Friday's Feast #193

Appetizer
Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist?
I consider myself very much an optimist. Usually. Unless I'm afraid something's going to go wrong. No... seriously... I'm an optimist, and luckily, I'm usually right!

Soup
What is your favorite color of ink to write with?
I love purple pens, but I don't always write with them. When I buy a refill for one of my Cross pens, it's a fine black refill usually. So Favourite is purple. Usual is black. What's wrong with this picture?

Salad
How often do you get a manicure or pedicure? Do you do them yourself or go to a salon and pay for them?
I never ever get a pedicure because I'm ashamed of my feet and don't display them in public.
However, I'm very proud of the fact that the fingernails that I once used to bite and nibble are now decent length and fairly shapely, so I treat myself to a French manicure every now and then. Maybe 6 times in the year? I keep buying polish but never get around to doing it myself.

Main Course
Have you ever won anything online? If so, what was it?
When One World One Heart ran in February, I was extremely lucky and scooped a bunch of lovely prizes. My house is adorned with art from Bloggers from around the globe (and a few pieces I'm waiting for the right display spot to present itself still!) You can see the whole bunch HERE. It was so thrilling to win, and so wonderful over the next few weeks to come home every couple of days to packages in the post. I can't wait for next year!

Dessert
In which room in your house do you keep your home computer?
I have a study, which is very untidy at the moment. There is a PC there which hasn't been switched on since I got my laptop (18 months ago at least!). The laptop is usually in the living-room. I sit on the long couch with my feet up, and slip the laptop onto my.... lap. I move to the study to link to the printer or scanner if I'm doing those kind of things, and if there is a project underway involving typing letters, etc. For blogging, I'm in the living-room; for work in the study.

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Want to join in on Friday's Feast? The kitchen is HERE

Friday's Feast #192

Appetizer
When you drink soda/pop/coke, do you prefer to drink it from the bottle, a can, or after pouring it into a cup?
I pour it into a glass. Don't like drinking from cans or bottles - although a plastic bottle I could cope with if I'm on the road.

Soup
What television show are you willing to stay up late to watch?
I'm very proud of myself for having broken my every-night television habit a couple of months ago. I've gone weeks without watching any TV. I gave up watching Lost. But I did watch Desperate Housewives right up to the end of the series. And this week, when Grey's Anatomy returned with a double episode, I was right there. So the short answer is, even if it's on late, both of those shows, and ER. Big Brother started last night, and because my internet connection was down, and I'd just finished my book, I watched the launch show, but I will not, will not get sucked in to watching that this year.

Salad
Name one person, place, or thing you think of as brilliant.
I think of too many people, places and things as brilliant to choose just one. But just now, the ones that strike me: My sister A, whose life has become so multi-faceted since her job became part-time a couple of months ago. She's writing the most amazing short-stories and is just brilliant. A brilliant place is anywhere on the coast in Co. Clare, but specifically, around Liscannor. A brilliant thing: Cumin. The flavour it adds to so many dishes. Brilliant.

Main Course
Would you be willing to work 4 10-hour days instead of 5 8-hour days in order to save gas?
I work part-time as it is (4-hour days), and given the nature of my work, 10-hour days would be impossible (I'm counselling in schools). No. Couldn't do it, and stay properly present for my clients.

Dessert
If you were a superhero, what would you call yourself?
GreenishLady, of course!

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If you'd like to join in the fun, go HERE to get the questions and let them know you're playing.

Friday's Feast - #185 AND Friday Fill-ins

The Chef at Friday's feast is still on holidays, so this week, I've used the questions from a feast I missed a few weeks ago. If you'd like to play, use these questions or go over and select your own feast to use.

Appetizer
What does the color dark green make you think of?

Just now, it made me think of a coat my sister had when I was a teenager, and when she stopped wearing it, she passed it on to me. I thought it was so elegant. It was dark green, stiff velvety fabric, and it had a dark green "fur" collar. It was warm and felt wonderful. I wore it until the day a woman with the word cheap written all over her admired it as I stood at a bus stop. Never wore it again.

Soup
How many cousins do you have?

