25 very random things- Update 2012

25 very random things- Update 2012

Well, here I am re-visiting my old blog! Isn't it funny how our reality changes? So some of my 25 random things are no longer relevant - here is an updated 2012 version:

1. I'm not a natural blonde ;)
I'm not blonde at all any more! I'm back to my natural colour, and seem to be going darker as I get older. Hoping I take after my dad, who still wasn't fully grey when he died, aged 80...

2. The only vegetable I won't eat is Okra (yuk yuk yuk yuk YUK!!!)
Have since revisited okra when I went for dinner at my neighbour's house. She is an African princess, and an amazing cook. Now, her okra I loved!

3. I can't eat wheat, dairy or soya :(
Still the same, only now I barely eat any grains at all, barely any pulses and no citrus fruits. But I feel great, so it's all good!

4. I was in an American documentary about childbirth which went out to 12 million viewers (but I never got to see it).Still haven't seen it, but have been on telly again, being interviewed for the launch of a new magazine. I was (and sort of still am only I never seem to find time to submit anything) one of the regular contributors to Mindscape magazine.

5. My favourite number is 2, I was born on 22nd, husband on 2nd and daughter on 2nd.
Still like number 2. Not keen on number 7.
 
6. I had teeth when I was born.
I guess this hasn't changed!

7.I am crawling my way through a degree in Nutritional Medicine, which I will finish in 2012, just in time for the end of the world.
I actually finished in 2011, as I decided I'd had enough and didn't stay on to do the Honours. So I managed to finish it and am now qualified.
 
8. I see dead people on a fairly regular basis.
Actually, not so much these days. But weird stuff still happens to me, mostly in crop circles.

9. I love travelling, and hate staying in one place for too long.
This hasn't changed. In fact I'm just preparing for house move number 13, though rather more reluctantly this time. And was very glad to return home from my last trip abroad, though it was to a volatile part of Egypt and Israel, and I got some form of dysentery, so perhaps not the best travel experience I've ever had.

10. I am terrible at throwing things away.
Not any more! Have thrown away so much stuff recently that the cat is scared to sit still for too long. And it feels great!! Very cathartic.

11. I was a bit of child prodigy, but peaked at age 11 and it's been downhill ever since.
I have handed the baton on to my daughter - she has inherited my brains but is actually using them.

12. I hate filling in forms and birthday cards and always make a mistake.
Nope, no change there.

10. I love singing, horse riding, walking and being out in the fresh air, communing with nature.
Still love all of these things, plus writing, of course, and doing anything to be active again after so long sat on my bum!

11. I love scalding hot baths.
Yep, almost passed out after last night's bath. Don't know why I do this to myself, though my current house is, I believe, built over the entrance to the 9th circle of Hell (which, as you may recall, was iced over) so scalding hot baths are the only way of staying warm.

12. I talk a lot, and can't shut up once I get going.
I don't think anyone would disagree with this...

13. I have written the first few chapters of about ten books so far, but my dream is to finish one and get it published.
Have an idea for another great book! Have made lots of notes and it actually stands a chance of being written! Watch this space...

14. I love cooking, but NEVER stick to a recipe.
Have come dangerously close to following some of Jamie's recipes recently! But still have to add my own 'je ne sais quoi!' It really is 'Je ne sais quoi', as I can then never make the same dish again, but it keeps life interesting.

15.My nickname is 'Mrs. Doolittle' as I love animals and think I can talk to them.
Yes, I'm still as bonkers as ever in this department.

16. I once sat next to the marketing director of Playboy Enterprises on a plane to America. He was one of the nicest men I have met, and wrote to me for years afterwards. Our postman used to look at husband with respect at Christmas when the Playboy card came.
Henry has died now, bless him, of prostate cancer, but I can honestly say that no one lived life to the full more than he did!

17. I have been kissed by Richard E. Grant, Uri Geller and Midge Ure.
I have now added a few more celebrities to this list, but if I divulged their names I would have to kill you...

18. I am addicted to computer games, especially Solitaire and Backgammon.
Not any more! No time, though I do like a dash of Facebook and Twitter.

19. I have a secret passion for trashy Murder mysteries like Murder She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder.I also adore American Comedy like Friends, Frasier. And I watch Neighbours!
Nope, barely watch any TV at all, except X Factor and Dexter.

20. When I was younger I was a New Romantic, and had blue, red, pink green and orange hair (though not all at the same time).
I would now never let my daughter do this - what a hypocrite!

