Share Your World: 12th July 2021

What would be much better if you could just change the colour of it?

An orange… that would mess things up a bit. It would still be called an orange but no longer be an orange-coloured fruit – so would that mean a change of name for the colour too?

Do you think cats have any regrets?

Nope, I imagine all nine of their lives are purrfect just as they are 🙂

Do you ever count your steps when you walk?

Not usually, unless a treasure map is involved and X marks the spot…

Is there a supreme power?

I think gravity is a pretty supreme power – well done holding on so tight to that one, Planet Earth! 🙂

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Share Your World: 3rd May 2021

Would you rather be a super nice person and be depressed all your life, or be happy and a total ass-hole?

Hmm…That’s a bit of a simplistic, stark, black and white, either-or choice for me – surely real life falls more on a complex continuum of grey? I’ve already been depressed all my life but am definitely not super nice, and I don’t necessarily see the connection between happiness and ass-holery… In my experience the biggest ass-holes tend to have the biggest inferiority complexes, so they’re definitely not happy, they’re miserable and compensate for that misery by belittling other people to feel better about themselves…

Have you ever made someone cry?

Going for a positive, happy answer for this one – I first got married at 18, and the day my mum and I brought my wedding dress and veil home from the dress shop I tried it all on to show my dad how I looked as a bride… He took one look at me and turned on his heels and left the room, to wipe away tears… It’s the first time I ever saw my dad cry ❤

Are you a dreamer or a go-getter?

Dreamer, definitely, and I wouldn’t ever have it any other way… Dream on, girl… If you can dream it, you can do it!

If you were in a band, what instrument would you play?

If I were in a band I wouldn’t play an instrument, I’d be one of the backing singers, dressed in black and playing my part, but safely standing in the background 🙂

Do you feel gratitude is necessary?

Yes, because feeling grateful for something means we are aware that we are not automatically entitled to health or happiness or whatever it is. Gratitude helps keep us considerate of others, and that’s got to be a good thing… ❤

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Share Your World: 15 March 2021

How well do you know your next door neighbours? Do you like them?

We’ve only lived here for 18 months, and for 12 months of that we have mostly been under Covid restrictions and so not allowed to visit other people’s houses. We have a corner property so we know the guy who lives next door in the adjoining garden, we know the family who live across the road in front of us, and we know the family who live across the road on the side of us – at least we know all of them well enough to have a decent conversation with at a safe distance outdoors, and that’s probably the best it can get for now. Maybe once Covid slings its hook we’ll get to know everyone a bit better…

Do you have a full length mirror?

Yes, we have two – one set in to the wardrobe in our bedroom, and one free-standing cheval mirror in the spare bedroom…

How long do you spend putting on make-up in the morning?

On a work day, maybe five to ten minutes max, but on a home day zero time at all – I’m not really a make-up kind of girl…

How many items of clothing are in your bedroom but not hung up?

Currently one full stack of clean neatly folded laundry (assorted items) sitting patiently on the bed from earlier today but not yet put away, and a pair of jeans, a cardigan, a hoodie and three random scarves that have all been worn already but can easily be worn again, all slung not-so-neatly folded on a bedroom chair… And some stuff in the laundry basket not yet washed – does that count?

Do you have a happy place?

Right now my happy place is pretty much anywhere I don’t have to wear a face mask… 🙂

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Share Your World: 15 Feb 2021

Do you feel you ask enough questions, or do you settle for what you know?

Ooh, I love learning new things, so am always going to be a questioning kind of girl. When I was studying for my degree as a mature student I was always asking questions for clarification, or to aid exploring new ideas, or going off at a tangent out of inquisitive curiosity! But I’m not into just asking random questions for the sake of it, I usually bide my time to wait for an explanation to be forthcoming before I ask, and listen carefully to whatever answer I get.

When did you fail to speak up when you feel you should have?

Hmmm… When it’s important or if I’m asked directly I’ll always try to speak up, but otherwise in general if it really doesn’t matter too much I’m possibly likely to not want to rock the boat so may just keep quiet. There are enough opinions out there in the world without me adding my tuppence worth!

When was the last time you felt lucky?

When I caught Covid at the beginning of the year but didn’t get it bad enough to have to go to hospital or worse. I’m still not fully recovered six weeks on but thankfully I’m getting there slowly but surely… Still resting lots though.

What is a boulder?

