3/27/2012

Books, Chocolate and Liberty - What Better Topics ;)



1. What was your favourite book as a child?


I loved all the Enid Blyton books, and I spent many early mornings or evenings 'watching the smugglers arriving round the misty Butt'. I would have loved to have been one of the Famous Five. I would have been George, the tomboy who went nowhere without her adoring dog, Tim.


Another book I loved, and probably the one that stuck most with me was Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place. That book, along with other stories my father told us in our childhood, affected me in different ways:


- I have an abiding horror of what the power of the state can do. We must never, ever forget what happened in Germany in the 1940s, as well as what happened behind the Iron Curtain in communist USSR, and what is still happening in China. Liberty is not just a nice-sounding word in patriotic songs. It is what we ought to concentrate our efforts on establishing - if we do not have it - and on retaining - if we are blessed with it. We ought never to look to the State to be the guardian of our liberty or our well-being. I am frightened by what I see happening in my own beloved nation. Frightened, and saddened. 


- I developed a love for the Jews which has never left me. I weep over them and pray for them, and long for the day when they will look on Him whom they have pierced, and realize that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Messiah for whom they still wait. 


2. Dark chocolate, Milk Chocolate or White Chocolate?


Milk chocolate every time.  Indeed any time. Day or night. 


Now, where is that bar I hid on the kids?


3. What's your biggest 'peeve' when it comes to your kitchen?


(apart from the fact that my kids find the aforementioned hidden chocolate?)


I really dislike it when guys come in from outside, come through the Utility room where they could wash their hands and arrive at my kitchen sink to wash their grubby paws.


Get Down to the Utility Room! Why on earth did you pass that sink to come up to where I have dishes??


Grrrrrr!


4. Do you use any type of water filter in your home?


Nope.


(Really showing my ignorance here: What does it filter out?)


5. What's the herb you use the most in cooking?


Coriander is my favourite herb (you call it cilantro across the Pond, don't you?). I have been very negligent over the winter, but am beginning to re-plant seed this week. I can't wait to have my own plants again. I have a couple of Thyme plants that survive the winter in a cold frame, and I do like Thyme with chicken.


Patrice, I can hardly believe the variation in temperatures you're having. We are on a much more even keel, but this past week has been absolutely gorgeous. Our temperatures have hit the heady heights of 16C (60F), and with blue cloudless skies, it felt positively Mediterranean. I could get used it, I tell you.


Our clocks changed this past weekend too, so our evenings are long and sunny and bright. If I get my camera sorted, you will soon be hearing me waxing lyrical (again) about our sunsets (again). Again and again, I suspect. 


Y'all are such a long-suffering group. I wonder that any of you keep coming back for more of the same. Maybe it's for Jackson you keep coming back, and so I shall post a photo of him here - just to make y'all happy.

In fact, I'll post a few from when he was just a little baby.






Have a great week, y'all! 


(You will have to excuse my "y'all".... I know most of you don't use that expression, any more than most of us Scots don't say 'Och aye the noo' (!!), but I love it, so bear with me, will you. You're such a kind bunch.)

17 comments:

  1. Jackson was adorable when he was a pup. I am sure you get a thrill having such a handsome dog.

    I hope you found your chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love reading your answers and absolutely love the pics of Jackson :) I too have been changed long ago by the story of Corrie Ten Boom and the horror of the Holocaust. I think about how we Christians are being censored in America too and can't help but think of the scene in the movie of when they came into all the homes and took the peoples radios... But God is sovereign, we must just keep our eyes on him. Thank you for your posts, it is fun to look "across the Pond"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Allison. Yes, God is sovereign, and through it all we must keep our eyes on Him. He *will* have his will to be done, and all things do work for the good of His people and for His glory.

      Delete
  3. I really must get my hands on some of your "Famous Five" books. You've posted a picture w/ the wee guy reading one of those books, and my sleuthsome young gents picked up on the title right away....and have been asking me to see about getting one! Is there one I should start with? or can you read them in any order?
    I'm a milk chocolate person too....delicious....I can't keep the stuff hidden, or, well, maybe I should say that my best hiding place is um....consumed.
    Have a grand day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We always love seeing Jackson, especially when he was a pup. Have you (or your children ever read the story "Twenty and ten"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think we have, Mrs S.
      Yet another search on Amazon coming up, methinks ;) x

      Delete
  5. Actually, I do use y'all! Milk chocolate for me always!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jackson is an adorable puppy!

    I use "y'all" all the time, though have gone rounds a few times over the spelling of it. :) I was born in South Carolina and have heard it my entire life. I'm in Texas now and it is used somewhat around here, too.

    Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I SO wanted to be George too! My favorite has to be when they took two caravans on vacation (or as you say, holiday). I loved the innocence and wholesomeness of her books. One of the highlights of my youth has to be snuggling into my bed with a new Enid Blyton book and a tube of smarties! Pure heaven on earth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I *love* the picture that brought up in my mind. Snuggled under the covers.... smarties.... Enid Blyton.

      Perfect!

      Delete
  8. Water filters are used to purify your water from such things as lead, mercury, iron, chlorine, microbial cysts and pollution from industries. I actually have a well and had a filtering system installed because some of the minerals contained in our water didn't taste great, would corrode house pipes, did terrible things to hair, made skin dry (my youngest has eczema so that wasn't good) and would take the color out of clothes at a much faster rate (especially black). That was more than you probably wanted to know!! =)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Being a southern gal, I use y'all all the time! Tucker enjoyed the pictures of your doggie! He wants to come and play! We live about 5 minutes from the Isle of Palms where dogs can run free on the beach for several hours a couple times every day- Tucker LOVES to go there and run with the big dogs...Tuck is only 10 lbs. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eeeeek! I'm hoping Tucker is fast to make up for his, er, lack of size! I bet he's boss to some of the bigger boys, eh?!
      Lovin' y'all :)) x

      Delete
  10. Oh the pup is so cute!! I just introduced Anna to Enid Blyton...I agree Milk Chocolate...and I do love to put Coriander on my cooking quite a bit as well~ I enjoyed reading about you ~Have a great week Love Heather

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love Jackson! If I had a utility room, I would banish all grubby paws in my kitchen. I agree with you on #1. There are so many scary things and we shouldn't take our liberty for granted.I mourn for the Jews when I think back in history. WWII was such a horrible time. On the topic of water filters- ours filters out metals,bacteria, and other impurities. Have a good week!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Who says we don't say "y'all"? We do, we do! :)

    It appears that you might have a disproportionate number of Southern readers, however, because I see I'm not the first to chime in here with a comment about it. So, since you're obviously Southern at heart, you just keep saying it, too. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aye, Davene, you're right about where my heart is ...

      Lovin' y'all x

      Delete

Related Posts with Thumbnails