21. I was a porker when I was young, and my nickname was 'Tank' (thanks to my sister Deb).
I know understand the reason for this, thanks to my course, but the emotional scars are still there. I can never quite believe that I'm slim.

22. I am 1/8 Italian.
Well, of course hasn't changed, though I have since discovered that I am also related to Jenny Lind and Uther Pendragon. I must get my singing voice from Jenny; not sure what I get from Uther, though I have had two cats called Merlin.

23. I used to be a church chorister and once sang in Lichfield Cathedral (the highpoint of my singing career apparently).
Well, I have had my moments since then, but the last time I sang in public was at my father's funeral two years ago. Tough.

24. I love scorching hot weather and being warm - I put on a polo neck in October and don't take it off till March (I don't wear the same one obviously).
I think I used to have hypothyroidism! I'm much hotter stuff now (though still like the aforementioned hot baths...).

25. I am probably an alien.
Erm...

25 very random things

1. I'm not a natural blonde ;)

2. The only vegetable I won't eat is Okra (yuk yuk yuk yuk YUK!!!)

3. I can't eat wheat, dairy or soya :(

4. I was in an American documentary about childbirth which went out to 12 million viewers (but I never got to see it).

5. My favourite number is 2, I was born on 22nd, husband on 2nd and daughter on 2nd.

6. I had teeth when I was born.

7.I am crawling my way through a degree in Nutritional Medicine, which I will finish in 2012, just in time for the end of the world.

8. I see dead people on a fairly regular basis.

9. I love travelling, and hate staying in one place for too long.

10. I am terrible at throwing things away.

11. I was a bit of child prodigy, but peaked at age 11 and it's been downhill ever since.

12. I hate filling in forms and birthday cards and always make a mistake.

10. I love singing, horse riding, walking and being out in the fresh air, communing with nature.

11. I love scalding hot baths.

12. I talk a lot, and can't shut up once I get going.

13. I have written the first few chapters of about ten books so far, but my dream is to finish one and get it published.

14. I love cooking, but NEVER stick to a recipe.

15.My nickname is 'Mrs. Doolittle' as I love animals and think I can talk to them.

16. I once sat next to the marketing director of Playboy Enterprises on a plane to America. He was one of the nicest men I have met, and wrote to me for years afterwards. Our postman used to look at husband with respect at Christmas when the Playboy card came.

17. I have been kissed by Richard E. Grant, Uri Geller and Midge Ure.

18. I am addicted to computer games, especially Solitaire and Backgammon.

19. I have a secret passion for trashy Murder mysteries like Murder She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder.I also adore American Comedy like Friends, Frasier. And I watch Neighbours!

20. When I was younger I was a New Romantic, and had blue, red, pink green and orange hair (though not all at the same time).

21. I was a porker when I was young, and my nickname was 'Tank' (thanks to my sister Deb).

22. I am 1/8 Italian.

23. I used to be a church chorister and once sang in Lichfield Cathedral (the highpoint of my singing career apparently)

24. I love scorching hot weather and being warm - I put on a polo neck in October and don't take it off till March (I don't wear the same one obviously)

25. I am probably an alien.

Back from the mists of time

Well, it's been a while. Can't really offer much explanation other than I couldn't be bothered and didn't have much to say. Not sure that last part has changed much, but I felt a rush of warmth for my old blog, and wanted to breathe some life into it, so here goes.
Anyway, I'm still here, and, can you believe it, still studying. I can't believe it either, but there it is. Time flies when you having fun, as they say, but not, apparently when you are studying via distance-learning. It's like purgatory. At least I'm still here, I believe some of my fellow students have dropped out, or worse. It's not for the faint-hearted.
Plus I have been diverted by the charms of Face Book, but it's becoming too much like hard work. At least on here I know no one is likely to read my blurb, it's purely between me and the cosmos. (but don't let that put you off - I don't mind the odd comment or two).
So if you would care to join me on my last few months of the longest journey of my life, please do.
I'd be glad of the company.

My Poor Neglected Blog!!!

A recent comment prompted me to check on my blog, which has received scant attention this year.
I just seem to have been overtaken by so much stuff!! Will try to think of something interesting to comment on in the next week. But don't hold your breath...

