Tuesday 1 September 2009

An award, part 2.


You know, it's quite stressful, this passing on the award lark: who to include, how much to say and the to-ing and fro-ing to obtain URLs and post the news to folk. Or is it me! Cannot multi-task so easily. I know some people hate these memes, so apologies in advance if you're one of them.

Darlene in Tucson, Arizona, is an inspiration and if I can be as feisty and politically committed when I reach her age, I shall be very content. Sprinkled through her blog are some great jokes and stories.
Di lives in Mallorca though she's over in UK at the moment for the Notting Hill Carnival banging the drums and having a ball. She writes about her life in Spain.

Karin is halfway up a mountain in Utah and has recently started blogging to lessen her isolation. She took a risk and reached out for company and was not disappointed when

Celeste popped up. An accomplished artist and bon-viveur, Celeste has escaped the heat of Madrid to Portugal but will soon be returning to her busy life.

Chaise-longue in France decamped from Wales. She blogs in French and English, grows her own veg and fruit and provides delicious Mediterranean recipes - as does

Juma in Portugal who combines her career in music with wonderful cooking. Juma has just battled with a serious illness and is on the mend. She can blog in Portuguese, Spanish and English.

Margaretha in Sweden is a dedicated reader and provides wonderful pictures to amplify her interests. Suffering from a rare debilitating illness, she makes the most of her time getting satisfaction on the internet.

So, gals, go get your award if you'd like it, choose 7 others to pass it on to, with links and write 7 facts about yourself on your blog. Here are my "interesting" facts....

To show me what a drudge working life would be if I didn't study, my father got me to work in the school summer holidays in a laundry shaking out hotel bedding, tablecloths and napkins and folding them, ready for the ironers. I was 16. It was gruelling, paid peanuts and being in factory conditions with a bunch of women was an eye-opener.

I also had a Saturday job in British Home Stores on the snack bar. I could eat and drink as much as I liked (and I did, discovering thick, cold Horlicks). The record counter was nearby and I bopped up and down the counter to Tommy Steel's "Singin' the Blues".

In Singapore, in the 1960s, I was an extra in Hayley Mills' film "Pretty Polly", strolling up and down a make-believe Bugis Street all night. Boring but lucrative.

On the Yemeni border in the 1980s, I stopped for mint tea at a roadside "cafe". The carpet was rushed out to sit on, tea tray and hubble-bubble pipe. Sat watching the eagles soaring in the valley - spectacular. To this day, I don't know what was in the pipe but I sure did feel strange afterwards.

I once had a traditional Arabic feast - lamb and rice, half a chicken, sitting on the floor, no cutlery - with eight men and was regarded as an honorary man, while the women slaved away in the kitchen: they had to wait for the men to finish eating before they got a chance at the leavings.
How could I have done it.

My real growing up started in my 50s, when my father, mother, grandmother all died within 6 months of one another. It was a strange time and even stranger feeling to be the grown up in the family.

And lastly, I met my 3rd husband on a American site for older people which had a poetry section. He lived in Portugal with a daughter who lived in Cornwall, where I lived, so we met up, sparks flew and the rest is history.

11 comments:

chaiselongue said...

Thank you for the award. I'm flattered, but I won't pass it on as I don't usually follow up these memes. I put links on my blog instead. Your facts about yourself are interesting and funny, though. I especially like the stories of Arab feasts (although not the position of women in them, of course) as I lived in north Africa when I was a child.
By the way, I can only get the last two links to work - Juma and Margaretha.

LadyLuz said...

Thanks for letting me know. Have re-done the links.

Darlene said...

Thank you so much for the award. It is very pretty and I will be honored to put it on my blog.

I will try to write 7 little known facts about myself, but will have a hard time selecting 7 bloggers to pass it on to. I don't want to hurt any feelings.

I just posted a new blog 9a silly thing) but will start working on this award now. I hope I am able to post it; I do have trouble there.

teabird said...

The best thing about these awards is following them forwards and backwards to meet new people and see new (to you) blogs.

Thanks for visiting - I've bookmarked you for frequent trips to Spain - if only....

LadyLuz said...

Chaise-longue. I do understand about not joining in. 60 going on 16 who sent it to me is one of my all-time favourites, so I went ahead.

Darlene, I got your other message about picture problems so have sent you a step-by-step guide in an email.

Lovely to see you, Teabird.

Celeste Maia said...

Hello, I am back in Madrid now, finding a house that has been closed for 2 months...oh the joys of house cleaning! First I have to thank you for the award, I am very flattered and happy with it and your kind words. I just posted our stay at Nuno's place in the Alentejo which was like living in a fairytale. But now it is back to earth, and as soon as I get the house and myself organized I will go through the steps with the award. Thanks a million! Hasta pronto, me encantaron tus historias, cuando vienes a Madrid?

LadyLuz said...

Oh, Celeste, if only....we've spoken of going to Madrid on the AVE for the last 5 years. We won't put the 2 Siamese cats in kennels though and my usual friends who've house/cat-sat in the past are not able to do it. One day we'll make it.

karin said...

I just found your award by reading one of my past blogs because I was trying to remember when Celeste was born in Mozambique because I just started reading the book she recommended but I know I'll have to get off the internet shortly because Eliot will want to make his nightly fire which is close to the generator. But I will try to figure out how to grab this award (I don't get very many!) and do whatever I'm supposed to but I'm also interested in reading the blogs of other people you gave the award to. Oh, what to do first! And then on Labor Day we take down the satellitle dish and who knows when I'll have internet again.

karin said...

Okay, that was fun coming up with 7 things people didn't know about me. Now how do I send the awards?

LadyLuz said...

Hi Karin

OK. First make sure you know the folder where you put your picture once captured.

Right click on the picture and click Save as. A Browse dialogie box comes up and you choose your folder.

Next go to Bloggers Dashboard and click on Layout, then Add a Gadget. Scroll down to Pictures and click on that. You'll now be taken to a new window to upload the picture. Browse, choose pic from folder, Upload, then Done when prompted.

You can then go back to Layout and slide your picture to where you want in the right hand column.

Those you nominate for the Award will have to visit your blog and capture their own picture for their blog.

Hope this works for you.

Music Food and Love said...

Thank you for the lovely award! It's so sweet of you! I'm going to put it in my blog.
You have some pretty interesting stories to tell.