draliman on life

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).

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

Do you use an air freshener in your home? If so, do you prefer a solid gel, spray, timed release, pot pourri or something else?
I’m not a big fan of artificial odours. I do usually use some scented carpet powder when I vacuum, though.

When good weather permits, do you open your windows to let in the fresh air?
Yes, it’s nice to have some fresh air in the house. I might even open a window today to let the cold air out – we’ve had a sudden temperature shift and it’s now reading a couple of degrees warmer outside than inside.

With the extreme variants in weather these days, do you feel the cold in the Winter months?
I’ve always felt the cold in the winter months, even before any extreme variations in weather. I’m the sort of person who ends up putting on a fleece even during the summer.

Which would you prefer – to curl up in front of a log fire or log burner, turn the heating up, or go to bed early with extra blankets.
Well, I would prefer to have the heating blasting out in a fully-insulated house and have a nice fire going. In reality, it’s fluffy dressing gowns, blankets, a duvet on the couch, hot water bottles and the occasional blast of heat when it gets too cold to feel my hands.

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

When you look out of your kitchen window, what do you see?
I see my little back garden, with the bushes and little bird table and the trees behind. Until a couple of days ago the bird table was iced over. I think it will be again next week 😦

When was the last time you used public transport?
A few months ago when I used the Park and Ride to get into town for work. For those who are in different countries and maybe call “Park and Ride” something different, that’s where you park at a huge car park on the outskirts of town and a bus runs every 10 minutes or so to take you into the town.

Do you prefer cut flowers or a potted plant?
Potted plants, though I’m not the best at keeping them alive.

Do you believe in Karma?
No. I’ve certainly seen no evidence of it.

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Di. She posted the questions on Christmas Day so it’s all about Christmas this week.

What will you be eating today? (Christmas Day)
We had the standard fare – turkey, streaky bacon, chipolata sausages, all the veg (sprouts, roasties, parsnips, cauliflower, stuffing) and Christmas pudding with Cornish clotted cream for afters. I’m not a huge fan of Christmas pudding, but I love Cornish clotted cream so I go for a rather unhealthy 50-50 mix…

What was your favourite gift?
I’m not going to upset anyone by making this all about this year. So, over the years there were several memorable gifts, such as a wooden fort my Dad made for me and my brother, our pushbikes and so on.

What is the worst bit, if any, about celebrating (Christmas or otherwise)
The washing up 😉

Do your pets get to join in with the fun?
No, because I don’t have any.