Sunday 13th.
Is there a rail line near your house? If so, is it noisy and bothersome?
There is one not too far away but it doesn’t bother me normally. However a couple of years ago there were major alterations to the main northbound line which had to be carried out over many months and mainly at night. The folk in my area weren’t informed as they didn’t think we would hear it and I remember waking up to this horrendous noise like an enormous chainsaw making its way towards the house one Saturday night - it was like about 30 drones all flying about together the whole night! The next day our online neighbourhood group was buzzing with folk asking what the hell it was and some bright spark eventually figured it out. They had to return for more work over 6 months a year later but thankfully it must have been further away as I wasn’t kept awake this time (ironically we were informed about this one!). I was soooo grateful for this because I was still in bed for a lot of the week at that point.
And some of the answers to that question from other diarists brought back a lovely childhood memory of me coming to Aberdeen to spend holidays in the summer with my auntie and uncle down here. They married late in life and had no children so they loved to give mum some much-needed respite by being able to spoil me for a couple of weeks :) My uncle worked in the local paper mill and they had a tied house which the mill owned and which was just down the road from the northbound railway line. One of my favourite things was to go out for a walk with my auntie and Roy, their golden retriever, up the brae to the little railway bridge just in time for the Inverness train and wave to the driver at the front of the train. He always waved back. Along with a lot of the passengers. Those were the days when folk actually looked out of the window and didn’t have their noses permanently stuck in phones or iPads :)
What’s your favorite flavour of potato chip? Salt and vinegar or tomato sauce.
How far do you live from the nearest international border? I’m in Scotland so I suppose the nearest border is England but internationally I’m assuming it would be France?
Do you know anyone born on the 29th of February? No but that was Nikki's original due date. Thankfully she wanted a 10 day long lie so we missed it!
What’s the tastiest thing inside your refrigerator right now? A lovely chunk of sirloin steak with my name on it.
Do you have a name that can also be used for the opposite sex? No.
What model of car do you drive? A 2010 Nissan Micra.
Have you ever dated someone you work with? I just had sex with him at the time we worked together but about 14 years later he got back in touch and we ended up dating for a few months.
Who was the last person to call you? Nikki.
Do you have a lock number or pattern for your phone? A lock number.
Is your pantry messy at the moment? I'm so surprised everyone is using the word pantry without question - to me it's a very old-fashioned word used to represent a sort of larder separate from the kitchen. I haven't heard it used for years but the room itself must be quite a common thing to find overseas is it?
List all of your siblings’ middle names. Ian's middle name is Ross which was one of Mum's middle names. For some reason the remaining 3 of us never reached middle name status!
What was the last present someone gave you and what was the occasion? One of Nikki's Christmas presents was slightly quirky - she searched and found on eBay the original version of the board game Sorry! which we'd played loads as a family and which Mum had played with all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren right up until a few years before she died.
Unfortunately Nikki neglected to find out first if I'd snaffled Mum's one from her flat after she died - which I had - for some reason she thought her cousin had taken it. What really made me laugh though (inwardly) was - as you can imagine, having been on the go for a multitude of years, Mum's game was pretty decrepit and had food spills and stains and the like on it but because it was hers we overlooked that. Well the eBay one also had someone else's food spills and stains and crappy stuff on it as well and it was all I could do to touch the thing far less play with it!!
Do you ever let your phone go completely flat before charging it again? No.
When was the last time you left the house? Yesterday - I went out to Nikki's new house, brought tea and helped her unpack and sort things out.
Are you in any sort of physical pain right now, even if very mild? A bit achy from yesterday but nothing too awful.
What was one of your favorite movies as a small child? First one I can remember watching when I was around four was The Three Lives Of Thomasina which had the same little girl who played Jane in the original Mary Poppins. I cried buckets and had to be carried home early by my poor sister!
Do you know the middle name of the last person you texted? It was Nikki and she doesn't have one - it was bad enough getting Boyd to agree on ONE name never mind two! :)
Do you have any food intolerances? Not that I'm aware of.
Is there any cereal in your house? Yes - a large box of Alpen and I think there's one of those multipack thingies in the depths of the cupboard somewhere.
What’s the most number of people you’ve ever lived with? Five growing up and 13 when I first moved to Aberdeen. I stayed in 'digs' (like a boarding house) and there were 4 of us in my room alone! The landlord was really creepy and would walk into the rooms (all female) unannounced but his wife was lovely and quite motherly but stern with it. They must have been raking the money in from that house though when I think of it.
What is in the drawers beside your bed? It's a bedside cabinet sort of thing so just one drawer which has medication, a paper punch, a bookmark, lip salve, an old watch and a pen in it.
Where’s your favorite place to be when you feel depressed? Nowhere.
Are you currently looking forward to tomorrow? Yes - get to see my table tennis buddies :)
Have you ever faked sick? I had to 'invent' things a few times when I was dealing with the fatigue when working because I couldn't explain it properly.
Have you gone to a coffee shop within the past week? [i.e. Starbucks] I sat in Starbucks writing last Monday for a wee while.
