Meet Me on Monday...

Hosted by Java at Never Growing Old, here are today's questions.
1.  Did you get any Valentine's gifts?2.  What is your favourite topping on something toasted?3.  Do you pick out your outfit the night before?4.  What food item do you absolutely despise?5.  Righty or left?
1.  No, I think Valentine's Day is weird... see A Post for Valentine's Day.
2.  I love most things on toast, but my favourites would have to be mushrooms, and also tahini with banana. Sometimes I take this to work with me and make my friend Sandra jealous as she loves it too.  Sometimes she brings it in to make me jealous.  Such is our entertainment...
3.  Ha, ha, no.  This would suggest a degree of organisation of which I am just not capable :O)
4.  Licquorice, aniseed and marmalade. The foods of satan.
5.  I'm right handed but strangely, I eat with my fork in my left hand and my knife in my right. My old piano teacher always said she wanted my left hand - which I found frankly disturbing.

Meet Me on Monday...

More Monday questions from Java at Never Growing Old...
1.  Did you watch the Superbowl?What's the Superbowl? :O) Seriously, no, I'm English so it's not really a big thing here.  We have more than enough sport of our own on tv, which I always avoid. (Do you know, when I typed this question out my finger hit the wrong key and I wrote Superbowel at first! LOL!)
2.  What is the last book you read?The Killing Place by Tess Gerritson.  I read a lot and usually have more than one book on the go, David thinks I'm mad, but I think it comes from my study of literature when I had to be reading one or more books at the same time as writing about others.
3.  What is your favourite kind of cake?Gingerbread Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. They are seriously good.
4.  Do you snore?Yes if I lie on my back - David has to poke me in the ribs to make me turn over.  My half-sister's snores are so loud she wakes herself up sometimes!
5.  Do you play an instrument?Yes, at school Music and English were my best subjects. I play piano (studied it to grade 5 and would love to own one again if we ever had a big enough house), am trying to learn classical guitar, and was forced into playing bassoon in the school orchestra when I was studying O Level Music (I hated it! I wanted to play the oboe but they didn't have one spare at the time).  I wasn't dedicated enough when I was younger, but now I wish I had worked harder at music and could have made a living as a musician (I remember a Career's Teacher telling me it wasn't practical - what is it with those people?  Smash people's dreams and ambitions why don't you!).

Meet Me on Monday...

Yes it's Monday again - I can't believe it!  First of all apologies to anyone who read that I was moving my blog elsewhere, for various reasons I've had to shelve the idea so please don't abandon me!  Anyway here we go...
1.  What is your favourite kind of fudge?I don't actually like fudge!  I find it too sweet (my friend Cath loves it, I think her favourite is banana flavoured).  Now if it were chocolate... now we're talking!  It has to be dark chocolate, and my favourite is called Celtic Free From Luxury Chocolate...  Mmmmmmmmm!  

2.  Is there snow outside your window?The very short answer to that is no.  The forecast for today is a cloudy, chilly day with brisk north-westerly winds, and then rain/drizzle for most of the week.  I'll be at work so don't care anyway! I'm not one of those people who moans about the weather, although it seems to be a national pastime in England. I think it stems from when my Mum was terminally ill, all she wanted to do was come home and be able to sit outside in her garden one last time, and she never got to do it.  Now I'm just grateful I can go out in whatever weather every day. And I like the rain anyway! :O)
3.  What is your favourite meal of the day?Hmmmm, tough one that, probably breakfast, especially if it involves mushrooms on toast.  I just love mushrooms on toast...

4.  Do you text on your mobile phone?
Yes! I do it a lot, much more than I make calls.  I'm usually in touch with at least one of my friends by text every day.  The music I have on my phone to alert me to a text message is Bach's Toccata and Fugue. (I love Bach almost as much as I love chocolate, and mushrooms on toast).

My phone - the front screen tells me the time and what the weather is like

- it doesn't always get it right... We had brilliant sunshine on Friday

and it predicted fog! :O)

5.  Waffles or pancakes?Well, waffles aren't really that common over here, and I think pancakes probably mean something different to me than it would to anyone in the USA.  I don't have a sweet tooth and I much prefer toast anyway.  Especially if it's crusty, home made bread.  And now I'm hungry...

We celebrate pancake day (see above image) in England on Shrove Tuesday (the day before the start of Lent), which is March 8th this year because Easter is so ridiculously late that it comes a week before the May Day Bank Holiday!!!!  Will someone please standardise it before we're eating Easter Eggs in June?
(All images courtesy of Google)

Meet me on Monday...

Crikey, how can it be Monday again so soon?  Although this week there is the release of Jo Nesbo's lastest Harry Hole book to look forward to... I have my Christmas book tokens ready and clutched in my hot little hand and can't wait to start reading it.  Anyway, I digress (yet again).  I decided to join in with Java's Meet me on Monday meme.  Each Monday she poses five questions for people to post and answer on their blogs, so here goes (and for once the photos aren't mine):
1.  Do you like your ice-cream in a dish or cone?I've never been a big fan of ice-cream, I'd rather have a starter than a dessert in a restaurant, and if I had anything similar at home it would probably be Swedish Glace, chocolate flavoured, served in a dish (although I'd rather have chocolate soya dessert poured over fresh fruit salad), mmmmmm :O)

2.  Do you read the newspaper daily?

No, one reason is I just don't get time, the other is I'd read The Guardian or The Times, and they're far too expensive to buy every day.  I tend to use the internet for news, usually the BBC.

3.  Marinara or meat sauce?

Well I don't eat meat so I'd have to say marina.  My favourite sauce for pasta however is just a teaspoon or two of a pesto type - I just love it.  Couldn't find a picture of vegan pesto sauce so here's some Sacla instead.

4.  Last time you cried? Not sure, but not long ago, probably a few weeks back and probably something to do with pmt!  I did have a lump in my throat at some parts of Battlestar Galactica which we've been watching on DVD...  Some films make me cry, I was an emotional wreck after watching Silent Running, in fact just the thought of the ending has brought a tear to my eye, sniff sniff... I cry quite easily, but not as easily as my half-sister, who has been known to blub at adverts on the tv (yes, really).  

5.  What word/phrase do you find really annoying?When weather forecasters say 'precipitation' instead of 'rain', even the Met Office use it on their website.  When did that start?  Teeth-grating stuff.  Also when people (including some U.S. presidents) say 'nucular' instead of 'nuclear'.  My least favourite word though has to be when people describe their husbands as 'hubby', it makes me want to scream.  David would never refer to me as 'wifey', or if he did the men in white coats would be carting him off as I'd know he'd finally flipped.  (Misplaced apostrophes also drive me up the wall but I don't think they count as a word/phrase!).

AAAAAaaaaaargh!!!!!
Link up with more Meet me on Mondays at Java's Never Growing Old.