Liebster Award

Recently, I was very kindly given a Liebster award by the lovely Melanie over at Mel's Corner. If you've never heard of this award, it's a really nice one to get and pass on as it's there to highlight new or relatively unknown bloggers, and give their blogs the attention they deserve. 

"The Liebster Award is for bloggers with under 200 followers and the rules of the award are that the nominee must link back to whoever awarded them, write 11 random facts about themselves, answer the 11 questions from the award giver, and then nominate another 11 bloggers and make up 11 questions for them to answer. It's a great way for new and undiscovered bloggers to meet new people, get more followers and find some blogs that they want to follow."


So here are 11 random facts about me...

1. 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

2. My favourite colour is red…. cherry, burgundy, crimson, amaranth (ha! new one!)...all shades just as long as it's red.

3. I have hyperdontia (more teeth that I should) and as a child I had an overbite that meant I could fit 3 fingers sideways between my upper and lower teeth. Four teeth extractions and 5 years' orthodontic treatment later and I have the perfect Colgate smile I'm told.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. The most famous person I’ve met is Lewis Hamilton (Formula One driver) – at his book signing in 2007….he was very friendly and chatty, and seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

7. I am terrified of flying. Kind of spoils the travelling lark, but I now use pharmaceuticals to cope. I am also very afraid of being in a car with someone else driving fast, suffer from arachnaphobia and detest all other small things that flap or creep or crawl (even moths).

8. I was born on a Sunday. 

And the child that is born on the Sabbath Day,
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay

9. I  only learnt to drive at the age of 23. I was a very nervous learner and gave my poor husband (then boyfriend) several minor heart attacks by pulling off stunts like stalling the car in on coming traffic, doing a wheel spin on a very steep hill, and so on. He was a very patient (and brave!) teacher...

10. I  can't ski. I found this out the hard way and came down the mountain on a stretcher. These days I stick to snow shoeing.

11. I  baked my own wedding cake. A huge, square carrot cake decorated with butter icing and fresh fruit that was delicious, if I say so myself.

............

And here are my 11 questions with answers...

1. What made you start a blog?
I was young, naive and suffering from the delusion that I have something to say that someone, somewhere would be interested in reading! Now, I'm a little bit older....
Seriously, I was looking for something creative to do, and a way of recording my somewhat haphazard path through life.

2. Favourite destination?
Way too many fabulous places to pick just one! My top five would be... The Maldives, Vietnam, Thailand, Italy, Canada and South Africa. Actually that's six - you see how hard it is to pick and choose! 

3. If you could be/do anything what would you do?
A professional travel writer/photographer... unfortunately, being a professional medical writer is not nearly as glamorous as it sounds - sometimes I write about a really exciting new cancer treatment, and then sometimes I write about laxatives  - but it does pay the bills! 

4. Favourite past time?
Hiking and photography... preferably taking photographs while hiking.

5. What's your worst habit?
Procrastination. No, maybe I mean indecisiveness. Nah, definitely procrastination... I'll get back to you on that one!

6. Cooking or baking, which do you prefer?
I like the idea of baking... but I never seem to have much success. So, I'd have to say cooking as the outcome is typically more edible.

7. A summer's day at the beach or a rainy day curled up on the couch?
Summer's day - no contest. Assuming that's a summer's day in Cape Town, or Thailand, or somewhere that actually gets summer days... and not the Britain of the past three 'summers'!

8. Your most prized possession?
My husband. OK, so he's not a 'possession' in the true sense of the word, but my life would be incomplete without him.

9. What is your proudest moment?
I don't really know. Perhaps the day I graduated with my doctorate... seeing my parents' faces in the audience when I walked up onto the stage in my ridiculous gown and hat - miraculously not tripping over my own feet - made it all seem worthwhile.

10. Guilty pleasure?
Cheesy music. Flick through my ipod and you'll discover that I have very poor taste... ABBA, 80s rock, One Direction.. they're all on there and kept me happy as I pounded the pavements in training for my Moon Walk.

11. Ultimate pet peeve?
At the risk of offending any smokers among my readers, I would have to say second hand smoke! Yes the smoking ban, quiet literally like a breathe of fresh air, has meant non-smokers no longer have to tolerate smoke in any indoor places, I still get seriously peeved off when I step outside and have to wade through the mob of nicotine addicts desperately puffing away around pub and restaurant doorways, train stations, public parks,and so on. Just walking down the street in someone's smoke channel can wind me up and wish that I could carry a mini fire extinguisher with me...

