Getting to know you…
Getting to know all about you…
Getting to like you..
Getting to hope you like me…
Rodgers and Hammerstein
“The King and I”, 1951
Pete commented recently about the wonderful friends and fellow bloggers that we’ve met since starting Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. He remarked about the cosy sense of community that we feel when reading your comments and interacting with all of you.
We’d like to get to know you all a bit better – whether you’re a regular commenter (and by the way, we adore you, thank you for always taking the time to write!) – or one of the hundreds of people who stop by to visit every day.
I know you’re all interesting people, and I’d like to invite you to tell us one fun fact about yourself. It needn’t be anything too personal (although it could be) and it can certainly be more than one thing, if you’re so inclined to share.
Are you an artist like my friends Gill and Maz, or incredibly erudite like the beautiful Joanna? Do you crochet like Christine, or create amazing bread shapes like Heidi? Do you have big feet, or frizzy red hair? Do you collect stamps, or thimbles, or paperclips? Do you have a big family, are you allergic to fish, can you tap dance?
Let me kick off by telling you one thing about myself that I don’t think I’ve mentioned before. I’m hooked on trivia! I blame Pete V, who bought me my first trivia book a few years ago, but since then I’ve built a collection of half a dozen or so. I try to read just a page or two a day, slowly, so that it all sinks in. It’s fascinating stuff, and I’m sure it’s a good anti-dementia practice!
So now I’m turning the microphone over to you…and I can’t wait to hear from you!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I collect good friends. Each one of them is precious and I care for them all. They don’t come by often but when they do, you have to hang on to them.
During the past few years, I have gotten married and started my family. The dust settled on my good friends and I got to pay them less and less attention, I sort of put them at the back of the drawer out of harms way. Now I have more time, I can bring them out into the light, give them a polish up, give them some long lost attention and like finding a once loved toy from your childhood, the memories and excitment return in a whoosh.
I would like to think Celia and her band of boys are my friends {:0)
More than that, love. You’re family. How else could you describe someone who flies in from Adelaide to help with science homework and essay binding? :)
Much love, Celia
Oooh, fun facts?…. gosh, I don’t know… I collect books by and about Concord writers, especially Ralph Waldo Emerson, but my favorite author is Mark Twain.
And I love cooking but am incredibly afraid of grease fires. I would like to learn how to make candy. It’s the one thing that seems daunting to me in the kitchen. Bread, pie crust, tortillas, handmade pasta are no problemo, but candy? That’s Mount Everest in my book.
Maz.
Hi,
I’m very new to your blog but am loving it. I am a stay-at-home mum to two (simultaneously delightful and challenging) girls. In the last 12 months I’ve started up a little cake decorating business from home. It’s a new passion and I am somewhat obsessed!
I collect tacky souvenir teatowels. In fact the tackier the better! I figure life is too long for serious teatowels. My favourites are from “World of Cheese” and “Gnomeland”. Friends and family know of my collection and send me terribly/terrifically tacky teatowels from all over the world!
Emma
Celia I love trivia too! In fact I always thought that I’d end up on Sale on the Century. We used to watch it every single night. I even bought the Temptation game (but the buzzer broke, I swear it was not me :P ).
mmm…let me think. I’m crazy about books. I try not to buy so many anymore (a more environmental approach) and use the library more often. I’ll read just about anything fiction and non-fiction, poetry or otherwise. BUT…sci-fi is still something I’m not willing try….yet.
I completed a writing subject (note – not a course) on novel writing. I now scribble every now and again and love it.
I am a voracious reader. If I’m close to finishing a good book then the only thing to take precedent is cooking!
I read mostly crime fiction and at the moment I’m particularly keen on novels set in Scandinavia.
Wow, you people are REALLY interesting! I knew it.. :)
Maz, one of my all time favourite Mark Twain quotes: “the world doesn’t owe you a living, it was here first”. :)
Emma, twin babies, bless you, I barely coped with them one at a time! Good luck with your business – do you have a website? You’d be more than welcome to post another comment with a link to it, if you’d like. And LOVE the idea of tacky teatowels…
Lorraine, you would love the Bathroom Readers – pages upon pages of trivia!
