A bit late for five sense friday, but here’s mine for a super sunny saturday…

tasting:
strawberries – so many strawberries.

seeing:
the intense glittering of a gentle sea in bright, bright sunshine.

hearing:
bands at glastonbury (via the marginally more civilised, non-muddy comfort of my own home). my faves so far are florence + the machine.

touching:
ice cold cans of diet coke against my hot skin.

smelling:
bbq’s. everyone seems to be having one tonight (apart from me).

taken with lubiel 2

I have been tagged by the lovely Victoria Bennett Beyer to tell you seven things about myself, some random, some weird, then you have to do the same on your blog and link back to here. It’s the law.

1 – Shhh
Whether its the washing machine spinning (I have to be out of the room house), the vacuum cleaner sucking or the coffee grinder grinding I go a bit jellified when things get loud and have to clamp my hands to my ears. Watching TV is always a battle of the remotes, I am on team ‘turn it down’. Team ‘I can’t hear a thing’ is always muttering too loudly. A small mouse sneezing two streets away will wake me from the deepest slumber. Maybe I am developing a rather useless and inconvenient super-sense à la ‘Heroes’. Maybe I am just finnicky. You’d think I’d be less noisy myself, wouldn’t you.

2 – I am rather keen on murders
…but only the fictitious sort, of course. From the classically comforting and everso slightly ridiculous Poirot/Miss Marple to the gritty and hide-behind-a-cushion realism of the more modern-day offerings. My bed-side table and Sky+ box are filled with death and intreige. I am currently halfway through Henning Mankell’s Wallender detective books – I hope that Kenneth Branagh can convincingly emulate the entertainingly depressive Swede in his new TV version. If anyone can I guess Ken’s the man to do it.

3 – Gordon Bennett!
Every time I hear the names Gordon Bown and/or Gordon Ramsay I have to consciously think which is which. I then chuckle to myself thinking about either one of them doing the others job. I would definitely tune into the PMs question-time if that ever transpired! Hell’s Kitchen though would probably be a little dour and efficient – although you never know…

4 – The worst job I ever had
…was when I was 17 and worked in a pet-shop/aquaruim. My duties included picking out all the poorly looking fish and hiding them in “the sick tanks” round the back. That secret room was like an aquatic  version of Dante’s circles of hell (something I was pre-occupied with at the time) – from the one-eyed and fin-rotted to the truly mutant and cannibalistic, you’ve never seen anything like it. I was sacked for encouraging a family of stray kittens onto the premisis by leaving piles of fishy smelling kibble for them by the back door.

5 – I am very good at…
Stopping the fast-forward button on the Sky+ at just the right spot, stacking the dishwasher, keeping calm in a crisis, procrastinating, day-dreamimg, baking maderia cake, multi-tasking (but then I am a woman), getting crushes, burying my head in the sand, guessing how much a trolley full of shopping costs, trying new things.

6 – Hurry up!
I’m a very impatient person. If you’re speaking very slowly then that pained look on my face is probably because I’m fighting the urge to draw circles in the air with my finger. Luckily I am very polite as well so haven’t been punched yet. One of the reasons I moved over from the traditional world of print-based graphic design to web-design (back in the olden-days of the late 90s) was because I was unbearably impatient and moany about the whole drawn out proofing and printing process. Now though I can make a surruptitious tweak to an unsuspecting stylesheet and see the results right away. Much better!

7 – Did you know?
If someone on TV is told to hold their breath I have to do it too. I mostly don’t ever swear (much), but when I do it’s very effective! My head is big and my hair is even bigger so I don’t do hats and often got stuck in my sweater as a child.

Your go!

Saw this on yvestown – what would your answers be?

