Me...................................

A blogging friend Carmen wrote a post today about "Who am I anyway" and ended it by saying that she thought that every reader would find at least something they had in common with her. Well, I grinned, because I am quite sure she is right. There was a great deal we had in common. (And I loathe beer too!)

We are all totally unique, quirky, interesting people. We wouldn't be spilling our guts here for the entire world to read if we were not, now would we??

So who am I?

I love open toasted cheese sandwiches, and I love peanut butter M&Ms. I don't like fish served with its head on. And I REALLY don't like snails. The edible sort. Or the ones in the garden. Or slugs. Or snakes. I love jam, but not marmalade. I love reading in the bath, but tend to drown my books, and I love fires. Just sitting gazing into them and letting my thoughts wander. I don't like jazz or chamber music, but I love just about every other kind of music, especially musicals. I used to play the piano and the guitar. Les Mis is my favourite stage show, but then I haven't seen that many recent ones. I love Switzerland, and walking in the mountains. I don't like very hot places. The Costa Brava holds no appeal. I have no desire to tour the Far East, but I would love to visit the States, Canada, Australia and NZ. And Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria again.

I love floaty dresses, but don't look too good in them. I love trousers and gilets, and layers to keep me warm. I love gym, aquazumba, aquarobics, pilates, and core exercises. I don't really mind that I look frightful in a bathing costume. I get to dance in the water. I don't like football. I love watching tennis, rugby and cricket, and I loved the Olympics. I don't like endless repeats on TV but I do love the recent shows - Call the Midwife, and Downton Abbey.

I love living in England in this village. I don't like huge cities much. I love the sea - the shore, just sitting and thinking as I watch the waves, but I don't like pebble beaches.(I seem to love a great many sitting and gazing things, don't I?)I love changing my home around for the 4 seasons. I love Christmas, and Easter, and my church and the people there. I love singing, but I don't love the vibration and the bass sounds which make singing impossible. I love earplugs, and I don't love pain. I love Autumn and Spring - summer is ok, but not my favourite, apart from the garden, of course. I love doing BBQs and sitting in my garden in the evenings.

I love being creative, and making things for my home and for the people who pop in and out. I love piles of interesting books, and I loathe being where I can't see any. There have to be books waiting to be read.  I don't like weeds. I love growing things. I love roses and freesias and tulips and daffodils. I love baking, and I love trying new things. I love my family - old and young, and I love my friends.

I am strong and confident when I need to be a warrior, but I am nothing like that when I need to just be a woman. I am good with words - spoken and written, and I am fine talking in public. I can talk about anything, except me. I am open yet closed. I hate bad manners and I am not above reminding people to say thank you when holding open a door. I can be intimidating, I am told. I am not sure this is very good, but it is useful when in warrior mode. I talk too much yet reveal too little. I like having my hair done - I would go every week if I won the lotto. I don't like cleaning - it is hard when you can't kneel. I like a clean and shinign house, including windows. I need a cleaner. Hmmmm. I love having my nails done. I am useless at working out a proper beauty routine. I can't see the word beauty and me together somehow.

I love driving and loathe being a passenger. I am always thinking of adventures I want to have. I am positive - a glass half full kind of person and I get irritated by negative people. I love a glass of good wine, but rarely have one, because I am always the driver. I love dreaming and don't like the fact that I am not a patient sort of woman. I am defiant, and determined and will not give up and I hate the whole "victim" mode I see so often. I go to bed very late, and never sleep very well, but I don't like getting up in the morning.

I love bright colours - the older I get the better they seem to suit me. I don't need fancy jewels - I have had them in my day and they are unnecessary now. I love computers and technology and smart phones, and all I need in a car is that it goes and is safe and reliable. I couldn't care less how old it may be. I love huge TVs because then I can read the writing on them. I love being older, in fact. It is freeing. I love the enormous pile of memories locked away in my mind. I love having been to places, seen different things and experienced so much in my life. I love the sense of anticipation. I love taking photos. Not so keen on being in them.

I love playing with wood. I love playing with paint and sand paper. I love the whole creative surge in me. I have mentioned this already but it is who I am, I think. I make things. I don't drink milk. I don't like tea. I drink black coffee. I don't like milky drinks at all. I love bread and real butter. I don't like margarine. I love seafood. I love food. I keep coming back to food here. So what - I LOVE food! I love fresh fruit and vegetables I have grown. Butternuts and gem squash and french beans are my favourite.

I love family traditions. I love ballet. Tchaikovsky. Classical music. The Messiah. Opera. I don't like appliances which cease working. I love being at home, yet I love going out. A paradox.

In fact that is what we all are. A mixture of funny and serious, competent and not. Boring and interesting.

Sigh.

I love people. I love them popping in here. I get a little fraught when entertaining, but I have always loved doing so. Now it is not so easy. In fact really hard. I miss that. I am frugal. believe me, I know every way possible to be frugal. I am inventive. I don't worry any more. I have trained myself to look for the positive. I like blue and yellow and red and pink and purple and green and orange. I also like brown and black and I love the white walls in my home, and long hot baths where I wallow and unwind. I love the feather topper on my mattress, and soft down duvets, and Egyptian cotton sheets and hand stitched quilts. I love side lights - I LOATHE bright centre lights with a passion!

I love life.

I could go on for ages, and may well do again some day, but this is enough for now, I think. Who am I? Complex, as I said. A mix of all of it. 58 years is a long time to gather bits of me.

Me.

Ever changing. Me.

So what do we have in common so far?????????