Absence & Award....

Goodness it's been a while since I posted. Not sure why. Lots of things happening at once I guess but that's really no excuse..... I must admit that sometimes I spend so much of my free time (of which there's definitely not enough) reading other people's blogs, that I run out of time to post on my own!!! Crazy isn't it? But then I really don't want to post just for the sake of posting so perhaps it's good to have a break now and again. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.....

I've been doing a little crochet and a bit of knitting but I'll post about those in the next couple of days. For now I just wanted to tell you that I've been nominated for ANOTHER award by TWO different people!! I'm soooo chuffed, particularly because I haven't been posting quite so often. Anyway the award is the Sunshine Award and my first nomination came from Shelley at All4MeggyMoo and my second from Helen at 26 Minutes Past - please pop over and visit with them both.....

Just with any other award, this one has rules and here they are:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you .....so many thanks to Shelley and Helen.
2. Answer 10 questions about your favourite things - see below.
3. Nominate 10 blogs and let them know - also, see below.

So, here goes with my 10 questions.....

1. Favourite animal - this was easy, elephants. Who doesn't love them? They're so huge and gentle and gorgeous and living in South Africa I can actually see them in the wild by driving a couple of hours from my home, so how lucky am I? They are truly majestic creatures and very spiritual. If you haven't read The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony then you should, you really should.

2. Favourite number - mmmmm tricky. I have quite a few but if pinned down to one then it would probably be 17. My mom's birthday is on the 17th June, I was married on 17th December, our second home was No 17 and my youngest son was born on 17th September. I think those are pretty good reasons to like it.

3. Favourite non alcoholic drink. That would have to be Rooibos tea. I use to drink gallons of proper tea (usually PG Tips) but when I stopped smoking (nearly 2 years ago now - YAY for me!) tea suddenly tasted awful!!! I don't know why that happened but it did so I switched to Rooibos and have stayed with it ever since. It's delicious and I know I couldn't get through the day without it .....

4. Facebook or Twitter - neither really but if pushed it would be Facebook. I signed up about 18 months ago like everyone else on the planet but have since realised that I really don't want to know what everyone else is doing 24 hours a day. It's nice to pop in now and again and check out what's happening and for a quick 'news bulletin' to friends and family it's great but I don't log on every day and I worry about people that do......sorry. I've had a look at Twitter and follow a couple of celebs every now and again (mainly Stephen Fry who is my all time favourite person) but apart from that, nothing else.

5. My Passion - well I have two really - knitting and crochet. There isn't an evening that goes by without me doing one or the other in front of the TV. I just can't sit and watch TV without creating something. I love crochet for the speed of it, the 'quick fix' instant creativity thing that happens but I love the melody of knitting, the structure and the end products.  Wool is my drug and I cannot walk past a wool shop without going in and buying something. We own a bookshop which I love but I would dearly love to own a wool shop too.....

6. Getting or giving. Giving definitely. That's not to say that I don't like getting but if I have money in my pocket I would much rather spend it on someone else (usually my kids) than on myself. There is nothing I need or want (except more wool, of course) but I would rather buy for someone else. It's more fun.

7. Favourite Pattern - I don't really have one but I love the Neat Ripple Pattern from Lucy over at Attic24 and it was my first real adventure into crochet so it has a special place in my heart. I would never have tackled it from a book but Lucy's tutorials are so easy to follow that you really can't go wrong.

8. Favourite day of the week - this has to be Saturday. It's my only day that I don't do work of any kind - some days I teach preschool and some days I work in our bookshop - but on Saturdays I just get to stay at home with my kids and do whatever I want which is soooooo precious!!! I wouldn't swap my Saturdays for all the tea in China or in fact, all the wool in the world!

9. Favourite flower. Another easy one, the daffodil. What's not to love? So bright and cheerful. So happy and gloriously brassy. So in your face. To me daffs say 'Move over Winter, Spring is here!!!' and that's always a very very welcome message in my book.

10. Favourite country. Although I live in South Africa I have to say that my favourite country is England and it always will be. I was born in London and although I've travelled extensively, my heart will forever be in England and it will always be my true home.

So that's me and my answers. I hope you enjoyed them. Here are my 10 blog nominations for the Sunshine Award.....

1. Matt at According to Matt
2. Veggie Gobbler
3. Mark at Mark's Veg Plot
4. Happy Loves Rosie
5. Living With Punks
6. Jane at Hook and Yarn
7. Jules at  Little Woolie
8. The Adventures of the Gingerbread Lady
9. Kashi
10. Sarah

Well, there they are. I love to visit them and I hope you will too.

Til soon.
xxx