Seven Things - for Teagan

Teagan Oliver tagged me to write seven things about myself . And as she was also kind enough to say that she is a great fan of mine, I am feeling so kindly disposed towards her that I can;t not oblige.

I'm assuming that these have to be

a. Things I haven't written much about on this blog before

and

b. Different from the 'Six wierd things' I wrote about here way back in 2006 when tagged by Kate Hardy.
(Seeing as Teagan has said that she'd like to find out more about me - and for anyone else who's interested - you might like to check out that previous blog entry as the 6 things listed there still apply)

Hmm - so 7 things - wierd or not

1. My very first ever kitten of my own (as opposed to the innumerable family cats we collected over the years) was a dark grey female with white chest and paws. She came from the local convent - the nuns who taught me at school and I called her Misty. As girls growing up, my sisters and I 'married' her to our other cat Bumble - and big black and white tom who had decided to adopt us.

2. Growing up in Yorkshire I lived in a house that was built in 1870 - it was half the house that had been built for the local millowner's son (carpet mills) and the half we had was big enough - the whole house would have been huge. It was also reputed to be haunted by a little boy and occasionally, coming up the stairs, I would be convinced that I had seen someone disappearing up the next flight of steps.

3. Abby Green insists that I am more Irish than her. Technically as both my parents were Irish, my father born in Dublin and my mother in Clones, I am by blood Irish - but as I was born in Newark, Nottinghamshire, I am officially English.

4. I've probably mentioned this before now - but Teagan won't know it - I am the middle child in a family of 5 daughters. I was supposed to have been a boy which is why my family nickname is Carly - a version of Charlie which I would have been if I'd been male.

5. I have to sleep on the side of the bed nearest the window and away from the door. Which is a little illogical as I feel the need to sleep facing the light (window) but that means turning my back on the door. Oh well, there's the BM (Babe Magnet, in case you didn't know, Teagan) between me and the door so I'm OK

6. Another illogicality - I like my coffee strong and my tea weak - with the tea bag just waved over the cup as Anne McAllister would say. But neither of them must have any milk or suger in them.

7. I love beautiful notebooks - and would buy a new one every day if I could - but then I freeze at the thought of writing anything in them! My handwriting is so appalling that I don't want to sully the pristine pages with it - and I'm always convinced that I should wait until I have some really great thoughts, carefully planned out, and neatly arranged to write in the lovely notebooks I have. So I end up scribbling in a tatty ring file notepad. Pens, though, that's a diffferent matter - I love using new pens, even on the tatty notepad.

And here's a fact that Teagan doesn't know - Teagan, Sid picked your name out of the people who commented on my Tote Bags and Blogs blog for 12 Points on The 12th last week and so you've won a copy of the 12 Point Guide and The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife - or another of my back list books if you've read that one.

So please email me to give me your snail mail address so I can send you your prize?