Last Friday, as we were in the final throes of packing to come north, I took a quick coffee break to catch up with that morning’s blog posts in Google Reader before my computer was switched off for the trip. As I sipped my coffee and nibbled a biscuit, I was delighted to read on the always excellent Ayak’s Turkish Delight that she had just been given the Versatile Blogger Award by another blogger based, like her, in Turkey
As Ayak explained, there are conditions to receiving this award. The winner has to tell you five quirky things about him or herself and then pass the award on to five more bloggers. You’ll have to read Ayak’s five lovely quirky things for yourselves, but I can tell you that I was extremely, if pleasantly, surprised to find that I was one of her five nominees. As I commented to Ayak, I’m not sure how versatile I am, especially at that time of the morning, and I’m certainly not sure how quirky I can be considered, but in all fairness I have to try to live up to the honour. J So here goes…..
1. I hate Marmite! I know the world is divided into Marmite lovers and Marmite haters and the former seem to predominate, but I can’t stand the nasty, salty stuff.
2. I’m a sock knitter to the bottom of my soul. I like all kinds of knitting, but as I've mentioned before, socks are my perfect project for all sorts of reasons, being small, light, and cheap to make, but also nicely challenging to do well. One can never have too many socks.
3. I have never watched Strictly Come Dancing or the X-Factor or even The Apprentice or Dragon’s Den. I realise that in some circles that makes me not just quirky but barely a member of the human race, but I can’t help it. I don’t like reality TV or game shows, as I just can’t bear to watch people being publicly criticised, belittled or made a fool of, even if they’ve volunteered for the privilege.
4. I love Christmas. I know it’s fashionable to bemoan the secularisation and commercialism of the festival, but to me it has a meaning and a magic which is irresistible. I even enjoy singing carols (all the verses, mind you) and writing Christmas cards, as well as receiving them. A hopeless case…..
5. The nearest I ever came to meeting a real celebrity was back in the mid-60s, when I was a student. (I’ve led a very sheltered life since then. J) Coming out of a coffee bar in a little side-street near the centre of Oxford,
Now for my nominees, all of whom I think write great and versatile blogs. They are:
Wow, thanks for the nomination P! I shall get my thinking cap on between now and when I get to church this morning.
ReplyDeleteLoved reading your five quirky facts
Hello Perpetua:
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your award! We have very much enjoyed the insights into your life, such an eclectic mix. It is so very hard to avoid the commercialisation of Christmas these days but, if one can, we are with you all the way about how joyful a time of year this is.
You're very welcome, Catriona. Anyone who can make a success of being the only Baptist minister in sole charge north of the border HAS to be versatile! I look forward to reading your post.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Jane and Lance, and thank you. It's only a bit of fun, but I enjoyed thinking which bits of my quirkiness to include. There were plenty to choose from, you understand...
ReplyDeleteGlad to meet other Christmas lovers. I just shut my eyes to the commercial side and concentrate on the meaning.
Catriona, I've tried and tried to comment on your new post, but your blog software just refuses to co-operate again. :-( This is what I wrote:
ReplyDeleteGosh, that was quick, Catriona! I just love your five quirky things and only wish my sock-knitting skills extended to anything more complex than striped socks. I'd have another willing victim to knit for. :-)
PS If it's any comfort, I also talk to the TV and radio and I don't live alone....
Thankyou so much for the nomination Perpetua. Can't think what I've done to deserve it but will try to do the five things when my brain is (briefly) in gear.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Ray, as a small acknowledgement of how much I enjoy your blog. I look forward to reading your post in due course. If you want to use the image that goes with it, just right click on it, save it and upload as usual.
ReplyDeleteAnd my thanks too, for such a lovely nomination. I have just bought a very unusual dress, which my husband, through guffaws of laughter said, yes I could wear in the street - it is perhaps on the edge of quirkiness but I shall have to think very carefully about what is quirky and what is not.
ReplyDeleteBut really, Perpetua - how can you NOT like Marmite - my jaw actually dropped when I read that. I may have to reassess the criteria I use to judge people in future...Marmite lovers are always 'in'.
Thank you so much once again, and thanks for introducing me to some other blogs that I haven't yet come across and know I will enjoy reading.
Axxx
You're very welcome, Annie, and I look forward to reading your post, with or without mention of the quirky dress.
ReplyDeleteNow I did say that Marmite lovers are in the majority, but we Marmite haters demand the right to be taken seriously too. :-) I have tried to like it, really I have, but it just doesn't work for me. Sorry.....
Thank you Perpetua, Thanks for the nomination - I wonder what you call a group of quirky Bloggers! I shall attempt to reduce my quirkiness to just five facts!and earn the title of a 'versatile Blogger'.
ReplyDeleteIt's my pleasure, Harriet. How about a giggle of bloggers? :-)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the selection. It's actually quite hard to whittle it down to just five when one has the quirks of decades to choose from....
I like that- A giggle of bloggers!
ReplyDeleteI did like a giggle of bloggers!
ReplyDeleteThat's how language evolves, Fly!
ReplyDeletei finally found your blog - for some reason it never showed when I clicked your profile. Why did I think you lived in Wales? Anyhow, following now.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark and welcome. I have no idea why my blog didn't show in my profile (it does for me) but glad you managed to find it. The inner workings of Blogger are a complete mystery to me!
ReplyDeleteWe do actually live in Wales for part of the time as I think I said in a comment on your blog, so have changed my profile location to reflect the fact. We're in Mid-Wales, about halfway between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth. A gorgeous area.
Haha...I love a giggle of bloggers!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Perpetua. I wish I could knit stripey socks :-(
Thanks, Ayak. I can take no credit for the stripiness of any socks I knit, as I always use the wonderful stuff known as self-patterning yarn. I bet I could teach you to knit socks if we lived closer.
ReplyDeleteI seem to have started something with a giggle of bloggers. Bags I it for a future blogpost title... :-)
I'm with you on the marmite. I can't stand the stuff! :-)
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. I might have to do this one. Marmite is yummy!
ReplyDeleteHello, Niall and Antoinette and thanks for visiting, It's good to have support - we Marmite-haters have to band together. I nearly wrote 'stick' but that might be the wrong word :-)
ReplyDeleteHi, Sue. Chortle - two new comments within two minutes, one against and one for! If we're not careful. we may have a Marmite war starting :-)
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what Marmite is!
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry, Linda. Marmite is so well known on this side of the Atlantic that I forgot it isn't universal. It's a yeast extract used as a savoury spread on toast, etc. and for flavouring in cookery. As you can see, opinions are very divided on its merits :-)
ReplyDelete