comments to my England post that I set this series up with a Mister Linky so that other people can join in. I have never used Mister Linky before, but I gave it a go and it looks as though it works! So here is the meme:

• Write about anything you like that you consider typically English - of course some will be equally applicable to the rest of the United Kingdom, but the meme is intended to celebrate England and all things English.
• Come over here and add your post to the Mister Linky. I will aim to put up a new post every Saturday, but you can add yours at any time.
• Put a picture of the English flag either into your post or on your sidebar. I am posting large and small flags below that you can use (they are free clipart downloaded from Aspex Designs).
• The title of the meme is "This England" taken from this speech in Shakespeare's Richard II: 

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, 

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-paradise,

This fortress built by Nature for herself

Against infection and the hand of war, 

This happy breed of men, this little world,

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall, 

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands, 

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

What's On The Calendar Wednesday: March 30th

 Photo Credit: D Sharon Pruitt (Creative Commons)

Today is ... PENCIL DAY. Or at least, the day on which the pencil with a rubber attached was patented in 1858 (or eraser, if you are in the US). Did you know that 'one pencil has the potential to draw a line 35 miles long, write an average of 45,000 words, absorb 17 sharpenings, delete its own errors and beat out an infinite number of drum solos'. No, me neither. If you are so inclined you can find out lots more about pencils at here, where is even a six lesson unit study. Here are a few facts from Pencils.com about the rubber / eraser on the end of your pencil:

Fact #1:
Pencil manufacturers make erasers, too, which makes sense since we tend to think that it’s a done deal - an eraser is a regular component of the everyday pencil. But that’s not always been the case….

Fact #2:
Pencils with erasers are an American phenomenon. The first patent for attaching an eraser to a pencil was issued in 1858 to Hymen Lipman of Philadelphia. Even to this day, most pencils sold in Europe are eraser-less! [Not true of the UK!]

Fact #3:
An eraser by any other name? Originally, what we now call an eraser was referred to as a "rubber" because the tree resin it was made of "rubbed out" pencil marks. In Great Britain, they still use the original term. But then they also call trucks lorries, elevators lifts and toilets loo!

Fact #4:
An eraser isn’t called eraser by eraser manufacturers, either. Their name for the little erasers on pencil ends: "plugs!"

Fact #5:
More and more of today's erasers are made from something other than rubber! While some of the "pink" erasers you find on pencils are made from synthetic rubber blended with pumice (a grit that enhances its ability to erase), an increasing number of erasers are made from vinyl. Vinyl is a type of durable, flexible plastic.

Derwent Pencils has a nice section on its website about how pencils were traditionally made, and lots of tips and projects for pencil-based artwork. Their pencils are made in Cumbria, where large graphite deposits were first discovered in the sixteenth century.

Meme invented by Pamela at When Good People Get Together.
 

Five Minute Friday: On Waiting

I don't have much blogging time but feel the urge to write something, so I thought I'd try this Five Minute Friday meme from Gypsy Mama. The rules are:

This is the place where once a week we take the chance to
just write, and not worry if it’s just right or not.
For five minutes flat.
Here’s how the game works: you simply stop, drop and write. Set your words free. Don’t edit them, don’t fret over them, don’t try to make them perfect.

This week's prompt is ON WAITING. Here goes ...

Strange. When I think of it I realise I am good at waiting for events, but bad at waiting for things. Clearly I am more materialistic than I like to think. If I want something, I want it now! On the other hand, I don't fall into the trap of wishing my days away to get to some special time quicker. I am not one of those who count down the days to a holiday (that would be vacation if you speak American English) or other special event on the calendar. I am definitely someone who lives in the present. I like to imagine the future, but I don't waste time waiting for it.

Yikes! Five minutes is not long. I am almost out of time! Trying to think of times that I have been conscious of waiting. Pregnancy is the obvious one. And there, I do get impatient, just because I want it to be over. I am not one of those people who blooms in pregnancy, to say the least. so not only do I want to meet the baby, but I can't wait to feel well again.