I need my fingers and toes, and back to my fingers to work that out. Four Touhys, three Horrigans, three Quanes, one Coughlan, three O'Farrells, three Eatons (that's on my mother's side). And then three Maguires and seven Hipwells on my father's side. That's 27. I'm in trouble if I counted wrong!

My sister is the eldest of all those grandchildren on my mother's side, and now that all my aunts are gone, and my Mum's in a nursing-home, she's become the matriarch of the clan. She keeps in touch with everyone, organises gatherings, passes on news of happenings. Most of my cousins are now parents, so there are second-cousins to be added to the list, but that would be too much! So I won't. I love getting together with cousins, because they're people who know where you come from. We shared so much in childhood, it's common ground, and for many of them, having lost their parents now, it's really important for them to still have that link.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how honest are you?

I'm a 10, but only in appropriate situations. I mean, I don't share everything with everyone, but what I say, I mean. I might say nothing, but sometimes that's saying a lot!

Main Course
Name something that is truly free.

Well.... "Money can't buy me love", can it?

Dessert
Using the letters in the word SPRING, write a sentence.

Some people rarely invent new goals.

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If you're playing along, let me know. I'm going to be away (visiting family - catching up with a few cousins, too, hopefully!) over the weekend, but I'll look in next week!

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AND... I've obviously gotten bitten by the Friday Meme bug. There's another one I've spotted in a few places, and I'm joining in today - because I have a lot of packing and sorting to do before I leave for the weekend, and I'm a procrastinator! Here's the Friday Fill-ins

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1. For me _death____ is the opposite of creativity.

2. _The Kite-Runner____ was the last excellent book I read.

3. I like fill-ins because__ it's something new to try_____.

4. In nature I like looking at _all of it - trees, birds, flowers, water, clouds____.

5. _____ should win the US elections. (I don't feel entitled to express an opinion. You all know who you should vote for)

6. The last time I laughed with all my belly was _Oh... need to go see my sister soon. Can't remember____.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to_having dinner with my two sisters, tomorrow my plans include _offering a SoulCollage(R) session to friends____ and Sunday, I want to _spend time with my Dad and visit my Mum____!

Friday's Feast

The Chef is on vacation from Friday's Feast this week, but Tina, one of the other participants has offered some questions to exercise us this week. Thanks, Tina!

Appetizer: Wii, Playstation or XBox?

I'm a sad case. None of the above. Once upon a time there was a Nintendo something... Playstation? ... in our house. I was a Gameboy fan when my son had one. ("One more turn... I'll help you defeat the baddie if you give me one more turn") When I had a chance to play Mario many years ago, I enjoyed it, but without young people in the house, I'm unlikely to acquire any of the above. I've been watching what DS2 does for Nicole Kidman's brain, and thinking I need that, but resisted temptation so far.

(Am I going on too long about this question?)... I did meet Wii lately, visiting my brother. His two boys had just acquired a Wii and were busy populating it with a lot of Mii(?)s. Daniel sat staring very intently at me, and then at my son, and it took me a while to figure out what he was at... He was deciding what were the essential characteristics for a Mii like me and G. Well, he had to expand the waistline on My Mii, and added a carefully-placed mole on the forehead - just like mine. The resemblance was uncanny! I was highly amused!

Soup: Would you ever go skydiving?

No. Simple answer. Never. Ever.

Salad: Name a sequel that you think is better than the original movie.

I can't think of a single one. I know conventional wisdom says Godfather II is the best, but since I'm not a great fan of those movies, I can't say. It will come to me later, maybe.

Main Course: Share your most wonderful birthday celebration.

I have to say it was my 50th, last December. I just knew I wanted to have a party, and that I wanted to have it in my home, and that's what I did. My two wonderful sisters came up to be here, and to help with shopping, cooking, preparing, and without them it wouldn't have been such a great night. My friend K from years back travelled, too, and another 25 friends from my writers' group, my work, my women's centre, my Baha'i community joined us for an evening. My son was here, with a girlfriend. My home is not huge, so my guests were spread out between 3 rooms (of course, mostly in the kitchen!). I played a compilation CD of 80's music that one of my brothers had sent, and the atmosphere was such fun! We ate chilli, chicken, Persian rice, great salads and a table of wonderful desserts. I felt spoilt and delighted and loved with all the gifts that came - flowers, jewelery, books, two lovely vases, ... many little treats and sweet things. It was a wonderful night.

