My Top 5 Photographs of 2011 - Listography

One of the things I love about blogging is the focus it gives me to take photographs that I might otherwise not have thought about taking. 

This week's Listography topic gave me the opportunity to look back over a year of blog photos and select five of my favourites. It wasn't easy to pick just five but here goes...

1. The photograph of a poor frog frozen into my pond during the cold spell in January 2011 received a lot of attention and remains one of my highest viewed posts. Most people agreed with me that it was a tragic reminder of the fragility of life. My eldest daughter, however, said - "Ha ha - a frog ice cube"

 2. I love this photograph of my two little ones in a hotel bed, totally engrossed in an electronic game that is still a favourite toy. They both look so tiny back in January when it was taken - what a difference a year makes. Although at the time I thought it ruined the picture, now I really love the bruise on my daughter's forehead that tells the story of a moment of ill-concieved adventurousness that ended in a nasty bump.

3.  I don't think this photograph is technically any good but I do remember so vividly, with fondness,  standing out in the cold evening with equipment not quite up to the task, not really knowing what I was doing and trying to capture the magical 'Supermoon' of 19th March, 2011.

4. This is the most recent of the photographs for my Top 5. I took it from my hotel window at Butlins, Bognor Regis where I was attending the Tots 100 Christmas party. The flock of seagulls circling the strangely lovely roof of the Skyline Pavilion against the winter sky was a dramatic sight.

5. Without a doubt, this is my absolute favourite photograph of 2011. It is a picture I took during my husband's vasectomy. I had originally only intended to snap my husband sat nervously in the waiting room but I am so glad that I found the courage to ask the Doctor if he would object to me photographing the actual procedure. Far from objecting, he enthusiastically 'posed' for the shot. My husband wasn't able to look at the picture for quite some time and even now it makes him feel a little peculiar but I love it.

My Top 5 Random Things I Like - Listography

Another great Listography topic from Kate Takes 5 to get the old neurones firing - this time about "Random Things I Like"

I. I like to dance when I'm cleaning my teeth and washing my face - slightly embarrassing when I did it on holiday and made the whole caravan rock.

2. I like to gallop up the stairs, re-living the Black Beauty fantasies of my girlhood.

3. When I eat fried eggs, I like to put the yolk in my mouth whole and feel the warm explosion on my tongue.

4. I like having my neck kissed - it gives me goosebumps all over my body.

5. I like the smell of new books -  fanning the pages, putting my nose up close and breathing in deeply.

My Top 5 Famous Folk I Used to Fancy - Listography

I couldn't resist this Listography topic, revisiting those Famous Folk that I Used to Fancy.

First there was Tony Curtis. I would fantasise about us getting married. Slightly worryingly, he would have been in his forties and I was a pre-teen.  I absolutely adored his character in the Persuaders.

Then there was Pete Duel who played Hannibal Heyes in Alias Smith and Jones. I was devastated when he shot himself.

The next man to get my hormones racing was Tim Matheson (right) with his role in the quest. Looking back, co-star Kurt Russell was far hotter. Maybe it was the slight resemblance to Pete Duel that did it for me.

My affections briefly transferred to 70s teen idol Leif Garrett. He was so beautiful. 

There have been many more celebrities that I have admired, had lustful thoughts about or just considered perfect specimens of humanity (recently Tommy Walsh, Mark Dolan, Gary Barlow) but none that I have felt so connected to as these early infatuations as I was growing up. So for my fifth "Famous Folk I Used to  Fancy" I will choose my first girl crush - the gorgeous Margaux Hemingway. I loved her eyebrows.

My top 5 Worst Dates - Listography

1. My best friend didn't have much luck with men so when she had the chance of going out with a guy she really fancied but needed another girl to go along because he had his mate with him, she begged me to go. How bad could a blind date be? It might actually be fun.

I was not attracted to my date at all but tried to be polite and interested whilst my friend had her tongue further down her man's throat than I thought medically possible.

