MARIE'S MUSES

Sometimes you have a day when your brain just won’t think or can’t think. I think it’s called writer’s block or something like that. I am having a morning like that this morning. My Todd is always saying to me, “I don’t know how you come up with something different to write about each and every morning.” Truth is, I don’t either. I just wake up, come downstairs, and words fall out. Occasionally though, words don’t fall out, and this is one of those days. Sooooo…..I hope you’ll forgive me when this morning I give you a little meme I found, just for fun! (Feel free to do this on your own journal and let me know so I can pop on over and read yours!)

Friday Five Fun

1. What are five TV shows that you like to watch?

I love Coronation Street. I know that I shouldn’t. It’s a soap, and most soaps are smutty and trashy … I have watched Corry since I was a young girl back in Canada. I think it is the best soap on television. (mind I’m a bit biased, I know) Before I came over here I lived under the delusion that there was actually a place called Coronation Street where you could go, and if you knocked on number 9,  Vera Duckworth would open the door and invite you in for a nice hot cuppa with a side of Jack. It’s a show that’s always just felt like home to me.

Another show I like to watch is Heartbeat. I love the music (60’s music) and it reminds me of an era when I was a young teen and in love with the Beatles and Carnaby Street and Mary Quant Eye shadow. I wanted to grow up and move to swinging London. (I guess I haven’t done too bad!)

Another vice of mine is America’s Got Talent, and the more recent Britain’s Got Talent. I think it reminds me of my younger years when Talent Shows and Variety Shows were on the telly most nights of the week. I love this type of show and am always amazed at the talent that’s out there, and equally amazed at the talent that isn’t out there, but that people think they have. It’s good, clean entertainment.

Ok, so sue me, but I love Little House on the Prairie. We have a boxed set of about 5 or 6 seasons of this show and are working our way through them. I love the simplicity of it and the good, clean and wholesome values it portrays. It’s just nice.

The Waltons. I love the Waltons. Again, we have been collecting the DVD’s of this show and are on season 4, with season 5 already waiting upstairs to be discovered. It takes me back to a kinder, gentler time and makes my heart feel good when I watch it. I grew up with this show and I always wanted to be a Walton, to live in a house with a whole pile of children and grandma and grandpa sharing it with myself and my husband. They had nothing … but they had everything.

2. What are the last five books you have read?

Promise Not To Tell by Jennifer McMahon (see sidebar)

The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds. This is a book which is about innocence and miracles in our daily life. I’ve read it several times now and it’s one of my favourites.

Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio. Both funny and painful, Icy Sparks is an unforgettable story of a 10-year old orphan named Icy Sparks who lives in the hills of Kentucky living with a dreaded secret which she calls "my urges." Soon this undiagnosed disorder consumes her life.

Stones From The River by Ursula Hegi. Born in the small German town of Burdorf, Trudi Montag is a Zwerg—a dwarf—who yearns to stretch and grow and be like everyone else. But as she matures to become the town's librarian and unofficial historian, Trudi learns that being different is a secret that everybody shares.

Here On Earth by Alice Hoffman. This is the story of March Murray, who returns to her small Massachusetts hometown after nineteen years, encounters her childhood sweetheart... and discovers the heartbreaking and complex truth about their reckless and romantic love.

3. Name five friends from your childhood.

Eileen Sargeant. She was always the smartest and prettiest girl in the class. I named my oldest daughter after her. We recently got to spend some time together after not having seen each other for 41 years. It was amazing.  We were still pretty much the same . . . except older, oh and a bit rounder . . .

Susan Warburton. I think she was my bestest friend ever. We were like two peas in a pod, except that she was about 2 feet taller than me! We did everything together from the time we started school together, until she moved away the year we both turned 10. After that, we wrote letters to each other for years. The last time I saw her I was in my late twenties and had four children. She came to visit me with her husband. We lost touch after that, but I often find myself thinking about her and wondering where she is now. Her last name is Hoogenboom now, or it was the last time I saw her.

