MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU PROBABLY EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ME

Following on from seven random things I realised that I had never done this meme, that I found ages ago. Sorry, but I go through stages of being addicted to these things, also they are a great way to find out what makes people tick, and if someone else wants to do this one, great. Sorry, also to whoever's blog I stole this from, I don't know whose it was, but it might have been Janet's as she loves meme's too, apologies if I have named the wrong person.

What curse words do you use the most?
Well this is revealing, I swear like a trooper in the privacy of my own home. I take the attitude that most curse and swear words were originally just good old anglo-saxon and later on Early English. The combination of having lived a hippie lifestyle and later studying Chaucer meant I felt completely differently about 'curse words'. If they were good enough for Chaucer they are good enough for me. I know from feedback I have had from people who are now good friends that when I started this blog, people imagined a prim lady sitting daintily prettily typing out a blog! Hah, nothing could be further from the truth! I have no qualms at all about swearing, and totally poo poo the idea that people only curse and swear because they have a limited vocabulary. Try a good dose of private cursing, it certainly takes away the stress.

Do you own an i-pod?
No but I am being constantly promised my daughter's old one, are you reading this Sweetpea?

What time is your alarm clock set to?
It isn’t. I just wake up, usually between seven and eight, nearer to seven if the sun is shining, nearer to eight on a dull day. Alarm clocks, are only for going on trips or holidays. Then I am too scared of sleeping in and spend the night checking the time.

Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?
I’d rather take the photograph, I love taking photographs, if you look at our holiday photos it always seems to be of a man and two children, where is the woman, behind the camera, but that suits me fine.

What was the last movie you watched?
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a double whammy, a good fun movie and Mr J Depp.

John Piper

What cd is currently in your player?
A Paul Simon compliation.

Do you prefer regular or chocolate milk?
Yuck, why on earth would I want to drink milk?

Has anyone told you a secret this week?
Yes, people tell me secrets most weeks and they stay secrets.

When was the last time you had Starcrack Starbucks?
Never, sixty miles to my nearest Starbucks.

Can you whistle?
No, just make an imperfect flat sound but I can sing.

What are you looking forward to?
Short-term…My daughter coming to visit after her holiday to Jamaica, so she can tell us all about it. Mid-term... The chance at some point to have a break away, a short holiday for my other half and I, time for total chill out.

Did you watch cartoons when you were little?
Yes, Yogi Bear ['What's up BooBoo?' and 'Smarter than the average bear'] and the wonderful Top Cat and his nemisis Officer Dibble.

Do you own any band t-shirts?
Have in the past, mainly Grateful Dead

What will you be doing in an hour?
Having a lovely foamy hot bath.

What was the last song you heard?
Season of the Witch Donovan, for two reasons, my fellow blogger Gemma quoted it on her blog and got me thinking about Donovan, then another fellow blogger Lila sent me a link to Donovan on You Tube and from hence I went on searching until I came across Season of the Witch.

Last time you cried?
As I have said before I often shed a tear at happy or unhappy endings, at happy events or sad events. Within the last few days is probably the truest answer.

Desktop or laptop?
Good old desktop, an old friend.

What’s the weather like?
Grey and chilly today, typical weather for May in our area which always seems to flucuate between wonderful hot sunny days, pouring rain and the aforementioned.

What were you doing an hour ago?
Placing a fish dish for dinner in the oven.

How many hours of sleep do you need to function?
I cannot at the moment sleep the night through, I have been making myself go to bed at 12.30, 1.00 at the latest, otherwise I will be up pottering around until 3.00. I go to sleep easily, the trouble is I can't sleep all night, I always wake, about one minute before the dawn chorus starts. I just realise that that is what my body wants and I go down the stairs and make a cuppa whilst listening to the birds waking up, then go back to bed until wake up time. I probably function on about six hours in total, but really probably should have about seven or eight.

Do you eat breakfast daily?
Always, it's what fuels you for the day, always either fresh juice or probiotic drink and then cereal, finishing up with a cup of coffee.

J M Whistler

What did you do last night?
Started reading a new book, Phil Rickman's The Smile of a Ghost, I love his books.

Do you use sarcasm?
At times I have been known to, and no 'sarcasm is not the lowest form of wit'. I do have at times a dark dry sense of humour.

Do you like mustard?
I love grainy mustard with cold meats and on salad adore honey and mustard dressing.

Do you sleep on your side/back/stomach?
Always sleep on one side or the other. I like to go to sleep on my right side which lets me look at the night sky outside the bedroom window.

Do you watch the news?
Very occasionally, don't really like the way news is shown on television.

Laura Knight

This weekend is an English Public Holiday weekend, which means that Monday is a day off work for people, it is commonly known as Whit Weekend, or Whit Week. This week was always celebrated from the early 1800's in the industrial cities and towns in the North of England by Whit Marches. If you think of the long working hours and days of people of that time, you can understand how a holiday week end would be a huge celebration. People would try to achieve new clothes or at least dress up in their very very best, young girls would wear white dresses with flowers in their hair and marches would be held through out the town. Churches and chapels would march, led by brass bands, around the town to some final area where the fun would begin and there would be games and picnics and a fine time would be had by all. It was a moveable holiday happening on slightly different weekends every year, depending on when Easter and Pentecost were. It has now been regulated to the last weekend in May and is really called Spring Bank Holiday and is just a four day weekend now.
Erte

I am hoping for good weather this coming weekend, this is the weekend when I like to get all the annual work in my garden done with so it is ready to enjoy for the summer. I have got my last batch of annuals to plant in the remaining containers. I have bought an oblelisk that I am screwing together to grow clematis up and I need to bring out my collection of ornaments that I have been collecting since last year, nothing like the late summer sales in garden centres. I have also got a set of four solar lights which I will place at sporadic places around the garden to softly illuminate parts at night.

I am experimenting with my flower beds this year, I have planted lots of items over the past few years, and some are now mature, in fact, my borders are probably about as full as they can be, unless I start splitting plants and giving some away. So I have decided to try to have a sort of unkempt look in the garden this year. A type of blowsy, lush ripeness, just teetering on the verge of slipping over into dangerous wildness, but still under control. I don't like gardens where there is not a blade of grass out of place or a weed dare not raise its head. In fact, I have been known to let one or two weeds grow if they have pretty flowers, as some of these weeds are just wild flowers and sometimes of herbal use. I will have to take some photographs of how the garden looks now at the start of the summer and how it progresses through the summer.


Dante Gabriel Rossetti

To achieve all the above I will need some good gardening weather, and I have a feeling that it might not be happening according to some long term forecasts. Well we will see, if there is no good weather, I'll just have to indulge in a chillout weekend doing my other favourite things, crafting, reading maybe a dvd or too and some nice wine. Won't that be hard to do?