Vote organic

I was in Tesco's the other day, and overheard a very old man ask his equally ancient wife if she wanted the organic broccoli, as there was none of the 'normal' broccoli left. 'Organic? Ooooh no! I don't want any of that stuff!' she said, as though he had offered her pink sprouts from the planet Zarg.
I was stunned. Did this woman not realise that for probably the first fifty years of her life, she had eaten nothing else, because back then, there was only 'organic' produce?

This just confirmed to me that organic produce has had probably the worst marketing campaign since the Sinclair C5. In reality, it should need no marketing at all - it's just stuff grown as it's always been grown, for hundreds of years, until scientists discovered pesticides, allowing farming to become big business. Instead, it is thought of as the food of sandal-wearing hippies, or neurotic filmstars.

I always buy organic produce, not just for the taste, but for ethical, environmental and health reasons. I just object in principle to the direction farming is taking, with intensive farming, and GM crops, and the only way I can try to change this is to buy organic produce.

I'm aware of all the negative press, about how goods from abroad can't be guaranteed to be organic, etc. etc., but we all need to pressure the supermarkets to stock 'real' food, which has been produced in the way nature intended. I come from a farming background, so I do know what I am talking about. I know that the spray commonly sprayed on vegetables was so toxic that one needed radiation-style protective clothing to handle it.


I know it's expensive, but at the end of the day, we're just to used to having cheap food, clothes etc. Clothes are cheap because they are produced in third world sweat shops, food is cheap because it is factory-farmed. I prefer quality, and would rather go without than eat rubbish.
I believe a chicken should cost a tenner to produce - when I was a child, chicken was a treat we had on high days and holidays.I happen to think a chicken's life is worth more than £1.99, and would rather have an organic chicken once a fortnight, than a battery farmed bird two or three times a week. Also, if you cook as our grandparents used to cook, ten pounds is quite reasonable: roast on Sunday, curry on Monday, then use the carcass for a stew on Tuesday. Ten quid doesn't seem quite so bad for three family meals, does it? A lot cheaper than a pizza each, anyhow.

I make no apology for getting on my soapbox about this - it's my blog, and I'll moan if I want to!
But I would urge everyone to look beyond the price, and realise that food is probably the single most important purchase we make, so don't we deserve to buy the best we can? Buying organic, or free range from supermarkets may not be the perfect solution, but not all of us have access to local organic farmers, or can grow our own veg. At least when you buy an item of organic produce, you are effectively casting a vote, to say: I care about what I eat, I care about how it was produced, and I care about animal welfare, and I care about the environment.'
The quality of the food we eat is of paramount importance. It's all about the transference of energy. If a chicken has been raised in a cage the size of a shoebox, and had a miserable existence, what can its flesh offer you if you eat it? It certainly won't enhance your own existence.
Food doesn't have to be 'organic', but just look for food that has been grown in a way that Nature intended. Try buying from a local farmer, and yes, you will taste the difference, and feel it too.
Ignore the negative propaganda churned out by non-organic farmers, and MP's taking back-handers, and don't forget how much money some of the 'high-rollers' in intensive farming would stand to lose if we all went back to farming organically. If enough of us do it, maybe we can turn the tide, and return farming to the wholesome picture of rural industry that it used to be.
Vote with your food, now.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's the 18th of January, and I haven't blogged for almost a month!
Still don't have much time, but just wanted to wish all a Happy New Year before it seems too
ridiculous.
I have been v.v.busy moving house etc., and am now back to studying hard again.
We still have boxes to unpack, but that's nothing new. When we moved out of our last place, we found boxes which had been moved three times, and had never been unpacked.
Maybe one day we'll open them and find out what's in them ( I wasn't organised enough to
label stuff back then).

All the best, everyone, will visit my regular blogs very soon - I've missed you!

Christmas Unwrapping

I've done nothing for the past few weeks but pack stuff, unpack stuff, then wrap stuff up again for Christmas.
If you want to keep your stress levels down, I do not recommend a house move the week before Christmas, particularly if you blithely decide you can move yourself. Given that it took two full-size removal lorries to move us out of our previous house into our rented hovel, I think we were being a trifle optimistic. In the end, it took two weeks, about 25 car loads, five large van loads, blood, sweat, a few tears, some very good friends to do it, but we managed it. (You really find out who your real friends are at times like these - it's amazing how many 'bad backs' came on the day before!)

Still, we survived, and I'm finally back on-line, so just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, especially, Chelley, Jag and Raven. Have a great time, y'all!