draliman on life

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Do you stay up to toast in the New Year?
No, and now it’s passed I didn’t. I happened to still be awake, I was reading in bed.

Have you ever kept any New Year Resolutions made in the past?
I don’t remember even making any New Year’s resolutions in the past. They would just make me feel guilty when I inevitably didn’t keep them.

Do you have any plans for 2026?
Nope.

What was the highlight/s of 2025 for you?
My little holiday in Pitlochry.

Here is my post for Share Your world, hosted by Di.

Which do you prefer, Christmas pudding, mince pies, or trifle?
I’ll have the trifle, please. I don’t like mince pies at all, especially since they don’t have any actual mince in them. I do always have Christmas pudding on Christmas day but to be honest it’s more as a delivery mechanism/excuse for the Cornish clotted cream, which I love.

Which gives you the most satisfaction – cooking a special meal for your family, dining with family and friends, not having to do the washing up afterwards?
The dining bit. As long as I don’t have to do the other two bits ie all the fun, none of the work 😉

Can you recall the best and worst gift you received (any occasion)
Not the worst. I remember getting my first ever computer, a Sinclair ZX81 for my birthday. I think it would have been in 1982. That was very cool and totally unexpected.

After a full and enjoyable meal what do you prefer to do – take a nap, watch TV, play board games with the kids?
Taking a nap is the choice for me 🙂

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Did anyone read you a bedtime story when you were a child?
Not that I remember but I suppose my parents must have at some time. They were very good teaching me to read, though, I could read before I started school, so I guess I read my own books from quite a young age.

Did you read bedtime stories to anyone?
No. I don’t have kids though.

Do you prefer to read a book, an ebook/kindle, or audio book?
I usually read my Kindle, it’s more convenient than a paper book, though I do own a load of paper books. Which is why I switched to the Kindle, I don’t have any bookshelf space left. I’ve never tried an audio book.

What is your favourite fairy tale?
I’ve never been big on fairy tales, they’re all too “nice”. Maybe I should try the “originals”, I’ve heard most of those can be pretty “Grimm”. Ha ha.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Have you ever been fishing?
A few times when I was little. I never caught anything.

What do you consider to be the bravest thing you’ve ever done?
I don’t recall ever doing anything particularly “brave”.

Would you rather:
curl up with a good book in front of an open fire, or
settle down with a tub of popcorn and watch a good movie with a friend?
I’ll go for the book option. And definitely no popcorn for me, thanks.

Have you ever owned tropical fish?
No. Just the occasional goldfish here and there.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Are you busy making preparations for Dec 25th?
I wouldn’t say “busy” exactly. Over the past weeks I have ordered all the food and bought the presents. So I’m nearly there. Either next weekend or the weekend before Christmas I’ll get the decorations down from the loft and put them up.

What is your favourite Christmas/holiday movie?
“Die Hard” obviously. Nothing says Christmas quite like decorations, a work party and a load of bullets and explosions.

What is your pet hate Christmas song?
I’m not alone in nominating Wham’s “Last Christmas”.

Which actor in your opinion made the best Father Christmas?
I can’t even think of any Santa actors off the top of my head.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Do you have a keepsake box (where you retain special cards, pictures, letters, things that are special to you)?
Nope 🙂 I have bits and bobs scattered about here and there.

What has made you smile lately?
Various funny comedies on TV.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?
More a morning person. And I start work at 0700 anyway so I don’t have much choice,

Do you prefer to be hosts or guests at a dinner party or family event?
A guest, definitely. I can’t be having people round here, my house is too small. And I’d have to do the vacuuming and dusting and I wouldn’t be happy about that 🙂

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

What was the last book you read?
The last book I finished was “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir. I’m currently reading the first book of Peter F. Hamilton’s Void Trilogy.

Do you think movies are better or worse than the books they are based on?
The books often contain more, for example “The Martian” book contains scenes not in the film. I don’t think I’ve watched enough book adaptations to give an opinion one way or the other.

What is the most memorable movie soundtrack or theme to you?
For overall soundtrack, I’ve always enjoyed the soundtrack album to the Robin Williams film “Toys”.

Did you enjoy the old musicals (Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Howard Keel, Doris Day etc)
Not massively. Some are all right, but the music and singing style are a bit old-fashioned for me. Musicals I enjoy are films like Grease and Rocky Horror Picture Show, though they’re both old enough now to probably count as “old classics”!

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

If you were a colour, what would you choose to be?
Some sort of blue. Because I like blue. I wouldn’t want to be a colour I don’t like. That would be rubbish.

What one piece of advice would you give your younger self?
I wouldn’t. If I gave my younger self advice, I would change something, likely never be in a position to give my younger self advice in the first place, so everything would change back to the way it was, so I would give my younger self advice, change something…

You see where this is going, don’t you? Yes. The END OF THE UNIVERSE 😮

What was the best piece of advice you were ever given?
Huh, no idea. I don’t listen to advice 😉

If you needed advice on a matter, who would you ask (friend, family, professional etc)
It completely depends on what I needed advice about. I hear that ChatGPT fellow is quite knowledgeable…

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

If you were offered “The Full English” what would you expect?
The moment I read this question my mouth started watering…

Fried or scrambled egg, sausage, bacon, black pudding, mushrooms and/or baked beans, grilled tomatoes, hash browns and/or fried bread and of course a mug of tea to wash it down! And probably some toast on the side.

How do you like your toast (with butter, jam, marmalade etc) ?
Lightly browned with butter.

How do you prefer your eggs?
Either hard boiled and cooled or fried.

If you have a boiled egg, do you like to dunk ‘soldiers’?
I rarely have boiled eggs, but I’d tend to eat the egg and soldiers separately.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di.

Can you remember your first wage packet? Was it cash, a cheque or paid directly into your bank account?
I don’t explicitly remember it. I assume back in those days it was a cheque. For our younger readers, “cheques” were pieces of paper that you had to tramp down to the bank to deposit. Nobody except for my Mum has written a cheque in decades.

For our younger readers, a “bank” was a place in town for getting and depositing money. It’s now called a “phone app”.

Do you prefer to shop with cash or card?
Always card. It’s just so easy to tap your card on the machine. Though I’m suddenly out of date again, most people I see in the village shop use their phone. I do very occasionally but it’s a hassle finding the right app.

Do you know the price of half a dozen eggs?
Anywhere between £2 and £3 depending on free range-ness etc. I can get 6 eggs for £1.50 from the monthly village market.

Have you ever kept chickens?
No! I’ve eaten a lot of chickens, though.