Some of my favourite flowers have many petals and some of my favourite tags have many questions

Sheila tagged me earlier in the week to answer the following questions and now seems like a great time to do so...

What is your current obsession?

Hmmm... when does a passion become an obsession I wonder? I'm not really obsessive, although I have many passions ;) The search for the perfect pair of silver strappy sandals for that wedding I'm attending next month (as a bridesmaid) does seem to be consuming an inordinate amount of my time at the moment though. Just choose already Kendalee!

What is your weirdest obsession?

I love jigsaw puzzles. Especially big ones of over a thousand pieces. I find something quite meditative and soothing about methodically and somewhat mindlessly seeking the pieces to place. But I only do them in winter. When the evenings are long and dark. Perhaps my equivalent of knitting a scarf? Weird I know.

What are you wearing today?

Turquoise butterfly printed dress over black linen trousers and flat black beaded sandals, with silver & turquoise stud earrings that my mum bought for me when I was about 13, and that I was wearing when I had my first proper kiss. I was 15 and his name was Duncan.

What's for dinner?

I haven't eaten breakfast yet, so haven't given dinner any thought at all.  I don't generally eat much on a run-of-the-mill evening (week night, just me, no occasion) so it might end up being a cup of spiced chai and a couple of chocolate biscuits. 

What would you eat for your last meal?

Definitely a selection of fresh seafood, including lobster, scallops, prawns, calamari and mussels, simply prepared and served with a little squeeze of lime, fresh salads with avocado, crusty bread to soak up the dressings, and something sparkly to accompany it all. Dessert would be a fruit plate with all the lovely red berry fruits, nectarine, banana and mango, with a dollop of cornish clotted cream, followed by an entire slab of dark chocolate with chili. If I could eat this on a beach, in the company of all my loved ones, I'd be perfectly happy for that to be my last experience on the planet.

Alternatively, a cup of tea and a slice of toast with honey - my all-time favourite comfort food.

What's the last thing you bought?

A train ticket to Stratford-upon-Avon, where I'm going for the weekend... hen do for above-mentioned wedding.

What are you listening to right now?

The keys clicking on my keyboard. A delivery vehicle downstairs. The distant hum of a vacuum cleaner in the corridor outside my front door (I'm sure this must wake several of my neighbours - 'cause it's not yet 7am! - but it happens, without fail, once a week). A gull calling over the canals.

What is your favourite ice-cream flavour?

Pistachio ice-cream or mango sorbet. I'm not really a big ice-cream person, although living in Italy did go some way towards converting me.

What do you think of the person who tagged you?

I really know very little about the details of Sheila's life and yet, since the very first post I read on her blog in December last year, I have felt a strong connection to and admiration for her. She has the most incredible writing talent. No word is ever superfluous and she able to capture a depth of emotion in so few words that it leaves me in awe. She has on more than one occasion moved me to tears, and that doesn't happen easily through writing for me. She also has a great eye and takes beautiful and evocative photographs. Definitely someone on my "blogfriends I'd love to meet" list!

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?

Here. Or here. Or here. Or here. Or maybe here.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

Assuming this needs to be something I could actually achieve in the next hour... I'd love to enjoy a one-to-one Tango lesson. Or perhaps to lie on my sofa and read my book 'til I drift off to sleep...

Which language do you want to learn?

Spanish. I've not had great success learning new languages as an adult but I have a smattering of Italian, so I'm thinking that Spanish would be a good next try as it's so widely spoken globally. Alternatively, Xhosa or Zulu. I find it so sad that when I go back to South Africa to visit, I am unable to converse in the mother tongue of about 90% of my countrymen and women.

Who do you want to meet right now?

