20 Things You Didn't Need to Know: A Primer.
OK, this may be a goodish way of breaking the post drought here.
I see that Bex and Black Velvet Lace are throwing out a challenge to fellow bloggers to produce 20 facts about themselves. Here are mine:
1. I am not from Essex, but have been there. I was in fact born in country Victoria, deep in gold mining and grazing country, and stayed there for the first two years of my life.
2. I grew up in a fantastic if unconventional family. Father a painter, mother an angel.
3. I now have a fantastic if unconventional family of my own. Didn’t marry a painter, and I am no angel.
4. I cannot for one moment top Black Velvet Lace’s “worst job” of washing nuns, (however worthy). My worst job was a very brief stint managing a Laura Ashley shop. Knee deep in Toorak matrons and sprigged flowers. Ghastly.
5. I have never been blonde. Born carrot-red, which darkened to a coppery-auburn at around three. Still a dark redhead, but augmented somewhat by artifice these days …
6. Would make a terrible hermit. Without music, good food and wine, and art in all its other forms, life would be very dull indeed.
7. I am prone to periods of blackness, but these are manageable. Escape lies in comedy and a glass or two of good red.
8. I am not a neat person in the conventional sense, and I tend to collect strange objects. I will not discard anything which has family history, and detest housework. My sister says there is nothing wrong with my house that a 12-cubic metre skip wouldn’t cure.
9. I don’t believe in astrology. I am a Virgo. See above for reasoning.
10. I believe cooking well for friends and family is a sensuous joy – as long as they bloody well appreciate it.
11. Health. I don’t smoke, but do tend to have wine every evening with dinner, and probably one glass more than I should. I try to listen only to those who say it’s good for me. This is my only physical vice. (So far.) I hate exercise, but walking is OK. Am lucky to have a figure that doesn't show how unfit I probably am.
12. I am probably difficult to live with at times, but never boring. My family is very loving, and generously forgiving.
13. My ideal holiday is driving around the UK or France, stopping where we want to. Have only managed this three times. We are, however, lucky enough to have a house on one of the most beautiful parts of the Australian coastline along the Great Ocean Road, and going there is my second-favourite holiday.
14. I never realized before what a big number 20 is.
15. I go out to work part-time, and have not yet found the courage to do what I really want to, which is to go back to writing, and this time more intensely and not for others.
16. Ah – pets. Don’t have a dog, although I have always hankered after a golden cocker spaniel. Have a cat called Sadie, who is the successor to my dear old Sybil, who lived to within a few weeks of 20 years old.
17. I prefer snakes to spiders. We have a nice selection of both here, at least down at the coast. Have almost trodden on a couple of snakes, but not yet been bitten.
18. I love living in Melbourne, which is now a vibrant, multicultural foodies’ paradise, with fantastic galleries, theatres and performance venues. I don’t love the fact that it’s so far away from Europe.
19. My politics are towards the left, and I have never voted for the Australian Liberal party. I believe the way the Howard Government has treated refugees in this country, including children, is a human rights scandal.
20. As I have now managed to count off 20 things without giving away anything too personal or revealing, number 20 had better be that I am a blog coward.
It's been fun, anyway.
M x
I see that Bex and Black Velvet Lace are throwing out a challenge to fellow bloggers to produce 20 facts about themselves. Here are mine:
1. I am not from Essex, but have been there. I was in fact born in country Victoria, deep in gold mining and grazing country, and stayed there for the first two years of my life.
2. I grew up in a fantastic if unconventional family. Father a painter, mother an angel.
3. I now have a fantastic if unconventional family of my own. Didn’t marry a painter, and I am no angel.
4. I cannot for one moment top Black Velvet Lace’s “worst job” of washing nuns, (however worthy). My worst job was a very brief stint managing a Laura Ashley shop. Knee deep in Toorak matrons and sprigged flowers. Ghastly.
5. I have never been blonde. Born carrot-red, which darkened to a coppery-auburn at around three. Still a dark redhead, but augmented somewhat by artifice these days …
6. Would make a terrible hermit. Without music, good food and wine, and art in all its other forms, life would be very dull indeed.
7. I am prone to periods of blackness, but these are manageable. Escape lies in comedy and a glass or two of good red.
8. I am not a neat person in the conventional sense, and I tend to collect strange objects. I will not discard anything which has family history, and detest housework. My sister says there is nothing wrong with my house that a 12-cubic metre skip wouldn’t cure.
9. I don’t believe in astrology. I am a Virgo. See above for reasoning.
10. I believe cooking well for friends and family is a sensuous joy – as long as they bloody well appreciate it.
11. Health. I don’t smoke, but do tend to have wine every evening with dinner, and probably one glass more than I should. I try to listen only to those who say it’s good for me. This is my only physical vice. (So far.) I hate exercise, but walking is OK. Am lucky to have a figure that doesn't show how unfit I probably am.
