Tuesday’s Top Five – About Me (and some awards)

This is not what I would normally focus on in a Top Five list, but I was recently nominated for a couple of blog awards by Melanie at Slow Down Slowly – thank you, it’s very kind.  As these things go you are supposed to share seven things about yourself and then pass the award onto up to fifteen other blogs that you like and/or follow.  The two awards have the same rules, but as I work in fives, I’m going to adapt the rules to suit my style.

So here goes, award number 1 is

and I’m passing this one on to:

L from 500m2 in Sydney – this is a fabulous gardening, cooking and bits of family life blog a little like mine.  I’ve been following L ever since I started blogging and we have lots in common.  She’s also just had a baby boy so her posts are a little irregular at the moment, but well worth the wait when they do come.  She grows and cooks some really interesting Japanese and Korean foods too.

Andrea from Harvest with Glee – this is a mostly gardening blog with a bit on Andrea’s renovations, some great photos from her walks about her rural setting and some wonderful recipes.  I’m always inspired by Andrea’s garden.

Christine from Slow Living Essentials – Christine in the host of the Slow Living Month collection of posts and I have found taking part in this so thought provoking.  She also does absolutely amazing things with yarn, knitting needles, crochet hooks and dyes.

Dancing with Frogs – Frog Dancer is a fellow teacher, mother of four boys, gardener, quilter, knitter and thermomix guru.  Though I can’t say I have a thermomix, but I’m sure if you did her tips and recipes would be wonderfully useful.  I love her blog for her sense of humour, her approach to life – goal setting especially ( I love a good goal) – and all things gardening.

The Witches Kitchen – I’ve been following Linda’s blog for a while now and as I get more and more into a (at least partially) vegetarian lifestyle I’ve found her recipes and ideas so useful.  I’ve also been joining in her Tuesday Night Vego Challenge some weeks.

The second award is

and I’m passing this one on to

Norma from Garden to Wok – a recent discovery for me, Norma grows and cooks some wonderful Asian foods.  Her Chinese broccoli and other greens make my mouth water every time I see them and she has spurred me to plant some more seed of this type of veggies.

Sue from Sweetpea Family – Sue is newish to blogging but writes a truly lovely blog about her days.

Heidi from Lightly Crunchy – another new blog for me, Heidi lives on the other side of the planet, in a rural location where it gets REALLY cold, but we seem to have a lot in common.  She has two girls, like me, though hers are a little older and we’re both experimenting with the cooking from scratch and gardening malarkey.

City Garden Country Garden – is a blog I found via Daphne’s Harvest Monday community and she is a fellow Melbournian (at least the city gardener part of her is).  I’ve loved seeing her country garden as well, check out her gorgeous wine barrel gardens!

Kara at The Practical Frog Blog – is my final nomination and is yet another new one for me.  She has some wonderfully green and frugal ideas and tips on her site.

I’ve chosen mostly blogs that are smallish (like mine), new or at least new to me and that I relate to closely.  There are lots of other blogs that I follow that already have a very well established following or aren’t so into the awards thing.  Check out my blogroll for some of my favourites (I will now go and update this list as not all are there at the moment).

Now onto the next part of these awards, sharing a few little known facts about myself.  It’s supposed to be seven, but I’m sticking with five.

1. I played quite a few musical instruments as a child and teenager including playing the tenor horn in a marching brass band.  This role came complete a uniform of a forrest green jacket, brass buttons and tassels galore, a box-pleated grey woolen skirt and hat.  We were terrible at playing and marching at the same time, but we could blast out a pretty awesome rendition of Jingle Bells in the main street of the town I grew up in, in the lead up to Christmas.

2. I love to read, but I am STILL making my way through A Suitable Boy after starting in February.  I only manage a couple of pages a day at the most and at over 1400 pages it has been a long, slow, but enjoyable ride.  I’m closing in on the finish line, stay tuned for my review.

3. While I avoid processed foods as much as possible nowadays, especially when feeding my family, I have a ridiculous soft spot for Viennese Franks and sometimes serve these up for dinner.  Tthe next night is always a made from scratch, veggie loaded plate of goodness in an attempt to undo any damage done.

4. I am sometimes all talk, with little follow through.  I have a guitar I meant to learn how to play, I always talked about teaching overseas or in remote part of Australia but never have, and that move to the country is so far in that same camp.  One day hopefully I will tick a few more of these things off my list.

5. While I love, love, love my life it is almost the opposite of what I imagined having as a teenager.  Many of my friends were keen on marriage and family right from their teenage years, I was never like that.  I thought I would do loads of travelling, enjoy a serious corporate career (preferably including expensive suits, gorgeous shoes and an actual office, you know the kind with a door, not a desk in an open plan area) and then think about the rest.  As it turns out I have been with my husband since I was nineteen (13 years now), we married when I was in my mid-twenties and had our first child before I was 30.  I haven’t travelled nearly as much as I would have thought, but what we have done has been fabulous (mostly in Asia).  Though I have enjoyed working as a teacher (though I said I’d never become one), but it certainly hasn’t involved suits, high heels or my own office and probably never will.

And that’s my top five for this week.  I’m sure Liz will have a completely different, but immensely interesting all the same.