AND... it didn't end there, because the most fantastic gift came from my son, who treated me and my two sisters to a weekend in Paris. As December isn't a good time for a trip like that, we deferred it to May, and went just a few weeks ago.

So, my 50th Birthday celebration has lasted right into this year. I feel like I'm celebrating all over again now. Thanks for asking!

Dessert: If you dare, post a picture of yourself making a silly face. Since I can't take a picture of myself right now (can I?), I'll just share one of the many where I'm caught looking wierd. Usually it's all crooked-mouth and squinting eyes.

Well... I am blowing bubbles. And that's Daniel on my lap helping out!

Let Tina know if you play along this week, and/or leave a comment at Friday Feast.

Friday Feast

Appetizer
What is the nearest big city to your home?

When you add the word "big" there, that causes me some confusion. We don't have any big cities (by American standards) in Ireland, so I'm going to ignore the word, and tell you that the nearest city to where I live is Derry, on the beautiful river Foyle (pop. 105,000). I travel there 4 days a week to work, and I love the drive at every time of year.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?

Really depends on whose secrets they are! Professionally - very well! - I'm a 10. Being honest though, I've busted out and told other secrets a few times, so in personal relationships, I'd say I'm an 8 or 9 as a secret-keeper.

Salad
Describe your hair (color, texture, length).

My hair is thick and neither straight nor curly. (Do we say kinky?) It's shoulder-length, cut in layers and it's a rich chestnut-brown, which is my natural colour, but is now being maintained with the help of chemicals. I like my hair, although it takes a lot of work to dry it in such a way that it will sit nicely and shine, and not be a complete ball of frizz. I inherited my hair from my mother, and I like that.

Main Course
What kind of driver are you? Courteous? Aggressive? Slow?

I drive just up to the speed limit, and am usually courteous, even magnanimous at times. But I do get annoyed with people who do dangerous things, and I frequently talk at other drivers - although they don't know what I'm saying... "Put down that phone... What's wrong with your indicators? ... Are you thinking of turning there? ... What on earth are you doo-o-o-ing?..."

Dessert
When was the last time you had a really bad week?

I'm glad you asked me that, because I can't remember! Isn't that wonderful? I have tiring weeks, demanding weeks, even at times stressful weeks, but I can't say I've had a bad week (as in misfortune or such events) in a very long time. That feels so good! ... Yes, I've been having a problem with my motor insurers this week, but somehow, I'm not stressed over it. I'm dealing with it. Making the calls. Doing what has to be done. I feel good knowing that.

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To play along, or to taste a few more feasts, go HERE

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
When someone smiles at you, do you smile back?

Yes, I like to think I do. I've got lovely memories of the sudden smiles of strangers, the "Hello"s people might exchange as we pass on the street. One woman approaching me on a Berkeley street, while I was exploring and obviously looking through newborn eyes at everything, had the hugest, most welcoming grin on her face, and delighted me with her "How you doin'?" greeting. Did I smile? Oh yes, and I answered "I'm doing just fine! Just fine!"

Soup
Describe the flooring in your home. Do you have carpet, hardwood, vinyl, a mix?

I recovered all the floors in my house less than 2 years ago, ripping out and dumping old, stained and worn carpet. I replaced it with oak boards in living-room and hallway - warm and welcoming when they're nicely swept clear of dust. My study/office has purple twill carpeting. My kitchen has vinyl that most people mistake for genuine stone flags. On the stairs and landing, a tweedy beige/cream carpet. In the guest-room, a plain deep-rose-pink carpet and in my room purple carpeting that's soft underfoot. My little therapy room has a plain gold carpet. I don't like patterned carpets, so got my wish with either wood or plain colours throughout the house. Bathroom has a mosaic-tile patterned vinyl. Complete picture?

Salad
Write a sentence with only 5 words, but all of the words have to start with the first letter of your first name.

I'm imagining India: immediate IS.

Main Course
Do you know anyone whose life has been touched by adoption?

