Sunday 30 November 2008

Taglicious Tangents


If you follow this blog for my murmurings about reducing waste, then look away now because today I'm going off on a tangent and it's a real 180 degrees one at that.

You see I've been double tagged, by the lovely ladies Just Gai and Maisie who have been waiting patiently for me to stop talking rubbish and reveal some random photos and interesting minutiae of my life.

So, the photo you see above is in response to Maisie's tag, where she asked me to select the 6th folder in My Pictures directory and then publish the 6th photo in the list. The risk...and then the relief...that it wasn't a photo of me doing something embarrassing. Who knows what I could have found. At least the one I uncovered is appropriate for the blog.

The photo might look seasonal but it isn't really. I took it in February this year, when using up the mincemeat left over from last Christmas. Little T and I had mixed it with apricot jam to make a batch of tarts, which were delicious. At the time, I bought ready-made pastry. Now, I make my own. So if you've got surplus mincemeat this Christmas, I recommend a good dose of apricot jam to add a lighter touch.

Now onto the next one, Just Gai's tag to reveal six interesting(?) facts about me. Hmm...so here goes....and don't say I didn't warn you.



Fact 1. I have an inexplicable dislike of Mickey Mouse and all talking animals. My mother always said if she "won the pools" she'd take my sister and I to Disneyland. I remain extremely pleased that she never did. Meeting a real life Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck would send me running to the hills.

Fact 2. I am immensely accident-prone. Recent events include setting fire to some cutlery in the kitchen, boiling the teapot instead of the kettle and falling down the steps outside a French tourist office to a cosmopolitan audience of tourists. However, the most momentous occasion was when I was nearly killed by a wardrobe. It's true...an old oak one that fell towards me when I turned my back on it. The moral is, never turn your back on an old piece of furniture. See the full story here.

Fact 3. I have a love of nostalgia...from black and white movies to vintage jewellery. A time where ladies wore dresses and hats. I adore vintage brooches, the more sparkling the better.


Fact 4. My dad died when I was only 4. He was killed in a motorbike accident. I have never got over it and I never will. I haven't told my children because I don't want them to have the fear of losing a parent so young so I will tell them when they're older. In the meantime, my 4 year old is fascinated by motorbikes and talks about riding them when he's grown up. I live in hope that he doesn't. The anniversary of my dad's death coincided with the first day of my Zero Waste Week and my first broadcast on Woman's Hour. I hope I would have made him proud.


Fact 5. I made my "national TV debut" in 1989 when the BBC came to film the opening of Djanogly City Technology College, a new flagship school based in Nottingham. I was a library assistant pretending to check-out books to students using a lightpen, which back in those days was new technology. Margaret Thatcher came to open the college and my job was to follow her around with a camcorder...a tricky job indeed, trying to avoid filling up the film with images of her back. I would never have guessed my next national news appearance would be almost two decades later, wearing my pink wellies in landfill.


Fact 6. I once let a woman walk out of the loo with toilet roll tucked into her knickers. I know that might make me look evil, but it was in the day when I wasn't that confident, wouldn't say boo to a goose and I didn't want to embarrass her by saying "excuse me, you've got toilet roll tucked in your knickers." The shame...both hers and mine and I am truly sorry. Every time I see an Andrex advert the memory comes flooding back.

-8-

Oh, I love tags. They make take some time but they're a great way of finding out more about other bloggers. So being the nosey-parker as I am, I'm now going to tag six other people I don't get to visit as much as I'd like but have deliciously interesting blogs that you should really take a look at.

And here they are...

A Pot a thought and a smidgen of dirt
Aiming Low
Faites-Simple
Margaret's Ramblings
Millennium Housewife
One stitch at a time


Good luck folks.
_____________________________________________________

14 comments:

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

I like to read interesting facts about fellow bloggers too Mrs A. And they are interesting. Sad to read about your Dad and am pretty sure that he would be extremely proud of you.