Whew! Out of time!

Alphabet Meme

I am in the mood for a random meme to get myself back in the habit of posting again, and I spotted this one at What's Happening At My House.

A is for Age: 50. A nice round number!

B is for Beer of choice: Anything light and cold, but only in the summer and not often then.

C is for Career: Working towards one, rather to my surprise. I am not a career minded person. I just want to be able to keep busy and active and earn a bit of extra money by working part time (I hope) doing something I enjoy.

D is for favourite Drink: Champagne

E is for Essential item you use every day: Laptop

F is for Favourite song at the moment: No current favourite

G is for favourite Game: Just Dance 2 on the Wii. I'm using it for exercise. It's not pretty, but it's working.

H is for Home town: Leighton Buzzard

I is for Instruments you play: Violin, flute, trombone, piano, organ, recorders, guitar. I also passed Grade 6 on the viola, but haven't played one for years.

J is for favourite Juice: Orange juice, but it has to be with ice.

K is for Kids: Three beautiful girls.

L is for Last kiss: Tevye, I think. We are more a huggy family than a kissy family.

M is for Marriage: 18 years and counting.

N is for full Name: That would defeat the purpose of using pseudonyms, but my Christian names are Kathryn Helen.

O is for Overnight hospital stays: For tonsils and teeth extraction as a child. Since then only when I have had a baby.

P is for Phobias: Heights.

Q is for Quote: "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly." (G.K.Chesterton)

R is for biggest Regret: Being such an obnoxious, awkward teenager.

S if for Sports: Not much, though in my younger days I used to watch a lot of football. Now I like watching gymnastics and athletics, and more or less any sport during the Olympics. Sport every four years is about right for me.

T is for Time you wake up: Too early. Seven o'clock on weekdays, a bit later at weekends if I'm lucky.

U is for colour of Underwear: Usually boring black or white. Occasionally pink.

V is for Vegetable you loves: Parsnips roasted in butter.

W is for Worst Habit: Leaving things until the last minute.

X is for X-rays you've had: I think I had one on my foot when I sprained it badly as a teen. Since then only teeth.

Y is for Yummy food you make: Apple cake probably disappears quicker than anything else.

Z is for Zodiac sign: Libra. Which in theory makes me either very balanced or a chronic ditherer.

Friday 5: Local Hotspots

I ran out of steam (and time) part way through writing seven quick takes yesterday, so I'm doing a belated Friday 5 instead. Here are the hottest five places I can think of within ten miles of home.

1. Whipsnade Zoo

 
The country branch of London Zoo, which has been a favourite with all three girls. Gerald Durrell (author of My Family and Other Animals) learned his trade as a zoo keeper here. 

2. Woburn Abbey and Safari Park

Picture: Wikipedia

Despite its name, Woburn Abbey is the home of the Dukes of Bedford - where an earlier Duchess of Bedford was credited with inventing the tradition of afternoon tea. Back in my childhood days part of the Woburn estate was turned into a safari park where you can drive round and see the animals close up in a natural habitat (natural-ish - clearly they can't quite manage to turn a piece of Bedfordshire into southern Africa!) 

3. Grand Union Canal

One of the major links in England's nineteenth century canal network, that connected London to the Midlands. These days the canal is used for leisure rather than trade, with narrow boats available for holiday rental, scenic canalside pubs, and the towpath for walking and cycling.

4. Stockgrove Country Park

Another family favourite, with an ornamental lake (from the days when much of the park formed the grounds of a country house), ancient woodland, a children's play area, and Cherub's favourite, a stone sundial - which she has decided is the perfect place to play her version of hopscotch.

5. Xscape

Picture: Wikipedia

The major entertainment venue in a nearby town - sixteen screen cinema, indoor ski slope, climbing wall, bowling, restaurants, clubs and so on.