Yes. I remember people at school about whom I heard the whisper "She's adopted." It seemed the only way someone could be an only child.

I have an adopted first cousin, about whom we were all told "She's been specially chosen to join our family".

My cousin and his wife have just returned home from Vietnam with their new daughter, Kate Nu-Thi, who is a beauty, a wonder, a delight to them and to all of us.

When I realised I would not have more children, adoption was a question for my husband and I. He honestly said he wasn't sure he could feel the same about an adopted child as he did about our son. In retrospect, it seems it was a wise thing that we didn't go ahead and try to adopt a daughter.

The person who always comes to my mind when I think of the topic of adoption, though, is a friend who was raised as an only child by a rather bitter and not very affectionate adoptive mother. This friend has always expressed her sense of loneliness, and her envy of my sisters and I for having one another. She longed all her life for a sister. In recent years, she has learnt that her birth-mother has five daughters, with whom she is not allowed contact, and her birth-father, who is now dead, was also the father of five other daughters. She has ten sisters, none of whom know she exists. It just seems the cruellest of situations to me. So near and yet so far.

Dessert
Name 2 blue things.

The recycling bins used in our area, and the feet of the blue-footed booby.

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By the way, the post with my Paris pictures is HERE. Something went wrong whereby when I started to change font-size, I couldn't, couldn't get it changed back to smaller. So, I'm not shouting at you, just in case you think I am!

If you want to find all the other Friday Feasts, go on over HERE Enjoy!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Name something you would categorize as weird.
I must be wierd because I cannot think of anything I would categorise as wierd. ... Maybe the way spellings morph between what I'll have to call European English and American English? How does it happen?

Soup
What color was the last piece of food you ate?
I was going to describe the beautiful, healthy dinner I had with my friend, C, before we went out to see a movie this evening, but the truth is I had two chocolate-dipped flakemeal biscuits with coffee a couple of hours ago, and they were brown-and-beige.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone?
In fact, I'm perfectly happy in my own company, so I'm probably 10 when I am alone, and 10 when I'm with people that I've chosen to be with. I love being able to organise my time and my space to suit myself most of the time, and that's how my life is at the moment.

Main Course
Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______.
I can't figure this one out. I think it applies to Americans. Or... "I will never vote for nuclear power in Ireland"?

Dessert
Describe your sleeping habits.
I sleep in the middle of a double-bed, with two pillows, Egyptian cotton sheets, a lightweight duvet, and if the night is very cold, a crocheted afghan spread over the duvet. I sleep about 7 hours at night, but often (2 or 3 days a week) have an extended and very pleasant afternoon nap on the living-room couch, with gentle music playing, and snuggled in my favourite mohair or chenille throw.

If you'd like to read more Friday Feasts, go HERE.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Name a color you find soothing.

I find lilac, lavender, mauve - pale shades of purple soothing. I also like the cream and pale yellow colours I've used in my living-room.

Soup
Using 20 or less words, describe your first driving experience.

I am pregnant, determined to learn. I hit the curb on a corner. I blow a tire. I freak out.

Salad
What material is your favorite item of clothing made out of?

Currently wearing soft cordoroy trousers in black. Comfortable. Probably favourite.

Main Course
Who is a great singer or musician who, if they were to come to your town for a concert, you would spend the night outside waiting for tickets to see?

Um... Leonard Cohen.

Dessert
What is the most frequent letter of the alphabet in your whole name (first, middle, maiden, last, etc.)?

My name contains 4 "i"s, 3 "e"s, and 2 each of "m" and "a".

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Bet you found these answers absolutely rivetting! Go see if other Friday Feasters made more of a banquet of this set of questions!

Friday's Feast

The regular chef at Friday's Feast is taking a week off, but another cook has taken over the kitchen just for this week at StoneGirlBlog, and posted a set of questions, so go on over there if you'd like to join in. Appetizer
What is your favorite vacation spot in the United States?

