Tagged for Christmas!

I found this today on a Magnolia's Heart Beats and it looks rather fun. Mostly because I am so addicted to all things Christmassy!! I did some similar questions last December, but these are slightly different if I recall correctly!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate - always!! Mind you, I have never had eggnog, but even so I am pretty certain that hot chocolate will always win this one!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Oh, they're most definitely wrapped and then stacked under the tree!!
3. Coloured light on house/tree or white?
I don't have lights outside the house (unless you count the candles that you can see through the window - they're white), but the lights inside the house are a mix of both as they are mostly coloured with a few white ones!
4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No.
5. When do you put your decorations up?
Not too soon, as I have already seen so many trees belonging to other bloggers, it feels as though I have left it a bit late!! I may well put the tree up this weekend.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Erm, sausage rolls!!!
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Don't think that I have one as all the Christmasses were good!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Don't really know, I think that one day I just understood that he had a lot of helpers, but because I had younger brothers I had to maintain my belief for a bit longer!!
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Oooooh never, how could you even consider such a thing!!
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
By throwing everything I have on it - it usually turns out quite well!
11. Snow. Love it or dread it?
Love it. Unless it gets in the way, but generally I like the whiteness of it all.
12. Can you ice skate?
Yes, although I haven't done so for a few years.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
No, there isn't one that really stands out.
14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?All the family that I see as it is one of the few times during the year that we are all together - it is going to be a full house this year.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Anything except Christmas pudding will do!!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Making my own Christmas crackers.
17. What tops your Christmas tree?
An angel
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
If I am honest, I like to receive, but then the look on other people's face is good too!!
19. What is your favourite Christmas song?
It varies, but at the moment I think that it is The Holly and the Ivy
20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck?
Yum!
21. What do you want for Christmas?
I would really like some copic pens, but they are a bit expensive, I will have to wait for the sales for those.
22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party.
Not really, but I do have an annual Christmas meal with the girls from work.
23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's?
Just casual until I go to bed and THEN I wear PJs! ;-)
24. Do you own a Santa hat?
I don't, but I think that my parents do. I have various Christmas earrings though.
25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?
Family.
Tag 5 people - Tag, you're it! And please leave me a comment so that I can be my usual nosy self!

My Favourite Things

I found this meme at the Reluctant Blogger, who didn't actually tag me for it, but suggested that if anyone fancied doing it they could just run with it!!

So here I am with my favourite things under the following headings....

1. Clothes Shops
This is where I admit that I am not much of a clothes shopper as I can never seem to find the things I like, or if I do, they don't actually suit me once I put them on!! However, I have discovered that there are quite a few things that I like in the Per Una range of Marks and Spencers, and my jeans usually come from Debenhams - not such a great label shopper am I?!

2. Furniture Shops
Furniture? This is an odd question to ask when it comes to favourite things I must say!! I don't think that anyone has ever asked me before what my favourite furniture shop is!! The last time I was even in a furniture shop it was actually to pick up a tin of ginger snaps (yes it was Ikea!!). I do have a bit of a crush on the furniture floor of John Lewis, but I can't afford that!

3. Sweet
I have a bigger sweet tooth than I should!! I like all kinds of chocolate although I prefer the milk chocolate varieties as dark chocolate is too strong and white chocolate not chocolatey enough! My favourite chocolate comes from places like Hotel Chocolat or Montezumas, but I don't get to have chocolate from there very often.

4. City
I tend to change favourite cities every now and then, particularly after I have just visited them, so at the moment Sydney and Melbourne are strong favourites, but I will always have fond memories of Copenhagen as I lived there for a few months about 14 years ago.

5. Drink
Drink? Do you mean the alcohol flavoured ones or any kind of drink? My drink of choice is always tea - I am quite firmly British in that way! I used to have sugar in it, but went cold turkey when I was about 22 and at first it was just horrible, but now I simply cannot drink tea with sugar in it.

6. Music
I don't have a large music collection, but the biggest part of it is Christmas music!! I am still holding off the urge to listen to Christmas music - it can wait until December. I do love the Welsh Male Voice choirs though - those deep voices all singing together is just magic.

