Honest Scrap

Riki, over at Sprig to Twig, has flattered me with an Honest Scrap tag.

As I understand it, the recipient lays out ten things designed to illuminate facets of the blogger that might not be evident from her/his blog. Then she tags seven new bloggers who repeat the process. Although this is scarily close to a chain letter, I think it has the potential to enhance at least my appreciation of some bloggers I follow.

So here goes my streak of honesty:

• Peace is the only way.

• I’m not a US citizen. I was born in London England, so I can’t vote for President and I can’t ever be President (now there’s a weight off my mind.) I always thought I might like to live in England, so I never took US citizenship. Now, with my EU passport, I could live in any number of different European countries. Italy sounds good and warm right now, or maybe the South of France.

• Reading is something I have always done. I gravitate toward contemporary women fiction writers, but throw in a good amount of non-fiction. Actually, I'll read just about anything, including a box of crackers on the kitchen counter.

• I belong to a book club that has been meeting for over 17 years. We’re such good friends now that most book discussions eventually finds their way into a conversation about politics or families. I think I've only missed two or three meetings in all these years. Am I smarter because of it? Naaah.

• I love my two cats: Pearl is a five-year-old, fat, sluggish, gray female tabby who used to mother her companion, Elvis, but has been beaten up enough times that she has pretty much given up trying. Elvis is a four-year-old, sweet, white-and-tabby male, who only resists Pearl’s mothering because she won’t stop licking at a reasonable point. They are both indoor cats, because I care about their safety and the wild bird population in my garden.

• Chocolate is my downfall.

• I hope to retire in 2010. I want to be able to do things during the day, like gardening and working with children in school. And I’m ready to quit being in an office for eight hours a day. Even though I often get to do creative, interesting things in my work, enough is enough.

• I never get as much exercise as I should. That’s one of the many reasons I like summer: it’s easy for me to be outdoors working in the garden in the warmer, drier months. Winter, not so much. I really have to make myself go outdoors when it’s cold or wet.

• I come from gardening families: My paternal grandfather (whom I never knew) had a beautifully landscaped back garden in London, and my Granny Finch loved her roses. My mother was an avid gardener in multiple hot and trying locales in the U.S. My uncle and aunt gardened extensively in the Thames Valley and their daughter gardens beautifully in Oxford with her husband. My sister’s no slouch, garden-wise, either.

• I feel exceedingly lucky that my husband, Ben (a.k.a. Mr. MulchMaid), is as interested in gardening as I am, although we differ on specifics: he goes for a cool, woodsy, Northwest native effect, while I aim for a sun-kissed, dry-tolerant, Mediterranean look and feel. His architectural training has given him a landscape designer’s eye, while I am a plant lover, so my beds are less pulled together than his. I strive for the whole, but can get bogged down in the details. Although there are times when I wish my garden planning could be a bit more autonomous, I have to admit our mutual involvement creates a nice synergy.

So there you have me, warts and all.

Now here, in no particular order, are seven bloggers I admire. Tag, you're it!

http://mydogischelsea.com/

http://olives-and-artichokes.blogspot.com/

http://awaytogarden.com/

http://greenwalks.wordpress.com/

http://www.gracepete.com/

http://retrorenovation.com/

http://atomicteaparty.blogspot.com/