That is a question that is both easy and hard for me to answer. As I've only ever visited Northern California, parts of CoastalOregon, and a smidgen of Washington State, I'm not really qualified to judge where the best spots are, but from my limited experience, any of those places are wonderful - so much so that after my first visit in 2006, I went back again in 2007 to California, and when I go again this summer it will be to California and Oregon. Two places I particularly liked were Patrick's Point State Park, and wandering around the Sacramento Delta (which happened by happy accident last year, en route to Yosemite). Yes, I adore Yosemite too. And the Columbia River gorge is mighty impressive. Just transplant me anywhere in the Pacific Northwest!

Soup
If someone else (friend, co-worker, family) brings up a religious or political topic, how likely are you to join the conversation, on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = not likely, 10=very likely).

Religion about 8, if I'm in the mood, but not if the topic is contentious. Politics much lower. Have very little patience for party politics, but don't like to argue about it.

Salad
What song do you listen to when you feel very sad?

Any Leonard Cohen; James Taylor "You've got a friend"; Sinead O'Connor "Thank you for hearing me"

(in fact, much of her work); Then, of course, there's Bridge Over Troubled Water. And "Yesterday" too. Oh.... and Janis Ian. Jesse's just heartbreakingly great, and In the Winter, too! And Don MacLean's Empty Chairs. .. and Vincent. It seems I have a neverending supply of feel-miserable music. I love it!

Main Course
Someone you really admire is coming over for a home-cooked dinner. What do you serve him/her?

Start with roast red peppers filled with goat's cheese and pine-nuts on a bed of rocket. Follow with Pam's lemon chicken on brown basmati rice with a spinach and orange salad. For dessert... I'm not a baker, but I think I'd like to fill lemon-shells with a lovely lemon sorbet and a spoonful of an avocado/lemon/date pudding I found in a Gillian McKeith book. Too much lemon? Ok. I'll serve chocolate cake too.

Dessert
If the only form of transportation left in the world is by animal (horse, mule, camel), where would you live?

Well, much as it would break my heart to leave my friends, my home and my work here in the Northern tip of the island, if my only choice of transport was animal, I'd need to move back to live closer to my parents. If my sister's country cottage was available, I'd move in there. It's ten miles from the home my mother lives in, and not much further from my Dad, one of my brothers and one of my sisters. I don't know where my son would be living! Could be anywhere. Oh. I don't like imagining the choices I'd have to make. Once in every few months, then, I'd make the trek by horse-and-carriage to wherever he is. What if he's overseas? Oh... I don't like this idea! Not at all!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Given the choice, would you prefer to live in the country or in the city?
I think that very much depends on the city. I'd (far) prefer to live in Barcelona than a country cottage not far from where I live now (suburbs of a large - by Irish standards - town). I like to visit London, but I'd prefer to live somewhere in the English countryside than the centre of that city. I think if I was choosing country life, I'd also be inclined towards village living rather than total isolation.
Answer: Depends!


Soup
Who is the cutest kid you know?
Oh, now how can I just answer that with one name? There's the one I met most recently - 9-moth-old Kate, just arrived home from Vietnam with her new parents, my cousin and his wife. She is a sweet, cute, gorgeous little thing - friendly and beautiful, and she's made them so happy. Then there's almost-8-year-old Daniel, who was engrossed in a game the second-last time I visited and muttered "hello", but who flung himself into my arms with kisses the most recent time. He's an artist, and I see him spending time just looking at people - gathering up the details for when he wants to draw them. He plays cello and loves soccer.

Oh... I just might end up introducing every wonderful kid I know. I have another Kate in my life, my 9-year-old neice - sweet, kind, loving. I have a Steven and a Stephen - both unique characters, who enjoy sharing the news of their lives with me. There's a Gary, a Bahiyyih. There are those tall, gangly boys who just a short time ago were kids, but who now have deep voices and bristly chins, and duck their heads shyly when they say Hello.

I feel lucky to have such great kids in my life - and each one reminds me in their own way of the phases and stages of my son's childhood, and for that I am also really glad.

Salad
Fill in the blank: I couldn’t believe it when I heard ___________.
I couldn't believe it when I heard I'd got the job! Now what was I going to do? Become a worker! The change was immense, but almost a year later, I am so glad, so glad I did get that job. I love my work and the people I meet through it.