Friday 5: Favourite Items in My Wardrobe

1. Floral summer dress from Marks and Spencer.  Has a better shape when it is worn that it looks here!

2. Deep cerise cardigan from DKNY. I am not a designer label person, but impulse bought this on a trip to an outlet shopping village recently because I loved the colour (deeper than it looks here) and it was so comfortable. It was also heavily discounted! I think I'm going to get a lot of wear out of it.

3. Monochrome floral tunic from Yours. I've worn this a lot this summer with black linen trousers, and it also works with black jeans and a cardigan so I can keep wearing it as the weather gets cooler. I have another, similar tunic in navy with a bold blue and pink floral pattern, and I dithered over which one to put here as I like them equally - in the end I went for this black one as the photo came out better!

4. Purple casual jacket from Next. Lightweight cotton, but with a silky look. Purple is my current favourite colour. Earlier this month Star challenged me not to wear anything purple for a week. I did it, but it was tough!

5. Black shoe-boots from Marks and Spencer. Waiting for the weather to get colder so I can wear these.

From Caroline at What's Happening at My House via Pamela

A Little Bit of Sunshine

Clare at Battlements of Rubies has kindly passed on to me a Sunshine Award:

Given the weather we have had this week - rain, cloud, heavy rain, cloud, more rain - I couldn't be more grateful for a ray of sunshine to cheer my Friday afternoon. Thank you Clare!

Now to pass on the sunshine to 12 other bloggers who brighten my day. The rules are at the bottom of this post, but rules are (sometimes!) made to be broken, so if you don't want to tag others, just enjoy a little sunny warmth.

• Another Bend in the Road
• As Cosy as Spring
• Attic24
• Here in the Bonny Glen
• Karen Edmisten
• LaPaz Home Learning
• Minnesota Mom
• Missus Wookie's Wandering
• Quotidian
• Sweetness and Light 
• The Wine Dark Sea 
• When Good People Get Together

The Rules
1. Post the logo on your blog and/or within the post.
2. Pass it on to 12 other bloggers.
3. Add links to these 12 bloggers within your blog.
4. Let them know they are receiving the award
5. Share the link of the person from whom you received the award.

The Handwriting Project

I was tagged by Melanie at The Wine Dark Sea for this meme:

Here's how the project works:

Write down the following, snap a picture (or scan the document), post it, and tag others.

1. Name/Blog Name
2. Right handed, left handed or both
3. Favorite letters to write
4. Least favorite letters to write
5. Write: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
6. Write in caps:
CRAB
HUMOR
KALEIDOSCOPE
PAJAMAS
GAZILLION
7. Favorite song lyrics
8. Tag 7 people
9. Any special note or drawing

Handwriting is not my strong point, but I'm giving it a go anyway. I used plain printer paper, which was what I had to hand, and a black Pentel EnerGel pen, which was the only halfway decent writing implement around. If I'm doing a lot of writing - taking lecture notes, for example, or writing in a journal or notebook I prefer to use a proper fountain pen. I haven't used one for a while, which means I can't have been doing much handwriting.

Here are my answers ... it should be possible to enlarge the picture by clicking on it. Not the best photo I'm afraid, with a spot on the left blurred by the flash.

20 Of My Favourite Things

Another suggestion from The Simple Woman ... if you want to join in, visit her to add your own to the Mister Linky.

1. Colour - yellow
2. Dessert - bread-and-butter pudding
3. Smell - freshly baked bread
4. Flower - daffodils
5. Animal - elephant
6. Month - October
7. Beverage - champagne
8. Pair of shoes - for summer, these Rocket Dog sandals
9. Snack - vegetable crisps
10. Song - (iPod playlist) Village Green Preservation Society by Kate Rusby
11. Book - The Herb of Grace by Elizabeth Goudge
12. Fruit - raspberries
13. Hairstyle - shortish bob
14. Piece of clothing - black linen trousers
15. Store to clothes shop - Marks and Spencer
16. Season - autumn
17. Hobby - knitting
18. Thing to collect - out of print children's books
19. Movie- Lord of the Rings
20. Restaurant - La Tasca (paella and tapas)

Kreativ Blogger

People are being very nice to me lately. Hard on the heels of the Lemonade Award, I have been tagged as a Kreativ Blogger by Debbie of Stop Her She's Knitting. Thank you, Debbie! It is nice to have a bit more love to spread around.

