draliman on life

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

It’s Easter this week. As a child, did you take part in Easter Egg Hunts?
I can’t specifically remember any. I expect there would have been one or two here and there, though.

If you were to design an Easter Bonnet, what would it look like?
What, like a hat? I don’t think I’d be any good designing a hat. Take a baseball cap and Sellotape a stuffed bunny to it. There you go.

Have you ever seen the movie Easter Parade with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland?
It doesn’t ring any bells. Has it got vampires, zombies or traumatic ritual disembowelments in it? It doesn’t sound like it does. In which case, probably not.

For my readers who don’t celebrate Easter, can you apply these questions to one of your traditional holidays?
I get a couple of days off work and eat Easter eggs. I assume that counts as “celebrating Easter”.

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

Did you wake up in a good mood this morning?
I woke up in a neutral mood – see the next question.

What was the first thing you thought of when you awoke?
“I wonder what time it is?” That’s always my first thought. Then when I know what time it is, I decide what day it is and then my mood progresses from there based on workday/weekend.

Tea, coffee, or fruit juice/smoothie for breakfast?
Coffee.

What topping do you prefer on your toast?
Marmite, of course 🙂

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

What was your favourite pastime as a child?
Reading and cycling around on my bike. We used to cycle right across town to visit friends. That road’s so busy now I don’t even like walking up the pavement.

Did you use colouring pencils, fibre tips, or wax crayons for your childhood drawings?
I don’t recall doing childhood drawings as such to be honest. I suppose I must have though. I vaguely remember colouring books.

Did you use a paintbox or have a ‘magic’ book where you only needed to brush the page with water?
I remember those magic books so I must have used one, but not as a regular thing. I also recall using a paintbox but that was probably at school. I wasn’t the most “crafty” child.

What kind of books did you read as a child?
I liked fantasy books. I remember there were series for little kiddies, until I got older and graduated to more grown up ones.

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

What to you is the first sign of Spring?
Seeing the little sprouts of daffodils pushing through in the back garden. There’s whole sheafs of them there at the moment, but no flowers yet.

Do you have a favourite flower at this time of year?
Apart from daffodils I don’t really know what comes out at this time of year, to be honest.

Does your country exercise the hour change?
Yes, the clocks will move forward an hour at 2am on the last Sunday of this month. It looks like that’s Easter Sunday, too. That’s a very early Easter this year.

Do you spring clean your home throughout, change furniture around or keep to a normal routine?
Clean? Change furniture around? What nonsense is this? 🙂

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

How many times have you been a patient in hospital?
Twice as an inpatient, once as a little kiddie and once as an adult twenty years ago.

Did you notice any differences with your experiences?
I don’t remember the kiddie visit. That was in the UK and the adult visit was in the Republic of Ireland, so one difference was that I had to pay a flat fee of 50 Euros a day or something in Ireland, whereas it’s all free in the UK.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being good and 1 being poor, how would you rate food choices, and separately on the same scale, quality?
I can’t remember the food. I do remember being jealous that at mealtimes the guy opposite me had his wife coming in bringing him fried chicken while I was stuck with whatever the hospital was serving. As for the stay when I was little, I would imagine that 1970s hospital food was pretty bad.

How long were you in for?
I can’t remember the kiddie visit, the adult visit was three days I think.

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

What do you normally have for breakfast?
Nothing. Well, a cup of coffee.

Do you prefer to cook using gas or electricity?
Hmm, gas is very fast but I have electric. I’ve had gas before but I don’t really trust anything that can leak out and uses a naked flame 😮

When you are working on your computer/laptop/tablet/mobile device etc, do you listen to music or have something else on in the background?
While writing this I’m watching last night’s episode of Casualty. When doing “work work” I generally listen to music.

Do you hang pictures on your walls, or prefer to have personal photographs on shelves?
I have one or two pictures on the walls, and a few personal photos on the mantlepiece.

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

When was the last time you bought a new item of clothing?
Only about a year or so ago. I was given a John Lewis voucher so I bought a couple of packs of t-shirts. My old ones were quite literally disintegrating.

When shopping for clothes, do you like to colour co-ordinate several purchases or buy one thing at a time?
My jeans are blue. My t-shirts are blue, black or grey. My jumpers and sweat shirts are blue or grey. They all sort of automatically go together.

Do you prefer sweat shirts, cardigans or jumpers?
Mostly I wear sweat shirt type things and fleeces.

Do you wear sandals in the Summer?
No way. I don’t feel safe unless my feet are properly enclosed in trainers. I hate anything which can move around on my feet. I need a good, solid foot-planting.

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

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “cuddly”?
Teddy bears! Koalas! Ooh, red pandas!

Would you like to own an exotic pet? If so, what?
Definitely not. If I had a pet it would be a standard run-of-the-mill cat.

If you were suddenly gifted £1000/$1000, what would you do with it?
I really don’t know. I would have to have a long think about some sort of treat for myself.

Do you wear slippers at home?
Yes. It’s too cold for socks/bare feet and I like the extra padding anyway.

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

Who is your oldest living relative (aunt, grandparent etc)?
With an uncle and aunt passing away over the past couple of years, I’m pretty sure it would be my Mum. She wouldn’t thank me for posting her age 🙂

How often do you visit them or is distance a factor?
I see her generally once a week when we have tea together. I was there yesterday as I took her to have her hair done.

Have any of your family lived to be 100?
Not that I’m aware of. Mid 80s to mid 90s seems to be the norm.

Would you like to celebrate your 100th birthday?
Only if I’m still mobile and fully mentally capable.

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

Do you find yourself smiling at people for no apparent reason?
Not for no apparent reason. People would think I’m a nutter. I’ll smile at people I pass in the street, though.

If someone smiles at you in the street, do you return it?
Yes, if there’s time. Sometimes you glance up, see someone smiling and they’re past before there’s time to react.

Do you feel comfortable on a crowded street?
It depends how crowded it is. I don’t like to be somewhere that’s so crowded I’m hemmed in. In moderate crowds, head down, plough on through. In the village where I live, a crowd constitutes one person approaching from the opposite direction.

Would you prefer a walk in the woods, a walk on the beach, or a walk round a town seeing the sights?
A walk in the woods. The beach is nice but the sand gets everywhere and it’s a lot harder to walk on sand. I like walking along grassy clifftops, though, and we have a lot of cliffs were I live. Here’s an example from the North coast (Tintagel).