Main Course
If you could star in a commercial for one of your favorite products, which one would you want to advertise?
Because I'm feeling lazy right now, I think I'd like to star in one of the old-fashioned Cadbury's Flake advertisements. Perhaps not the 1969 version:



But the 1985 version:


Some of these ads also had a hint of a smouldering, sultry man in the background... or was that just my imagination? It's my favourite chocolate of all time, and now it's available in a dark chocolate version, too!


Dessert
What type(s) of vitamins and/or supplements do you take on a regular basis?
For many years, I was one of those people who would have periodic bouts of vitamin-buying, and would then find a bottle or jar months later, saying "Oh, yes, I'd started to take that ... whatever...but then I forgot!". But then, last year, when I started the job alluded to above, I realised there are going to be people relying on me to be there, and I had a responsibility not only to myself but to others, I got my act together about my supplements. I could probably do with having a review with a herbalist/naturopath, but at the moment, my morning regime involves 500mg Vit C., a calcium tablet with Vit D, 2 cod-liver-oil capsules, a spoonful of echinacea, and a spoonful of a wonderful Propolis elixir. I feel the better for it all. And (crossing fingers and touching wood here!) I haven't had a cold this winter. One brief bout of sinusitus. Best winter in a very long time!
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If you'd like to join in, or nibble on a few more Friday's Feasts, go HERE

Friday Feast

Appetizer
If you could be any current celebrity for one whole week, who would you want to be?
Glen Hansard. To have the feeling of having had something that started maybe small become something amazing. To make art in many ways. Just now because I admire him (and Marketa Irglova) so much, and they cheer my heart. Watch here.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you enjoy talking on the phone?
Usually 2. Sometimes I enjoy conversation - with my sisters, sometimes with my son, or a couple of special friends, but I'd far prefer talk in person, and often avoid using the phone.

Salad
Name a charitable organization to which you have donated (or would like to).
My favourite charities are: Ethiopiaid, which supports a women's hospital in Ethiopia, treating women who have suffered from a fistula; The donkey Sanctuary, which is a wonderful animal welfare organisation; Adapt House, a women's refuge in my home town, which gave sanctuary to my aunt Clare when she left her abusive husband. I like to give to any charity collection being taken by voluntary collectors, especially children's or health-related.

Main Course
What is a food you like so much you could eat it every single day for a month?
My own chilli with brown basmati rice. (3 days this week!)

Dessert
Have you or anyone in your family had the flu this year?
Thank God, my Dad and Mum have had their flu jabs and avoided infection this year. I started a regime of supplements to support my immune system and ward off colds and flus back in September, and so far have stayed healthy this winter (except for a brief bout of sinusitus, which didn't keep me away from work). No-one else caught it either. (I'm a bit worried to be saying this, in case it's inviting a dose for someone, now!)
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To read more Friday Feasts, go HERE.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Who was the last person you hugged?
This evening, when we got off the bus from Belfast, as she left to meet her daughter, and I was going to pick up my car; as my friend and colleague, Tina, and I were parting, we hugged, glad that we had got to spend another day together, sharing so much of our ideas and details of our lives as we travelled together.

Soup
Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.
Not a trick or really a tip, but a recently discovered product that I love so much: Dr. Hauschke's rose face cream. It feels so good. It smells so good. It doesn't irritate me in the slightest. It's wonderful.

Salad
What does the color yellow make you think of?
It reminds me of the time my friend asked me what colour was my life. I said it was yellow. She said hers was grey. When she wrote me a poem much later, she said she loved my "mellow yellow life". I lost sight of it, but have reclaimed it again. YELLOW! I've had my house painted yellow, creamy buttery yellow.

Main Course
If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around?
Flowers. Trees. Moss on stone walls. Lichen on tree trunks. Shy animals peeping out of secret places.

Dessert
What was the longest book you ever read?
Gone with the Wind? War and Peace? Anna Karenina? Length was never an impediment. The longer the better sometimes. The Stand? I don't know which was longest. Books in 3 volumes? Lord of the Rings? Chronicles of Thomas Covenant?
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There are more Friday Feasts Here

Friday Feast

Appetizer
Have you ever played a practical joke on anyone? If so, what did you do and who was your victim?
I'm so embarrassed to tell you the answer to this. Yes, when I was at school, one of my friends persueded me to phone her boyfriend and tell him that she'd had an accident and been taken to hospital. She was standing beside me as I made the call, and I really didn't want to do it. He was so distressed, she thought it was so funny. I really don't like practical jokes. Never again!


