I should have seen that one coming.

My daughter Vivienne tagged me for a meme, so here goes (we Mothers know our duty)

1. What was I doing ten years ago?

I was trying very hard to recover from the worst year of my life. 1997 was BAD. I started that year with a coronary artery by-pass op, after having two heart attacks. The year ended with me needing one of the grafts to be re-done because it hadn't worked the first time.

The heart recovered remarkably well, but I was still struggling, and it took me until early 2000 to wonder if the pain and weakness were somehow connected with the statins that I was told were necessary to life. It is not good to have to go up the stairs on all fours. It is not good to be unable to knit due to the pain in one's hands and arms. It took another three years from stopping the drug to lose most of the symptoms, and it was a long time before I realised that the mental problems ( memory difficulties, and "losing" words) had been due to the statins. I had thought that it might be brain damage after the surgery, but, if it had been, it would not have resolved itself the way it did.

So it was a hard year, and frustrating, but in general I was heading in the right direction - back to life.

2. What are five things on my to-do list for today?

This.

Take a trip with my good friend from the (closed) Post Office. Lakeland here I come for some more anti-moth stuff.

Knit some. I am working on some of the Jaegar Superfine Merino (discontinued). I find it hard to express what a delicious piece of work this is. QUALITY YARN!!

Read some. I am reading "The Domestic Manners of Americans" by Fanny Trollope. She doesn't hold back from an honestly held opinion.

Watch birds. Our feeders are rarely deserted.

3. What snacks do I enjoy?

Parsnip crisps. Parsnip chips. Roast parsnips. Hell, just parsnips.
Kettle chips.
Nuts -today I prefer cashews and macadamias. This will surely change.
Chocolate. Today it would be Green and Black's Butterscotch. This too will assuredly change.

4. Where are some of the places I have lived?

St Just, in West Cornwall -born and raised there.
Reading, when I left home to train as a nurse. They still had trolley buses then. Did you hear the one about the driver who transferred from the buses - he forgot that he was attached to overhead cables, and pulled out to overtake . . . I believe he lost his job.
The nursing didn't work out, so I moved to Dorking, and worked as a lab technician. That was the year I took part in the Leith Hill Music Festival.
In the 70's we lived in Plymouth for five years. If it has to be a city, Plymouth is a very pleasant one to live in - or certainly was then.

5. If I were a billionaire, what things would I do?

I would have my home near the sea, where I could establish it's surroundings as some kind of nature reserve.

I would have dogs and horses (I would need some help with the looking after, so that would be a good excuse to overpay somebody for doing what they enjoyed.)

I would love to be able to set up something akin to "El Sistema" - because I believe that music can always make a difference.

There are bound to be masses of things I will think of as soon as I post this - ah well.

I genuinely can't think of anyone to tag for this - Vivienne has pinched all the names I would have thought of!