The rules are ...
1. Copy the award to your site
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers
4. Link to those on your blog
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

So here goes ...

1. Michele at A Family Centered Life ... a Kreativ award for a truly creative blogger. Just look at how pretty she makes her simple woman's daybook. And she can sew. Really, really sew. To a needlework incompetent like me, that is truly amazing.

2. Margaret at Minnesota Mom, who is creating a baby. It doesn't get more creative than that.

3. Debbie at Livin' La Vida Grande, who many years ago encouraged me to create an email list for Catholic home educators in the UK.

4. Mary at St Athanasius Academy ... creative knitter extraordinaire. (And also Debbie's sister-in-law - small world!)

5. Sarah at Another Bend in the Road ... a new addition to my blog reading list, for her creative music playlist, which happens to be very much to my taste. As is her blog.

6. Mrs T at Fine Old Famly, for making me laugh with her creative description of the day the ceiling fell.

7. Pamela at Chez Nous, because I love her creative addition of a castle of the week to her simple woman's daybook, and because she was nice enough to give me the lemonade award.

5 Things I Love About Christmas

1. Carol Singing on Christmas Eve in the High Street. In the evening the Salvation Army and the Rotary Club organise carol singing for the town - the Salvation Army band plays, Santa visits in his sleigh and throws sweets to the crowd, carols are sung, and Christmas spirit prevails. In good weather years like this one the crowd virtually fills the High Street.

2. Midnight Mass. I don't go to Midnight Mass now as it wouldn't work for our family, but in the days before children I loved it. Even in my atheist-agnostic-former-Methodist days I used to go to the Midnight service at Christmas.

3. Christmas Trees. Other Christmas decorations I can take or leave - all it takes to make me feel festive is a Christmas tree. Tall or small, real or artificial, themed or eclectic. Any Christmas tree will do. (If you are wondering, ours is medium-sized, artificial, and this is an eclectic year.)

4. Christmas Presents. I don't think I am a particularly materialistic person, but I love giving and receiving Christmas gifts. I even enjoy Christmas shopping, particularly since the internet took the pressure off. Seeing a big pile of presents under the tree gives me the same thrill it did as a child.

5. Christmas Pudding with brandy butter, custard and cream ... or with brandy sauce and cream. Either way is perfect. I even used to eat Christmas pudding for breakfast on Boxing Day, but sadly my stomach has passed the age when it can cope with ridiculously rich food for breakfast.

HT: Sandra

Been There, Done That

I've been meaning to do this meme for a while, since I saw it on Dorothy's blog ... and then Alicia's ... and now Karen's. They don't come simpler than this: if you have done it, bold it; if not, don't.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (I stayed up to watch one once, not realising it was only visible in Australia)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (DisneyWorld) (Eurodisney)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (not hard, I only live three miles away)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (not fluently, but enough to get by)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (in general)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (only a toe)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (only an article in a book)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (as a witness in dangerous driving case)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

If I Was ...

