I'm a versatile blogger - Ethelmae says so!

I apologise to all my blogging friends for not posting & commenting recently.  This is because we are moving house on the 1st November, the very day I start my novel!  (see no.1 below)  My visits to blogland will probably be few and far between but once November has been and gone, normality should resume.

Having got that out of the way, I'd like to thank Ethelmae for this award.  I feel honoured to be one of her nominees.  With this award goes the custom of revealing eight facts that no one knows about moi - I had to do this some time ago but here's another eight unknown facts ...... full of surprises, eh? :O)



Ethelmae

Here we go:-

1)  I am about to write a novel in thirty days, along with thousands of other people!  National Novel Writing Month takes place between November 1-30th.  It's exciting and fun ..... and completely bonkers.  The NaNoWriMo website is here.

2)  I have an alter ego called Eliza.  She lived in a house that I once lived in.  She and her very large family occupied it during the 1860s.  I got very strong feelings about Eliza and sensed that she was a strong person with a personality to match.  Whenever I find myself in a difficult situation I think, "What would Eliza do?"  The grown-up's equivalent of an imaginary friend?

3)  My hubby was once a jockey and also a bantamweight boxer.  When he left school, he wanted to join the army but was too light.  He was sent away and told to come back when he had put weight on - he tried for almost a year but couldn't increase his weight.  He is still petite with lovely firm muscles to match. :D

4)  My hubby is my second husband.  My first husband Robert (Rab), and I went to school together and got married when he was 16 and I was 17.  He died when he was 23.  I have two sons to Robert who are both over 6 feet tall and a daughter to present hubby, who is the smallest in her class at school and who, at the age of 13, has to wear clothes for ages 10-11. :O) I also have a stepson (from hubby's previous marriage).  Anth's a good-looking chappie and a dead ringer for the gorgeous Tom Hardy (pictured right).



5)  I have recently taken up hula-hooping, a wonderfully creative way of keeping fit that has been all the rage in the USA - we Brits are slowly .... very slowly catching on.  I have since bust the living-room chandelier fittings and put a huge scratch on the t.v. screen, as well as almost scaring the dogs to death.  They scarper when they see me reach for my hoop! Here's Chrisabel Zamor showing how it should be done, and there's a YouTube film of her at the bottom of my blog page. 

6)  My first job when I left school was as one of those glamour girls who work on the cosmetics counters in posh stores.  I worked for Gala Cosmetics in Lewis's at Glasgow, Scotland.  It was the ideal job for a sixteen year old girl with all the freebies!

The Forth Rail Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland (opened 1890)

7)  If I was given the chance to go back to being school age (the gods forbid!), I'd want to be an engineer and build beautiful bridges. 

8)  I had wanted to call my first-born son 'Jason', which was a really cool name in the late sixties/early seventies.  However, my mother got her way (as she always does) and he was named Jon-Paul.  She must have been a visionary because this name has become a popular choice in the past few years.  Feeling piqued at having given in to mum's choice, I got a kitten and called it Jason - Jason turned out to be a girl cat!  I still called her Jason though. :D

The rule of The Versatile Blogger Award states that I have to forward it on to 10 more bloggers.  If I had my way, I'd award this back to Ethelmae, but I don't think she'd thank me for it somehow!  She has brought me much pleasure and laughter with her blog posts.  Thank you Ethelmae.  Anyway, without further ado, here are the numbskulls..... er, I mean nominees:-


1. Gf, sorry - you're it again! Go here to enter the world of Greenfingers at his blog, A Gardener's Life in Motion.  Gf truly is a versatile writer - he can take any subject ..... and I mean any subject, and make it a literary gem!

2. Everyday Goddess is here.  This blogger can turn her hand to anything .... poetry, fiction and simply telling it how it is.  A must read.

3. Phil's the man.... and we're priviliged to have him belong to County Durham.... nah nah nahnah nah :D  He's a botanist, author and university lecturer at Durham University.  Take yourself here and here to poach some of Phil's vast store of knowledge at two of his blogs, Cabinet of Curiosities and A Digital Botanic Garden.

4.  You need to go here to catch up on the shenanigans of John at Sedgedunum Warbler.  John is very committed to the blooms and beasties of the world and he always manages to make me smile with his funny posts.  He's a terrific photographer too.

5.  Visit Helen here at her blog, Downland Views.  She's not afraid to get down and dirty with all the work on the land that she does.  Her lifestyle sounds idyllic but hard work and it's a pleasure to read her posts.

6.  If you like photography, visit Adrian's blog here at Adrian's Images.  I never appreciated fungi so much till I saw Adrian's photos of them!  He always manages to come up with something beautiful, exciting and unusual - a real visual treat...... er, I'm talking about his photographs peeps!  This is the effect Adrian has on me - his latest post is about flashing. :O)

7.  Visit Syd here at his blog I'm just F.I.N.E. -- Recovery in Al-Anon.  Syd writes about many things.... his journey in Al-Anon, the things he gets up to in his retirement, his garden and his pets, etc.  He writes with understanding and empathy and I always feel a warm buzz when I've looked in on Syd.

8.  You'll find Michael and his blog, Spice of Life here.  This man has been everywhere!  I've enjoyed the many locations he writes about from my comfy computer chair.... mind you, with his fantastic photographs and the way Michael describes the locations, I want to be there for real!

9.  You must pop into David's blog, Orchids, Nature and my Outdoor Life.  You'll find it here.  David writes about his wonderful garden and posts equally wonderful photographs of it.  He's also a very keen walker and I love the posts he does about that and the magnificent photos, especially of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

10.  For a sheer visual delight, go here to see Andrea's colourful photographs of the exotic flowers and landscapes she writes about in her blog, Andrea In This Lifetime.

That's it *takes a bow* - curtains close ...... now off you go and get acquainted with all these fab blogs!