Have you ever slept in a tent, outdoors? Yes. The last time was around 20 years ago in Lochaber near Fort William - it was absolutely freezing and poured all night so I eventually took my sleeping bag and crawled into the car. 10 minutes later Boyd joined me and we snuggled together to try and get warm!
Last three texts on your phone are from? Daughter Nikki, friend Jane and friend Andrea.
Are you afraid of flying? Not really.
Do you have freckles? Yes there's always an outbreak when the sun shows its face :)
Do you have plans for today? I have the unenviable job of trying to get together a document to be considered at a tribunal hearing in protest at my benefit being stopped. Not looking forward to that :( (And it never happened - I ended up going back out to Nikki’s for more unpacking and sorting!).
Would you rather date someone five years older or five years younger than you? This is interesting in that I wouldn’t have been that bothered when I was younger - as long as it feels right and love is there, age shouldn’t really matter. However that’s changed slightly as I’ve got older - I’m now far more aware how much someone’s life can change in such a short time and what a difference five years makes when you’re at this stage of life. There’s a guy at the table tennis group I quite fancy but I have to admit the fact he’s 68 is putting me off a bit which I feel really bad about! Not that I have any chance of anything with him or anything but I was just surprised when I caught myself thinking that.
What were you doing at 7:45AM this morning? Dreaming in Italian!! (honestly)
Are you usually awake at midnight? Yes unfortunately. I've long had a suspicion that getting to sleep before then is much more beneficial for you but I always seem to struggle to make it happen.
Does it get really cold where you live? That's relative depending on what you're used to. It can get pretty cold in winter over here.
When you get home from school/work do you change into your pjs right away? I don't work or go to school now but no matter how late I get up (and on very bad days it can be as late as half past 3), I always get dressed and stay dressed until bedtime. I had too long an enforced stay of pyjama time not that long ago and it left its mark!
What is the temperature currently in the town you live in? It's currently 8 C (46 F) just now.
What is one thing in the room you’re in that reminds you of somebody? There's a coloured glass bead necklace of Mum's hanging on the wall.
What is the last thing you plugged into an electrical outlet? My hairdryer.
The last time you went to the mall, what did you go for? I was there last weekend to return a jumper to TK Maxx.
What are your favorite hobbies? Reading, writing, music, walking. I'd like to add drawing to that list this year if possible.
What are your favourite foods? I'm not really a foodie so I'm not sure - I like most kinds of pasta and I would find it hard to resist a big, doughy cherry scone! Just on its own though - no butter or jam or anything on it thanksverymuch :) Oh and a cup of Earl Grey to go with it is a must!
Is there a rail line near your house? If so, is it noisy and bothersome?
There is one not too far away but it doesn’t bother me normally. However a couple of years ago there were major alterations to the main northbound line which had to be carried out over many months and mainly at night. The folk in my area weren’t informed as they didn’t think we would hear it and I remember waking up to this horrendous noise like an enormous chainsaw making its way towards the house one Saturday night - it was like about 30 drones all flying about together the whole night! The next day our online neighbourhood group was buzzing with folk asking what the hell it was and some bright spark eventually figured it out. They had to return for more work over 6 months a year later but thankfully it must have been further away as I wasn’t kept awake this time (ironically we were informed about this one!). I was soooo grateful for this because I was still in bed for a lot of the week at that point.
And some of the answers to that question from other diarists brought back a lovely childhood memory of me coming to Aberdeen to spend holidays in the summer with my auntie and uncle down here. They married late in life and had no children so they loved to give mum some much-needed respite by being able to spoil me for a couple of weeks :) My uncle worked in the local paper mill and they had a tied house which the mill owned and which was just down the road from the northbound railway line. One of my favourite things was to go out for a walk with my auntie and Roy, their golden retriever, up the brae to the little railway bridge just in time for the Inverness train and wave to the driver at the front of the train. He always waved back. Along with a lot of the passengers. Those were the days when folk actually looked out of the window and didn’t have their noses permanently stuck in phones or iPads :)
What’s your favorite flavour of potato chip? Salt and vinegar or tomato sauce.
How far do you live from the nearest international border? I’m in Scotland so I suppose the nearest border is England but internationally I’m assuming it would be France?
Do you know anyone born on the 29th of February? No but that was Nikki's original due date. Thankfully she wanted a 10 day long lie so we missed it!
What’s the tastiest thing inside your refrigerator right now? A lovely chunk of sirloin steak with my name on it.
Do you have a name that can also be used for the opposite sex? No.
What model of car do you drive? A 2010 Nissan Micra.
Have you ever dated someone you work with? I just had sex with him at the time we worked together but about 14 years later he got back in touch and we ended up dating for a few months.
Who was the last person to call you? Nikki.
Do you have a lock number or pattern for your phone? A lock number.
Is your pantry messy at the moment? I'm so surprised everyone is using the word pantry without question - to me it's a very old-fashioned word used to represent a sort of larder separate from the kitchen. I haven't heard it used for years but the room itself must be quite a common thing to find overseas is it?
List all of your siblings’ middle names. Ian's middle name is Ross which was one of Mum's middle names. For some reason the remaining 3 of us never reached middle name status!
