six things

Eliane who writes a blog about all sorts of matters close to my heart (chickens, wood burning stoves, food) has tagged me to write six interesting things about myself. I think I was tagged to do this one a little while ago now and I suspect I used up anything even close to interesting then but I have had a go at some not terribly interesting but individual things.

My absolute favourite food, the thing I would have if I had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life, is Ian's homemade bread with far too much salty Welsh butter. It has to be homemade bread and real butter. I remember my grandmother giving me pieces of butter to eat like cheese when I was a child which perhaps accounts for my passion for it now. Anyone seeing one of my doorsteps for the first time tends to do a double take and sometimes I hope that, if I whisk the plate away before they can get a good look, maybe they are still thinking that the slice on my bread is cheddar.

When I was about fourteen and we lived in the South Island of New Zealand a small penguin hopped up to me on a stony beach and sat on my foot. It was surprisingly heavy.

I can do the Lotus position but I cannot touch my toes.

I love silence and can be guaranteed to sit in silence unless I am actively watching a television programme or listening to the radio. This is funny because I am married to a lovely man who likes the radio on wherever he is. I also love being outside. Being outside in the garden, in the sunshine, in the quiet, eating a piece of bread and butter and thinking about doing something in the greenhouse is my idea of near to heaven. All it lacks is my family, my bed and a glass of wine.

From my desk in Canary Wharf I can see the Milennium dome. From my desk at home I can see the pigsties.

I can interpret a set of accounts, speak a bit of Welsh, happily deliver a speech to hundreds. I can't dive, ski, do mental arithmetic or bear to watch The X Factor.