Ask Me Anything - Part One

Hello everyone! A few weeks ago, I said I was doing an Ask Me Anything post - and it's not too late to submit your questions if you haven't already! The original post is here. Anyway, I was surprised and delighted with the amount of questions I received, so thank you one and all! Here is the first part:

Chloe's questions:

1. What’s the most surprising book you’ve read, as it wasn’t what you were expecting?

I was surprised and delighted by Searching for and Maintaining Inner Peace by Fr. Jacques Phillipe. It was exactly what I needed at that moment and I was not expecting it to slot into my life so neatly.

2. Who are some fictional characters you relate to and why?

Anyone with sisters will probably relate to any of the sisters in Jane Austen's books... Elinor in Sense and Sensibility is one, being the sane sister in the middle of a group of crazy women. However, it seems that both my sisters feel that THEY are the sane ones and I am crazy. The audacity! I also relate to Catherine Morland as I feel like I am frequently naive and misunderstand things... 

Florence Cray from Jeeves and Wooster is another character - at least, I am told that I am like her... 

3. What is your favorite song from a musical you don’t like?

I don't like The Greatest Showman, but I do like the song Rewrite the Stars!

4. What is your least favorite song from your favorite musical?

My favourite musical is My Fair Lady, but my least favourite song from it is A Hymn to Him. It's not what Higgins is saying that irritates me (though I disagree with it), but how he's saying it - it's boring and he's not singing. (I know that was Rex Harrison's trademark, but never mind. It's annoying.)

5. Which actor would you want to portray you in a movie about your life? (a dream cast in a way ;) )

Good one! Well, I don't know - it's hard to judge one's own character properly. My best option is Emma Thompson. I feel like she could probably do crazy silly me and angry me and quiet me.

Emi's questions:

1. Is it nosy to ask what kind of accent you have? Besides British, obviously😜

No, it's not nosy at all! Well, as everyone probably knows, there are a lot of regional accents in Britain; apart from Scottish, Welsh, and Irish, there are county, town, and region-specific accents (such as Devon, Black Country, Dorset, and Birmingham). I don't have any accent at all, however - just British! 

2. What is one thing you think of as perfectly normal, but that isn't done/said/eaten in the rest of the English speaking (But Not Necessarily ENGLISH) world?

I would say people being super/overly polite all the time is one thing. I once read a book that said that if you accidentally put your suitcase down on an English person's foot he will say, "I'm terribly sorry, but your bag's on my foot," making it sound like it's his own fault - and that's actually true. People apologise all the time! (I'm not saying that the rest of the world is rude - just that we go a little over-the-top here.)

I regularly have conversations like this with people in shops. Everyone thinks it's rude if you don't!

Food... well, they say fish and chips is quintessentially British. Another British food is apple crumble, though neither of those is exclusively British.

3. What's one item on your bucket list? (It doesn't have to be off the top, but just from somewhere in the reaches of it ;)

I would like to sew my own wedding dress, if I ever get married. I would also very much like to live in France for a few months... (a bucket list post would be fun both to write and to read...)

4. And I know this is a repeat from Lizzie's AMA post, but anyway ;) Have you got a favourite number?? Because yes, I am curious about this sort of thing :P

I like the numbers 13 and 17. I don't know why I like 13! I like 17 because being seventeen was fun!

5. What is the most re-readable book in your shelf?

The Emily of New Moon series springs to mind - it's what I usually reread when I have nothing else to read, and I really enjoy it. I am planning to write a post about the last book - that last book! It is not my favourite. 

6. What is your favourite kind of shoes? (Which question sounds weird, and I don't know how to make it come out properly, but just because shoes are such a personality/aesthetic thing...)

I love this question! I like wearing either ballerina pumps or brogues best! Either black or brown, but usually black as they go with everything. I have a really nice pair of brown brogues with heels, which I will wear when I do my easter sewing post, because if I stop now to take a picture I will never finish this post!

7. Would you rather wear all pastels or all jewel tones?

All jewel tones! Pastels make me seem a little washed-out, and also I find it more satisfying to wear richer shades ;) I don't know if this dress counts as jewel toned, but I need one like it in my life!

8. What is your favourite way to spend a Saturday?

Just pottering around the house and garden, getting up fairly late, eating breakfast and reading, gardening, playing the piano, sewing, eating cake, knitting, maybe watching a film... or having people round for dinner!

9. Name one thing you can't stand in stories... And on the other hand, what is one thing you read about in books that you wish people still did? (Or two. Because, y'know, two is even better than one sometimes, and I think this is one of them.)

I hate lack of communication for no reason. I hate it. It makes me bored with the story. I know that it happens in real life, but in real life it gives me the same frustrated angry feeling! I'm reading a Thomas Hardy book at the moment with this problem. If it wasn't for the amazing descriptions, then I would give up right now.

In terms of things I wish people still did, I wish there were still definite moral standards for authors; it would be great to be able to pick up any book and know it was all right to read. Also, I wish people still wrote about people, especially young women, who live at home but still had a book written about them.

Anonymous #1 Questions: 

(I do know the name of the commentator; I just don't know if she'd be happy for me to share it!)

1. What’s your favorite season?

I honestly like all of the seasons equally. I love academic, colourful autumns (even though I'm not in school/college, I still get a back-to-school feeling in September!), I love cold and Christmassy winters, I love cool, flowery springs, I love warm, relaxing summers.

2. Do you have a kind of flower you particularly like?

Roses! I love roses! I can't get enough of them! If anyone were ever to give me a bouquet, they would make me perfectly happy if they were to make it out of pink roses, lavender, and pink and white and purple sweet-peas.

3. When is the most inconvenient/unpleasant time you’ve ever gotten sick?

I was ill for my sister's sixteenth birthday party :( However, the lovely friends who had come round to celebrate were amazing and took care of me, and I got through it, and my sister still had a great time!

4. What do you see yourself doing ten years from now?

That is a good question, and the short answer is, I don't know! I could be married; I could be a nun; I could be living at home with my parents and having a fun time driving round to visit my married and settled friends! I hope to have grown my knitting business and perhaps have published a book, but I'm less mad on publishing than I used to be. I do want to travel a little, maybe to France.

Perhaps I'll still be writing this blog, and I promise that if I am, I will do an Ask Me Anything post using these same questions and revisiting my answers.

If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be, and why?

I would go to Shropshire and get to know it really, really well. It's one of my favourite counties in England, together with Devon and the New Forest; but as I've neither lived there nor spent many holidays there, I know it least well. I do want to visit France, Germany, and Italy but I want to get to know my own country really well first.

That's it for part one - part two will be forthcoming!