Bloganuary week 3

Since I don’t blog daily, I’m doing my bit for Bloganuary by posting a summary of the week’s prompts.

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15^th Jan        What fear have you conquered?

The fear of pressing ‘Publish’.

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16^th Jan       Do you have a memory that’s linked to a smell?

The smell of freesias reminds me of churches. Nothing specific, but mu ch of my social life in my early teens was spent in church youth organisations, so it is a memory of youth. Freesias sold in UK supermarkets often don’t smell of anything, so I generally sniff the bunches before buying to find some that smell like freesias (a challenge back when we were shopping in masks).

The smell of Christmas trees sends me back to earlier days as well. Not the kind we mostly buy now that don’t drop, but the ones that shed their needles everywhere and I’d be finding them nestled into the carpet edges throughout the year.

This year, I plan to re-pot the tiny one I have out in the front garden, the roots of which are bursting out of its present pot. It is now big enough to bring in for next Christmas.

Only I don’t recall it smelling particularly strong when I first bought it as a table decoration. I suspect that the smell I recall from earlier days came from the dying branches as our Christmas tree, bought on the first of December, gradually expired until it was taken down after New Year’s Day. I don’t recall one that ever made it to Twelfth Night.

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17^th Jan     Describe the happiest day of your life.

No one day immediately comes to mind. Childbirth was too busy (except for the caesarian) to call happy, and since I have four children I wouldn’t be able to choose just one. And, for separate reasons, taking home the first and the fourth was too scary to describe as unreservedly happy.

But when this question came up recently in a Christmas cracker, my eldest grandson’s contribution was the day when his brother (5 years younger) was brought home – which touched cynical old me.

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18^th Jan     What’s your favorite meal to cook and/or eat?

Nothing springs immediately to mind; I eat most things and like variety. (Unlike hubby who could happily eat the same food every day – especially if it involves baked beans.)

A favourite would probably involve pasta and a cream sauce. Although I’m fond of a massaman curry…

I tend to make up my own recipes as I go along (often involving whatever needs using up). Since it’s usually only me who is going to eat them, I don’t give my creations names.

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19^th Jan    What color describes your personality and why?

I can tell you my favourite colour – at the moment – but you’d probably have to ask someone else what colour describes my personality. I’m drawn to the pinky-mushroomy colour known as taupe, but I also like to wear deep aubergine in place of black (except I rarely find the shade I want). Maybe that does describe my personality – kind of background colours?

Although I also like teal and aquamarine, but shades of turquoise in one’s wardrobe are the devil to match up.

I used to wear a lot of autumny shades until I went to some ‘colour-me’ sessions and learned that yellowy browns and oranges didn’t suit me at all. By then (early 40s) I’d decided for myself to eschew black, which made me feel like a crow, and white, which was too virginal as well as being a dirt magnet. (I wonder if there’s any correlation between those last two qualities…)

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20^th Jan       What irritates you about the home you live in?

Lack of space.

When my eldest son was not quite a year old, we were very fortunate to be able to buy a large Edwardian semi . We could (almost) afford it because, i) it was on a fairly busy road, ii) its asking price had been dropped substantially since the owners were about to leave the country for new jobs in America and were, by then, desperate to sell, and iii) because it was badly in need of repair and redecoration.

Mice lived in the cellar and had free rein of the house; electric wiring was downright dangerous; original fireplaces had been boarded up to stop the son of the household taking a hammer to the tiles at night (his room was painted purple which probably did little for his state of mind); and whatever wallpaper had been replaced in the previous three decades was awful.

But it had four bedrooms and three substantial reception rooms (although one of our first changes was to demolish the wall between the breakfast room and scullery to make a generous kitchen/family room). Over the years, when we could afford to increase the mortgage, my husband turned the smallest bedroom into a second bathroom and we expanded into the loft. The ambience was always a tad shabby and the furniture mostly second-hand, but it was a wonderful house to live in with four children (and their friends) and usually three dogs.

Having downsized twice since then, I still miss the space, even though I accept that I would now struggle to keep such a big house (relatively) clean and probably couldn’t afford to maintain it on a pension.

My main niggle is not having a space big enough for a table around which all the family (currently 13, sometimes 14) can sit comfortably for a meal.

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21^st Jan       Who is your favorite author and why?

Terry Pratchett – no question.

I love his turn of phrase, and the wisdom conveyed in the guise of humour. I miss having a new Pratchett novel to read every year. I have a file of favourite quotes, which I won’t subject my readers to as a seventh of a blog post, but here are my absolute favourites…

“The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it.” (from Monstrous Regiment).

“A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on.” (from The Truth).

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.” (from Diggers)

“Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.”

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I find I’m not editing these as obsessively as my usual posts, so apologies if the odd typo has snuck in.

(Perhaps I should multi-post more often…)

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