12. I am probably difficult to live with at times, but never boring. My family is very loving, and generously forgiving.
13. My ideal holiday is driving around the UK or France, stopping where we want to. Have only managed this three times. We are, however, lucky enough to have a house on one of the most beautiful parts of the Australian coastline along the Great Ocean Road, and going there is my second-favourite holiday.
14. I never realized before what a big number 20 is.
15. I go out to work part-time, and have not yet found the courage to do what I really want to, which is to go back to writing, and this time more intensely and not for others.
16. Ah – pets. Don’t have a dog, although I have always hankered after a golden cocker spaniel. Have a cat called Sadie, who is the successor to my dear old Sybil, who lived to within a few weeks of 20 years old.
17. I prefer snakes to spiders. We have a nice selection of both here, at least down at the coast. Have almost trodden on a couple of snakes, but not yet been bitten.
18. I love living in Melbourne, which is now a vibrant, multicultural foodies’ paradise, with fantastic galleries, theatres and performance venues. I don’t love the fact that it’s so far away from Europe.
19. My politics are towards the left, and I have never voted for the Australian Liberal party. I believe the way the Howard Government has treated refugees in this country, including children, is a human rights scandal.
20. As I have now managed to count off 20 things without giving away anything too personal or revealing, number 20 had better be that I am a blog coward.
It's been fun, anyway.
M x
posted by MargieCM at 12:59 pm
11 Comments:
For a blog coward, this was a courageous effort! Lovely to have an insight into your life and loves. Nice one Margie.
Am off away for a few days, but will comment properly when I get back xx Val
I guess I still hold the *title* for *worst jobs* so far LOL
Lucky you, a natural born redhead! Your life sounds interesting to me!!
~Lace~
Hey MargieCM!
You'll be watching ITA, right? Well, it's on at 10:30 PM UK time today. So, 11:30 PM in Belgium. (That's where I live)
I won't be going to the concert, so I'll catch ITA!
I mean the concert's on 10:30 PM and ITA's on 6:30 PM.
MargieCM:
I will have to examine the worst jobs thing...I am not familiar.
...but you do sound so busy!
Hello, from the upper half of the planet...
--Dan L.
Dan - I sound busy!? You make me look like a couch potato!!
Thanks for visiting.
M x
Just read your 20 things again properly Margie. I like your feelings about family and housework. Sounds rather like my own approach...I just call it comfortable clutter!
Melbourne sounds like a great place to be..am realistic enough to know that it seems rather unlikely that I will ever get to your part of the globe, but would love to..ah well, you never know.
Take care
Val xx
The post you recently wrote on Neilbymouth's blog about grief and liquid in a bucket was something I've never encountered before so I came by to visit. i've been a student of astrology for an eternity it seems and must say, Virgos can be total SLOBS (not that you said that, but you mentioned you weren't a neatnik). A Virgo trait that can get misconstrued into the "tidy" label is they tend to pay careful attention to the little things and are generally, very efficient souls. I once worked with a talented Virgo who used to accumulate monsterous piles of things in his home and in his car to the point, when it came time to clean up, he couldn't deal with the sorting part. Instead, he would trash it All without even looking! Kind of like setting a fire to it and sending it up in flames. Now THAT is true Virgo behaviour - efficiency to the max!Take care...
God, how awful! I couldn't just throw everything out like that. I'd be terrified I'd lose something important. I'm sure I'd never miss it, but just in case ...
I can be efficient, but only about things I really want to do.
As for the liquid in a bucket simile, I made it up. I was just looking for a way to illustrate the process. It made sense to me.
Slow, steady and never quite complete.
Thanks for visiting.
M x
Well, you write beautifully (re: the liquid in the bucket simile).
Hi anguselvis (what is that - half AC/DC and half Presley?).
I do mostly drink Australian wines; we make a mean drop here, and the current grape glut means we have fantastic wines at great prices - often in "cleanskins" because the winemakers don't want to advertise that their good stuff is going cheaply. Not so good for the growers, I'm afraid.
I like quite big fruity wines, shiraz, cabernet, cabernet sauvignon ...
Not keen on straight pinot or lighter reds, except in Summer. Whites are fine, but more than one glass gives me a headache.
Now sparkling ...that's different. We're not allowed to call it Champagne of course, but we do make some very nice bubbles. My favourite, however, is French - Laurent Perrier's Belle Epoque - the current vintage is '96 I think, but as it's horrendously expensive I've only had three bottles in two years. (And I shared!).
Glad you liked Melbourne - it's changed a lot since the 80's though, so try to come again!
Nice to hear from you.
M x
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