If I was a month, I would be... October

If I was a day of the week I would be... Monday

If I was a number I would be... 5

If I was a planet I would be... Earth

If I was a direction I would be... North

If I was furniture I would be... bookshelves

If I was a liquid I would be... red wine

If I was a sin I would be... undisciplined

If I was a mineral I would be... diamond

If I was a metal I would be .. silver

If I was a tree I would be... oak

If I was a fruit I would be .. apple

If I was a flower I would be... daffodil

If I was the weather I would be .. wind

If I was a musical instrument I would be... oboe

If I was one of the elements I would be... earth

If I was a color I would be... yellow

If I was an animal I would be... squirrel

If I was a sound I would be... laughter

If I was a song lyric I would be... "don't worry ... be happy"

If I was a song I would be... Puff the Magic Dragon

If I was a music genre I would be... classical

If I was a perfume I would be... White Linen

If I was a feeling I would be... joy

If I was a book I would be… The Hobbit

If I was food I would be… fresh, crusty bread

If I was a place I would be ... Narnia

If I was a taste I would be... salt

If I was a scent I would be… coffee

If I was a word I would be… flexible

If I was a verb I would be… singing

If I was an object I would be… a candle

If I was a clothing item I would be… Crocs

If I was a body part I would be… hands

If I was an expression I would be… cheerful

If I was a cartoon character I would be… Dory (Finding Nemo)

If I was a movie I would be… The Lord of the Rings

If I was a shape I would be… a hexagon

If I was a season I would be… autumn

If I was a quote I would be… "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." (G.K.Chesterton)

HT: Diary of a Stay At Home Mom

Random Things

I have been tagged by Missus Wookie for a random facts meme. I did a ten random facts one a couple of years ago, but I reckon I can come up with a few more.

The "rules" of the game are as follows:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

OK. Here goes ...

1. I don't like telephones and managed to live without one for several years. (A corollary to that fact is that I do like mobile phones, because I prefer texting to phoning.)
2. I can still, at a pinch, turn a cartwheel. At least, I could the last time I tried. My daughters were shocked but impressed.
   
3. I love melted chocolate. Forget the land of milk and honey, I want to live in the land of chocolate fountains.
4. I collect glass ornaments, though haven't added anything for a while.
   
5. I once spent six months counting medieval knights (part of the research for my Ph.D. thesis).
6. I have lived in eight different houses and flats. The first was only two miles away from the house we live in now.
   

Will that do?

Now for the difficult bit. Tagging. I hate tagging, though I am quite happy to be tagged. If I tag people, I worry that they feel obliged to take on an unwanted task; if I don't I worry that they may be offended that I didn't tag them. Therefore, I tag all six of my readers :).

Mosaic Meme

HT: Melanie

Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. Favorite food?
3. Where did you go to high school?
4. Favorite color?
5. Celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you?
12. Hobby?

Directions:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions above into Flickr Search. b. Using only the first page, pick an image. c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. d. Save image to hard drive and post to blogger. e. Copy HTML code for flickr photo credits and paste at the bottom of the post.

Credits:
I couldn't find any HTML code, and by the time I worked out I couldn't do it I had lost all the links and couldn't find a way to give credit. Duh! I did try.

One Word Meme

They don't come more succinct than this. All answers to be a single word. No more.

1. Where is your cell phone? Bookcase
2. Your significant other? Tired
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? Teacher
5. Your father? Farmer
6. Your favorite thing? MacBook
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Pimms
9. Your dream/goal? Heaven
10. The room you’re in? Bedroom
11. Your church? Catholic
12. Your fear? Claustrophobia
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. Where were you last night? Home
15. What you’re not? Gardener
16. Muffins? Chocolate
17. One of your wish list items? Sun
18. Where you grew up? Here
19. The last thing you did? Phone
20. What are you wearing? Pyjamas
21. Your TV? On
22. Your pets? Died
23. Your computer? Vital
24. Your life? Good
25. Your mood? Mixed
26. Missing someone? No
27. Your car? Zafira
28. Something you’re not wearing? Socks
29. Favorite store? Borders
30. Your summer? Overdue
31. Like(love) someone? Several
32. Your favorite color? Yellow
33. Last time you laughed? Today
34. Last time you cried? Spring
35. Who will re post this? Jennifer

HT: Dorothy

If you want to play, leave me a note in the comments. Especially if you are called Jennifer.