Not sand, not a pebble like these, not the size of a rock you’d have in a garden rockery, but far bigger than that – something big enough to drop impressively on Wile E Coyote while he’s trying to drop it on Roadrunner 🙂

What are you grateful for this week?

That my elderly parents and parents-in-law have all had their first Covid vaccine, and that my 30-something eldest daughter (who has type 1 diabetes) was also given her first dose yesterday! 🙂

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Share Your World: 28 December 2020

Pick three words to describe this past year…

Unsettled, uncertain, unknown

What were the best books you read this year? Or the best movie you saw?

Sadly books have been taking a backseat for me for a while, not just for 2020, but I’ve certainly watched a lot of TV movies over the past few months. Old movies, modern movies, old favourites, new favourites, family movies, chick-flicks, murder mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, superhero movies, coming-of-age movies… You name it, I’ve probably watched it at some point during 2020.

Because there was lots of time for looking inwards, what is one big personal lesson you learned this year?

This year I’ve learned that I’m a lot stronger emotionally than I think. In spite of this global pandemic in all honesty my overall mental health this year has been not much different than usual – in general being at home a lot is not a problem for me, not socialising a lot is not a problem for me, so in some ways this has actually all been relatively easy for me compared to some. It seems that being a depressive means I’m pretty much made for pandemics – insular, introverted, insignificant. Blending quietly into the background and sitting tight for the duration surprisingly suits my DNA.

Do you think Covid has strengthened or weakened societal bonds?

Strengthened, here in the UK anyway. On the whole we’ve followed more than fought what is asked of us restriction-wise, most of us have sacrificed and suffered and shared what we have and social distanced as best we can. There are always going to be doubters and nay-sayers amongst a population, but we haven’t quite had the extreme political bifurcation of believers vs deriders that seems to be so prevalent in the USA. Having said that, our infection rates and death rates are still sky-high, but we still keep on doing whatever we’re supposed to, trying to do our bit.

What is a New Year’s wish you would like to share with the world?

What I’d like for 2021 is for a new world order where humanity as a species remembers that the planet does not belong to us – we belong to the planet. We have to look after our environment, stop destroying the climate, the oceans, the atmosphere. We are not supreme beings, nature is still in charge. We destroy nature through our grasping greed, and ultimately we destroy ourselves. Learn the long-term lesson Covid is teaching us. Be grateful we still have time to repair what we have broken, before it’s too late.

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Share Your World: 14 December 2020

What news event do you vividly remember hearing about as a child, and where were you?

‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’

Neil Armstrong, July 1969

I was five and a half when man first walked on the moon, and I remember mum calling me through to the living room to watch the live footage on our standard black and white TV. The thing is, I had absolutely no idea of the enormity of what was going on, or that it was reality not just fantasy – it was just a grown-up TV programme that didn’t interest me at all. The picture was too fuzzy and I thought it was a really rubbish-looking spaceman, not nearly as good as some others I’d seen on TV. So I remember it most clearly from a perspective of childhood bewilderment – it’s only in retrospect I can truly appreciate exactly what I saw happening in front of my eyes 🙂

What is a Christmas song that makes you cringe?

When it comes to modern popular songs, all of them and none of them – at any other time of year they all sound naff, but there’s something about listening to them all at Chistmas time that makes them sound OK, giving me the warm and fuzzies. Traditionally, even though I’m not religious at all, I love hearing all the old Christmas carols and can happily sing along with the best of them – and yes, I can still remember the words 🙂

What is one place you shop(ped) prior to Covid that might have surprised people?

Um… not sure… can’t really think of anywhere… But as a non-religious person I really love spending time in old churches, which some people may find odd. I love the impressive architecture, and the hushed feeling of height and space and peace and calm. And I love the amazing accoustics when hearing all those old hymns sung a cappella – see above answer 🙂

What is your least favourite holiday side dish?

Brussels sprouts… Yuk! 😦

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Junk Food, Thank You Very Much

What would you enjoy if you could do so without someone getting annoyed with you for enjoying it? It MUST be something you aren’t supposed to enjoy because it is ‘bad for you’…

Junk food, I would be happy to openly enjoy junk food… McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Pizza, Chinese, Indian… you name it I LOVE it! Mmmm… I do know it’s bad for my health – full of fat, sugar, salt, a veritable heart-attack-on-a-plate (or perferably eaten out of its own throwaway wrappings, no plate required). So I only eat it occasionally, indulging almost furtively and shamefully because my husband with familial heart problems and a healthy diet does NOT approve, but I know it’s only cos he loves me ❤

Is it OK for men to wear the colour pink?