My date was keen to tell me all about the tattoo that he was having done over his entire back. It was so big that it had to be done and stages and the first stage was completed and healing. He was quick to whip his shirt off in the pub to reveal  his swollen, scabby, infected inked skin with testosterone pumped pride. It was grotesque.

I didn't have the pleasure of admiring the finished tattoo. After he drove me home and I used my best evasive moves to avoid the goodnight grope, I never saw him again.

2. I was chatted up in the Student Union swimming pool once. The guy had gorgeous blue eyes and dark hair and looked pleasantly muscular from what I could see through the water. We swam, we trod water as we chatted. He was the president of the University Photographic Society and as I had recently purchased my first SLR camera, I found him very interesting. He offered to show me around his darkroom.

I was all of a flutter as I primped and preened in the swimming pool changing rooms knowing that he would be waiting outside for me.

At first, I thought I'd been stood up but then he called my name to get my attention. My eyes had completely failed to register his presence because he was a tiny little man. At 5' 9" I absolutely towered over him. The swimming pool had disguised the fact that I was tall and he was short and I think we were both a little embarrassed.

I took an uncomfortable speed tour of the dark room and changed my mind about joining the Photographic Society.

3. In the time that I affectionately refer to as 'between husbands',  I dabbled with internet dating. One chap that I met up with had described himself as 5' 10" but later explained that since he had stopped playing rugby he had shrunk 3 inches. His lack of stature was less of a problem than the fact that within minutes he wanted me to live with him in an eco house in the forest and have his babies. It was all a bit desperate.

4. Another of my internet dates turned out to be not quite what I was expecting. Given that it was a non-smoking, vegetarian dating site, it was a bit of a shock when he ordered steak and started rolling his own.  In his defence, he had found out about the site from an advert in an Outdoor Pursuits publication that he subscribed to and he was a fit outdoorsy type. We got on really well for a while but never well enough for me to feel comfortable about introducing my children to him. When it stopped being fun I sent him a text to end the relationship  -  that was before I found out that text dumping was a social faux pas.

5. I didn't ever really 'date' my first husband - we knew each other because we shared a student house and just sort of drifted into a troubled relationship in much the same way as we drifted into a troubled marriage. Our honeymoon sums it up. Our actual wedding was all done on the cheap as we were very short of money but we pushed the boat out for a honeymoon in Paris. Fairly shortly after arriving in arguably the most romantic city in the world, he trod in dog sh*t. I laughed. He didn't find it funny. End of honeymoon!

For more Worst Dates visit the  Listography Linky at guest host Typecast

My Top 5 Worst Jobs I've Done - Listography

If you don't count being a mum (which is the best job in the world despite the long hours, no pay and unreasonable expectations) I have only had five jobs in my life so my Listography Top Five Worst Jobs I've Done can include my entire employment history. I will list them in chronological order rather than any other sort of ranking system.

1. Peter Lord Shoe Shop, Slough.
As a first experience in the work place, this wasn't terrible. My starting pay was £5 for a Saturday which seemed like an awful lot to me back then. I enjoyed the shoe fitting training and really liked when the new parents came in with their little ones to buy their first shoes. I also enjoyed the old ladies with their bunions who were looking for the wider fitting shoes that Clarks specialised in. Although it would get me in trouble for wasting time, I never hurried the old ladies that wanted to chat and tell you their whole life story.

There were a few things I hated about the job. One was the pressure to add sundries to your sale. The manager would hover at your side to make sure you gave the customer the opportunity to purchase the recommended (overpriced!) cleaner. Another was being able to see my non-working peers hanging out in the shopping centre having fun while I smiled politely at customers in my uncomfortable floral blouse that was required dress.

2. Solarbo Kitchens, Bath
For somebody that is not very comfortable talking on the phone, this was an odd choice of job for me. I didn't exactly choose it. It just sort of landed in my lap at a time when I needed to find work. I sat in a small kitchen showroom in a rather lovely part of Bath, showing potential customers the range of kitchens available and following up telephone leads. My primary purpose was to set up appointments with the salespeople for which I would receive commission.