I was going to say one of my new blogging friends but I can't possibly choose just one individual, so I'm going to go with someone I don't know but would still like to meet: A lovely, intelligent, adventurous, honest, open, caring man with relatively few serious hang-ups and not a lot of emotional (or for that matter, material) baggage. Someone not perfect but not so damaged that he's overly cynical or too dependent or so unaware that he's completely given over to ego. Someone who is prepared to embrace my flaws and eccentricities too... A loving, loyal, multi-layered but unencumbered explorer. Is this too big an ask? Does such an individual exist? Err... remains to be seen.

If it could be a one-off meeting with anyone in the world, even someone I'd probably never truly have the opportunity to meet... Nelson Mandela. No question.

What is your favourite colour?

I simply cannot choose one. Turquoise, orange and purple have equal shares of my "favourite colour" affections.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?

I keep clothes for yonks so my favourites often have cycles (apart from the infamous yellow catsuit, which has yet to cycle back and I suspect never will!) but at this moment what I most enjoy wearing during the day is the dress I have on today. Otherwise, consistently, I'd probably have to say my pyjamas and a pair of sad and holey cashmere socks that my sister gave me about 8 years ago - they are so soft and comfy.

Your favourite quote?

Oh no! This is an impossible task. I have a collection of quotations that I've been gathering since I was at school (many, many, many years old and still not fully grown) and it's a bit last asking me to choose my favourite child. Okay, if I chose one to describe myself right now...

Neither a substance perfect, nor a substance inchoate.

Walter Raleigh

(1552-1618)

What is your dream job?

David Attenborough's job. In fact, I have long considered writing to him and asking whether he'd bequeath it to me. I'm sure he'd be willing to overlook the fact that I'm not exactly qualified for it? Only slightly more realistically, I'd love to be a writer. A travel writer.

What is your favourite magazine?

I don't often buy magazines anymore but I always enjoy Wanderlust and, for a bit of girliness, InStyle or Red. And, of course, Artful Blogging!

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?

Probably something from Etsy for a friend, or something from this site, which I love. If I were going to spend it on myself, perhaps that pair of elusive silver sandals. Or books. Or a spa day for a friend and I to share. Or those Tango or Spanish lessons... Oh, a £100 can translate into treats galore!

Favourite designer?

Err, I am SO not a designery person that it would be silly to claim a favourite.

Describe your personal style.

Eclectic. It depends on who's choosing on the day. There are elements of all of them in my style.

What are you going to do after this?

Walk to work. Which is so boring a response that for no other reason, I'm going to replace this question when I pass this tag on (see rules below).

If you pick up the tag, please answer this instead:

What are three things (big or small) that you would still like to achieve this year?

What are your favourite movies?

Wow, this is like asking me to name my single favourite book, song, quotation, person... Very, very difficult. Off the top of my head: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, The Dark Crystal, Amélie, The Motorcycle Diaries, Babette's Feast, Slumdog Millionaire, Moulin Rouge, Sense and Sensibility, Once, Howl's Moving Castle...

What's your favourite fruit?

Mangoraspberrybanana. Why is it that I struggle so to commit to a single favourite ANYTHING?! It's infuriating me, 'cause I'm consequently so rubbish at these sort of questionnaires!

What inspire you?

Curiousity, creativity, consciousness and a zest for life in others. Travelling to places that are interesting or beautiful, or both. Writing that moves me. Images that touch me. The sea.

What music do you like this week?

I've been working on a swap, my first, arranged by the lovely Nadia, which includes making a music mix CD for my swap partner. In doing so, I've rediscovered this old favourite and this one, which I am now listening to again and again. Again.

What is something you know with every fibre of your being?

I am loved. Unconditionally.

The rules: 1. Respond and rework - answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own, so add one question of your own. 2. Tag five other people.

Now, it's that second one that I always have trouble with but it's not because I wouldn't LOVE to know your answers. I would! I just can't (surprise, surprise) pick only five people. So, if you feel like accepting the tag, I'd be delighted. Let me know in a comment and I'll know to keep an eye out for them on your blog...

And I hope you have a very happy Friday!

♥