Soup
What do your salt and pepper shakers look like?
I'm embarrassed to answer this one, too. My salt is usually shaken from the plastic drum that it comes in. If not, it's in a really plain glass shaker. Not pretty. Utilitarian. My pepper is ground in a simple grinder which doesn't even match that salt-shaker. Must do something about this situation!


Salad
Where is the next place you plan to visit (on vacation or business)?
Well... during the Easter break, I've promised myself a writing retreat, and the plan is to go stay at a B&B in Wicklow for a couple of nights, spend some time in Dublin visiting museums and the National Library.


Main Course
What kind of lotion or cream do you use to keep your hands from getting too dry?
[Did someone plan these questions to cause maximum embarrassment to me this week?] I have a skin condition which necessitates two different medicated ointments for my hands. - One at night and one in the morning. During the day, when they feel dry, I use any non-scented cream, often Neutrogena, or Elave.


Dessert
Make up a dessert, tell us its ingredients, and give it a name.
A layer of pineapple (fresh or tinned), a few scoops of banana ice-cream, a coating of rich vanilla custard. Let's call it "Mel's Mellow Yellow mood food"
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If you'd like to play along, or see what others have said to these questions GO HERE

Friday's Feast

Appetizer What is your favorite kind of cereal?
I eat branflakes most mornings, but what I really like is Jordan's Nutty Crunch cereal, or meusli with plenty of nuts and fruit. I eat them rarely, though.

Soup When was the last time you purchased something for your home, what was it, and in which room did it go?
I couldn't resist a beautiful creamy-yellow orchid when I found it on sale a couple of weeks ago. It came in a nice white ceramic planter, and I've put in my therapy room, in which I like to keep a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere. I felt the orchid belonged there.

Salad What is the funniest commercial you’ve ever seen?
Oh... it tickled me hugely. The Gorilla advertising Cadbury's Dairy Milk. I've already put a link up HERE. I watched it many, many times, and laughed over and over. My sister and I are great advert afficionados, and often text one another to draw attention to some new gem.

Main Course Make up a name for a company by using a spice and an animal (example: Cinnamon Monkey).
Umm.... Ginger Fox?

Dessert Fill in the blank: I haven’t ______ since ______.
I haven't been swimming since September 2006... Now, that is much, much too long ago. Did I really, really go through all of 2007 without swimming once? I did. That has to be remedied. Maybe part of the problem is that my last swimming experience was at the beautiful Valras Plage in the South of France, and after swimming in the lovely warm Mediterranean, nowhere else seemed that attractive. Maybe this year...

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Find other people's Friday Feasts HERE

Friday's Feast & Sunday Scribblings: Miscellaneous

It's Friday, and I'm going to do the Friday Feast again. And, as I'm going to be away for the weekend, I thought I'd post today for Sunday Scribblings. And, as Sunday Scribblings' prompt for this weekend is "Miscellaneous", and Friday Feast asks that we reply to questions seeking miscellaneous bits of information about us.... well then, two birds, one stone....

Appetizer How many times per day do you usually laugh?
Oooh...that's a hard one! Depends on who I'm spending time with. I've always had the most side-splitting wet-your-pants laughing times with my younger sister. And, as we don't see one another every day, that's not guaranteed. I often laugh alone. Driving in the car, listening to something silly on the radio. Last night, watching Justin Lee Collins' The Convention Crasher, I laughed. OK, ok.. average it at 5 times a day. Give or take.

Soup What do your sunglasses look like?
Quite dark, not-too-large squarish tortoishshell frames, with a little bit of bling on the arms. They live permanently in their little compartment in my car. Essential when driving, even (and sometimes especially) at this time of year. Though, given the darkness of the sky today, I don't think I'll be needing them when I set off for my weekend with the family later on.

