It's All About Nat

A few weeks back… when I’d fallen off the blogosphere for a while… the lovely, talented Colette over at Simply Colette gave me not one but two blog awards.

Apologies for the long delay in keeping up my side of the bargain, Colette, but as the old saying goes “Better late than never!” (except perhaps in the case of Charlie Sheen’s comeback, which is better never than….)

So, first up is....

Here are the rules...
1. Link the person who awarded you! Check.
2. Post seven random facts about yourself. OK, I’m pretty random in general, so see below…
3. Pass this award along to 15 other bloggers (only if you wish)! I'm going to copy Colette on this one and award both to the same bloggers....so check out the list below award number 2!

7 Random Facts About Nat

1. I have a ridiculous memory… I can remember minute details like exactly what I was doing, what I wore and what I ate on Day X, and I have very clear memories from my early childhood. When it comes to books and films, though, I can watch or read them ten times over and they seem new each time.

2. I’ve met Lewis Hamilton (2008 Formula One World Champion) – at his book signing in 2007….he was very friendly and chatty, and seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

3. If I could live anywhere in the world, I’d like to live near the ocean, and walk on the beach at sunrise and sunset every day.

4. I was so painfully shy as a child that I refused point blank to talk to anyone for the first few months of school. My teacher warned my parents that I would never get far academically.

5. Somehow, I managed to graduate from university with my PhD in Pharmacology…some people think that means I know a lot about farming. Actually, I know very little about a few drugs (not the recreational ones!).
6. My favourite colour is red…. cherry, burgundy, crimson, amaranth (ha! new one!)...all shades just as long as it's red.
7. I’ve mentioned many times my arachnophobia (plus a great dislike of anything else that crawls, flaps and buzzes) and my morbid fear of flying. But I also have a slightly irrational fear of birds flying in front of the car when I’m driving… I worry they will go splat! across the windshield, and I can’t stop myself ducking behind the steering wheel every time one flies in front of me.



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And secondly...

What the Award entails:

"Pass on the award to 8-12 fabulous blogs who take your breath away with how they inspire you! Post on your page who you are giving the award to, so others can visit them as well. Make sure to let them know you are honouring them! If you are a recipient of the award, please take the time to answer these questions, so we can get to know more about you!"

1. What inspires you?
To write? A piece of music, an evocative scent, a newspaper headline, a shaft of sunlight breaking through the trees as I walk through the forest…. anything can trigger a memory or provide inspiration. It can hit when I’m least expecting it.

2. What is your favourite season and why?
It’s definitely spring... this is the sunniest season in the UK and although not yet very warm, it does not have the awful humidity of summer. I love the snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils in bloom, followed by the carpets of bluebells, the cherry blossom and the budding trees. The promise of new life, the lambs on the farms….the expectation of a long hot summer that sadly never seems to materialise.

3. What are you most looking forward to this year?
Getting back to normal life after a couple of years of constant worry, the chance to travel and spend time with family and friends living far away.

4. If you could write a book about anything, what would you write about?
I’d like to write a travel comedy…but I need to travel a lot more before then, and become funny (as in funny ha ha, not funny peculiar!)

5. What is your greatest passion?

Travelling and capturing my travels in photographs… I wish I could spend more of my life doing so, but sadly there are bills to pay.

6. If you could change one thing about your life or yourself what would it be and why?

Greater self-confidence. In so many ways, I am still that painfully shy child inside a grown-up’s body.

7. Lastly, what is your favourite novel?
As I mentioned earlier, I have almost zero capacity for retaining information about most of the books that I read. One novel that has stuck in my mind though is “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini… this book really moved me and will probably haunt me forever.

OK, that's more than enough about me. Now I’d like to pass this award onto the following inspiring bloggers….

Archie and His Family

Being Brazen
Bossy Betty
come sit by my fire
Eloise In NY

From Chaos Comes Happiness

Meowlissa The Domesticated
Patrick Tillett
The Vegetable Assassin
Verbal Diarrhoea
Wandering Saffa Chick

I’d also like to pass the award onto some photography and travel bloggers that I admire greatly... they may not want to take part in a personal writing post, but I still want them to get the recognition they deserve...

Alan's Photo Blog

Life Is A Road Trip
Message In A Milk Bottle

Postcards From Malaysia

Sleepless in Gainesville

transient travels

The Retirement Chronicles

By the bye, I've been taking part in the Free Photo Competition hosted monthly by Joan at The Retirement Chronicles.... you should really have a look at all the entries for January and February.