Are you more of a night or morning person? When you are a child you either get up early by nature or are made to get up early by your parents for school. By the time you get to your teenage years you still have to get up early because of school but your body is telling you it isn't ready because you stayed up so late.

dav What Was 1939 Like? On September 3, of course, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced that a state of war existed between the United Kingdom and Germany. Prior to this, the whole country was switched to a war footing in preparation with the Women's Auxilliary Air Force and the Women's Land Army set up and reservists and Civil Defence Workers being called up.

What are your feelings about eating meat? I am an omnivore and always will be. However, there are two distinct caveats I now apply to the meat I do eat. First, how much have I been eating recently and second, where does it come from. When I was brought up, most people had meat with nearly every meal. The Sunday roast was a British staple in virtually every household.

What was a Christmas magazine published in the last years of Victorian Britain like? Join me as I look through the pages of the Pears Annual from 1896.

Do you want to entertain/irritate friends and relatives with your Christmas knowledge? Do you have a quiz to set over the next few weeks? If you do, this could prove to be invaluable. 20 facts, well known and obscure, about the Festive season. How many did you know already?

What are your two favorite things to wear? I always like to wear my learning lightly 🤣🤣! In a more serious vein, I am very likely to be wearing something comfortable rather than something fashionable or sharp. Give me a sweatshirt or a jumper over anything that would be counted as 'dress to impress'. At this point in the year I love the fact that I can wear Christmas jumpers for a whole month.

What technology would you be better off without, why? I don't think there is necessarily any technology that I would be better off without but there is definitely technology I could use better. There in a nutshell is the problem that the human race has had through the centuries. So much technology has been misused, mainly by people who want to hurt or control others.

What's the hardest decision you've ever had to make? Why? I got a job teaching English in Dhahran back in 2007. The job was based at a Royal Saudi Air Force base. It was incredibly well paid and extremely straightforward in terms of what I was teaching. The issue was splitting the family up, even temporarily. Now, some of my colleagues just loved being away from their wives and family, and if that suited them then fine!

Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays? Due to the occasionally repetitive nature of these prompts, I have already covered Christmas food, and I did so on a Blogmas post a couple of years back. So, settle in for a whistle stop tour of the history of our favourite, or perhaps not so favourite food.

If you didn't need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time? If I didn't need sleep, and making the assumption that I will be at full throttle, then I would definitely be doing more writing. Over the last four months or so I have posted at least once every day and have built up more of an audience.

With just a month to go until the big day, I am going to Re-Blog 10 of my favourite Christmas posts that deserve more of an audience. First up is a great book by Christmas fanatic and Romantic Comedy writing legend, Lindsey Kelk. The Christmas Wish is one of a select few books that I will reread every year, and it's just as good every festive season. Read on to find out why it needs to go on to your own reading list.

Name your top three pet peeves. I find prompts like this quite difficult. How can I reduce all the things in modern life that irritate me into three examples?! 🤣🤣 I could be here all day if I don't focus! Well, first of all the word peeves indicates minor irritations rather than anger inducing major issues. So, I can fortunately, for both me and my readers, ignore politics and the dreadful straits our world finds itself in.

This post is a broad reflection of our five days in Austria which we spent entirely within Salzburg. I will be focusing on our visits to various attractions and the Christmas Markets which were the main reason for choosing to stay here in November. Basic Information The main language of Austria is German, so it's very much worth your while to learn some of the basic vocabulary so that you can make the best of your stay.

Who are your current most favorite people? I am a misanthrope, or at least that's how I come across. My reflections in this blog definitely paint me as one, with my take on human nature. A line from Scrooge The Musical by Leslie Bricusse sums it up, when Scrooge sings 'I Hate People'! "Picked at random, I can't stand them!'

What are your favorite animals? I am not the type who enjoys being up close and personal with other members of the animal kingdom other than my cat! However, I can definitely appreciate the majesty of the other species we share our planet with. I love seeing animals roaming in the areas they naturally inhabit. I remember when I was about 9 years old and I went to a circus which had set up on the playing fields opposite my house.

BEN FINLAY celebrates the BBC that used to be. Let us now praise: BBC Four This is the first time I have tried reblogging an article but I just thought it was so good I really had to. If, like me, you enjoy old programmes take a read and you will end up agreeing with every word.

Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why? The scenery of a place has never been as important as who I am with. As long as I am with family, I can take any scenery in my stride. However, the scenery is important to them so I have learned to see the surroundings as an integral part of where we are.

What are your family's top 3 favorite meals? As a family we have always had favourite meals. I am a very good home cook and I have always been able to make the most of my ingredients in terms of both taste and cost. When we were struggling somewhat financially, I cooked basic meals from scratch and they went down very well with the children.

If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why? This prompt is one that I can remember getting in Primary School. What is it about the question that still fascinates so many adults? What would you ask someone who is in the history books? To be honest I can't really find any enthusiasm for meeting figures from history that I have read about.

Do you trust your instincts? I would never trust my instincts as they have been wrong on so many occasions. I think that is partly down to being on the Autistic Spectrum. We don't tend to read people very well, so now my 'instinct' is to be incredibly wary of anyone new. We used to be told when I was growing up that if you were nice to other people then they would be nice to you.

What's your favorite month of the year? Why? It will surprise no one who has read this blog, even occasionally, to know that my favourite month of the year is December. As a Christmas fan, how could it not be? It is a month of anticipation and a month of magic. You have music that's different from any other time of the year.

Rochester Christmas Lights 2025 What is your favorite place to go in your city? I live near Rochester, a city in Kent. Well, technically it's not a city anymore, but that was due to administrative incompetence, a sadly common element of modern life. Anyway, it has a Cathedral so it is, in ecclesiastical terms, a city and has been for about 1400 years.

What's the first impression you want to give people? I discount the first impression that anyone gives, for the simple reason that it is almost certain to be heavily curated to show the particular side of that person that they feel is to their advantage. Perhaps it's my innate distrust of human beings or the fact that I am on the Autistic Spectrum, but I don't believe that what you see is what you get.

What book are you reading right now? There is no time of the year quite like Christmas. Those of us who celebrate it have our traditions, both personal and cultural, which mark the festive season. I have CDs I play, DVDs I watch and, books I read every year. My current book is always the one I start Christmas reading with in early or mid November.