7. TV Series
When Ally McBeal was on I was very addicted to it!! More recently it's been the West Wing, but all those new series like Lost, Heroes, or Desperate Housewives? I just can't get into them and am quite simply not interested, and neither do I watch any of the soaps - why watch something in order to depress myself!! ;-)

8. Movies
While I love to read my books over and over, there are very few films that I will watch again and again. It certainly has to be a while since I last saw a particular film before I watch it again. However, if you're talking about films that you might watch at the cinema then I will say the Harry Potter films because I so rarely go the cinema due to the lack of subtitles, but because I know the HP books quite well I look forward to going to the cinema to a HP film!

9. Workout
Workout? What's a workout?! Ha ha. I am not very good at this exercise thingie, but given the choice I would rather use my collection of DVDs to work out to rather than go the gym. I did enjoy the tiny bit of running that I did a few months ago, so perhaps I should try that one again!

10. Pastries
Oooh, usually anything with cinnamon in it, I love those cinnamon whirls. But then again I also love those doughnut twists called yum-yums - the name was certainly no accident! Of course, any pastry with chocolate in it gets a look in too - I told you I had a sweet tooth!

11. Coffee
I am not a big coffee drinker, I like it milky and so I usually have a latte if I have any coffee at all and usually only once a day (if that) and I will treat myself to a Starbucks latte every now and then although I didn't like the eggnog flavoured one that I had last Christmas!

So, there you go - my eleven favourite things. I do have others of course, but these were the only categories I got given!! If you want to do this too, just steal away and let me know what you say so that I can be usual nosy self!

Six quirky things!

Alice from Hello, my name is Alice has tagged me!! I have also been tagged with the same meme by Edie from Rich Gifts and as they have both tagged me for different blogs, I am going to do the meme twice, once on this blog and once on my Journey through Faith blog, so you should consider yourself very lucky to get twelve quirky/random facts about me (if I can even think up twelve!!)

Here are the rules as posted on Alice's blog...

1)Link to the person who tagged me
2)Mention the rules
3)Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself
4)Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them
5)Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged

Six things? Here goes....

I don't like vegetables!! I will eat carrots (they taste much better steamed!) and will have any kind of vegetable soup as long as it is very well blended, no lumps please! Occasionally I will taste other vegetables like marrow (at Mum and Dad's last weekend - it was okay) and don't mind parsnips.

I seem to find it impossible to put things away! This is going to make my family roll their eyes, but that suitcase that I took to Australia back in March? It is quite empty, but still in my bedroom as it hasn't got as far as the attic yet!

I am very definitely not a morning person, I have blogged about this before, so many of you will know that I have three alarms for getting up - a timer on my bedside light, a Lumie clock, a vibrating alarm that goes under my pillow...but the best thing to wake me up is a hungry Phoebe cat!!

I rarely wear socks in the summer and find it weird to put them on again in the autumn.

I say I don't like coffee but I do like a latte! Although I suppose that it more like coffee flavoured milk than coffee with a dash of milk.

I have my Nana's engagement ring on my finger and I love the fact that I am wearing a ring that is over fifty years old and it will always be 'Nana's ring' and never mine.

And I think that I will tag the following bloggers:

Grannymar
Mrs Spit Spouts Off
At My Own Pace
Cupcakes and Conundrums
The Hairy Farmer Family
The View From the Hill

All of whom I read regularly and goes to show just how varied my fellow bloggers are!!

Book Meme

I have been tagged by Alice to do a meme about books and reading and all things bookish!

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

Nope, it would appear from all recollection that I was born with a book in my hand! I really cannot remember a time when I didn't read!

What are some books you read as a child?

The Famous Five definitely made an appearance and although I did read others, it's these that immediately come to mind when I think of my childhood reading, as does The Magic Faraway Tree - also by Enid Blyton!

What is your favourite genre?

Romance! I do have a soft spot for Fantasy, but my feet will always take me to the Romance section of Borders before allowing me to go anywhere else!

Do you have a favourite novel?

Heck, I have too many favourites to pick out one!

Where do you usually read?

Anywhere I possibly can, but at weekends you can usually find me ensconced in my red oversized armchair with a cup of tea and some biscuits, often with the cat sitting alongside me!

When do you usually read?

