Tagged Again!

I was tagged by Furtheron

1. Do you put up a real tree or artificial?
Artificial – I can’t stand all those needles falling, even on the “non drop” trees. However I do love the smell of a real tree in the warmth of the room.

2. When do you put up your tree?
Usually around the middle of December but this year has been a bit odd with all the travelling I have been doing and I have put up the tree and house lights in stages.

3. When do you take down the tree?
Usually the weekend before returning to work as I can’t stand the thought of having to do it when I come home at night after a day’s work.

4. Do you like eggnog?
No

5. Favourite gift received as a child?
Blimey – Amazing coincidence with Furtheron here as a bit like his castle, my most treasured gift was a fort and soldiers. Unlike Furtheron, I don’t still have it.

6. Worst Christmas gift ever received?
A really naff wine cooler from my brother which then became the basis of a joke between us as we strove for the best way to disguise it as we passed it between us each alternative Christmas.

7. Favourite Christmas movie?
The Snowman even though it is only 26 minutes long

8. Have you ever recycled a present?
Only the wine cooler

9. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas?
Christmas Pudding

10. Favourite Christmas song?
Gaudete by Steeleye Span

11. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The continual commercial push of Christmas instead of the priority of goodwill and happiness.

12. What you love most about the holiday?
Brisk Christmas Day walks in the cold fresh air to walk off the lunch!

13. How many reindeer did Santa have?
Eight I think

14. Best Christmas memory?
The first year that my children really understood what it was all about and the early morning “can we open our presents now?” It was only 2 a.m.

15. If you could have one Christmas wish what would it be?
To spend it together with both my sons

I tag - Merelyme who I know loves this stuff from time to time and I hope it will help pull her through her current low.

Hmm maybe I'm not working as hard as I should today

I think maybe it is the lack of emails over the past two days from my American colleagues who have been celebrating Thanksgiving, but I seem to have spent more time today on frivolous things than I should have done.
I managed to complete the meme that Welshcakes Limoncello set a few posts ago. I don't normally like to do many of these as I always feel pushed into them by someone who has tagged me. However Welshcakes has the secret, post it and leave the unspoken challenge for others to follow without actually tagging them - devious huh?

Well here is my version of 7x8

8 things I’m passionate about:
1. My marriage (I'm not screwing up another one!)
2. Motorcycling
3. Books
4. Music
5. Bad manners and unruly behaviour
6. Bad driving
7. Always doing my best at anything I do
8. Food

8 things to do before I die:
1. Learn to play the guitar reasonably well
2. Visit Hong Kong
3. A Motorcycle Track day
4. Climb a mountain (well maybe a small one)
5. Pass my Advanced Driving Test in a car to pair with the motorcycle pass
6. Visit The Orkney Islands
7. Learn to play Bridge
8. Get my golf handicap to 18 or less!

8 things I say often:
1. Red or White? (wine)
2. Oh OK then I’ll have another one please
3. We need to use some pragmatism here
4. Have you seen my ………
5. I’m sure I put it there
6. It would be rude not to
7. I’ll do it next week
8. When was the last time you did something you’ve never done before?

8 books I’ve read recently:
1. The Bourne Ultimatum – Robert Ludlum
2. Black Seconds – Karin Fossum
3. Bleachers – John Grisham
4. Skipping Christmas – John Grisham
5. The Midnight Club – James patterson
6. Winter in Madrid – C J Sansom
7. Lord of the Rings – J R R Tolkien (Again!)
8. How to be a Gardener – Alan Titchmarsh


8 songs I could listen to over and over:
1. Gerdundula – Status Quo
2. Parisienne Walkways – Gary Moore
3. Sarah – Thin Lizzy
4. Freebird – Lynrd Skynrd
5. Albatross – Fleetwood Mac
6. Cavatina – John Williams
7. Wheel in the Sky - Journey
8. Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits

8 qualities I look for in a best friend:
1. Be trustworthy.
2. Be kind
3. Available in times of need
4. Humourous
5. Don’t be narrow-minded .
6. Not too good a golfer
7. Supportive
8. Approachable

8 people I’m passing this on to:
Anyone who feels like doing it. [I promised you didn't I?]

By the way I forgot to mention that I had my regular eye test last week and I am going to try to wear a pair of Varifocals. Should be fun for a week or two. I will let you know when I get them so you can stay off the road for a while!

I've been tagged by Furtheron over at Further on up the road. This is a meme sponsored by OptimistLab. Thank you Furtheron for the tag. It is quite spooky that you should do this just at a time when I desperately need to raise my vibes as you know I am most definitely am not in a good place right now.
Here are the rules...more details on OptimistLab's website:

1.Write a new post about your five favorite tricks for “Raising Your Vibes”.
2.Link back to OptimistLab and the person who tagged you at the top of your post.
3.Give your attention to five (or more if you want) deserving bloggers by picking one high-quality post by each blogger.
4.Tag these bloggers by going to high Vibe it, (a news sharing site), and submitting your “Raising Your Vibes” post and the five posts you picked.
5.Tell each blogger you picked that they’ve been tagged either through email or by leaving a comment.