Gail Cormack. We met in Grade 3 and were friends for several years until I moved away. She had lived in England for a few years and had an English Accent. I thought that was way cool. She also had braces, which I thought were cool too.

Janice Crowston. We were friends for several years. I had a crush on her older brother David. She came from a large catholic family and I can remember they always had fish on Fridays. Her sister Cathy used to make all her own Barbie Clothes. She would design them and everything. I wonder if she grew up to be a clothes designer or something like that? I think Janice turned into somewhat of a racy girl, because after we had been writing to each other for several years, my mother wouldn’t let me write her anymore because of some of the things she had said in some of her letters. My mother thought she was a bad influence.

Linda Wilson. Linda was my best friend all through high school. She lived across the back yard from me and was a rather large girl. Her mother made great chocolate cake.  She was a geek just like me. We used to spend hours together listening to music and dreaming about the boys we would one day get to go out with and what we would one day be. Sadly we lost touch as well. I would love to get back in touch with her.

4. What are you five favourite bath and beauty products?

Avon’s Skin So Soft, Soft and Sensual bath and shower wash. I love it’s smell.

Avon’s Skin So Soft, Soft and Sensual Body Soufflé. It’s the best moisturizer!

E45 Skin cream. I have Exema and this stuff is the best moisturizer for my face and helps to keep the itchies down.

L-Oreal Mascara. The one in the gold tube. Black. I know it is a bit pricey, but it is the one that I like the best. I always think it makes my eye lashes look fuller than any other kind. I’m probably deluded, but that’s ok . . . It’s my delusion.

Jo Malone Cologne. Nectarine Blossom and Honey. Again, this is pricey, but my boss gave me a bottle for Christmas several years ago and I just love it. It’s a really nice fragrance. But then, I love all of the Jo Malone fragrances. They’re really special. I bought some decants on E-bay a few years back and paid a bomb for them, but they were all lovely.

5. Name five things about you or that you may have done in your life that might surprise some people.

Okay I am going to make this one about food, because as you all know, I am food obsessed and this is going to be my five guilty secrets. Five things that I like to indulge in that nobody else knows about.

I love to eat salty and sweet at the same time. Like Chocolate and salty nuts, or salty crisps or pretzels. It’s delicious.

Haagan Daz Ice cream, vanilla of course, with warm strawberry jam on top.

Cherry flavoured Cool Aid and pretzels, together. I think it’s that sweet and salty thing again.

Crisp buttery Malted Milk biscuits spread with Nutella. I just love them. Maybe they taste a bit like a Malteser, but not quite as sweet. Much, much better.  Addictive even.

Celery sticks and cheese. The two just go together like peas and carrots. I like Celery and peanut butter too! (but then again I love peanut butter and jam , which Todd thinks is totally weird) (I also like peanut butter and crisp sandwiches as well, plain salted please!)

There you have it, my Friday Five Fun. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed thinking them up!

Here’s a little salad I threw together for our lunch yesterday. It was really good! I figured after having pie for breakfast I better be a good girl and have a salad for lunch!

Serves 4

Ham and fruit go so well together. They are the perfect combination and when you combine that with some cheese and a honey mustard dressing, you’ve got an something quite unbeatable!

1 Cos lettuce, trimmed and roughly torn

1 carton of salad cress, trimmed

2 peaches, stone and cut into thin wedges

4 ounces of Edam cheese, rind removed and cut into thin sticks

4 ounces of thick sliced ham, cut into sticks

Warm crusty bread for serving

DRESSING:

3 TBS olive oil

1 TBS white balsamic vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 TBS mayonnaise

1 tsp runny honey

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Toss all the salad ingredients together in a large salad bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and season to taste with a bit of salt and pepper. Divide the salad amongst four chilled plates and drizzle each with a portion of the dressing before serving. Serve with plenty of warm crusty bread.