Wednesday 12 June 2013

The Liebster Award!

Thank you so much to lovely Debs at Debs Daydreams in the Potting Shed for the Liebster Award.



The rules of the Liebster Award are:

Thank your Liebster Blog Award nominator on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you;

Answer the eleven questions from the nominator;

List eleven random facts about yourself:

Present the Liebster Blog Award to up to eleven other blogs that you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been chosen;

Pass on the eleven questions to your nominees, or create new ones;

Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.

1. What’s your favourite novel and what do you love about it?

I can’t choose just one, but I will read and reread books by Stephen King, Anne Tyler, Deric Longden, Bill Bryson and Colin Cotterill.

2. Do you have any pet peeves in fiction?

I’m probably guilty of this myself, but too many speech tags with ly in them. He said heartily, she said slowly, he said passionately, she said blithely. I don’t mind a few, but too many are distracting. I once tried to read a book which had them for every single bit of dialogue - and there was a lot of dialogue. It is the one time I have literally thrown a book in frustration.

3. What are you most proud of?

My children. They’ve all turned out pretty well considering they had the disadvantage of me as a parent!

4. Your most and least favourite people in history?

Likes:

Wendy Valentine, founder of Redwings and later, Hillside Animal Sanctuary. Not really “history”, but all the same, she’s a favourite person.

Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, Labour MP who fought tooth and nail to bring us the National Health Service without which neither of my parents would have survived my childhood – make of that what you may!

Dislikes:

Matthew Hopkins (1620 – 1647 allegedly) Evil, just plain, downright evil and anyone who has persecuted others because of their race, religion, sex or whatever.

The massive scale of cruelty to animals that goes on every day - worldwide - to put meat on plates, eggs in egg cups and milk on cornflakes - so those people, who do and have done that. 

5. The country, city or other place you’d most like to visit?

Northumberland, particularly Seahouses - I don't know why, it's just somewhere I've always wanted to go.

6. Which five people would you like to meet (dead, alive, or fictional)?

My great grandmother, Isabella, who was widowed with 9 children and went to seek a better life in Canada and the USA in 1908, working as an exhibition cook.



Her husband, Charles, who died after he fell into the dry dock at Rotterdam.

My great uncle Laurie, son of the above, who died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.  Laurie was a Company Sergeant Major and skilled signaller in the 1st Battalion of the Border Regiment. I would love to see a photo of him.

Ann Boleyn – just because.

Dr Siri Paiboun – hero of Colin Cotterill’s series of books about Laos’s only coroner – failing that, I’d like to meet his creator.

7. What makes you laugh the most?

Lots of things make me laugh, but there is one person who makes me cry with laughter and that is Peter Kay.

8. If you could know the future, what would you wish for?

Good health and happiness for my family and a future without fear or pain for all living things, human and otherwise.

9. If you won the lottery and could donate money to charity, which charity would you choose – and why?

Hillside Animal Sanctuary. They look after so many animals, plus they do investigations into animal cruelty. That must be the hardest thing in the world to do; to observe and film cruelty and not be able to intervene.
  
10. Do you suffer from any little phobias or superstitions?

Tractors, spiders and I hate the number 53 and associate it with bad luck.

11. What’s your favourite guilty pleasure?

Playing computer games.

Eleven random facts about me…

1. I met a proper gangster once when I worked for a solicitor and he said, “What’s a beautiful girl like you doing in a place like this?” Which I thought was wonderful! He bypassed the reception downstairs and came straight up to my office.

2. Also whilst working for the solicitor (bear in mind this is a small town) some Hari Krishna guys in their orange robes bypassed the reception and came up to my office. They gave me some incense sticks and left.

3. I stood next to Felix Bowness at the traffic lights waiting to cross the road. He struck me as being incredibly clean and smart. He was here filming Hi-de-Hi and my daughter was a child extra in the final series.