Salad You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?
Oh... since I live on an island off the coast of my continent, not linked by train, technically I have to stay here in Ireland. If I lived in Britain, thanks to Eurostar, I could go anywhere at all in Europe. (And I would go to Prague.) Only Icelanders are more isolated. So to compensate for the lack of choice, I would get a round-Ireland ticket and travel as far as I can, stopping at any town I've never been in. Unfortunately, though, round-Ireland won't get me all the way around, as large parts are no longer served by rail connections (Boo! Boo!). I'd have to drive somewhere to start my journey. as there are no rail connections to Donegal, where I live.

Main Course Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.
This was a small town until relatively recently. It's grown massively in the past 10-15 years. I came to live here almost 13 years ago, and the people here are very welcoming to strangers. You meet a great mix of people, and newcomers are welcome to join in social activities. I was only here a couple of months, when I was actively involved in a writers group and a women's centre, and feeling that I belonged. You don't get that everywhere, so I value it about this town.

Dessert If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?
Lavender, lilac, pale shades of purple. I know, sometimes you get that anyway, and when you do, I always really admire it.
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If you would like to see more Friday Feasts, go HERE, and for Sunday Scribblings on the topic of "Miscellaneous" go HERE.

Have a good weekend! See you next week!

Friday Feast; Blogiversary; Etc, Etc.

There's a weekly meme I've seen on many blogs from time to time, and I've always been intrigued, and thought "Oh, I'd like to join in on that", but I very seldom seem to come across it on Friday, which is the point, so I'd say to myself, "Oh, well.... next week. I'll join in next week", and then I'd forget on Friday to check the questions, and on Sunday, I'd spot it on someone's blog, and say "Oh......" and so the cycle has gone for months now.

BUT today is Friday, and I went over there - to Friday's Feast, and picked up today's questions, so here's my first venture into Friday's Feast:

Appetizer What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?

My middle name is Christina (I usually say Christine, which I prefer), after my maternal Grandmother. When I was small, I loved those moments when my mother would use Amelia as a really affectionate alternative to my first name (Imelda), but I'm not sure I'd want to be called anything other than the name I've now carried for 50 years.

Soup If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?

I'm thinking I'd like to bring back cheesecloth, tunics with lots of embroidery. The clothes I wore when I was 15 or 16. Afghan coats - what I wished for and never had. More embroidery. Hippie stuff. Mixtures of rainbow colours.

Salad What is your least favorite chore, and why?

My least favourite chore... hmm... cleaning floors. Doesn't matter whether that means vacuuming, sweeping or mopping. I don't believe in just half-doing it, so it's a production of moving furniture, lifting things off the floor... so I end up sweaty, exhausted, and with a sore back, BUT I just love the result. I feel really satisfied with myself when the floors are all gleaming / fluff-free.

Main Course What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?

For many people in Ireland, the hugely destructive tsunami of a few years ago was the first time they'd ever really thought about tidal waves. Some had to be told what the word 'tsunami' meant, but as far back as I can remember, I've had a fear of tidal waves. Makes no logical sense - in that I don't live in a place that's likely to be hit by one, but at times, I can be looking out to sea, and begin to imagine that wall of water coming towards me... oh, makes me shudder even to speak of it. Trace it back? Well... I had a near-drowning accident swimming in a river when I was maybe 8 years old (My cousin pulled me out. I don't think we ever told the adults!) and it's possible that I learnt of tidal waves about the same time, and connected in to the feeling...

By the way, it doesn't stop me from enjoying being by the sea. But driving on the Northern California/Oregon coast when I first visited the US in 2006, I had a moment or two when I began to notice these signs. It didn't force me inland, but I can't say it was comfortable knowing the possibility was real there.

Dessert Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.

I'm sitting on one of my living-room couches (cream leather), tucked up with one chennille throw and one mohair. Cosy, cosy. And I can see through my window (1) the Southern sky filled with bright white clouds, and sillhouetted against them,(2) bare tall birches, one of which contains (3) a long-abandoned bird's nest

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If you decide to join in, go let them know over at Friday's Feast, won't you.

Today's my Two-Year Blogiversary! I can hardly believe it. I was going to say something here, but I think that deserves a post all of its own, actually, so ..... later.....