Sonia, you made me smile – we have the opposite here, all my men are avid sci-fi buffs! Look forward to hopefully reading some of your work on your blog!
Suelle, crime fiction based in Scandinavia! I love it! I have an almost complete collection of old Ellery Queen novels, and I used to be an avid Sherlock Holmes fan in my youth.
I am possibly the only man in the world to have severed a tendon in his foot making marmalade.
Full story here
Lee, oh my goodness. I’m still poised with you in mid-air, with the glass falling, trying to balance the pot of hot jam…
Glad you’re ok. And I think you really might be the only man in the world to sever a tendon in your foot making marmalade. :)
Thanks Celia. My website is
http://www.sugarandslicecakes.com
Emma! Your cakes look AMAZING! How do you ever manage to make them with two small people at home?
What a fabulously fun idea Celia. :-D
Hmm, where to start…
As my twitter and facebook bio reads: “Dedicated perfectionist – organised administrative housewife, artist and cookbook author.”
Oh yes, I am a lover or should I rather say am addicted to tea which is perfectly paired with my love of crosswords and how can I forget, I am an arachnophobic!
:-) Mandy
Mandy, crosswords and tea, a perfect match! I’m not a huge fan of spiders either.. :)
Knew you’d like the anagram thing! That’s a great one you’ve found there! My Dad remarked when I sent him his – ‘it’s a poem of course.’
something else about me? – apart from being erudite, (thanks for the mention!) – does that mean an intellectual collector of trivia? That sounds about right :)
I used to eat vast quantities of liquorice, salt, sugar, menthol, chew liquorice roots, I was obsessed. In fact just typing this I start to drool like Pavlov’s dog. That’s crazy isn’t it? My Danish grandfather would send care parcels to my Mum, which she would then hide, I would find it and consume it. I still dream about the liquorice shops, which sell nothing but liquorice. Though I don’t eat it much now, in fact hardly ever…but then I don’t think the liquorice is made in the same way as it was so long ago…
Thank you for pointing me to the anagram thingy, Jo! It was great fun – so many combinations when you have lots of letters.. :)
Erudite – highly studied and well read! :)
And fascinated to know that about you and liquorice! Have you ever tried making it?
Hahaha what a lovely idea, Celia! I do feel the same about the sense of ‘community’, it’s like we know each other online but we probably wouldn’t know it if we passed each other on the street!
Hmm, something interesting about Soy is that she bought a fixed gear bike last year and when she is motivated enough, rides 22km to work. She also now excitedly yells out every time she spots a fixie/ single speed bike.
As for me, I work with people with dementia! And I love my job! I’m just emerging into the field, but I’m going to love it for a long time, I can tell :)
Hi Celia,
I’m addicted to about 5 blogs that I check everyday, yours is one of them. But in a totally non creepy way!!! :)
I’m also a bit hooked on sudokus, and the kenken they now have in the smherald.
Honey, good on Soy, I have appalling balance and have always fallen off bikes all my life! And good on you for working in dementia – it’s an area that needs lots of kind and patient people…
Cherie, thank you for popping in to say hi! I’m flattered you’re enjoying the blog. Have no idea what kenken is, will have to check tomorrow’s SMH. Sudokos..sigh..I wish I had that kind of brain.. :)
Hi Celia,
I have been reading your blog for a few months but haven’t commented as yet. By the way I love it
I’m a mad crazy Country Music Fan, especially Australian Country music, Troy Cassar-Daly, Beccy Cole, Adam Brand, Luke O’Shea, just to name a few. I’m also into reading books and Magazines at the moment it is anything and everything about organic gardening. We have been vegie gardening for about three years now and it is just amazing how much we have learnt.
Thanks again for your great blog.
Tracie
Quite frankly I prefer to be the vaguely enigmatic poet who drops in occasionally. Think tweed jackets and well aged port.
Tracie, thanks for stopping by and saying hello – your garden photos look fabulous!