To quote Douglas Adams (of 'The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' fame): 
If we see you smoking we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action.

.............

And now for the part when I list  the bloggers to whom I pass the Liebster award baton. It's a bit tricky, as most of the blogs I read have 1000s of followers and the rules of the Liebster are that it is passed to bloggers who have around 200 or less followers. So, I don't have 11 blogs to list but I have picked a fabulous four! Please do pop over to their blogs and say hello....

Archie and family

From Chaos Comes Happiness

Peetee's Palace
The Firefly Photo Files

And finally, here are my 11 questions to pass on...

1. What is your earliest memory?

2. If you had to eat just one type of food for a week, what would it be?

3. Which place do you absolutely have to see before you die?

4. What is your favourite film of all time?

5. And favourite book?

6. You are about to be stranded on a desert island for 6 months. What three things would you take with you?

7. If you were hosting a dinner party and could invite any four guests (famous or not), who would you  invite and why?

8. What was your first blog post about?

9.  What inspires you to blog?

10. What one thing will you never, ever do again?

11. What is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Look forward to your answers!

A huge thanks again to Mel for giving me the award!

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.



.........................................................

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.

Let's Play Tag!

So....there I was, just innocently lurking about the interwebs, catching up on the celeb gossip pages researching Very Important Scientific Stuff, when... ba da bing ba da boom!... the lovely but devious Leanne at From Chaos Comes Happiness tagged me to do this meme.

Now that you all know who is to blame for the following mind numbingly boring fascinating facts about me, you can pop over later and thank Leanne in person ...but right now you need to focus on Me, Me, Me, just Me (isn’t that what a meme is all about?)

Anyway, pour yourselves a drink, preferably something alcoholic or caffeine-reinforced (you’re going to need it), and let’s begin...

1. if you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?
Hmmm....have you read about the antics of our 247 tropical fish on here? Would you want those incestuous little cannibals in your family? I think not...

2. if you can have a dream come true, what would it be?
OK, this is probably going to sound a bit contrived, but right now I just wish that everyone important in my life was healthy and happy.

3. what is the one thing most hated by you?
Arrogance...people thinking they’re better than anyone else, based on their social status, looks or education.

4. what would you do with a billion dollars?
Lay it all on the floor and roll around on it shouting... “I’m rich! I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams!” Seriously, I’d try to be ever so sensible...statistics show that most lottery winners die poor and alone, and are eaten by Alsatians - or is that something from “Bridget Jones’ Diary”?

First, I’d put one-third of it away on high investment returns, and pay a good accountant to look after my funds. Then I’d make sure that everyone in my family was financially secure. I’d set up a trust account for each of my nieces, nephews, goddaughters and the little ones of a couple of my good friends...to offer them a future, be it university or art school fees, or money to start up their own business. I’d sell our house and buy a bigger one (not a mansion but somewhere damn nice in the country yet still close to town, with an indoor swimming pool, sauna and home cinema)...and a couple of holiday homes (one in each hemisphere so that we could always escape to the sun). I’d tell B to quit his job and re-train as whatever he wants (he’s so bored with what he does). But before then, I’d tell my boss I’m taking the year off (I'd want to know I still had a job waiting for me), book two ‘Round The World’ first class air tickets and we’d head off to explore...

5. what helps to pull you out of a bad mood?
Chocolate, or a long walk....to go and buy chocolate.

6. which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Being loved by anyone is fantastic...loving someone is only exquisite when that love is returned.

7. what is your bedtime routine?
A soak in the bath tub (no matter how late I get in), then my face, eye, arm and hand creaming session, and a few minutes of reading before lights out.

8. if you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?
Through a mutual friend at university (now the dad of our goddaughter) – we exchanged insults from afar for about a month then decided to go out....

9. if you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?
A Master Chef like Michel Roux Jr, creating a new signature dish for his twice Michelin-starred London restaurant, “Le Gavroche”.

10. what kinds of books do you read?
It varies widely depending on my mood, and I tend to have a couple of books on the go at any one time. I have to read a lot of high brow medical journals for my job, so when reading for pleasure, I look for some light relief. I read a lot of travel books, and I do like a gripping thriller, like something from Douglas Kennedy, or anything with a slight historical edge (early 20th Century). I have to confess to indulging in some mindless chick lit at times...

11. how would you see yourself in ten years time?
Ten years’ older... but hopefully fifteen years’ wiser and still looking five years’ younger than I am right now. I’ve got a lot of living to do between then and now.