When do I not read!! I always read before I turn the light off last thing at night, I used to read during lunch hours at work, but now I still read, only I am reading the umpteen blogs that updated since yesterday! (thank goodness for Bloglines! Except when it messes up and tries to give me hundreds to read that I have already read!! Get that bug sorted out Bloglines!!)

More to the point, if there's anything like housework to be done - that's when I read most!! ;-)

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Not usually no, but it does happen!

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

Not a difference place no, but a different way yes - I tend to read fiction all in one go, whereas I read nonfiction much more slowly as by the nature of the reading I can't just whiz through a book!!

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

It varies, at the moment I am buying books (either from the usual places or from charity shops), I used to use the library a lot, but they think that I have a large fine and have kept a book (so not true) so I am avoiding them at the moment!!

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?

If I have bought them from a charity shop then they usually go back to the shop when I am done with them, otherwise I may pass them on to Mum or a friend if I don't particularly want to keep it myself, otherwise yet another book gets added to my ever-groaning bookshelves!! (must show you all a photo one day!!)

If you have children, what are some of the favourite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?

Don't have children, but would be very likely to get them reading things The Magic Faraway Tree or The Enormous Turnip - apparently I really liked this book when I was very little!

What are you reading now?

Surprisingly enough I am reading two books (when I said that I don't usually have more than one book on the go, but these are all nonfiction) - The Gospel according to Harry Potter by Connie Neal and Reaching for the invisible God by Philip Yancey. I do have some other unfinished books, but can't really count those as I am not reading them at this moment.

Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?

No, I do have a TBR pile (or scatter) in the house, but don't actually record them to remind myself to read them later!!

What's next?

Don't know, would have to go and have a look at the scatter! I do have a book about the history of the Union Jack (British flag in case you didn't know!) that I picked up on sale from Borders a few weeks ago - that is probably next.

What books would you like to reread?

Heck, I reread most of my books eventually!! I could not possibly pick a set of books that I would like to reread, but my most reread books are my Nora Roberts ones.

Who are your favourite authors?

Nora Roberts is my number one and then there are several other romance novelists that I keep an eye out for, like Debbie Macomber, Lisa Kleypas, Sherilyn Kenyon or Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

And there you have it - it's too late for me to think of who I want to tag for this, so if you fancy telling me all about your reading habits, now's the time!!

A one word meme

AMomTwoBoys has recently posted a great meme where you have to answer a series of questions in one word and one word only! She hasn't specifically tagged anyone, but said that if we want to do it we can, and I quite fancy it!

However, I cannot do justice to the meme that she did because she did it twice!! Once with one word answers and then again with the answers that she really wanted to give - it makes funny reading so do click on the link above and check it out!

Where is your cell phone? Handbag
Your significant other? Nonexistent!
Your hair? Unruly
Your mother? Slender
Your father? Bald
Your favorite thing? Books
Your dream last night? Forgotten
Your favorite drink? Tea
Your dream/goal? Undecided
The room you’re in? Library
Your hobby? Reading
Your fear? Spiders
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Holiday
What you’re not? Ambitious
Muffins? Chocolate!
One of your wish list items? Dog
Where you grew up? Sussex
The last thing you did? Blogged
What are you wearing? Trousers
Favorite Gadget? Dunno
Your pets? Cat
Your computer? Laptop!!!
Your mood? Settled
Missing someone? Nope
Your car? Silver
Something you’re not wearing? Socks
Favorite store? Borders
Like someone? Mandy
Your favorite color? Purple
When was the last time you laughed? Today
Last time you cried? Nana

And I don't think that I will tag anyone with this one either, but if you fancy doing it - give it a go and let me know that you've done it so that I can be nosy and see what you said!!

Six word memoir

I've been tagged by VA Blondie! The Six Word Memoir is a bloggie meme that is quite popular at the moment, although that might have something to do with NaComLeavMo and people wanting to leave a comment without merely saying something inane!!

This meme is quite self explanatory - your memoir in six words!! But hang on a minute - I'm too young to have a memoir, I am certainly no Katie Price who thinks that she has churn out a memoir every two years!! ;-)

Anyway, there are the usual rules of course, which I hereby list!

• Write your own six word memoir (naturally!)
• Post it to your blog, with a visual representation if you would like
• Link to the person that tagged you, as well as the original post that started this all off
• Tag five more blogs
• Don't forget to leave comments in those blogs letting them know that they have been tagged!