1. What time did you get up today? 8:08.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds (fake ones are fine, thanks).
3. Latest movie in a movie theater? Was aaaages ago… think it was Die Hard 4.
4. Favorite TV series? Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
5. What did you have for breakfast? Coffee and 0% fat Greek Yoghurt and honey (because I can shove it in my bag and eat it at my desk at work).
6. What’s your middle name? Claire.
7. Favorite food? Really good bread and salty butter. Best though is my Dad’s roast dinner.
8. Which food don’t you like? Urmmmm. Hmmmm. I’ll get back to you on that one.
9. What’s your favorite CD at the moment? We Started Nothing by The Ting Tings.
10. What car do you drive? Silver Ford Fiesta.
11. Favorite sandwich? Crayfish and Rocket (from Pret a Manger).
12. Which human traits can’t you stand? Rudeness. Without a doubt.
13. What are your favorite clothes? Jeans and vest top (I like having my arms unincumbered).
14. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Iceland.
15. Favorite clothing brand? I love New Look – I’m all about quantity and changing my mind rather than having expensive designer stuff. Plus there’s the clothes I make myself, of course!
16. Where would you like to retire? Somewhere rowdy, vibrant and full of life. Maybe Brighton.
17. Favorite time of day? About 6pm – the longest possible time before more work!
18. Where were you born? In Southampton (England) and I’m still here!
19. Which is your favorite sport to watch? I like winter sports – possibly the Luge.
20. Coke or Pepsi? Either, but definitely not any other sort of cola (especially not the soda-stream crap foisted onto me as a child).
21. Soccer or hockey? Soccer!?! Football, thank you.
22. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Hoot, hoot!
23. Pedicure or manicure? I hate my feet, so manicure.
24. Any exciting news to share? Less than 2 weeks till my birthday!
25. What did you want to become as a child? It was something different every wek. To be honest I still haven’t decided.
26. Best childhood memory? The day during the school summer holiday that it was deemed hot enough to bring out the paddling pool.
27. Ever been to Africa? I’ve never been outside of Europe.
28. Ever rolled anybody in toilet paper? Err, no. Should I have?
29. Have you ever been in a car accident? Happily, no. Have seen lots in my rear-view mirror though! [joke]
30. Favorite day of the week? Saturday.
31. Favorite flower? Peony.
32. Favorite – Hot dog or Chinese food? Chinese – salt & pepper squid to be precise.
33. Do you own a bike? No.
34. Who was you latest e-mail from? Let me go and look… Ha, ha, it’s the Lidl Newsletter. I think that says a lot about me!
35. Where would you like to shop more if you could afford to? Liberty. Oh, and Etsy of course!
36. Bed time? Around 1am.
37. Latest person to share dinner with? Lovely husband, Mark.
38. What are you up to now? Laptop is on my lap (surprisingly) half watching TV – Heroes.
39. Favorite color? The clear luminance of a bright blue sky.
40. How many tattoos? Zero (and it will always be zero).

1. Went to a friend’s wedding up in Worcestershire – is odd seeing everyone you know from city surrounding transposed into country surroundings. Wedding was lovely – during the day we climbed up the Malvern Hills (at the steepest point found out later). Spectacular view was hampered somewhat by tunnel-vision as a result of aforementioned climb. Need to get fitter.
2. Went to see Russell Brand at Southampton Guildhall. So cool, so funny! I can’t begin to describe him… which doesn’t make for interesting reading really. I will say this though – the hairstyle he so painstakingly creates before every public performance… that’s exactly how my hair looks every single morning when I wake up. Without even trying!
3. Mushroom hunting in New Forest. They don’t run very fast so was really quite easy!
4. Went to Bath for the day – beautiful there – feel like you are drowing in honey, where everything is built from the same honey-coloured stone. Must upload photos.
5. You’ll never guess who I had in the back of my car yesterday… Audrey Hepburn! Went to IKEA and brought this (amongst other things). It is huge, took up the whole of the back of the car. I know it’s mass-prooduced and hardly original, but I fell in love with it and had to have it… plus the colours match the living room wall perfectly.

5 – The number of days, including today, until the weekend. Unless I win the lottery.

30,000 – The number of pounds I would win if numbers come up tonight on aforementioned lottery.

33 – This is the average number of degrees celcius it has been over the last week or so. Phew! There is a perpetual odour of burning flesh, coconut oil and barbeque lighter fluid in the air.

19 – The number of times I swore like a bastard when I cut my finger on the freakin’ slicer attatchment of the food-processor (from now on only getting shop-brought coleslaw).

17,943 – Is how many freckles I now have on the bits of my skin that have caught a glimpse of the sun.

0 – The chance England has of winning any major sporting event – especially if penalty goal kicks are involved.

1 – Is how many ‘Dressmaking For Beginners’ lessons I have had so far. Number two is tonight which I am really looking forward to. I get a little less scared of my sewing machine every day!

8 – The number of balls of wool I brought yesterday in the John Lewis sale. Half price, hoorah! Just what you want on the hottest day of the year. I got 4 of this and 4 of this. I feel a scarf coming on. Again.