I loved the kitchens but I didn't have to work there long to realise that customer satisfaction and value for money were very far down on the list of priorities for the company. There was a Watchdog style investigation and the showroom was closed down. The company was dissolved.

This may not have been a high point in my 'career' but I did learn a lot about Kitchen planning!

3. WH Smiths, Bath
I was a Christmas temp at WH Smiths after my kitchen showroom job suddenly ceased to exist. I quite enjoyed working on the tills and trying to spread a little seasonal cheer but I hated working on the shop floor. I felt very inadequate when anyone asked me a question because with no training and no experience I was pretty clueless. The worst part of the job was that I was working for my first husband (although we were yet to be married at this stage). He couldn't decided whether to treat me as the woman he lived with or a work colleague. He mostly avoided me.

4. King Edward School, Bath
This was the first job I ever really loved. Although a degree in chemistry was an over-qualification to work as a school lab technician, it reminded me of what it was that attracted me to science in the first place, rekindling a love that had been cruelly crushed after three years of feeling out of my depth at University. I felt very at home in my lab coat, I got on well with the teaching staff and I enjoyed being in the school environment. If I had to choose one thing I hated about the job, it would be clearing up the Biology lab after a worm dissection. It didn't happen very often but when it did..... yeurch!

5. Primary School, Shropshire
The final piece in my employment history to date was returning to work after a long break to raise my four older daughters. I was offered a job as a teaching assistant in the local primary school my girls attended. I mostly loved it but it was frustrating only supporting the teacher rather than being the teacher. I took a Foundation degree in teaching and learning and was about to apply for the course that would top this up to a full BA and give me a teacher training qualification when I fell pregnant.

I am now back to doing the job I love the most - being a full time mum.

My Top 5 Places I'd Like to Visit - Listography

Kate's Listography this week invites us to think about our top 5 travel destinations.

I have never been much of a traveller but I do harbour some fantasies that would benefit from an exotic location. It is on this that I base my list.

1. Tarzan Fantasy

The black and white Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies I enjoyed as a child have left an indelible mark. I don't necessarily want to swing through the trees or wear a loin cloth but I would love to go on an African Safari, maybe to the Masia Mara Conservation area in Kenya.

2. Pirate Fantasy

My husband spent many years living in the Caribbean before we were together. I hope one day he will take me there (preferably in a pirate ship!) to enjoy crystal clear water lapping on deserted white sandy beaches. What I would love most of all would be to see sea turtles swimming freely.

3. Belly Dancing Fantasy

I used to do belly dancing lessons. I loved the sensual movements and the amazing costumes. To take that out of a musty village hall and relocate to a sultry Egyptian location (Luxor maybe to take in the pyramids) would be a dream come true. By day I could explore the desert on an Arabian stallion, by night I could wave my veil and shimmy to my heart's desire.

4. Wild West Fantasy

This is another fantasy rooted in my childhood from watching Alias Smith and Jones on TV. How I loved Pete Duel (who played opposite Ben Murphy in the title roles) until he shot himself dead and shattered my girlish dream that we would meet and fall in love and ride off on his horse. I would love to live the Wild West lifestyle in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colarado where I am sure the songs of John Denver (another of my heroes who killed himself) will be ringing in my brain.

5. And finally..

What a travel destination the Moon would make. Imagine the fun of weightlessness and there would have to be some pretty spectacular views. Shame about the lack of oxygen though.

My Top 5 Simple Pleasures - Listography

1. A birthday card made with love.

2. Fresh flowers.

3. Sunshine streaming through the window.

4. A soft, warm little hand.

5. Sand between your toes.

My Top 5 Improvements to My Wedding - Listography

My wedding day was full of wonderful (unforgettable!) moments but there were a few clangers too. These are my Top 5 Improvements for my wedding but ultimately in life you take the good with the bad and I always try to find a way to laugh at that which is less than perfect!