Tend to agree with you about talking animals too, does nothing for me.

Glad though to read that you love tags because although I wasn't going to mention it, just waited to see if you would discover it, there is the incentive of an ice cream for you over at my post Meme Meme Meme.

A x

Anonymous said...

I love how you adore old things, I love old jewellery and making things out of them and yes I love the silver box as well. I so adore the cameo on it, I just love cameo's. I once found a web site with amazing ones on it, and I can't find it again!! off to do the tags, did you say there where two tags????

Katy said...

I have never been tagged before, how exciting :) I am definitely with you on the Disney thing, but I am bemused and intrigued as to how you can set fire to cutlery...

Anonymous said...

please tell me how you set fire to cutlery - I think that could win you some kind of award!

really sad about your dad. Haven't your boys asked how he died :( LMG likes to know all details, but I know that all kids are different and really understand why you don't want to make them fearful. Anyway, I KNOW your Dad would be proud :)

Disney - blergh; so glad your mum didn't win too LOL!

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Anne - thank you and glad I'm not the only one with the thing about the chattering creatures. I'll be over soon to see what delights you've got over at your place. :-D x

Hi Pot...- vintage jewellery is my falldown. I am so lucky to have a local Wedding Dress designer close by who sources loads of it and sells gorgeous pieces in the her shop in Bury St Edmunds. Anyone visiting should check out Terry Fox in St John's Street...yummy. I think she has the odd cameo too, which I agree are beautiful. As for the tags, yep there are two..the photo and then the six interesting facts. Good luck :-D

Hi Katy - ah re the cutlery, indeed so was I...but I've got a record of the event...see it at my other blog...http://tinyurl.com/67o9oy :-D

Hi Mrs G - hee, hee, to go and have a look at the link, I've just listed above. There's photographic evidence too. It really is tricky about my dad, because my mum remarried 11 years after his death and the kids naturally consider my step-dad as their grandad. So the subject has never cropped up. I never considered this would be an issue ever, but is something for me to deal with in the future. I now wonder what might happen if my mum wins the lottery...an over-sized Mickey Mouse could still creep up on me yet...YIKES :-D x

Jo Beaufoix said...

Hi lovely, sorry it's been a while but I'm all caught up now. Ok, 1 is hilarious. 2 and 3= me too.
I am so sorry that you lost your dad at such a young age and in such a terrible way. I'm sure he is very proud of you. x

5 is mad, and 6 is totally forgivable. You weren't able to tell her. She'll have got over it by now so you should too. Hug.

Anonymous said...

Done and dusted, now you will know how nuts I really am

Almost Mrs Average said...

LOL Jo - Thank you honey and yes 5 was indeed very mad. Anyway, so lovely to see you and I promise to catch up very soon. :-D x

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Pot - excellent, am coming straight over :-D

esther said...

great to read some more personall things about you, with your great sense of humor...thank you!!
(about the toilet rol thing; it's the same sometimes when a person you don't really know, talks to you, and has spinach in hist teeth, you don't hear what he has to tell anymore, but just stare at the green thing...and don't dare to tell him....awful situations!)

Almost Mrs Average said...

Hi Esther - oh the dreaded spinach. I so know what you mean :-D x

Millennium Housewife said...

You're ace! Thankyou for my tag, I am endeavoring to write a list but, not being too good at the personal info stuff it's proving a challenge... I swear my next post will be the tag list! Cheers, MH x

Katy said...

I have at last got around to this! Thanks for the tag :)

Almost Mrs Average said...

Thanks MH - I'll be coming over to check out your progress soon. So glad you're going to take part :-D x

Hi Katy - thank you so much. I've just popped over and how fascinating. Not only is that a really unusual photo, but I am bowing down in honour of your tank driving. I'll pop back tomorrow to leave some comments. For some reason the link wasn't working tonight on your blog. In the meantime, I've gotta get some sleep as I'm giving a presentation at another conference tomorrow...how exciting...or should I say terrifying :-D

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