What was the last present someone gave you and what was the occasion? One of Nikki's Christmas presents was slightly quirky - she searched and found on eBay the original version of the board game Sorry! which we'd played loads as a family and which Mum had played with all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren right up until a few years before she died.
Unfortunately Nikki neglected to find out first if I'd snaffled Mum's one from her flat after she died - which I had - for some reason she thought her cousin had taken it. What really made me laugh though (inwardly) was - as you can imagine, having been on the go for a multitude of years, Mum's game was pretty decrepit and had food spills and stains and the like on it but because it was hers we overlooked that. Well the eBay one also had someone else's food spills and stains and crappy stuff on it as well and it was all I could do to touch the thing far less play with it!!
Do you ever let your phone go completely flat before charging it again? No.
When was the last time you left the house? Yesterday - I went out to Nikki's new house, brought tea and helped her unpack and sort things out.
Are you in any sort of physical pain right now, even if very mild? A bit achy from yesterday but nothing too awful.
What was one of your favorite movies as a small child? First one I can remember watching when I was around four was The Three Lives Of Thomasina which had the same little girl who played Jane in the original Mary Poppins. I cried buckets and had to be carried home early by my poor sister!
Do you know the middle name of the last person you texted? It was Nikki and she doesn't have one - it was bad enough getting Boyd to agree on ONE name never mind two! :)
Do you have any food intolerances? Not that I'm aware of.
Is there any cereal in your house? Yes - a large box of Alpen and I think there's one of those multipack thingies in the depths of the cupboard somewhere.
What’s the most number of people you’ve ever lived with? Five growing up and 13 when I first moved to Aberdeen. I stayed in 'digs' (like a boarding house) and there were 4 of us in my room alone! The landlord was really creepy and would walk into the rooms (all female) unannounced but his wife was lovely and quite motherly but stern with it. They must have been raking the money in from that house though when I think of it.
What is in the drawers beside your bed? It's a bedside cabinet sort of thing so just one drawer which has medication, a paper punch, a bookmark, lip salve, an old watch and a pen in it.
Where’s your favorite place to be when you feel depressed? Nowhere.
Are you currently looking forward to tomorrow? Yes - get to see my table tennis buddies :)
Have you ever faked sick? I had to 'invent' things a few times when I was dealing with the fatigue when working because I couldn't explain it properly.
Have you gone to a coffee shop within the past week? [i.e. Starbucks] I sat in Starbucks writing last Monday for a wee while.
Have you ever slept in a tent, outdoors? Yes. The last time was around 20 years ago in Lochaber near Fort William - it was absolutely freezing and poured all night so I eventually took my sleeping bag and crawled into the car. 10 minutes later Boyd joined me and we snuggled together to try and get warm!
Last three texts on your phone are from? Daughter Nikki, friend Jane and friend Andrea.
Are you afraid of flying? Not really.
Do you have freckles? Yes there's always an outbreak when the sun shows its face :)
Do you have plans for today? I have the unenviable job of trying to get together a document to be considered at a tribunal hearing in protest at my benefit being stopped. Not looking forward to that :( (And it never happened - I ended up going back out to Nikki’s for more unpacking and sorting!).
Would you rather date someone five years older or five years younger than you? This is interesting in that I wouldn’t have been that bothered when I was younger - as long as it feels right and love is there, age shouldn’t really matter. However that’s changed slightly as I’ve got older - I’m now far more aware how much someone’s life can change in such a short time and what a difference five years makes when you’re at this stage of life. There’s a guy at the table tennis group I quite fancy but I have to admit the fact he’s 68 is putting me off a bit which I feel really bad about! Not that I have any chance of anything with him or anything but I was just surprised when I caught myself thinking that.
What were you doing at 7:45AM this morning? Dreaming in Italian!! (honestly)
Are you usually awake at midnight? Yes unfortunately. I've long had a suspicion that getting to sleep before then is much more beneficial for you but I always seem to struggle to make it happen.
Does it get really cold where you live? That's relative depending on what you're used to. It can get pretty cold in winter over here.
When you get home from school/work do you change into your pjs right away? I don't work or go to school now but no matter how late I get up (and on very bad days it can be as late as half past 3), I always get dressed and stay dressed until bedtime. I had too long an enforced stay of pyjama time not that long ago and it left its mark!
What is the temperature currently in the town you live in? It's currently 8 C (46 F) just now.
What is one thing in the room you’re in that reminds you of somebody? There's a coloured glass bead necklace of Mum's hanging on the wall.
What is the last thing you plugged into an electrical outlet? My hairdryer.
The last time you went to the mall, what did you go for? I was there last weekend to return a jumper to TK Maxx.
What are your favorite hobbies? Reading, writing, music, walking. I'd like to add drawing to that list this year if possible.
What are your favourite foods? I'm not really a foodie so I'm not sure - I like most kinds of pasta and I would find it hard to resist a big, doughy cherry scone! Just on its own though - no butter or jam or anything on it thanksverymuch :) Oh and a cup of Earl Grey to go with it is a must!
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