1. Calculate how pregnant I was going to be on the wedding date more accurately - a 5 month bump was much harder to disguise than what I thought was going to be a 4 month bump.

2. Do not try to buy a dress on the internet from China despite the fact that it seems like a bargain and the company has many glowing testimonials. Having said dress delivered weeks after my big day was not a lot of use.

3. Book my hair appointment far enough in advance to get the hairdresser I trust - not the one that made me look like Worzel Gummidge so that the whole thing had to be redone.

4. Tell my dad beforehand that the Father of the Bride speech ought to actually mention the bride rather than just welcoming my husband to the family. It broke my heart a little bit that he didn't say that he loved me or that he was proud of me or that I looked beautiful. I know he does love me but it would have meant the world to me to hear him say it at that moment.

5. Make sure my microphone is turned on before the start of my karaoke duet of "Having my Baby" with my husband.

My Top 5 Time Travel Destinations- Listography

How many of us haven't wished for a Time Machine at some point, even if it is only to revisit our teenage selves to say Really, you should listen to your mother when she says don't go out of the house looking like that.


Kate's Listography this week hands us that Time Machine so fasten your seat belts and let's go...

1. Ancient Egypt
When I first learned about Ancient Egyptians at school it resonated very strongly with me. It wasn't just the funky eyeliner and all that gold, I loved that they worshipped cats and would shave their eyebrows off if their cat died.

2. Early 19th Century England
To live out my Pride and Prejudice Fantasies.

3. Roswell, 1947

Alien Cover Up or Hoax? Let's see what really happened.

4. 30th April, 2064 
This is the day that I would be celebrating my 100th birthday. Either I'll join the party or just discreetly check up on all my descendants to see if any of them remind me of me.

5. The Moment Before the End of the World
Wether it be a natural disaster, a political crisis, a deadly epidemic, an alien invasion or an event of cosmic magnitude it would be quite something to witness the demise of the fragile planet that we somehow believe is indestructible.

My top 5 Things I Want to be When I Grow Up - Listography

1. Mum to Eight Kids - This is the earliest 'when I grow up' fantasy I can remember. I wanted to live in a big house that I had built myself and have eight kids. Well I do  a bit of decorating and DIY and I have managed six kids so I am going to say that is pretty much mission accomplished!

2. Special Effects Make Up Artist - I love horror films, I love a bit of gore, I love getting arty and experimental. It would be an absolute dream job for me to be involved in the special effects team responsible for the graphic portrayal of body part trauma and the like.

3. Working in a Laboratory - This should be a realistic possibility rather than a fantasy as I do have a degree in Chemistry. I include it in my Top 5 because I always feel most at home in a Lab Coat surrounded by chemicals, scientific apparatus and bunsen burners.

4. Pathologist - I really don't know why I didn't pursue this as a career. I'm sure I would have been good at it. There have been several moments in my life where I have had to reassess my situation and think about the reality of actually growing up and taking responsibility for myself as a wage earner. Pathology always came back as an option but never quite made it off the starting block.

5. Cookery Book Photographer - I love cookery books, especially the ones illustrated with beautiful photographs of ingredients and prepared dishes. Whenever I drool over such pictures, I always imagine how much I would have enjoyed being the photographer. Only today, as I was driving along the M6 and thinking about my blog to alleviate the boredom of monotonous motoring, I considered doing a lot more in the way of recipes and food related posts so I had the opportunity to indulge in a little of this sort of photography.

That's my fairly unimaginative but very real Top 5 List of Things I Want to be When I Grow Up. For more of the same or to add your own contribution, visit Manana Mama.

My Top 5 Retro Sweets - Listography

It was such a treat to be given a few pennies to spend in the sweet shop on the way to school when I was a kid. The sweet shop, quaintly named The Chocolate Box, has long gone and the kindly sweetshop owner who had so much patience for our lengthy deliberations would most definitely be weighing out quarters of bon bons in the great confectioners in the sky. Even so, if I close my eyes I can picture the layout of that little shop, still smell the slightly musty but tantalisingly sweet odour, hear the rustle of the paper bags and the clattering of sweets tumbling into the scales. As for the excitement of feasting your eyes on row after row of glass jars holding sweets of so many different colours, shapes and flavours... it can still make my heart race a little faster.