Cosmo, that IS an interesting fact about you, I never realised you were vaguely enigmatic. :D By the way, I have a few treasured bottles of old Portuguese vintage port stashed away – I’m a very big fan! :)
what a lovely idea! Gosh, what can I tell you? I’m a bit embarrassed to say this, but I have three degrees (engineering and law). Yes, I spent waaaaay too much time studying but wouldn’t change a thing :)
Living in another country,speaking another language, away from friends and family…this blogging community is my safenet to express myself and meet wonderful people…sometimes it can be lonely on the other side of the world… I’ve met new friends who I can laugh,cry,share little things with and enjoy their company with a click…
Something about myself…in 24hrs I changed everything to follow my heart…!!
Yvette…x
Hi Celia- this is a good idea!
I am so enjoying learning a little more about the friends that populate your comment section.
I read incessantly, everything and almost anything. My cookbook collection numbers over 100 books and I’ve read them all cover to cover -more than once.
I am most adventurous in the kitchen- I’ve baked entire gingerbread villages (including a small gingerbread cemetery to go behind the church)- and have an extensive pantry filled with Japanese, Korean and Chinese foods that I mostly just guess about how to use them- ( no English on any of the labels!)
-Fun fact? I intensely dislike social media, but have used them all even if for a short time. Sort of to tell people that i’ve tried them and didn’t like them.
-I like travelogues. I’m currently reading Bill Bryson’s Down Under. It’s making me want to move to Australia. :)
Mad An Mild Jig For Celia? hahahaha!!!
Pretty good, eh? :)
For anyone reading this after the snippets have scrolled off – I used http://wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html to find anagrams for Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.
Mad An Mild Jig For Celia was one of the outcomes!
Here’s one of the others, which is probably most appropriate for this post:
Celia Admiring Jam Fold :)
I’ve only commented on your blog once, but I really enjoy it. I’ve recently moved to Oz from the US, which is a bit of an adventure. I thought about asking you for advice on finding cocoa powder (for baking) when I couldn’t find any, but I eventually located some (perhaps shopping is a little different where I am on the west coast anyway? I really have no idea). I am also a musician. I play the french horn, but I have no connections for that here yet. And my kitchen’s a little sparse at the moment because I’m still waiting for the bulk of my belongings to make it through customs. I can’t wait to be gifted with my own pots and things. I’ll have to celebrate by cooking up a storm.
Hi Celia,
I have never commented before but I read your blog everyday (I look forward to reading it every morning with my cup of tea.). I’m rather addicted to reading food/baking blogs. I live in New Jersey about 12 miles from NYC and I started my own custom desserts company about 1 year ago. My website is http://www.chocolateciel.com.
I have been trying to live a more “green” lifestyle and I love hearing about your chickens. I’m typing this from a cargo container that my husband has converted into an office. http://www.klabindesign.com. My house has solar panels and I eat only organic locally sourced foods but you inspire me to live an even healthier life. Thanks for the inspiration!
Colleen
Several months ago I got rid of my microwave because it took up too much space (yes, I had a little fit). To be honest, I don’t really miss it. :)
I love, love, love Arthurian legend – and I mean the first legends written by Chretiens de Troyes in the early middle ages… I spent many classes in University studying his work.
My blog is about eating my way around the world, but I’d also like to eat my way through time. Num, num, num. That’ll probably be my next project.
Thanks for allowing this indulgence – to talk about myself. I am an artist, avid reader of mysteries, life revolves around the dog (retreiver/shar pei mix – beautiful and, of course, adorable), big fan of Cesar Millan – the Dog Whisperer. Am a born and bred New Yorker and now live in a small town and get terribly homesick at times. Not a very good cook but love to read about cooking and food and need I add – love to eat. Also a big fan of your web site. I am impressed by all you do and your good cheer and smiles that come through your writing.
p.s. where did you get those Uncle John boxes or books or what-are-they?
Woohoo…so nice to hear from you all! :)
Wink, I know what you mean – university was the most wonderful time for Pete and I as well!
Yvette, that’s so romantic! It’s been lovely seeing Italy through your Aussie eyes…
Heidi, I knew you baked, but a whole gingerbread village? That’s amazing.. :)
Sandy…ah, social media. I’ve steadfastly avoided MySpace and Facebook – this blog is my only real attempt at social media. I wonder if it counts? :)
Rebekah! Big Boy is an avid french horn player as well – first horn in his old school orchestra. He plays a Conn – what sort of instrument do you have?