How I Raise My Vibes

Several other's reponses to this meme seem to have similar traits of very personal or solitary ways of raising vibes. I guess this is probably similar to meditation which I have tried in small degrees through Yoga. I must get back to it again it really does help.
1. Gardening
Especially on my allotment. I just love the solitude with the glimpses of wildlife when I am the only gardener there. The very fact that I can see the fruits of my labours, even in the fallow season when improving the soil, gives me a tremendous lift.
2. Motorcycling
Once again although this is most times not a solitary activity as of course there is always other traffic around, it is a personal challenge to ride quickly (not fast) but safe and to anticipate all road conditions and hazards. My advanced riding instructor always recounted to me the number of times riders had told him he was 'lucky that the traffic conditions were just right for him say on the approach to a roundabout'. His counter to that was that he made the conditions right by anticipating and arriving at the right time!
The end of a good ride has me walking on air.
3. Reading Blogs
There are two reasons why this helps me.
Firstly there are so many blogs containing inspirational material and that make me realise there are always other ways to look at life's problems.
Secondly, I am always finding that there are others out there who are coping with issues far greater than those that I am finding in my life. This in itself gives me an automatic lift through the metaphoric kick up the ass!
4. Reading
I am not exactly an avid reader but have always got a book 'on the go'. I don't seem to favour any particular genre, mixing between accounts of daring exploration of the mountains and seas, through biographies to historic novels. Once again a somewhat solitary recreation in which I can always lose myself and find something inspirational to raise my vibes.
5. Music
Varying from classics to rock depending on my mood, music always changes my current feelings and attitude very swiftly. I favour instrumental even though I cannot play a note myself, but some vocals can move me also.

Now for tagging 5 others:
Furtheron has made this somewhat difficult as we tend to have many common blog reads. I wonder what that should be telling us about our life attitudes?
I would have included Shellz whose 'Self Talk' post I have mentioned here before and also Tabula Rasa/Multiple Synchronicities and Sclerosis for the same reasons that Furtheron mentions. As in 3 above, Andromeda makes me feel so small when I consider the way in which she has tackled her difficulties in life.
So in no particular order I tag :-
Dave at Flight Level 390 for his amazing photos and his ability to take us mere passengers into his world of flying with posts such as Taxiway Charlie and Two Old Guys
Liz at Finding Life Hard for her down to earth and homely (to say nothing of her Raisin Bread recipe) posts,but more importantly for her low key writing about her religion without it being in your face. makes me think often with posts such as 'Well God what are you going to do?'
Cynnie at Waiting For Life to Start. I know that she has gone offline for a little while but this should give her something to think about on her return. Dear Cynnie has such a wacky outlook on life that I can never wait to see what she has posted next such as 'Sometimes I Do Live In Paradise'
Suzanne at CUSS. I often feel that I am not supposed to be at her Blog as it is a very female site, but once again her wacky outlook on life such as in 'Showerin' at the Car Wash Yeah' always lift me.
I have just realised that many of my regular reads are folks who are very artistic with a high incidence of writers and also the truly artistic final tag
French Toast Girl who inspires me to increase my skills by her tremendous talent. See her daily posts in May.

Tagged - AGAIN!

I don' always play ball with these tags, but if the content appeals and I have been tagged by someone whose blog I respect and like to read I am game.
This time I have been tagged by Liz with a meme that had me thinking quite hard and I am still not sure if I have got all my thoughts on the questions out here.

1. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?
So this got me to thinking about why I even started this blog. The honest answer is that I don't really know. I think it was because I was regularly reading some and was attracted by the camaraderie that was obviously being generated by regular commenters and by lists of blogs that folks liked to read. So I thought that I liked the opportunity to join a community like that.
To accomplish what? Well nothing earth shattering but simply to share some of my life's daya to day experiences with anyone who wants to share. Let's face it if they don't then they won't and I will be none the wiser!

2. Are you a spiritual person?
Is this religious or what?
I used to be religious and attend church regularly, but I am sorry to say that I became very cynical about the continuing dogmatic way that the church seemed to conduct itself. Funnily enough I am not so sure that is true any more. However I beleive that I still conduct myself and my life with basic Christian morals.
As to non-religious spiritualism, I do strongly believe in self belief, mind training and the power of mind over matter.

3. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want to have with you?
Music. I am not sure how I would get it except maybe for a wind-up radio as I can't make any for myself, but I really couldn't get by without any.
Reading material. It would be nice to have an unending supply (but of course I don't even know how long I am here for). So I would go for Lord of the Rings, Catch 22 and to regain my religious spiritualism The Bible.

4. What's your favourite childhood memory?
At the age of about 8 purposefully getting lost in a field in the thickest fog I can remember and then finding my way out.

5. Is this your first meme?
No, I've done several others

I'm supposed to tag 5 but sorry guys, I will settle on Cynnie and Andromeda