Despite the world of choice available, I was a creature of habit and only ever picked from a small selection of the sugary treats. I had my favourites and I stuck with them. I remember them all so well. There was always the playground trading that went on but I stayed loyal to my favourites:

1. Pear Drops.
A quarter of pear drops would last all day. The distinctive ketone smell of them, like nail varnish remover, was a big part of the appeal. The fact that the soft tissue on the roof of your mouth would be ripped to shreds after a day of sucking on them was never a deterrent.

2. Fruit salads.
You could buy eight of these for a penny and they would make your jaw ache. I bought myself a pink and orange summer top a couple of years ago. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it because of how much it reminded me of fruit salads.

3. Spangles. 
Square, fruity boiled sweets in a tube. Not the most exciting but delicious to suck and handy for popping in your pocket.

4. Candy Cigarettes.
In a more innocent world when cigarette smoking was considered sophisticated and harmless,  I loved to 'smoke' candy cigarettes with the authentic red lit tip.

5. Lemonade Sparkle Ice Lolly
Not strictly a sweet I know but still a Sweet Shop favourite on a hot day. Sparkle ice lollies came in orangeade flavour too but Lemonade was my favourite. Refreshing, sticky... lovely.

Thanks to Kate Takes 5 for sending me on a mouthwatering trip into my childhood memories.

My Top 5 Pet Hates - Listography

This week's Listography topic from Kate Takes 5, Pet Hates, was a little too easy. I like to think of myself as a tolerant and accepting person. Perhaps I need to re-evaluate that!

My Top 5 Pet Hates

1. When people say "Let's get this show on the road" or worse "Let's get this road on the show". Is that supposed to be clever? My ex-husband used to say that a lot. He also used to say "Fairy snuff" instead of "Fair enough". Made me cringe every time.

2. This next pet hate is one my current husband is guilty of (just to keep it fair and so you don't think I'm picking on my ex). I love to see a scraped clean plate and always finish all my dinner. It's fair enough (or fairy snuff!) if you really dislike something and leave it or if you are really full up and leave it, but what I HATE is when people leave just a little bit. It's not enough to give you indigestion if you make the effort to scrape it up and eat it but it is enough to be annoying when you are stacking the plates to wash up. I hate scraping the little bits of leftovers into the bin - WHY DON'T YOU JUST FINISH YOUR MEAL PROPERLY!!! Husband - you have been warned.

3. Carrier bags that split. This doesn't happen often these days because of the trend now for reuseable heavy duty bags, but sometimes I forget to bring my extensive collection with me and have to rely on the shop's freebies. I actually have the most trouble with the Primark paper bags. I think it is because I can never say no to the question "Do you want to keep the hangers?" regardless of the fact that I have more hangers at home than I know what to do with. During the natural swinging action that occurs whilst walking, the hangars manage to pierce the paper and start the rip. Once it starts to go, you've had it.

4. Failure to use a teaspoon to transfer coffee granules into cup. Not only does this result in a rather ambiguous cup of coffee in terms of the perfect strength, there is also the fact that invariably whilst shaking the jar in the general direction of the waiting cup, those coffee granules bounce all over my wooden work surface to later absorb moisture and set like dark brown spots of concrete (albeit water soluble concrete but you get the drift).

5. Finally (and this is a biggy) it's a dirty washing pet hate. Socks scrunched into balls, T-shirt and jumper taken off as one and still tangled together, trousers with one leg in and one leg out, items worn for five minutes then dumped unceremoniously into the wash basket (do you think I don't have better things to do with my time than constant laundering??) and the biggest crime of all TISSUES LEFT IN POCKETS. Sometimes my husband will leave a ten pound note in his pocket. I quite like that. Once I have salvaged it and dried it I will treat myself to a little something as compensation for having to put up with all the dirty washing nonsense!

