Liebster Award!

Thank you, PK for nominating me! It is going to be fun "trying" to answer your questions and not appearing even more nutty than I normally am.

Here are the Rules:

1  Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2  Display the award on your blog - by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a "widget" or a "gadget". (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

3  Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4  Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

5  Nominate 5 - 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)

6  Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

7  List these rules in your post. Once you have written and published it, you then have to:

8  Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

Here are PK's questions for me:

1  If money were no object, how many children would you have had?

I would've liked four children but it wasn't possible. I am very lucky to have one of each. So far I have two adorable grandchildren - both boys.

2  What were some of your favourite books when you were a child?

I have had a life-long love affair with horses and as I child I read nothing but "pony" books and my favourites were by the Pullein-Thompson sisters, and also by Ruby Ferguson. I discovered Sci Fi at the tender age of thirteen, and started with The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. I read all his books and then went on to Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein. Since then I have read literally hundreds of Sci Fi books and these remain my greatest love to this day.

3  Do you (or your husband) have any nude pictures of you?

It's funny you should ask this question, because as you know, we moved recently, and when I was sorting through a drawer in his study I found a small box and when I opened it I was astonished to find several photos of me he had sneakily taken during some of our holidays. They are mostly quite old and fortunately my below waist bits are not on show, but that blessed man must'e sneaked up on me sunbathing and in hot tubs when I thought I was alone and clicked away with the camera.  I don't even want to think about what the people who developed the photos thought!  Horrors!

4  If you had to pick a state (not the one you live in now) in the US, what state would you choose?

This is difficult for me to answer as I haven't visited even half the states of America.  I have loved everywhere I have been, but I think perhaps I would pick the Gulf coast of Florida as it is hot, sunny and the water is warm to swim in. I also love walking along the beach collecting Sand Dollars.

5  How does spanking work in your relationship?

By providing fun, enjoyment, entertainment and a means by which Dan can relieve me not only of my stress, but keep me and my attitude in check. Every month our dynamic evolves in one way or another - it is never boring and we both realise its value in our marriage.

6  What's your best marriage advice?

Probably too much to write down here. Be prepared to be flexible and don't put up walls. You both need to be tolerant and sometimes just grit your teeth and get on with it. You must say "I love you" on a regular basis even if you find it difficult to put into words. A marriage is a partnership and must be worked at, but I would urge all wives to let the man make the final decisions. Although I am fond of letting Dan know exactly what I think about something, (and he sometimes gets quite testy with me because of it), the final say is and always has been, his. There is less friction that way, and if he is wrong, at least I get to go round with a smug look for a few hours.

7  What's your best parenting advice?

I would hesitate to give anyone advice as we have had more ups and downs than most with our children. Luckily they are now adults we are very proud of, but there were times in the past when I could've strangled the little toads! Maybe my advice is to keep the sugar levels down and ensure they eat proper food cooked from scratch and not all these takeaways. I also had very strict limits on TV time and later on when we had a PC they were not allowed to play games on it. Instead they mostly played outside, participated in various team sports and rode horses. My main parenting advice is "Just do your very best."

8  How would you feel if your daughter told you she wanted to be in a spanking relationship?

Delighted!  I don't think my daughter is - but her husband has openly admitted that he is the head of their household and both Dan's and my jaws dropped. He doesn't let her get away with much and she is a feisty little individual. They probably live a life similar to how Dan and I lived before I discovered spanking. So who knows what the future may hold.

9  How many different countries have you been to?

You have to remember here that Britain is an island nation and to go anywhere you have to travel, whilst if you live on a continent the states are like countries as in the US or Australia, and if you live on the European continent the countries all seem to blend into each other.  We are lucky to have been most everywhere in Europe.  We've travelled a fair bit in the Middle East and the North of Africa. I lived in Canada as a child and we have visited both coasts of the USA. We took a trip to Brazil and want to return to South America as it is so fascinating, but our favourite place on Earth is the Maldive Islands off the coast of India, and we love Sri Lanka too. Travel is a most important thing as it broadens the mind and allows us to get to know lovely welcoming and fascinating people. It helps us understand how other people live and think. I hope we manage to keep travelling for a good few years yet as it's a big world out there and I love it so much.

10  What's your dream job?

Until last summer I taught for most of my life and I loved most of my teaching career, but the best job I had was working for the managing director of a very high class jewellers. Although I was his secretary/PA and did not work in the shop selling jewellery, I was allowed to wear whatever I wanted during the day. Some of the pieces were worth thousands of pounds and I learned all about good quality diamonds even if I couldn't afford them. We had many celebrity clients, some of whom bought diamonds strictly for investment and to lock away in vaults. I was only in my early twenties and I can remember they had several international soccer players who used to frequent the premises buying jewellery for their wives and girlfriends. It really was a lovely place to work.

11  Do you think spanking is a possible parenting tool?

I hope I won't bring an avalanche down on my head, but I think a quick spank around the legs never hurt anyone.  I kept a wooden spoon and a riding crop in my kitchen and our son still has fond memories of them. LOL. It was the time when spanking was widely used. I remember our children went to a school where the 'slipper' was the favoured means of punishment. Then in the nineties everything changed. Now when I inform our eldest grandson that he is working his way up to a spanked bottom he tells me it is illegal, and he is only six. I tell him that if he is a naughty boy my hand will find a way to make him good again, and we laugh, but he knows I mean it and so far has only crossed the line a couple of times. The main thing is that I am very liberal with my hugs and kisses, and Grandma is the first person he runs to when he hurts himself or gets upset. So my answer is 'Maybe.'

Eleven random facts about myself:

1  I pierced my own ears during a holiday in Canada at the age of 16.

2  I love making cakes and my favourites are Lemon Drizzle Cake, Devil's Food Cake and Victoria Sponge.

3  Every autumn I make homemade wine out of ingredients such as Damsons and Blackberries.

4  I am a lark not an owl and by 10pm I am exhausted and longing for bed.

5  I love old-fashioned roses, in particular shrub roses, and we have a large collection in our garden. I adore the scent and the way they look so seductive and blousy.

6  My horse once broke every bone on the left side of my head from my skull to my jawbone.  A lovely surgeon put me back together again.

7  My eyes are neither green nor blue but the colour of cold sea water.  My left eye has a large blob of brown in it.

8  Until I read 50 Shades I knew nothing whatsoever about spanking or BDSM. Dan just wishes I had read it years earlier as he says it has improved his life beyond imagination.

9  I have an Australian penfriend I have written to since I was fifteen. We email each other these days.

10  Just like PK I now sleep in the nude, but until I came out about spanking I wore not only a nightdress but knickers as well.

11  I adore peanut butter and raspberry jam on toast for breakfast.

I'm going to nominate Jan at http://dancinroses.blogspot.co.uk/, Katie from http://thiswholething.blogspot.co.uk/, Meredith from http://newtwistafteralltheseyears.blogspot.co.uk/ and George from http://georgeshangar.blogspot.co.uk/. If any of you have been nominated before, forgive me, send me the link to your answers.

Here are their 11 questions:

1  If you could go back in history, which character would you like to be?

2  Do you ever sunbathe in the nude?

3  Do you prefer active holidays or are you a beach-bum?

4  If money were no object, where would you like to go on holiday?

5  What is your favourite alcoholic drink?

6  Have you ever dyed your hair an unusual colour?

7  Is there a secret little kink you would like to try out if you could summon up the courage to discuss it with your other half?

8  What advice would you give someone who wanted to try out spanking but was too nervous to ask? 

9  What is your favourite animal?

10  Are you a 'lark' or an 'owl'?

11  Do you speak a foreign language?