tag

I've been tagged by Elizabeth to join in with a meme, which is fun. I've never done one before, and have enjoyed thinking up answers to the questions while I've weeded the garden today! I know this isn't everybody's sort of thing, but it's been nice to participate, and if nothing else, at least it gives a bit of structure to my ramblings...

The rules are to answer the questions, replacing one and adding another, and then to tag eight other bloggers to do the same.

First the questions:

What are your current obsessions?

I am someone who can swing from being madly obsessed to completely vacant in next to no time. I use up huge amounts of energy going into overdrive and then have to recover by letting my mind go blank. At the moment I am in a period of restorative calm.

What are you currently reading?

Everything. I read all the time, always have done, can't stop. I have something to read all over the house: cookery books, gardening books, home and interiors magazines, novels, books about landscape, artist's biographies, the weekend papers (I make them last all week), maps (I love maps), old children's books. I will very happily read the dictionary.

What makes you laugh?

My work colleagues. We laugh so much at work sometimes that my tummy hurts. I am often choking with laughter and so paralytic I can't work. I can't tell you what about, as it is often very rude indeed.

What is your first spring thing?

I get excited when I see green shoots peeping out of the ground and the blackbird starts to sing again, but for me the biggest indication of spring is the increasing light. I am always commenting on how light it is in the mornings and evenings, and when the clocks go forward, it's always wonderful.

What's for dinner?

I'd planned to make a quiche, but I'd been gardening all day and in the end it was tins of baked beans with little sausages in. Yum.

Where do you plan to travel to next?

We have ten days in Sussex coming up in June, which I'm hugely excited about. We plan to visit lots of gardens and lovely places and eat as many cream teas as we can. For several years now I have wanted to return to Finland, a beautiful and magical place I fell in love with aged 15.

What's the best thing you ate or drank lately?

My eldest son recently went on a week-long course on how to make cocktails and to allow him to practice his new-found skills we have selflessly offered our services as cocktail testers... each evening we have something new... we have had Mohitos, Cosmopolitans, Daiquiris, Elderflower Collins, all beautifully made and garnished.

The last thing you bought?

That damn bag (see below).

Flower of the moment?

It would have to be bluebells. Our garden is full of them despite a policy of zero tolerance, due to their habit of flopping everywhere and withering after flowering. However, right now they are sublime.

Favourite ever film?

Like Elizabeth, I am rather a dunce at films. I almost never watch them, although I do like going to the Cornerhouse to see odd European things, eat mezze, and pretend I am still trendy. However, I have really really got into the Bourne trilogy and would happily watch them all again.

If you were a god or goddess which would you be?

I would be a dryad, or tree nymph. They are believed to be shy, strong, protective and gentle, and live in trees and forests. I love trees and am lucky enough to live in a house pretty much surrounded by them. I can count at least thirty different species from our windows. I was once what is sometimes described as 'tall and willowy', but as time has gone by my willow tree has settled down nicely into the riverbank and its trunk has rather more character and girth than before.

Care to share some wisdom?

Love bravely. Live gently. On days when it is hard to love someone who is close to you, pretend it is their birthday.

Where would you rather be right now?

By the sea, watching ships far out on the horizon, seeing the sun dance on the waves, smelling the salt, hearing the rush and grind of the waves on the beach, looking at birds, feeling the sand run through my fingers, collecting stones and driftwood.

Wake up! It's over, and now it's your turn. I've picked out some people whose blogs I visit or who visit me, but if you'd like to play, please do, and likewise if you'd rather languish in a bath of frogs, please pass.

Viv, Gilly, Susie, Jo, Ness, Helen, Ann and Tina are tagged...