There's No Time Like the Present

First of all I'd like to thank you for the very lovely comments you left about my shawl and outfit for the wedding. Only that I had said I would show you what it was like, I think I probably wouldn't have bothered posting my photos! I really don't like seeing myself but in the end I just went ahead and did the post.

Well, I'm delighted to have been nominated for another Liebster award, this time by Jodie of Lupey Loops blog. I really enjoy reading Jodie's blog which is very interesting and informative. There's no time like right now to just go ahead and answer my questions.

Jodie has suggested that her nominees select between five and ten of the questions she was posed and to answer them in any language. I'm going to stick to English! So, here goes.

What is the composition of your family?

My husband and I and my father all live together. I have two grown-up sons who no longer live at home. 

Do you have pets?

We have a Jack Russell terrier – not full bred. She’s getting old and tired now but still has bursts of energy. We keep hens as well and my husband is a beekeeper. The hens and bees aren’t really pets! Here's a picture of me with some of the bees.

What do you love to do besides crochet or knitting?

I like reading, playing the piano and cooking or baking.

What is your occupation?

I am a computer programmer (software developer). I’m still writing programs for the mainframe so I'm a dinosaur programmer!

What do you really dislike?

I suppose it depends when I’m asked the question what the answer will be. I dislike rudeness, false tan, bad grammar, not being able to do something as well as I’d like and wasps.

What is your biggest fear?

I’m very afraid of heights, especially if there is water below.

Do you have a large stash of materials?

In my opinion, yes I do. But when I see what some other people have then I realise it isn’t all that big. It’s all relative, I suppose.

Of which creative project are you most proud?

It’s hard to say. I’m very pleased with two of my latest projects; the sea glass shawl and the big cotton blanket.

I'll be doing a post soon about the blanket.

What else would you still really like to learn?

I’d like to learn how to spin yarn. I have a spinning wheel but don’t really know how to use it so I don’t try. I’m afraid of wrecking it!

Jodie didn't mention about passing on the award but I think that's the point, really. Since I've done this before, a few times, I'm just going to nominate a couple of other blogs.

Fourmi writes Frugal in France

Lina has gone back to writing Photo.Knit.Dog

Fourmi and Lina, can you please answer the same questions that I've answered? Or, if you prefer, just answer a selection of your own questions which will let us get to know you better. Then pass the award to some other small blog(s) that you enjoy reading.

All the best everyone. Hopefully my next post will be to show you my new crocheted blanket.

An Update and Liebster Award

Oh dear; I've had a bit of a blogging blip and not posted anything for what seems like a very long time. There's no particular reason for it so I'll just carry on as if nothing has happened. Which is precisely what did happen; on my blog that is; nothing.

I recently had a third Liebster award bestowed on me by Jo. Now Jo writes two blogs called Through the Keyhole and The Good Life both of which are well worth a visit. Since I've already done two previous Liebster posts (here and here), I've decided to make this a very mini one and only answer a few of Jo's questions and then pass the award to a few other blogs.

First I will give you three random facts about myself.

• I was going to be called Ruth but then my parents changed their minds and called me Gillian. No other names apart from my surname.
• I'm afraid of heights. Even seeing someone on a height on TV or in a photo makes me really anxious. I suppose it's not really the height that is the problem but being near an unprotected edge when I'm up high. It's getting worse; sometimes I feel like I can hardly breathe so try to avoid the situation if at all possible.
• I love coffee creams.

Now to answer just three of Jo's questions.

What is your dream holiday destination?
In May last year we had the opportunity to have what could only be described as a dream holiday. You can read about it here, here, here, and here. I also love visiting Skye for a holiday and must have been there ten times in the past eight years. You can read about our latest holiday there, last September, in this post, this, this and this. To be honest, it isn't so much the destination that makes a dream holiday but who you are with. Getting away to somewhere relaxing with good places to visit is my dream holiday. It doesn't even matter about the weather.

St. Petersburg

What is your earliest childhood memory?
The earliest memories I have would be from Peru. I remember seeing a snake climbing over the fence into our garden. I'm not sure what happened to it after that! It was a small snake. Another time I saw two men carrying an enormous snake which they had presumably been responsible for killing. They seemed pretty pleased with themselves. That's two memories but they're both about snakes so that's alright.

What is your favourite season and why?
This is very hard to answer for I like all the seasons. Winter is good because I love Christmas and being able to snuggle up in warm clothes and blankets. Summer is good for getting out in the garden. Spring and Autumn are beautiful when things are just coming back to life or beginning to die away; both make spectacular displays.

I'm going to pass on the Liebster award to the following blogs:

Valentina at Weaving Olden Patterns

Amalia at handmade by amalia

and Marco at Marco Alpha Fotografie

This is what you need to do, please:

•  tell us three random facts about yourself
• answer the three questions below
• nominate three bloggers for the award and let them know that they've been nominated

These are the three questions:

• do you prefer to cook for yourself or to eat out?
• would you like to be famous?
• is it better to have enough money to live comfortably or would you rather be rich?

Thanks again to Jo for nominating me for the award this time.

The title of the post said this was also an update. Just a quick update on the garden. Look what the husband made with the willow grown in the garden.

It's a frame for growing sweet pea. Some have already been planted at the base and I can't wait for them to flower in the summer.

We also bought some Norway Spruce and Scots pine. They are still very small. They are in our 'nursery' bed until they get a bit bigger.

The Norway spruce came from the market in Banbridge where we buy a lot of our plants. I thought I'd show you a few photos of it.

Of course, at this time of year, no post would be complete without some photos of our snowdrops.

All the best for now. Sorry it's been so long and I hope I'll be back again very soon. Must go and make some pancakes!