4. I have seen Big Movie Star Clive Owen around town doing his shopping – go me! He is patron of our local cinema The Electric Palace which I used to play in as a child before it was restored.

5. I cannot stop growing money plants (Chinese Jade plants). When a bit breaks off, I can’t bear to throw it away so I put it in water and it takes root. At the moment I have seven, but I have given lots away recently. Anyone like a money plant?

6. I got lost in Woolworths in Clacton when I was very small. My mum found me by following the screams.

7. Sometimes if a train ferry was in and I had to get across the railway line while they were shunting trucks, the shunters used to let me climb through the train to get past. My mum went mad when she found out.

8. Also as a child I went up to the top of the train ferry terminal with lovely Mr Calver who operated the ramp. It was very high and steep (well I was very small). He also used to get me a ticket to go on the Parkeston Quay outing to Butlins at Clacton on a coach which was fantastic fun.

9. I was expelled from Sunday school.

10. I was banned from the local library.

11. I am cripplingly shy. Yeah I know, who’d have thunk it eh? But I am and it really does impact on my life.

Sorry if I’ve already told you about any of these – there is so little to tell!

My nominees are: (please feel free not to take this up):



Joanne at A Zigzag Road

Joanna at Brightwriter60


All lovely writers with lovely blogs!


36 comments:

  1. Thanks Teresa for thinking of me. Oh poor little you crying, no, screaming in Woolies. Somebody was always screaming in Woolies, or pinching sweets from the pick and mix. I didn't do either of course:))))xx

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    1. Ooh lovely pick and mix :-) I remember they used to sell grapes in our local Woolies and you could buy a bag of loose ones that had fallen off the bunches really cheap :-) x

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  2. Congratulations Teresa! And what interesting and unusual things you have said. I had to look up money plants and realised I once had one. But it went white and pale and then died. I wonder what I did wrong.

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    1. Blimey, Jenny - it is nigh impossible to kill a money plant. Not that I've tried. Sounds like yours had some sort of virus or something. I've even left mine outside (they like a bit of sun and rain occasionally) overnight in a frost by mistake and they've looked a bit miserable, but always recovered :-) x

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  3. Thank you for nominating me! What interesting people you have met. I'd like a money plant! Do they work?

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    1. They don't seem to attract money, Joanne. Sadly! But they do look different depending on where you put them. In a sunny window the leaves grow big and sometimes have red round the edges. In a dark room, the leaves are small and very dark green. It's a very forgiving plant :-) x

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  4. This is fascinating, Teresa. How little we know about out online writing friends: for example the fact that you are shy to the point of it affecting your life - that's something I would never have imagined. I'm dying to know why you were expelled from Sunday school and the origin of your 53 phobia.

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    1. I can be very brave with the written word, Wendy! Just not so good meeting people in real life. I was expelled from Sunday School for playing the piano and probably generally being a pain in the neck. I don't know why I have such a thing about 53 - my husband didn't know about it until he read this post! Odd isn't it, but then so am I :-) x

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  5. Great answers, Teresa!

    How wonderful that Clive Owen supports The Electric Palace, good for him. So he's a good guy as well as handsome! I've also got a couple of Chinese Jade plants and this post reminds me that I need to water them soon.

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    1. I haven't been lucky enough to meet him, Debs, but I know several people who have and they say he's a really nice guy :-) Those plants go all wrinkly if you don't water them - wish watering worked to get out the wrinkles on peoples too :-) x

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  6. Awards are interesting. I epecially enjoy reading the questions.

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    1. Well the questions are more interesting than my answers :-) x

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  7. No, I would have never have thought of you as shy, but I guess the ideal place for a shy person is to be a novelist. A very interesting post Teresa.

