The Liebster Blog Award

I was asked to take part in the Liebster Blog award by Terry Tyler whose blog can be found here -

http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk

Terry's blog is always full of great stuff and well worth a good look around. I particularly loved her post on getting older, very funny and as a lady of a certain age I could fully appreciate what she was saying, here it is for those of you who may have missed it

http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-truth-about-getting-old.html


The Liebster Blog Award is to recognise blogs who have less than 200 followers and are worthy of adding to your reading list. The idea is to post 11 random facts about yourself, answer 11 random questions asked by the person who nominated you and then think up 11 questions for 11 bloggers you personally recommend. Since my blog is barely hatched, I can't really nominate eleven other bloggers yet but I will come back to this at a later date and do a special write up on blogs which I really enjoy :)


11 Random Facts About Me

1. My heart lives beside the mountains of Scotland but the rest of me lives in a town. One day I shall go and join my heart :)

2. I love to laugh and do so, often. Sometimes I do so rather inappropriately. My grandad used to say I would 'laugh to see a puddin' crawl'. I see the humour in all sorts of things I probably should not!

3. I love rock music and do a mean air guitar. I cried buckets when Freddie Mercury died, for the loss of the entertainer and for the fact I never did get to see him live on stage.

4. I do a good impression of a chicken and speak fluent Rooster although my Hen could use some work. This has served me well in the past whilst egg collecting and has enabled me to escape the coop unscathed.

5. I have an enquiring mind and particularly love geosciences and astrosciences. I agree with Professor Stephen Hawking on many things and, in particular, his opinion it's a bad idea to broadcast our existence to extra terrestrials (Active SETI). If the equations are correct then we should be getting a reply any day now. If you want me, I will be in the nearest bunker with a can of baked beans and brushing up on my Klingon.

6. I wear glasses as contact lenses don't suit me as I have, according to the optician, 'funny shaped eyeballs'. Bit harsh, I thought. I wanted a consultation not a deconstruction of my fragile ego.

7. I am 5' 3 1/2" tall. I used to be 5' 7" tall but lost the extra inches when I stopped wearing high heels on a daily basis. The climate down here is slightly milder but speaking at the chest level of normal sized people can be a little wearing at times. Fortunately, my other half is also gnome like and therefore having a snog doesn't cause neck problems. Handy, that ;)

8. I dye my hair as the grey (Silver. SILVER!) highlights have already started and, until I can safely dye it purple and spit at people in a decade or so when more socially acceptable, I am taking no chances. The wiry beasts and I do battle on a daily basis. Just lately they seem to be multiplying quicker than wasps do in the summer when you have just sat down for a picnic.

9. I love to write, draw, paint and be creative. Some of this is successful and some I wouldn't dare show or admit to in public. The dark recesses of my mind is not a holiday you should go on without a nice big life insurance policy and perhaps a rescue helicopter on stand by ;)

10. I don't feel the need to be famous. I don't want to be on television. I have dodged cameras and family photos for years!

11. I don't watch much television. I spend my free time writing, creating, listening to music, playing at photography and filling my head with as much knowledge as this increasingly aging brain can absorb. If something peaks my interest then I will research it until I have uncovered every little detail...and then I will probably write about it :)



These are the questions set by Terry for me and her other nominees to answer :)

1. What's your favourite flavour of crisps?

Bovril. Unfortunately, when Walker's Crisps took over the brand of Smith's they got rid of Bovril crisps. I wrote asking for their reinstatement but was told 'No, but we do beef ones'. No consideration, I thought. Well. Honestly.

2. How many of other people's blogs do you read per day, on average?

Not as many as I ought to or would like to, at the moment.

3. If you weren't promoting your book/blog, would you still use Twitter/Facebook so much? If not, how much would you?

Twitter is a great source for links to science related articles and discussions so I use it for that too and for networking with like minded people in as gentle a way as possible. I am still working out the etiquette and building a list of people I am interested in :)

4. Do you smoke? If not, did you ever? (I know at least one person I've tagged has good reason to really, really hate it)

I tend to 'vape' these days on an electronic cigarette although not in public much, as it looks like I am addicted to some sort of drug, doesn't it? What's that you say? Oh. Fair point!

5. When a doctor asks you how much you drink, do you lie?

No, I don't need to as I rarely drink unless out for the night, which I rarely am.

6. What is your star sign? Do you know about the typical characteristics of that sign, and if so, which ones apply to you?

My star sign is Sagittarius, apart from that I couldn't possibly comment in public ;)

7. Do you remember your first blog post? What was it about?

I do indeed. It was meant to be forthright and positive but came across as arrogant and a little bit know-all so I deleted it and sent it off into the ether with a flea in it's ear and a warning not to do that again.

8. Imagine you have to give up these four things for a month: alcohol, writing, listening to music, television. Starting with the one you would find the easiest to give up, in what order would you find them easiest to do without?

I could happily give up everyday broadcasted television as I hardly watch it but would need a set for the home cinema system to connect to. Alcohol is also no problem as I don't bother unless I am out in the evening. Writing/listening to music...eek, no no no please don't take those away, I'll be good, I promise!

9. I love QI, Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, Ed Byrne, Frankie Boy,e sometimes, Fawlty Towers, Python, Catherine Tate.. and loads more. I loathe Michael McIntyre. What do you/don't you find funny?

I like Monty Python, Blackadder, Catherine Tate, Miranda Hart and Jo Brand to name a few top ones. I detest The Office, can't see anything funny in it or Ricky Gervais. He needs to be fed salted tea. I find him as funny as I would somebody swiping my last chocolate bar when I have PMT. It's not clever. Pay the price :)

10. Do you watch soap operas? If so, which is your favourite, and if not, why not?

Good grief, no. I have a huge family, of which I am the matriarch, and they provide me with more than enough excitement, thank you very much. There's a chocolate box of emotions just waiting for me to choose daily from around these parts, let me tell you. Watch it on TV? In my pajamas without chocolate medicine on standby? What ARE you suggesting? ;)

11. And finally - please put a link here to any of your blog posts - tell us what it's about, and why you have chosen it!

I think it is going to have to be this one http://a-womans-wisdom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/its-just-heap-of-metala-heap-of-junk.html because it beautifully illustrates why I don't need to watch soap operas haha :)