Colleen, thanks for stopping by – your cakes are beautiful! Good on you for your green stance – we need to work harder on ours, but we’re trying! I was quite chuffed the other day – now that we have the chickens, our weekly rubbish bin is only ever 1/3 full! It’s baby steps, but hopefully we can keep moving in the right direction..
Sasha, I would love to see a blog on eating through time. There was a fabulous tv series on recently called the Supersizers, which did this very thing – fascinating to see what food was like in past eras.
Patricia, thanks for sharing – Cesar Millan is pretty cool, isn’t he? I only ever saw him on Oprah occasionally, but it was funny to watch him scold her. :)
Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers are a huge collection of books on trivia – a large omnibus is published each year. You can buy them at amazon.com, or order directly from their website: http://bathroomreader.com/ . As I said, I’m completely hooked on them! :)
It seems vaguely familiar to hear that Big Boy plays the french horn. I guess you may have mentioned that before somewhere. Conns are a classic horn make. Especially the 8D model. I play on a Lawson, which is kind of similar sounding to the Conn 8D. A dark, rich kind of sound rather than bright and brassy.
Rebekah, that’s the one he plays – a Conn 8D. He loves it!
Great idea Celia. A chance for me to say something about chocolate. Oh sorry of course you know I love that.
So here’s some closet stuff that might never surface at some say cocoa.
I love watching TV and often stir a bowl of seeding chocolate with remote control in my hand. Fav film is The Princess Bride; fav series at the moment is Stargate Universe.
Now, where’s that remote ;-)
Kindred spirit, Gillan! Chocolate AND The Princess Bride, also my all time favourite movie! Why oh why don’t you live closer? We could eat ourselves to beached whale status while watching Wesley and Buttercup. Pete is a big Stargate fan, but I’m more of a Farscape one…
Hi Celia! Your blog is one of the few foodie blogs I check frequently. It’s inspired me to move from healthy eating to focusing on making more of my own food from scratch as well. I absolutely love reading your blog :)
Hi Celia! Love your blog and read it everyday. About me?I’ve just quit my job and I have no idea what to do next. My blog page is ready but I don’t know where to start. Oh dear, I think I’m having a mid life crisis.
I have a big family! I love vintage/antique photos, so I combine the two and collect antique/old photos of big families (my name should link to the blog where I post them, though I’ve been too busy and ill to post for a while, I still look for them on Ebay!)
Also I come from a long Mennonite heritage that values canning, storing, and making from scratch. I found you by a search for making your own apple pectin.
Hi Celia, it’s been so interesting reading all the comments to this post. It’s interesting how many of us like reading as well as cooking (Heidi I could supply little gingerbread men for your cemetery – like to cook, not always successful). One of my favourite authors is PD James and I enjoy biographies – two in particular stick in my mind ‘Blue Ribbons Bitter Bread’ (the life of an extraordinary Australian woman) by Susannah de Vries and ‘The Railway Man’ by Eric Lomax. I too love Trivia – did you know that the weight of China’s 3-Gorges Dam will tip the world on its axis by almost an inch? I usually follow up such pronouncements by squawking “not many people know that”. I suspect as an old lady I shall be put on a perch in a cage – hope Honey Soy looks after me. Also logic is not my strong point – recently at the gym I sped up the treadmill so I could finish sooner – it took at least a minute….. Thank you Celia and to all the people here – you enrich my little life.
Oh, gosh, interesting facts! I don’t know…
When I was a teenager, my family moved to a dairy farm. I rejected all things ‘dairy’ and farm, (except for my horse at the time). I desperately wanted to live in town and not have dirty boots all the time (!). I shunned the fresh milk thinking the carton stuff tasted better! (teenager, remember?).
What I wouldn’t give for some of that beautiful, creamy fresh milk now!! It only took two decades, but the farm girl in me is finally emerging! I want that fresh milk back to play with homemade dairy recipes, arrghh!
Other interesting facts? I’m a shocking sweet tooth and I’ve read every Paullina Simons book published.
