Liebster Award - First Part

Wow! Thank you to the lovely Jill at Emerald Cottage who has nominated me for the Liebster award.

 This is an on-line award given by bloggers to new bloggers. There are several things for me to do as a nominee:

1. Post 11 random facts about myself.

2. Answer 11 questions posed by my nominator.

3. Nominate 11 blogs with less than 200 followers for the award.

4. List 11 questions of my own for them to answer.

Ok, here goes! I'll do part 1 today. Hmmm ... 11 random facts about me:

1. I am a poetry addict.

There - I've admitted it. I have been mad about poetry for as long as I can remember, and back when I did English at university it featured heavily in my studies. The concentrated language and ideas are amazing. My favourite poets are Ted Hughes, Robert Burns, W.B.Yeats, Dylan Thomas and Byron, to name but a few.

2. I am a vegetarian.

I became one over 20 years ago, and don't eat meat or fish. I never liked the taste of meat as child, but have always loved vegetables and veggie food. When I was about 13 my parents let me eat a cheese and tomato pizza for Christmas lunch! The rest of my family are vegetarian too.

3. I play the violin.

After giving up learning at school when I was 9, I took lessons when I was 39 and got to Grade 3 level before starting work again after being at home when my children were young. Doing my Grades 1 and 2 were a bit scary, but it was great learning and my favourite things to play are jigs, reels and hornpipes. 

4. I have a weakness for buying candles, lanterns and baskets.

My husband and children hurry me through any shop which contains these items, telling me 'You've already got lots!' It's hard to resist - they come in so many varieties...

5. Colour is very important to me.

I love playing with colour combinations. I have very definite ideas about what goes together and what doesn't and have to remind myself to loosen up a bit and go with the flow.

6. I love Cornwall.

We have a holiday there most summers and I just love the fresh coastal scenery and relaxed holiday vibe. No wonder so many artists and crafts-people settle there -  it's so inspiring!

7. My favourite animals are hares and red squirrels. 

I have never seen either of them in real life but live in hope. Hares are wild and enigmatic, and squirrels are beautiful and their movements so fluid.

8. I love to discover new words.

I recently discovered the word 'petrichor' which means 'the scent of rain on dry earth, or the scent of dust after rain'. I was so excited - who knew there was a word for that?

9. My favourite foods are cheese and crisps.

Oh dear, they're not exactly low in fat, so I do have to ration myself. I love blue cheeses, like Dorset Blue Vinney and I pretty much like crisps in general, so I try not to have them in the house!

10. I can't watch tv without crocheting/sewing/knitting at the same time.

Sitting just watching feels weird - I need to make something as well.

11. I am a cloud-spotter.

It's so easy to miss what's going on in the sky above our heads when we're dashing around living our busy lives, but once you start to notice it becomes a habit. I am constantly amazed at how beautiful clouds are and am fascinated by their varieties and what they signify, weather-wise.

Right, that's some random facts about me - time for a cup of tea.

See you soon x

Rain

It looks as though we're in for a spell of lovely weather with blue skies and warm sun, but over the last week we've had a mixed bag of heavy rain and sunny skies, with a lot of strong winds as well. One minute the sky was gunmetal grey under a heavy blanket of cloud.

And the next minute the clouds were blown away and the sun came out.

It really was a case of 'sunshine and showers', The winds were very testing for the new leaves on the trees and many have been blown off completely, but everything is growing so fast now, it's always a surprise and a pleasure to go into the garden and look at the new growth. And I always remind myself that the rain is responsible in great part for this.

I love to walk in the garden after rain at this time of year to look around. One of our bird baths is becoming hidden by foliage.

And a bird-feeder turned into a mini bird-bath 

The pebbles around the shed looked wonderfully shiny and colourful after rain.

Unfortunately the rain brings out these little creatures with all of their friends and relations, and they do love to feast on my seedlings!

However, raindrops catch most beautifully on the leaves of certain plants, such as aquilegia 

and lady's mantle

Raindrops and sparkling dew gather so perfectly in its leaves that in medieval times the water droplets were used by alchemists when trying to change base metals into gold, hence its Latin name of alchemilla. It was also believed that the dew had magical youth-preserving properties, which led women to wash their faces in it.

I also love the look of rain on slate. Our roof is tiled in slate and after it has rained it looks wonderfully shiny and dark. When he wrote his 'Poem in October' Dylan Thomas described this effect as he looks down on the town of Laugharne below him

'Pale rain over the dwindling harbour

And over the sea wet church the size of a snail

With its horns through mist and the castle

Brown as owls' 

When I look at wet roofs I'm always reminded of these lines. Somehow I don't seem to mind the rain so much at this time of year. Maybe it's because I can see how it makes everything grow, or because I know that summer isn't far away. It makes me enjoy the sunshine when it comes too! x