11 Things

Gosh - have I been lax about my blog lately!  Blame it on the decorating...... I've been at it for weeks, and I'm fit for nothing when I get home.  And just think..... Once that's done, it will be action stations to move.  Don't want to think that far ahead.  (Though it does mean my sewing space will be bigger!).

Anyways - the subject of this post............

11 Things

From what I can gather, it's a sort of blog hop.  The instructions are fairly simple, and are as follows:-

There are five rules:
 

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you’ve tagged them.

Got it?  I grasped it eventually,  after a quickie question to Gill (who is entirely to blame for me doing this by the way.  The link goes straight to her version of this).  So then - here goes!

1.  Post the rules.  

Done and dusted, see above.

2.  Photo.  

Here's the latest one of me from the New Year, sporting David Dickinsonesque tan.  (I go a stupid colour in the sun - stand me up beside a teak garden fence and I blend right - in a la Cuprinol).

and 11 random things!   

Hmmm - What on earth can I tell you?

1. The most useful thing I ever learnt was to touch type.  I did evening classes when I was a teenager, on a clickety clack old-fashioned non-electric clump.  Absolutely hated every minute of it, but stuck it out and took all the exams.   Who'd have thought then, that there would be such a thing as home computers!  (OK - I suppose there was a ZX Spectrum, but that was totally pants - and I didn't have one anyway).  Boy, oh boy.  It was worth every evening of boredom, and the pittance the classes cost.
2.  I'm a closet goth (or would be given half a chance).  If I lived in London, I would waft around Camden in a corset and frock coat.  I just look jolly stupid in Cornwall.  
3. I have a tendency to dye my hair bright red or pink,  and I mean bright!  Though I've been boring brown now for 12 months, which must be the longest time in my adult life it has been a sensible colour.  Had to - my hair was long last year, and like crispy seaweed with all the bleach I'd thrown at it. Plus, I never go to the hairdressers - I hack it myself.
4. My ambition for as long as I can remember is to write a book.   I think I'm pretty good at spinning a yarn, but I can never imagine having the perseverance to stick at it long enough to get past the first chapter.  Plus there's the moot point of needing a theme.  
5. It seems that I spend most of my waking life wandering about the home in search of my reading glasses.  Despite having three pairs, I can never ever remember where I've put them.  (Tried one of those chain thingies around my neck - glasses sat on boobs like shelf - and made me look like an old frump).
6. I've toyed with the idea, off and on -  of having small vampire like fangs veneered.  They would be very subtle!  
7. Whilst I don't spend a lot of time on Facebook doing Social Network stuff (prefer Twitter), I do spend an awful lot of time on their games.  I think I need therapy to wean me off Bejewelled Blitz.  I simply HAVE to be top of the leader board every week.  And such is the horridly competitive side of me - If I'm not, I will sit there until I am.
8. For someone supposedly rather intelligent, I am simply the crappiest person alive when it comes to cryptic crosswords.  Even when I'm looking at the answers, they just don't make any sense to me at all.
9. I once represented Cornwall (Young Farmers) in the National finals of a cookery competition.  I didn't win.  Didn't even come close.  Probably because in the Cornish round (which I won), I emptied M&S containers into the pans when the judges were at the other end of the room.
10. I don't watch any soaps on the TV, but am currently highly addicted to Come Dine with Me and Coach Trip.  I would LOVE to be on either programme.  I'm quite a good cook nowadays, but come my evening (suppose I'd better apply first), I'd probably be too drunk to dish up.  And Coach Trip.... ooh, the bitchiness of it!  Not sure I could cope.
11. I have a shop dummy in my hallway, just inside the front door.  She is called Skinny Bitch, as she looks far better in my clothes than I do.  She changes her attire to suit the seasons.  The family think I'm a bit nuts to have her, and hubby thought I was insane when I sent him over the fence at the Car Boot sale to make sure he got it for me.  Why?            Because!

Blimey - that was tough!  And now I'm off to copy and paste Gill's questions.  Hopefully some may overlap.

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

1. what do you like most about where you live? I take Cornwall totally for granted, but I am thankful that it is a relatively safe place to live. None of my family have ever been burgled or vandalised, or car stolen etc. I never have to think about keeping the doors locked during the day.
2. your favourite item of clothing is? My Gothic style frock coat. It's ankle length, and black brocade and velvet. Never wear it.  Favourite wearable - my Uggs and/or dressing gown.

3. pink or blue? Going to be both - Cerise pink and Duck Egg blue are my favourite colours.

4. what food could you never give up eating? Curry. Could live on it.

5. when was the last time you overspent and on what? Goodness knows! I only shop at car boot sales. Gone are the days when I sneaked things home and hid them at the back of the wardrobe.

6. books or Kindle? All novels on Kindle. Ditched the paperbacks. Love my sewing books though!

7. what makes you angry? Bad manners and rudeness. No need for it at all.

8. cats or dogs? Dogs (but please don't tell my cat, she is my shadow).

9. what is your favourite craft medium? Anything involving fabric and a sewing machine.

10. you are happiest doing what? I'm pretty easy to please. I love to cook, to bake, to read, to sew, a cuddle on the sofa whilst watching a movie. Even better with a glass of wine.

11. why did you begin your blog? Good question. I have absolutely no idea. Maybe it's when I discovered the delights of Twitter and kept clicking on links. Thinking - I could do something like that!

 4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

What?  My brains jiggered after that little lot!

1.  How old were you when you left home to live away from your parents?

2.  If you could step inside a time machine for just one destination - where would you go?

3.  Did you pass your driving test first time?  And how many lessons did you have?

4.  River or Sea?

5.  What was your favourite lesson at School?

6.  When you were little, did you have anything you wanted to be when you grew up?  

7.  Cheese or Chocolate?

8.  What is your most favourite item ever out of all the things you have made?

9.  Are you a finisher?  Or are you a continual starter and a WIP devotee?

10.  Do you have any superstitions that you are a real stickler for?

11.  How would you describe yourself in just 5 words?

Phew!  Actually, those questions were far easier to think of than me answering the others.  And - just in time for Come Dine with Me.  I must away.  I do hope you'll have a go yourself.  It's certainly given the old grey matter a workout.

If you're having a bash yourself, do leave a comment so that I can pop over and have a shufty.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you’ve tagged them.   Yes, I will.  As soon as Coach Trip has finished.