Liebster Award
I was recently nominated by Dawn at Sneaker Therapy for the Liebster Award! Some people dislike ‘awards’ like this and view them as an annoying ‘chain letter’. My personal view is that it is a way of making links with the blogging community. I’ve found some great blogs by following links on blogs that I already read and like. Hopefully, this has led some people to my blog. Thanks for the Liebster nomination, Dawn – I appreciate it and love reading your blog!
The Liebster Award rules are to share 11 random facts about yourself, answer the questions provided by the nominator and then pass it on.
Random facts about me
Here are my 11 random facts:
- I adore pugs but have never owned a dog.
- Both of my siblings have emigrated to Australia.
- I’ve had hair long enough to sit on as well as having it cut to an inch long. It has also been a range of colours, including blue.
- I had dancing lessons for 16 years and was quite good at tap.
- I moved in with my husband the day before we started going out with each other.
- The main subjects that I studied from 15-17 were German, History and Theatre Studies.
- I’ve been three miles underground (and I hated it!)
- I’ve walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge.
- Rolf Harris got changed in my Gran’s garage once.
- I’ve been a vegetarian almost all of my life.
- I left home at 17.
Liebster Questions from Dawn
1. Favourite indulgent food?
Gosh, that’s a tricky question. I think it’s probably ice-cream. I try not to eat it very often, but I adore it. I’m not picky – Haagen-Dazs, Ben and Jerrys, Carte D’Or – any ice-cream will do!
2. A kitchen appliance you can’t live without?
My enormous stainless steel Le Creuset shallow casserole. (Does that count as an appliance?) It’ great for cooking enormous chillies and curries, so that I don’t have to cook every day! If that doesn’t count then maybe I could include a gadget rather than an appliance – I love my Chef’n garlic zoom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9XvEVoJ4_4 It’s a nifty little device that I roll to chop garlic (or ginger).
3. If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you would buy?
A house. I live in a fantasy world where my house would have at least 4 bedrooms, a swimming pool, a gym, a conservatory and bay windows. Or maybe I’d just pay off my mortgage and stay living in my tiny two-bedroomed terraced house.
4. What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever had to memorize?
At primary school (when I was about 8 years old), I had to memorise ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death,
Rode the six hundred.
‘Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns’ he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldiers knew
Some one had blunder’d:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.Flash’d all their sabres bare,
Flash’d as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder’d:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro’ the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel’d from the sabre-stroke
Shatter’d and sunder’d.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro’ the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder’d.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
I’ve also learned lines for a number of plays, and entire chunks of text for London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts exams. I also learned an entire essay when studying for my A-level German exam. Twenty years later, I can still remember the opening: “Der Aufbau von Der Richter und Sein Henker ist vielleicht nicht derjenige von einem konventionellen kriminal-roman. Das Hauptthema war eigentlich nicht die entdeckung des Mord von Schmied oder wie Schmied ermordet worde…”
5. What feature/ personality trait do you love most about yourself?
Probably my tenacity and unwillingness to quit… although I guess that can also be perceived as stubbornness!
6. Favourite condiment?
That’s an easy one. Coarse ground black pepper complements most savoury meals!
7. If you could start another blog, what would it be about?
I already have a couple of other blogs: ‘Declutter and Go Faster’ (since deleted) which I’ve neglected for the last two years and a work-related blog ‘Developing Education in Professional Practice’ that I started as part of my PGCert in Education Practice when I was working at Bournemouth University. It’s not public, but I do still write in it and may make it publicly available one day.
If I had enough time to really keep on top of my housework and my training (as well as working) then I’d go back to my decluttering blog, but something’s gotta give!
8. What’s most important when you’re buying shoes – comfort or fashion?
Comfort. I cycle to work every day, and spend a lot of my free time running, so function beats style! I also have syndactyly (conjoined toes), so I don’t like wearing shoes that reveal my toes!
9. If you could learn one skill or language instantly, what would you pick?
I would choose to be able to swim. I can swim now, but cannot do butterfly and am not very good – technique is everything in swimming!
10. What’s one way your life is different now than it was 5 years ago?
I no longer spend all of my free time doing karate.
11. Favourite race distance? (of course, I had to ask a running question :P)
Probably half marathon (13.1 miles) – tough enough to require some training and stamina, but not so long that it takes over my life!
Without further ado, here are my Liebster Award nominations:
- Ruth at The Crazy Runner Girl [not available in 2018]
- Becky at runningbex (Becky’s recently defected from blogger, so let’s give her a warm welcome!)
- Cheryl at C Palen Tri [not available in 2018]
- Jennifer at Boxer Runner
- Dalit Levin at 2 Cups ‘n Run
- Big Boned Biker
- Leanne at Leanne Nalani
- Dave at davetriing
- Carrie at Carried Away About Nutrition.
- Cynthia at You Signed Up For What?!
Questions for my Liebster Award nominees:
You all are among my favourite bloggers – I love to read your blogposts. If you want to play along with the Liebster Award, here are my questions for you!
- What’s your favourite festival/holiday?
- If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
- What’s your biggest accomplishment in life?
- What is the one item you can’t live without?
- What’s your healthiest habit?
- What sport would you like to try?
- What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
- Who would you like to be stuck in a lift/elevator with?
- What’s the strangest situation you’ve ever been in?
- What’s your claim to fame?
- What motto do you live by?
(I would also love to ‘interview’ you for one of my regular Friday posts – please let me know if you’d be happy to do that!)
7 Responses
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OMG! I am not done reading this yet, but when I got to THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, I got goose bumps! I had to memorize that too! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL POEM!
Okay back to reading.
I can’t say that I understood every word of it when I learnt it, but I had a wonderfully charismatic teacher who would recite it in such a dramatic way that the meaning was conveyed really well. I had to learn a lot of poems with Mr. Bennett, but this and ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes and the two that I can still remember every word of!
Well Gosh! I am simply honored! Thank you! I will certainly play…I will ponder the post soon. Thanks so much
I look forward to reading your responses and seeing who you pass it on to 🙂
I loved reading your responses – especially #4!! I was wondering what people’s answers would be to that one. That’s a lot to memorize! Thanks for playing along 🙂
Thank you for nominating me 🙂