My Top 5 Favourite Films - Listography

This is a hard one to limit to just five. There are so many fantastic films worthy of the accolade. I will sort them into genres to help me prioritise.

1. The Notebook  - best romantic weepy - makes me cry buckets.
2. Se7en - best thriller - it has an intelligent story line, it has macabre deaths, it has Brad Pitt!
3. Rocky - best nostalgic oldie - despite the fact that Sylvester Stallone's dialogue is unintelligible, this is an iconic movie. It only just beat Jaws onto my top 5 by virtue of the fact that I named my baby daughter after Rocky's girlfriend. The unforgettable scene at the end when a seriously smashed up Rocky shouts above the crowd's applause to his woman "Yo! Adrian!" gives me tingles.
4. Hellraiser - best horror - I adore a good horror movie and for me this is the best. Clive Barker's vision of hell is incredible and the charismatic Pinhead is superbly played by Doug Bradley.
5. Beauty and the Beast - best Disney - the list wouldn't be complete without a contribution from Disney. I love that Belle is bookish and a bit awkward, the blossoming love story unfolds with such tenderness and the songs are amazing.

It might be time to plan a video night!

My Top 5 Annoying Kid's TV Shows/Characters - Listography

This week's Kate Takes 5 listography topic is 'Most Annoying Kid's TV Shows/Characters'.

I find it hard to get annoyed by anything that keeps my kids quiet, no matter how bad it is. However, if I do find myself stuck in front of the telly with the remote control just out of reach, there are some shows that are harder to endure than others:

1. Dora the Explorer Why does she have to shout all the time?
2. Thomas the Tank Engine I hate how mean the engines are to each other.
3. Big Barn Farm Actually, I quite like this but it is the one CBeebies show that DOES NOT hold the attention of my troublesome toddler. That is annoying.
4. Panzee from Zingzillas Chronic over acting and such a patronising tone of voice - makes me want to punch her monkey face.
5. Ben 10 In all honesty, I've NEVER watched this. I don't even know who Ben is or why he has a 10 after his name. However, the amount of Ben 10 merchandising alone is enough to qualify this show as one of my top five most annoying.

Why I find it hard to get annoyed by kids TV

My Top 5 Things I Wish I Could Do - Listography

I am the sort of person that will have a go at anything. I can't honestly say I really excel at anything in particular but I am reasonably good (or at least OK) at lots of things. However, there is always room to dream and so these are the things I Wish I Could Do:

1. A Back Flip
I know this will never happen. The video confirms it.

2. Hair
I have 5 daughters, all with gorgeous hair. I wish that I could work the same magic with straighteners, bobby pins and hairspray that the hairdressers do.

My daughter showing what it means to have a bad hair day

3. Hypnosis
The untapped power of the human mind is a fascinating thing. I would love to be able to hypnotise myself and others to harness a tiny amount of that power (and I probably wouldn't be able to resist making someone spontaneously burst into bad Elvis impersonations in the Supermarket aisle).

4. What the Waybulo Piplings do

It's not flying exactly, more like swimming in air. It looks so effortlessly serene and beautiful and useful for getting to all those just out of reach places.

5. Dressmaking
I had a go at making costumes for my daughter back when she took part in the shows put on by her dance school and again when she tried competitive dancing. It was insanely tricky and for at least the last five years, my sewing machine has been gathering dust on an inaccessible shelf. However, I would love to have the skill and flair to be able to make fabulous clothes that fit perfectly. I would make sequinned ballroom gowns in every colour imaginable .

So that's what I dream of doing -  floating around in a sparkly gown with perfect hair, controlling your minds with a back flip thrown in for good measure. What about you?

A Kate Takes 5  Listography post.

***Please check out My First Giveaway to win Nuby baby products here***

My Top 5 Celebrities I'd Like to Punch - Listography

When I first saw this week's Listography topic, I thought I'd probably just have a week off . 'Celebrity' is something that does not interest me much and certainly does not excite me enough to inspire punch-like behaviour. I even have a soft spot for Miley Cyrus, arguably the most punch-worthy celebrity that ever walked the red carpet.