And I LOVE your blog! (as if you didn’t already know) :)
What a fun thing to do Celia! I love the idea of Heidi’s gingerbread village- thats dedication :-)
I have just started taking up the violin again after 20 years…it sounds like a hurt cat has moved in.
What a diverse collection of interests from everyone……
Apart from food (especially sourdough bread, dark chocolate and virtually everything Italian), I like sudokus, cycling and wish I was better at doing crosswords.
Apart from your blog, Celia, my favourites are
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/search/label/Bicycles
http://changeyourliferideabike.blogspot.com/
And I just planted a lettuce patch (thanks Celia!) x
Heather, thanks for stopping by to say hello! :)
Sue..ooh, exciting times! Look forward to reading about your adventures when your blog gets up and running!
Natalia, wow, you really DO have a big family! :)
Jan, thanks for all your lovely comments in the past, they always make me smile. Although your one today made me laugh out loud – I’m guilty of speeding up the treadmill to try and finish the 30 minute workout sooner too! As you say, still takes 30 minutes..hehe
Chris, wow, you shunned milk? I can’t say too much though, because as a child, I always preferred instant mash potatoes.. :)
Brydie, keep going! It only sounds like a mangled cat for..oh, I don’t know..the first couple of years? (just teasing! we had small boys learning the violin for a while, and the memory still makes my teeth hurt!) :)
I have had such fun reading all your comments Celia, I got to the end and thought… Oh.. my time now. Ummmmm :)
So, here goes. I’m a complete bundle of opposites! I love shoes with fabulously blingy heels, the strappier the better… have way too many for one girl to wear & yet wear flatties almost all the time; I love just about everything to do with Cheffing & yet I’m so uninspired to work in commercial kitchens anymore because I’ve been lured into front of house… (unless its a home kitchen & then look out…, get outa my way coz I’m cookin’); I’m so sad that our Govt. in all its wisdom has cut the Cheffing apprenticeship to just 2 years in a bid to fix the skills shortages in our industry, so much information is being lost & young chefs are missing out so I’ve decided to do something about it & re-write new Text Books (almost there gasp, gasp) & I’m nuts about home preserving, I dream of having a garden (but apart from my little herb garden) never get around to it.
Hope you still luv me :)
Vicki, I’d heard about your new cycling passion! You’re better than me, I have appalling balance.. :)
Anna, still luv you? Even more now.. :) The new textbooks sound like a biiig project!!
Now I’m feeling horribly guilty for not responding, your followers are so nice…should I call them followers?…Fig Jam Cult anyone? I also laughed out loud at Jan’s treadmill…hysterical!
I don’t think there’s anything you don’t know about me as you have the (not-quite-creepy) ability to remember everything I’ve ever told you…handy if I forget something myself I suppose.
Here’s something you do know but no one else would…and it’s fitting on the 10th anniversary of the Sydney Olympics…and all the volunteers went to Olympic Park for a reunion today…wearing the uniforms I designed. My mother was horrified that I wasn’t invited. I wonder about everyone who’s put on weight in 10 years…hhmmm.
And another thing, I was wanting to add my photo as it’s so much nicer when you can see who’s talking, but I don’t know how…was planning to put a photo from 10 yrs ago myself…what weight!?
Oh you were my name-dropping claim to fame 10 years ago, Wend. “My friend Wendy designed all the volunteers outfits”, I used to show off at parties. And they were really really superb outfits too! It’s lovely to still be friends now, and feel like it’s exactly the same as back then, even though we don’t get to catch up nearly as often. Go on, put an old pic up – I won’t tell if you don’t. :)
Interesting facts…hmmm…
I stated my apprenticeship an the 8/8/08 and finished on the 9/9/09 – it was a mature aged, skill based apprenticship;
I wear glasses with purple lenses… a form of dyslexia;
I cook because I love it! My job is my hobby, I don’t really need to work at all;
I love trivia too, but have only come 2nd in our annual trivia quiz to the same group for 3years…plotting revenge…their group is 3 people bigger than ours though;
I love writing my blog and following inspirational ones like yours!
Glasses with purple lenses!! Cool! Buy those trivia books now and starting reading up for next year.. :)
Well, Celia, the basic details of my current existence are available on the “About Me” page of my blog, but I guess I can offer you a sneak peek at more about me.