So, my six word memoir is.....

Books, Books, Books, Here, There, Everywhere!

Which sums up quite nicely both my voracious reading habit and my professional life - both of which are likely to continue at least until I retire from work, but then I'll still have my head stuck in a book!!

And so, I tag.....

A Very Open Book
Masha
Jason and Samantha's Journey
The Whole of Her Sermon
A Slice of Life

I challenge the five of you to come up with a six word memoir!

First sentences

There are a whole bunch of memes floating around at the moment and I want to do them all, but that would be silly as my blog is not about memes! However, I particularly like this one that I found here at the FreeRangeLibrarian and although I have not been blogging all that long, I thought that I would join in.

And why would not blogging that long make any difference? The reason being is because this meme is about First Sentences in that you have to list the first sentence of each post of each month for the last year...so I obviously haven't got a whole year to play with, but will certainly do what I can with what little I have!!

In reverse chronological order...

December Given how much I just love Christmas, I have decided to set up a meme of my own - all about Christmas!

November Murder committed last night!

October I have been having fun with Google maps!!

September I have just been going through some photos that I took lately and came across this one!

August Pinch punch and it's the first of the month and no returns!

July Hello and welcome to my blog.

Quite the little snapshot of my blog!! Anyway, if you'd like to do this one....consider yourself tagged!

Christmas Meme

Given how much I just love Christmas, I have decided to set up a meme of my own - all about Christmas! There are five questions to this meme (random number I suppose!!)

1. What is your most enduring Christmas memory? (Note that this could be either good or bad!!) I think that there is no particular moment of Christmas that stands out for me, but if pushed, I would have to say it is that childhood moment when I woke up (after taking what felt like ages to fall asleep) and then felt around the bottom of my bed with my feet to feel the reassuring weight of the stocking lying on top of my duvet.

2. Do you have a favourite piece of Christmas music? I am already starting to listen to my collection of Christmas CDs - they range from children's song to classical music to Christmas carols, not to mention those crooners like Bing Crosby! How can I pick a favorite?! I think that this would have to be "We three kings of Orient..." I love the rhyme and rhythm of this song.

3. Do you stick to the old family traditions? Well, I think that our traditions have evolved over the years, for instance, we used to open our presents after the breakfast table was cleared up, washed up and put away, then as we got older we decided that we could be a bit more restrained and would wait until the Grand Dinner had been dispensed with (of course, this meant that Mum could take part in the Christmas present opening without having to dash back and forth to the kitchen!). So...on thinking about it, I don't think that we have any traditions that, if dropped, I'd cry foul! If anything - we are creating new ones - I now make Christmas Crackers (or bombs - given the weight of them!) and I am sure that we continue to create new ones as the youngest of the family grow up!

4. What makes your mouth water at Christmas time!? For me, this would have to be turkey gravy!! Of course, all the other goodies always get me going, let me list them (!) sausages in bacon, marzipan, chocolate on the tree, chocolate coins - any more chocolate!?!? I actually think that is rather a sedate list - what does yours look like!?

5. How soon do you put the Christmas tree up and when do you take it down? There is a neighbour across the road that put their tree up about a week ago, which I think is too soon, but then I would not leave it until Christmas Eve either - I need to have some time to enjoy the tree! This year, though, I think that I will be putting it up on the weekend of the Third Advent (14th-15th) and then I expect that I will take it down either New Years Day or the weekend after that. (As long as it comes down by the twelfth day of Christmas!!)

So, there you - my first meme of my very own! I don't quite know to 'tag' people, so apologies if I have done it wrong, but I have chosen to tag the following people because I like their blogs!

1. Santa (of course!)
2. Matt at My Indecision is Final
3. Melody at Mel's Reading Corner
4. Margaret at BooksPlease
5. Kimberley at CraftyMe

And of course, anyone else that would like take part in this meme - feel free!! Just let me know that you are doing this so that I can find out all about you and your Christmas; you can either put your answers in your blog or just add your answers to my blog via the comments bit!

Meme!

When I first started blogging I was quite unaware of the meme phenomenon on the internet. This is not quite the same as the idea of a meme as coined by Richard Dawkins in that it is something that is almost naturally picked up by everyone, for instance - a catchy tune that everyone picks up from the last person that hummed it!