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    1. It has been a perfect job for me, Maggie :-) x

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  8. Congratulations on the award, Teresa! It's been lovely to hear more about you. I agree it would be wonderful to be able to speak to some of our Ancestors, and Ann Boleyn. I have to ask why were you banned from the local library? x

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    1. Thanks, Sharon. Our library was in an old school and my mum would spend hours (or so it seemed to me) scouring the shelves. I'd choose my books in about ten seconds. Then I'd get fed up! Not sure what I did, but they told my mum to leave me outside in the playground in future :-) x

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  9. Love the answers, Teresa - I'm another who didn't know you were shy. Laughed when I read you were expelled from Sunday school and banned from the library, you naughty girl!

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    1. After I'd been banned to the playground at the library, I found a standard poodle tied up outside, untied him and took him inside and told my mum I'd be taking him home with us. Luckily his owner was very understanding. My poor mum! She must have been in a constant state of embarrassment :-) x

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  10. Excellent answers, Teresa. Congrats on the great award x

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  11. Aww what great facts Teresa. And thanks for nominating me. Being a bit of a technophobe I'm not even sure how to post your name and link it back on my bloggie thing - or how to put up the award. I've a feeling I'm going to fail! Caroline x

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    1. Don't worry about linking back to me, Caroline! If you want to do it, go ahead - it's fun :-) You can save the award picture by right clicking on it and "save image as" - but you don't even have to do that. And if you don't want to do it, that's fine too - it took me AGES to write this post, but I suppose it is writing of a sort isn't it :-) x

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  12. Hello Teresa, thanks for passing on the award to me. I'll have the post up in a day or two. My usual Friday post went up last night so I think I'll wait till at least Monday for the next one!

    Some of your answers are quite intriguing. A shy and modest person that you are, I can't imagine you being banned from anywhere. How very strange. I'd say there's a story there.

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    1. Look forward to reading yours, Maria - your posts are always so interesting and entertaining :-) x

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  13. I really enjoyed reading your answers on here, Teresa. My wife once owned a horse and she also supports Redwings.

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    1. Thanks, Keith. Redwings is a wonderful charity :-) x

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  14. Fantastic post Teresa - really interesting and intriguing answers. You obviously loved animals from a very early age when you couldn't bear to see the poodle tied up outside the library! I had to laugh at you being expelled from Sunday School and banned from the library :o) xx

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    1. He was such a beautiful, friendly dog, Sue :-) If I wasn't kidnapping dogs I was begging people to let me take their dogs out for walks :-) x

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  15. Arrhhh, the lovely Mr. Calver of the train ferry ... my father -in-law!! He married Pete's mum, when Pete was 18. George was a fantastic FiL, and grandad to my children. I used to love the coach trips, he was friends of my father before I knew my hubby, and always got tickets for us. Small world!

    One week today we will be back in the hometown!

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    1. I bet he was a wonderful FiL, Glynis :-) We were probably on the coaches together and didn't even know! My favourite part of the Butlins trip was going into that indoor pool which had windows to the outside so you could swim under water and see people walking past - a shame it's all gone now x

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  16. Yes, he was lovely. He fought his cancer with dignity, and strength. Those trips were fun, and we were probably on the coach together, as you say!

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  17. Congrats Teresaaaaaa. You great grandma Isabella sounds so intriguing, maybe you write a story based on her life :).

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    1. Thank you, Petronela - it's something I've always wanted to do, maybe I should do it now (there is so much to tell) :-) x

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  18. Thank you so much for this lovely nomination, Teresa. I am sorry for the late response. I don't know how I managed to miss this post back in June. I really enjoyed reading it this morning and am intrigued by your number fifty-three.

    Like you, I am very shy and have spent my whole life trying to deal with it. I was very happy when I read Marianne Faithfull's autobiography and in it she said she admired shy people. I saw myself in a whole new light and realised it wasn't something I needed to hide. xx

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    1. That's lovely, Joanna - it's nice to hear someone say that there's nothing wrong with being shy for a change. I find people who aren't shy just don't get it and think we should somehow "snap out of it!"

      It amazes me how much that number crops up - all over the place! I can't seem to get away from it :-) x

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