Thursday Thirteen: Doubled

Two for the price of one today ... I saw this alphabet meme at the S/V Mari-Hal-o-Jen

A is for age:
Only 28 months to go until I hit fifty. Eek! My head says about 32! I only wish my body agreed.

B is for burger of choice:
Cheese and bacon burger. Calories? What are calories?

C is for what kind of car you drive:
Vauxhall Zafira. It isn't pretty, but it is friendly and obliging.

D is for your dog's name:
I'm allergic to dogs and Tevye is not a dog person. As a child we had dogs called Jock, Patch, Bess, Judy and Lassie. I wouldn't say originality in choosing pet names was a strong suit.

E is for essential item you use everyday:
My laptop.

F is for favorite TV show at the moment:
Grand Designs, in which people build their dream house. Something I am never likely to do, but I get vicarious pleasure watching other people.

G is for favorite game:
Scrabble

H is for Home State:
Does county count? Buckinghamshire, though I now live a few hundred yards over the border in Bedfordshire.

I is for instruments you play:
Funny! I just realized I have learned a new instrument every decade of my life! Piano and violin to start, then added viola in my teens, organ in my twenties, flute in my thirties, and baritone (brass instrument slightly smaller than a euphonium) in my forties. I also play guitar a bit. What should I learn in my fifties?

J is for favorite juice:
Pink grapefruit

K is for whose butt you'd like to kick:
Whoever is responsible for the Early Years Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum.

L is for last restaurant you ate at?
A carvery pub

M is for your favorite Muppet:
None. I'm not a Muppet fan

N is for Number of Piercing:
2

O is for overnight hospital stays:
Five. Tonsils, orthodontic surgery, three babies.

P is for people you were with today:
My husband and daughters. Usually I have a cup of tea with my neighbour after she finishes work before the girls get home from school, but I have to take Star shopping after school.

Q is for what you do with your quiet time:
Blog

R is for biggest regret:
That I was such an utter pain in my pre- and early-teens. My poor Mum!

S is for status:
Very married

T is for time you woke up today:
6.30, thanks to Little Cherub - quite late by her standards, early by mine.

U is for what you consider unique:
My ability to give completely random answers to questions I haven't listened to without realising I have done it. When you have children this can be a Very Bad Thing.

V is for vegetable you love:
Roasted parsnips

W is for worst habit:
Saying "just a minute" and taking ten (or more)

X is for x-rays you've had:
Dental and a foot injury as a teenager - turned out to be sprained not broken

Y is for yummy food you ate today:
Yesterday (it's a bit early today) ... Dorset apple cake I baked yesterday afternoon. Shame none of it lasted until today.

Z is for zodiac sign:
Libra

A Random Meme

Time for a meme, I think. HT: As Cozy As Spring

What was I doing ten years ago?

I can remember that very clearly. I was nearly seven months pregnant with Star, and we were spending a week's holiday in Belgium. My Dad was suffering from terminal cancer and had just been moved into hospice care, but seemed to be doing better so we decided to take a much needed break. He died the day after we returned.

What are five (non-work) items on my to-do list today?

1. Pick up library books.
2. Buy yarn.
3. Update my budget and accounts.
   
4. Wrap Little Cherub's birthday presents.
5. Buy or make a birthday cake.
   

Five Snacks I Enjoy:

1. Marmite flavour crisps
   
2. Salted popcorn
3. McVities caramel digestives
4. Bananas
   
5. Chocolate

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: (I'm just listing the fun stuff)

1. Spend every summer by the sea.
   
2. Take out lifetime membership of the London Library.
3. Travel first class on trains and planes.
   
4. Hire a personal trainer to motivate me to get moving.
   
5. Buy a MacBook Air
   

Places I have lived:

1. Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
2. Walthamstow, East London
3. Chingford, East London
4. Ilford, Essex
   
5. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

Jobs I have had:

1. Assembling TV aerial parts in an electronics factory
2. Sub-post office clerk
3. Trainee actuary
4. Lecturer in medieval history
5. Publisher's reader

Anyone else want to play along?