In fact I do have red, fuzzy hair – a fact much commented on by others, but a source of continued hassle for me involving the purchase of many, costly hair smoothing products!
I love to bake and then eat what I bake. I currently use the 3 teenagers as a reason/excuse to bake, but eventually they will go – so I’m told – then I will have to review my output.
I am a very poor housewife. I have incredibly low standards for household tidiness, much preferring to spend my time cooking/eating, reading, internetting or cross-stitching!
Oh – and I love trivia, too.
In fact I met my husband a ta school fundraising quiz night!
Just sneaking back, I know I’ve said my bit – amazing post Celia – I’m still thinking about that gingerbread cemetery Heidi, what an image!
@ Wendy the website to do the little piccies that follow you round the internet is
http://en.gravatar.com/
and…. I am a huge Princess Bride fan, HUGE. I love them all. What is it about that film? xxxx
Amanda, I’m trying to time my chooks egg laying with my kids moving out of home. Not sure I quite have it right, but I figure it’s peak production time now, less so in a couple of years time..hehe. Let’s hope it works! :)
Joanna, please stop by this thread another 50 times, I can’t believe I’m only finding out you’re a diehard Princess Bride fan as well! This is all so much fun! :)
For Joanna and Gillian – one of my favourite quotes from The Princess Bride:
Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong! That’s what’s so
funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned!
Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the
classic blunders! The most famous is never get
involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly
less well-known is this: never go in against a
Sicilian when death is on the line!! Ha ha ha ha ha
ha ha!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! Ha ha ha–
I found the script online here.. :)
What fun! Where to start? I’m new to this whole blogging thing but enjoying it immensely. My blog is also about food and sustainability and such things. I am truly obsessed with food and my other current obsession is knitting. So much so that I can’t help sneaking little bits of knitting into my blog that is MEANT to be about food.
Thanks Bee! Good luck with your new blog! :)
Obsessed by chocolate – but you know that. Tried the Lindt 90% yesterday – not bad. I love The Princess Bride too!
Anna, we don’t have the 90% here yet! Will look out for it… :)
Hi There Celia,
OMG…..I’m Trey a 29yr old mum of 3 gorgeous kids, I’m from NSW Central Coast. I’m so excited I stubbled upon your blog today purely by accident, and am i glad I did!……Have been brousing around your blog and wow, what can I say……It’s wonderful……I’m totally addicted to researching ways to save money, am a total foodie, always make everything from scratch, as much as possible anyway. Love staying home and working around the house when I dont have to go to work. Anyway just want to congratulate you on such a fantastic blog, keep up the great work. Take Care. Trey!!!
Thanks for stopping by, Trey! That’s a gorgeous part of the world you live in! :)
Good one Celia. It is such an excellent scene. I can’t believe you and Joanne like it too!
Celia, loved the idea of getting to know the “commenters” – but for some strange reason, even though I am a “regular commenter” my mind is drawing a huge blank!
I guess I’m just not that interesting, what can I say?
ok, let me try – I normally don’t confess this in “public” but I dislike long movies. If a movie is longer than 2 hours, my husband needs to go through extensive psychological preparation to convince me to go. Still, I need to be pretty much dragged to the theater, and I whine, and complain, and whine, and complain so much that I’m not sure it’s worth taking me ;-)
Apart from that, I think I’m overall an ok person
Sally, you’re too modest, you’re one of my MOST interesting blog friends!! Who else drives across the country with two enormous dogs to live in a nano-house? :)
I’m stopping back as well.
The gingerbread cemetery was just needed to balance out the village. I made it for a fundraiser and a doctor bought it and donated it to the local Children’s Home- where I was told they devoured it in a day.
And I also love The Princess Bride- I drive my family crazy quoting from it often.
One of my favorite scenes:
Dread Pirate Roberts:
Thank you. I’ve worked hard to become so.
Inigo: I admit it, you are better than I am.
Dread Pirate Roberts:
Then why are you smiling?
Inigo: Because I know something you don’t know.
Dread Pirate Roberts:
And what is that?