As long as it suits their skin/ hair colouring, I like men in pink as much as any other colour – for example my husband has a couple of lovely pink shirts 🙂

Can you curl your tongue?

Yes! Woo-hoo!

What, in your opinion, is the best room to put a fireplace?

Living room, but that’s probably cos I’ve always known fireplaces to be in living rooms…

How do you show your gratitude?

In person I smile, I say thanks, I give a hug, or a kiss – or I’ll write a thank you note if that’s more appropriate. And online I’ll ‘like’ something, or comment, or if I’ve bought something and had good service maybe even give a Google review 🙂

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Share Your World: 23 Nov 2020

What is worse than a dentist with bad breath?

A gynaecologist with dirty hands and filthy fingernails…

Have you ever been rejected by someone that you liked, or been told that you were not good enough for someone else?

Yes and yes… Unrequited love always hurts. And my first husband (father of my three children) told me when I left him that no-one else would ever want me as I was second hand damaged goods… nice!

Did you ever want to have toast for breakfast, only to find that all your bread was covered in green mould?

Upsettingly yes, and I have to be really careful with that because I’m allergic to green mould, including penicillin…

Did you ever sneeze so hard that your whole body hurt?

Nope, but when I had pleurisy in my mid-twenties even breathing hurt so much I thought I might die…

Did you ever buy clothing on the internet that didn’t fit, but you wore them anyway because you didn’t want to spend the shipping charge to send them back?

I’m not a great one for internet shopping, and will usually only buy something online if I get free delivery and free returns, so probably not. But if I did I’d be more likely to give it away than send it back, either to someone else or donate it to a charity shop… 🙂

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Share Your World: Oddball Questions

Is cereal soup? Why or why not?

Um… no of coure not – cereal is cereal and soup is soup! And anyway, who ever heard of having soup for breakfast… I rest my case.

What are some interesting ways to answer everyday questions like ‘How’s it going?’ or ‘What do you do?’

For ‘How’s it going?’ a good answer might be ‘It’s gone so far it’s almost disappeared’ and for ‘What do you do?’ a fun answer might be ‘As little as possible, as often as I can get away with it’ 🙂

What was your favourite toy growing up?

For sheer versatility and persistance of play across the entirety of childhood, and then well into adulthood with my own kids and now my grandkids, it probably has to be Lego

If you have a pet, and you could ask it three questions, what would you ask?

I don’t have a pet at the moment, but I would like to have a cat. And if I had a cat, I would ask it what purring feels like, do whiskers tickle, and do cats have such noisy sex because it’s painful or because they just like making that blood-curdling noise!

And to answer the last optional question, What’s one simple thing society at large could do to improve our world? the answer has to be to stop being so damned selfish – about the environment, about society, about everything.

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Share Your World: 27 July 2020

Are you a clean or a messy person?

Hmmm… If the question is are you clean or dirty, then the answer is most definitely clean-ish, but I believe a little bit of dust here and there now and again never hurt anyone.And if the question is are you tidy or untidy, then I probably sit comfortably about the middle of the continuum. I’m certainly not a minimalist when it comes to personal possessions so I like to have my things around me with a place for everything and everything in its place, and being surrounded by such clutter doesn’t necessarily count as ‘tidy’ to minimalist neat-freaks 🙂

If I asked you to describe yourself in five words, what would they be?

Daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, me. I remember years ago taking part in a small personal development training session as part of a management team where coincidentally I was the only woman present, at that time a young single parent working mother of three small children. We each had to write down ten words describing who we were, and these were discussed in the group afterwards. Almost all of the men had included at least eight out of ten words that were individually descriptive of specific traits or characteristics they valued whereas about seven out of ten of mine were linked directly to naming my relationships with others. I remember the significance of the gender difference being remarked on by everyone, but for me it was an honest response. I was born and brought up at a time when women were legally second-class citizens, long before the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, which has inevitably shaped my early identity and in many ways still shapes how I think of myself today.

Do you enjoy being out in nature?

I love being out in nature, walking by water or through woods or spending time in my garden, and just generally being outside in the fresh air and warm sunshine. But I like being indoors at night, tucked up safe and sound in my own comfy bed.

What could you spend all day talking about?

Nothing. I’m an introvert at heart, and much as I love being in company at times I also enjoy having some extended periods of solitude and silence in my day. Even the thought of talking all day exhausts me.

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