12. what’s your fear?
Just about everything frightens me...but I probably fear flying the most, and I fear that I will meet my demise in a flaming ball dropping out of the sky. It is a fear that I have had to learn to deal with (using pharmaceuticals).

13. would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?
I wouldn’t give it up for one day...there is no way in this solar system you’re getting me inside a space shuttle...did you not read number 12? Wake up! Pay attention!

14. would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?
I’d take the married and poor only on condition it’s married to my very own hubby (I’d say “current” but that sounds like I have another one lined up)...I wouldn’t want to be poor and married to some prize asshole too – I’d shoot myself (or him rather!)

15. what’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
If it’s Monday to Friday, I think “Crap! It’s Monday to Friday!”...Saturday or Sunday, I delight in the thought that it’s not Monday to Friday.

16. if you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?
Nothing....B, in the words of Bruno Mars, “You’re amaaaazzzzing, just the way you are!” [Even though you still haven’t worked out that no matter how much channel hopping you do, you are never ever going to avoid the ad breaks...you see the TV bosses time them just right to catch the likes of you]

17. if you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?
I’ve actually grown used to my name...hated it as a child, and wished my folks had named me Yvette, as they’d planned until my precocious older brother decided Nat was a better option. He must really like it, as it’s my niece’s second name.

18. would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
That’s a tough one to know as I am lucky enough not to have been in that situation. I’m not sure...I have a very long memory.

19. if you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?
Pasta with basil pesto, pine nuts and shavings of parmesan (Ha! You thought I was going to say chocolate!)

Right, that's me done with. Now for the best part...I get to select four other bloggers to answer the same questions. So, I am tagging...

The talented TK, at Postcards from Malaysia

The sagacious Sid, at Verbal Diarrhoea

The verbally astute Vegetable Assassin

The ever-popular Pat Tillett

The wondrous Wandering Saffa Chick

The eloquent Eloise in NY, and

The brilliant Bossy Betty

Yes, well spotted...there are actually more than four people on that list! That’s because I like to have a contingency plan....a little extra in reserve....but I still hope that everyone I tagged can participate.

Two Year Blogiversary

Would you believe that it's exactly two years to the day that I first clicked "Publish Post" and secured my very own little piece of the blogosphere? Two hundred and fifty-five posts later...and, miraculously, I'm still finding some random drivel inspiring material with which to bore amaze you.

A huge thanks to all my readers for dropping by and commenting, and hopefully you'll stick around for the Terrible Twos. I promise not to throw tantrums, or scream and whine that I want chocolate (and I want it NOW!)...at least not too often, anyway!

I hope this blog will continue to grow up with me, since, in the words of Anthony de Mello...

"Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one's awareness of one's ignorance".

Help!

I've mentioned before that I'm going to be taking part in a charity half-marathon walk - it's next weekend! The organisers of the walk are holding a photo competition - the idea being to enter a pic taken on any of your training walks and of any subject.

I am really tempted to enter something from my Canadian trip...technically, I had already registered for the marathon before I left on my travels, and there was an awful lot of walking involved to get some of the photos! But that would possibly be deemed as cheating, and with such spectacular scenery to choose from, I'd certainly have an unfair advantage.

Anyway, I've selected a few "possible" entries from the photos I have quite randomly been taking on my walks... mostly along the fields and woods surrounding my home village. Some of these I've already posted on here, others are new.

Now I need to ask you, my dear readers, a BIG favour... do you think any of the following photos would be worthy of entry into the competition and if so, which one do you like best?

Be honest....

For best viewing, click on the photo to enlarge, then click BACK to return to my blog

A - Sunset behind the trees

B - Blackberries along the field

C - Frisky horses (I did contemplate 'Biggus Dickus')

D - Hay bales in the evening sunshine

E - Freshly mown hay in the evening sunlight

F - Nat's long shadow in the hay field

G - Fields of Gold

H - A Ray Of Light

I - Another sunset behind the trees

Thank you! Your opinion is valued...

Who, Me?

I am very suprised and flattered to have been awarded the all-new, original Shutter Bug Award by the brilliant writer, photographer and all round blogger extraordinaire, Pat Tillett. If you're not already reading his blog, you really should be as he has led an amazing life and has many fascinating stories to tell and great pictures to share....plus he is a very supportive blogger buddy.

Thanks, Pat!

patricktillett.blogspot.com

A very warm welcome to my new followers and a big thank you to all my early, faithful ones for staying onboard :-)