But anyway, the meme thing on the internet is different, particularly in connection with blogging. Here it starts with someone listing, say, their five favourite animals and then asking five people to list their favourite animals and listing (or linking to) on the original blog that started it all. Some people just open it up to anyone who reads the blog, others ask certain people.

Of course, the memes themselves have grown into something a bit more complex in that some people are asking questions and then sending those questions out into the ether! I think that is it a good way of getting to dig a bit deeper into just who the person behind the blog is!

There are so many memes out there that I think that I will start doing a monthly meme, I will find one I fancy and then jump on the bandwagon!! If nothing else, it will probably fill a gap where I think that I have done absolutely nothing and therefore have absolutely nothing to say!!

This month's meme I found at Melody's Reading Corner and it's all about reading! So, here goes - it is probably going to make this the longest post I have done so far!!

1. Do you remember learning to read? How old were you? I don't actually remember NOT reading! I must have been taught somewhen, but either my early memory is a bit holey or I am just so very much a reader that "not reading" just does not occur to me!!

2. What do you find most challenging to read? I would love to read the classics, but just do not find them at all appealing. I keep thinking that my reading should be a bit more erudite, but give me a novel any day!

3. What are your library habits? It comes and goes, I can go for months without visiting the public library (I would started to say "library" - but that would mean that I don't go to work!! ha ha!) and then I suddenly decide to go to the library and usually end up getting about eight books out at any one time and then eventually get to a point when the stock in the library no longer appeals (it boggles the mind that some days I seem incapable of finding anything to read in a room FULL of books!).

4. Have your library habits changed since you were younger? I don't think so....I remember visiting the library as a child and getting lots of books out, as a teenager it wasn't quite so important, like I said above - it comes and goes!

5. How has blogging changed your reading life? It didn't at first, but the more I blog and the more I search out other blogs, the more I get ideas for reading - just today I joined the "From the Stacks" challenge (see post below!). I have also come across other blogs like Melody's Reading Corner and BooksPlease that give me lots of ideas and impetus to read books that I would not normally read. So, I am hoping that blogging will continue to change my reading life!

6. What percentage of your books do you get from: new book stores, second hand book stores, the library, online exchange sites, online retailers, other? Heck what a question, do you want precise percentages?! ;-) As much as my bank manager would rather not know - I buy most of my books from new book stores (70%) , but I also use charity shops a lot (10%), the library (10%), online retailers (5%) and other (5%) and I have to say that those figures are totally guesstimates, so....shrugs!? I never use online exchange sites - I do have a membership (somewhere) of BookCrossing, but I just can't bring myself to abandon a book of mine! Even when it comes to charity shops, I only tend to give back what I originally bought from there!

7. How often do you read a book and NOT review it in your blog? What are your reasons for not blogging about books? ALWAYS - I never write reviews, if only because it has not occurred to me to do so! If I think about it, what would I say? I have never reviewed a fiction book (have reviewed a couple of non-fiction for my professional journal) and am not quite sure how I'd go about it!

8. What are your pet peeves about ways people abuse books? Dogearing pages? Reading in the bath? I am afraid that I do all of the above (have yet to drop a book in the bath though!) I am terrible - will even crack the spine in order to hold the book and read into the corners, will leave the book facedown! So, I don't think that I can really get snooty about what other people do! I am off the opinion that if they are your books than you can do what you like, however, working in a library as I do, it does annoy me when I find that people have written inside books, particularly when they have filled in answers to revision books!! As we are a lending library, other people need the benefit of those books too!!

9. Do you ever read for pleasure at work? Yes, at lunch time, if, on the rare occasions, I forget to bring a book, I get twitchy and have to go and buy a magazine (the books in my library are not exactly for pleasure!) as I just cannot not have something to read!

10. When you give people books as gifts, how do you decide what to give them? Now that I think about it, I rarely give fiction for gifts, but will often give non-fiction according to what they are interested in. I think that part of the pleasure of reading is choosing what to read, so giving a book seems to me to take some of that away.

So, there you go - ten questions on reading!! And if you would like to do these questions yourself - duly consider yourself tagged and go and do the questions, but do let me know about them so that I can see what your answers are!!