I read a few other contributor's lists and although I could certainly see their point, I still failed to reach that point where I was agreeing whole-heartedly and rolling my sleeves up to deliver the left hook.

Then I started to think about it. Really think. And I almost wish I hadn't! A flood gate of animosity was suddenly unleashed. Teeth were bared. Hackles were raised. Well, OK, I'm possibly exaggerating a bit but here are My Top 5 Celebrities I'd Like to Punch:

1. Aled Jones
Annoying choirboy famous for his recording of Walking in the Air even though it wasn't the track used in the animated version of Raymond Brigg's "The Snowman". We thought we'd seen the last of him when his voice broke but no such luck. Annoying TV presenter, mediocre singer and stark reminder of how old we're all getting, he deserves a punch.

2. Vanessa Hudgens
Now I am a big fan of High School Musical but that is in spite of the whiny, drippy female lead, not because of her. I could have forgiven her wet performance and let her off with a tut and a head shake but the Clearasil advert elevated her to 'Top 5 celebs I'd like to punch' status. This girl does not have problem skin and not even a bucket full of clearasil is going to bestow our impressionable, pasty teenagers with her perfect, glowing complexion.

3. Minnie Driver
I have absolutely no logical reason to be moved to violence by this woman. I like to think of it as some past life altercation between she and I that has left me with this skin crawling distaste I have for her. A good punch in this current incarnation might lay past wrongs to rest.

4. Fiz Brown
Jennie McAlpine who plays Coronation Street's Fiz Brown might be a perfectly lovely woman but I'd still want to punch her because she looks so much like her  in-your-face, over-the-top, incredibly annoying  alter ego. I might get my chance. I can't quite remember the date but sometime in the not too distant future I am having afternoon tea at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester with some members of the cast of Coronation Street. This was the prize from the Typhoo OO-Along competition that required you to upload a video of yourself OO-ing the iconic theme tune. My mum and my two year old OO-ed beautifully together whilst sharing a plastic tea-set cuppa and were runners up, along with my sister who blogged about her entry here.

5. Felicity Kendal
Beloved star of seventies comedy The Good Life, Felicity Kendal was cute and blonde and funny and dainty and a bit posh and simply adorable yet had an underlying sex appeal that made her irresistible. In essence, Felicity Kendal was everything I wasn't nor could ever be. As a child trying to find out who I was, finding out who I wasn't was tough. Finding role models that I could relate to helped put my Felicity Kendal inadequacy to bed but it took a long time and the mere mention of her name makes me shudder a little bit. The rational part of me sees that she is a fine woman who is growing old gracefully and should be an inspiration. The other part of me still wants to punch her. The other part wins!

My Top 5 Places I've Visited - Listography

Travelling is one of the things that I hope to enjoy later in my life (health and finances permitting). There are many places I'd love to see and things I'd love to do but home and family have always taken priority. So my rather limited "Top 5 places" I have visited is as follows:

1. PARIS

As a teenager I hitch hiked to Paris with the man who, over twenty years later, would become my husband. We lost touch for many years until Friends Reunited did exactly what it says on the tin! We arranged to return to Paris which is where we reacquainted and fell in love. Paris will always be a special place to me.

We ate brie and baguette by the Seine

2. VILLARS, SWITZERLAND

My husband was living in Switzerland before he moved to England to marry me. I visited him once there in the summer and again with my children during the skiing season. I loved our skiing holiday but I have special memories of walking in the mountains when the only snow was at the very peaks and cows grazed with their cowbells clanging. 

Fresh mountain air and a great sense of wellbeing

3. BRIGHTON

Brighton holds a very special place in my heart. My husband was born and raised there and my sister, who I feel so honoured to have had in my life, lived there before cancer deprived this world of a most amazing person. I always feel closest to my sister when I am in the town she loved and called home. That powerful sense of connection does ignite the pain of loss that is inside me always.