Inigo: I am not left-handed.
Dread Pirate Roberts:
You’re amazing!
Inigo: I ought to be after twenty years.
Dread Pirate Roberts:
There is something I ought to tell you.
Inigo: Tell me.
Dread Pirate Roberts:
I’m not left-handed either.
Inigo: Who are you?
Dread Pirate Roberts:
No one of consequence.
Inigo: I must know.
Dread Pirate Roberts:
Get used to disappointment.
LOL- although sometimes I just quote the last statement- they usually groan and walk away if I try to do more than that!
Gill, Heidi, Joanna, Anna…any other PB fans out there? :)
Oft-quoted here…“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something. ..” :)
These are two of my favourites:
“You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles”
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means”
(as a mother and a former high school English teacher I’ve had many opportunities to use this one!)
Ah yes, Billy Crystal! He was fabulous.. :)
Ah I had to wait until more comments were in as I knew it would be really interesting reading them all! Also, I was struggling to think of a lesser known (to you) thing about me. Here goes…
I am a voracious reader – usually about 3 or 4 books a week (one per day if I let myself). I make myself read one decent (literature) book for every 5-10 crime fiction or other ‘rubbish’ sort of books. I read most things apart from romance or science fiction.
Another thing I don’t necessarily advertise is that I don’t like opening mail or filling in forms. I pay around $5,000 a year on fines for forms that have not been submitted on time, late fees and the like. Mostly to the tax office (gosh I love their daily compounding interest rules). Some years, like this one, it is more. But I am still crap at submitting forms, opening my mail…etc. And yet, I can manage a project or a budget to within a millimeter of its life! The contradictions of my brain surprise even me…
And finally…what is (are?) Princess Diaries? A movie? Hmm…I can see it clearly has cult status, but have never heard of it/them…
Joanna, thankyou, I now have a picture of me…it’s only one year old not 10!
And what is it with The Princess Bride…I’m off to the video shop to grab a copy.
What a cool idea! As so many others have said, I’m also a voracious reader; if I’m not working or cooking, chances are I’m reading (or wishing I was). And my voracious reading has a funny quirk to it: I prefer to read things in the order they were written. When I discover a new author, I try to read their books in order. When I find a blog I really like, I go back to the beginning and read through the archives until I get caught up.
This idiosyncracy probably explains why I’m currently reading issues of The New Yorker from 2007.
And the obligatory Princess Bride quote (also one of my 5 all-time favorite films):
Vezzini: Inconceivable!
Inigo Montoya: You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Well I’d better say something interesting about moi.
I adore films. I don’t mind them 2hrs long Sally, and have even film hopped, watching the original film in one screen, and a newly released sequel following on in a next screen.
I go about 2 or 3 times a week to the cinema.
I guess my family is the most interesting thing about me. I’m one of 5
& I have a twin called Jacqueline – so we are Jack and Gill.
All born in under 3 years.
Mum was an illustrator for DC comics, Dandy & the Beano etc.
Oh, I speak French and Spanish, albeit rustily after 1/4 century since living in the countries.
& my love of food keeps growing and growing. Is that normal?
SG, I’m with you – hate hate hate filling in forms. But too stingy to pay fines though, so I do.. :)
Wendy, SG, The Princess Bride – cult classic from the 1980s. Very sweet and quirky…
Nancy, I can understand the desire to read things in chrono order. I like following how an author’s mind has travelled!
Grilly, I think you’re one of my more interesting blogpals – I love watching how your artist’s eye sees the world! Jack and Gill! Too funny.. :)
Hey thanks, Celia.
You’re not so bad yourself! AND you’re a better cook than I.
Hmmm…that I’m not convinced about, but thank you! :)
Greetings. My first memory is of being lifted up to have my photograph taken with a life-sized model of a pirate. At least I think it was a pirate. Come to that, I think it was a model – it was a very long time ago. I’ve no idea what happened to the photograph. And I really don’t like marzipan.
Hehe…it’s pretty close to talk like a pirate day, isn’t it? Thanks for stopping by, Phil! I can’t get marzipan past any of my men either, although I don’t mind it too much myself…
I think I’m special :-). Really I do.
