Five Things About Me . . .

This is a photograph Todd took of me on our last big holiday.  Not a good photo I know.  I'm not that photogenic.  It was taken in Austria when we went on a Sound of Music bus tour I guess that would be six years ago now!  (My goodness how time flies!)   We had a fantastic time and both really enjoyed that holiday so much.   That is one thing Todd and I have in common.  We both love to travel and to see new places.





We adored Austria.  It was so very beautiful.  But the best part of being there was being there together.   In any case, it's Thursday and we all know what that means . . .  Five Things About Me and the first one is I love, LOVE to travel, see new places and meet new people.  Life is too short to spend it all at home.



I make new friends wherever I go.   These are the two Phils.  Philomena and Phillip, an Irish couple that we met on that holiday.  They were sitting in front of us on the coach.  They were such lovely people and we really enjoyed spending time with them.   We are still friends to this day.  They just live up in Blackpool.  They came down to see us when we were still in Kent and spent a weekend, and we have been up to Blackpool to see them as well.   They truly are great people and like the Irish have the gift of gab and endearing personalities.   We love them to bits.



I love exploring stone gardens/cemetaries.  (This was the one that was in the Sound of Music.)   I always find them so fascinating.  The older the cemetary the better.  I love to wander amongst the headstones and read them, and think about the people and wonder about their lives.   Did you know there is a Plague Cemetary in Chester, dating back to the Black Plague?  There is.  My friend Sandra says that her mother wouldn't let them play there when they were children for fear that they would catch the plague from it.  (I don't think that could happen do you?  But then again, you never know.)   There is also a Titanic Cemetary in Halifax back home which is pretty interesting and here in Blacon, where I live there is a Canadian Soldier one filled with white crosses from the two World Wars.   Blacon used to be an army camp before it became a housing estate.



I have a fascination for old churches and cathedrals.   The ones in Germany and Austria are just gorgeous with lots of gilt and statuary.



When we visited Todtmoos in the Black Forest, there was a Pink Baroque church in the village  not too far from the hotel we were staying at.  It doesn't seem to matter what faith is practiced in a church, they all hold a portion of the spirit that you can feel when you enter into them.    At least I can feel it at any rate!  It's like the weight of a million prayers brushing against you, but not in a bad way . . .



Of course the most famous cathedral/churches I have been in is the Bascilica at Lourdes, in an area of France which borders on the Spanish Pyrenees.



We picnicked in a garden just outside the Bascilica grounds and met a most unsual travelling Dwarf.  (There's that love of meeting new people again!)  We shared our lunch with him.



I found it all very fascinating and there were tons and tons of people there.  Especially around the Grotto of Saint Bernadette.   I can only imagine what it would be like on one of the Catholic Religious holidays.  One of my favourite things which we did  was to follow the stations of the cross which were on a hill/mountain next to the Basilica.



Fifteen different "stations" representing Christ's journey to the cross, each one marked with 
the most beautiful statuary that I have ever seen and the most meaningful, in that they were each  life-size statues. The fifteen stations begin at the base of the hillside/mountain. The way of the cross follows a very steep path that winds its way around the mountain. One has to be in pretty solid shape to make the steep climb, but it was well worth the effort and a very spiritual experience.




Another fascinating one we have been in is the Cathedral as Strasbourg in France/Germany.  (Strasbourg is a city right on the border of France and Germany and has been alternately French and German throughout the centuries. I think it is in France at the moment.)



It houses one of the world's largest and oldest astronomical clocks dating back to the 16th century.  You can go in and see it at any time, but in order to see it in "action" they shoo you out and you have to buy a ticket to get back in for noon which is when everything starts to move.



If you listen carefully you can hear the rooster crow three times.  It is fascinating.   And you just got to see it in action for free.  (IF you watched the video that is!)



I like Diet Coke.  Not Pepsi.   Diet Coke.  I can tell the difference and I hate it when I order a Diet Coke in a restaurant and they neglect to tell me they don't do Diet Coke, just Diet Pepsi.  Pepsi is sweeter and I don't like it.



I just LOVE dolls.  If I had room for them and lots of money to spend I would collect them.  Alas I have neither.  I do have a special doll that Todd bought me in Germany and I have a vintage Barbie doll, but that is all.   Oh, and the little wool/felt dolls that I have made.  I have loved dolls since I was a girl.   I had one that my Grandmother had bought me and some neighborhood kid tore the head off, which broke my heart.  My dad taped it back on.   Then I had a very large fashion doll that my Aunt Freda gave to me that Uncle Harold had bought for her.  Mom says Uncle Harold was angry with her for giving it to me.   It shows how much she loved me.  I also had a Little Miss Eaton Doll that I got for Christmas one year, who looked like Chatty Cathy, but who wasn't Chatty Cathy . . .  she came with a chest of clothes to wear and was better than Chatty Cathy.  I tied a string around her neck and she said whatever I wanted her to, unlike Cathy who only had a very limited vocabulary!   I had a Barbie of course and a posable hard plastic fashion doll and a box of small hard rubber dolls of the world.  I wish I still had them! 

And that's my five things about me for this week!  I hope I didn't bore you too much!

A thought to carry with you through today . . .


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Precisely the least, the softest,
lightest, wren's rustling, a breath,
a breeze, a moment's glance . . .
it is little that makes the best happiness.
~Friedrich Nietzche
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In The English Kitchen today  . . .  deliciously simple Maple Baked Butter Beans.

Have a fabulous Thursday, always remember . . .
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And I do too!