The unmistakable pebble beach

4. BEAUMARIS, NORTH WALES

This was the place where my husband got down on one knee during a cliff top walk surrounded by curious sheep. I have very fond memories of sitting in the square outside the Ancient Courthouse, feeling that all was good with the world. There was a band playing that day and we watched an elderly couple dancing together oblivious to everything but each other. It was lovely to know that life after divorce for me was no longer a bleak, lonely journey towards death but instead a wonderful adventure towards old age with a man I loved.

http://www.walesdirectory.co.uk/Towns_in_Wales/Beaumaris_Town.htm

5. CORFU

I never enjoyed family holidays with my first husband - he was not easy to spend time with. Taking a family holiday abroad to somewhere hot and beautiful with my second husband was a revelation. I had an unforgettable time and having just found out I was pregnant made it all extra special. I loved the views from our villa, especially from the infinity pool.

Finding out what family holidays should be like

My Top 5 Dinner Party Guests - Listography

I once wrote one of these lists whilst attempting to get to know a potential love interest on an online dating site after the break down of my first marriage - the idea being that our choice of guests would be more revealing about our characters and potential compatibility than any more direct approaches. I can't for the life of me remember who I invited! I do remember that one of his guests was David Henry Thoreau, who went into the woods to experience the most simple of existences to learn how to live. I should have known then that our romance would be doomed to fail!

So after much thought:

My Top 5 Dinner Party Guests

1. Tom Kenny - the voice of Spongebob Squarepants - really, this is a slightly more grown up way of saying I'd like Spongebob Square Pants to come to dinner.
2. John Merrick - the Elephant Man - fascinating story of an amazing man - plus he probably didn't get many dinner party invitations
3. Louis Spence - of Pineapple Dance Studio fame - for his flamboyance and glamour and larger than life personality.
4. Derren Brown - I'm reading his book Confessions of a Conjuror at the moment - it has reminded me that despite how annoying he has become, he really is an incredibly talented and interesting person.
5. Anton du Beke - my guilty pleasure - I would love a post dinner whirl around the dance floor with him.

My dinner guests

(photoshopping courtesy of Ivy who is now busy creating her own fantasy dinner party)

My Top 5 Things About Having Children - Listography

In my blog post Comping Convert I wrote the following:

I love lists. Lists crystallise my thoughts and provide a conduit from idea into reality. They create an illusion of order from chaos and begin to instil a sense of pace and momentum as the 'ticking' off process commences. Sometimes a mental list will suffice but it does not match up to the satisfaction of putting pen to paper (or wipe board marker to wipe board!). 

Kate Takes 5's invitation to take part in her Weekly Top 5 Listography was bound to grab my attention.

Here is my contribution:

My Top 5 Things About Having Kids

1. PREGNANCY. I have been fortunate enough to have fairly easy pregnancies and I absolutely love the changes that happen over the course of the nine months, especially the incredible feeling of your baby moving inside you. 
2. LABOUR & BIRTH. I know there is a certain amount of pain involved here, but as I said to my two children who were present at the birth of my third child (a home birth), it's a good sort of pain. The variety and intensity of emotions experienced is like nothing else. 
3. CARING FOR A NEWBORN. A newborn child is totally precious and changes your whole outlook on life so dramatically. 
4. WATCHING YOUR CHILD DEVELOP THEIR OWN CHARACTERS. It continues to be the greatest joy watching each of my six children developing in their own special ways and becoming wonderful individuals. 
5. BEING SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE YOU LOVE. My children range in age from 22 years to 6 months. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they fill me with pride, they constantly amaze me. I love spending time with them individually and all together. I am never happier than when I am surrounded by my most wondrous creations. 

Another great thing about writing lists is that it inspires a clarity of thought that can make you aware of things that are missing in your life. I have now realised that I do not have a single photograph of all my children together. This is something that I will be looking to rectify at the earliest opportunity and I have to thank Kate Take 5 for (unknowingly) bringing it to my attention!