My sense of reality is warped (or so people say), apparently my ideas sound more like dreams of flights of fancy. I call it hope. And I dare to.
I’m short. And i LOVE to do. I love to integrate ideas so when I learn something in one medium, I love to translate it to another like decoupage – I’ve learnt to do it with serviettes on wood and then I’ve moved on to paper on canvas to create victoria style sepia photos of my kids.
I love food. And I love my own cooking. I can eat at any time of the day. Never too early…..or too late. Bad habit I know.
I make friends and I love to talk. I think I’m a people’s person. I’m a touch sensitive, its getting better now.
I know you’re special, Oz! :)
I came across your blog while looking at the merits of pectin, and I am still looking at how to modify home made pectin it so it passes through the intestinal walls and does the good things it is supposed to do once it gets there.
As far as I can work out you mix it with alkali, probably good old lye and then that breaks the molecules into smaller bits. Then in order to make it edible again you add acid until it becomes neutral. I think this product will start to come onto the market soon, as tablets or powder and probably at a hefty price I can imagine.
I am a bit of a backyard chemist. I have copied my parent’s depression frugality in some ways. Read the soap story here, but give it a moment. I’m experimenting with blogging directly from my phone but I don’t know if it’s worked.
http://msthurnell.posterous.com/
Thanks for joining in, Frances, nice to know a bit more about you! :)
Have only just spotted this one Celia – what a lovely idea and how interesting that you’ve had so many responses.
I think you might already know I have a certain interest in chocolate, but my lifelong passion has been environmentalism and the natural world – I’ve been on marches, belonged to various campaigning groups, written hundreds of letters and planted lots of trees. I crave wild places and start fading if I’m in a built up area for too long.
Choc, I was surprised but completely delighted by how many people responded as well! It’s so nice to find out a bit more about everyone. Now that you mention your environmental passion, it all seems to gel so well with the part of you that we already knew from your blog! :)
Oooh – unlurking! And with such a bunch of lovely kindred spirits. I have a terrible habit of using entirely superfluous punctuation just so’s I can waffle on more (and having a blog appears to make this affliction all the worse). Thankfully, it can be cured (well, controlled) by large amounts of baking! Lovely to meet you all…
Penguin, thanks for stopping by! Waffle away! :)
Celia – yours is a blog that is shared between friends like a treasured book or recipe. I was sent here very firmly by friends who have rated your chocolate slab cake recipe as The.Best.Chocolate.Cake. It is true. I have also passed on the link to this recipe, and to your bread recipes to other beloved friends and family. I love your writing style and love your ethos.
So having dived in so vicariously to your blog, it is lovely to share something of my own family. I celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary on Sat, which we are sharing with the same group of friends that were with us the night my husband proposed. I have two wonderful teenagers. They’ve cooked a family meal every week since starting school. My teenage son is a better cook than I am, and is currently perfecting flatbread recipes. My daughter is the dessert queen of the house.
Chris, thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment! You’ve made my day!
Congratulations on your wedding anniversary today – 20 years is a great milestone! Pete and I always share our anniversary with our friends Nick and Mary, who were married on the exact same day (we met after we were all married), and it’s all the better for spending it with friends. And you’re lucky to have two teenagers who cook – I’m yet to convince my boys, although they can now feed themselves…IF I make sure there’s enough food lying around! :)
Thanks again for reading the blog, and for the encouragement!
Cheers, Celia
Wow, I actually meant to drop a line here when this blog was first posted, and then two months went by. While this might go unnoticed, thought I’d stop by and say hi anyway. Your posts make me aspire to cook all those wonderful things one day, whenever I find a free moment. Still looking for one, though, since I’m a juggler of sorts — scientist at work and a musician at play, adjusting to a new life in an old hometown. That’s how 2 months go by before I remember to say hello. So, “hello” from NYC! *waves hand*
How nice to get a new comment on this thread! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and say hi. Can you actually juggle? I taught myself once, but I’m not particularly good at it.. :)
Hooray! Actually yes, I can juggle… only three things at once, though. And I haven’t done that in a while. :) Much more experienced at juggling different roles, but then again, who isn’t?