I would like the thank the Academy.......

I have to write a belated "Thank you" to Jacqueline for giving me a "stylish blogger award".....me and style ( especially style relating to clothing) don't exactly go together... but I am duly flattered nevertheless.

The Chimney sweep is working away clearing our flues out ( like you do) he is a garrulous Welshman who could sell sand to Arabs, so I am "pretending" to do some "work" on the laptop in the kitchen...if I engage him too much he will probably charge me twice for staying too long and will sell me a new chimney pot

Now according to Jac's award...I need to share with you good people seven hitherto unknown facts about myself......so here goes:-

1. Many of you will not be aware that I am one of twins! My mother had us later on in her life, a shock that she never quite got over from. According to family gossip we were named by my ten year old elder brother Andrew, and were duly given the rather amusing names of Janet and John (people of a certain age will remember the reading books)
Janet lives a couple of miles away.

2. I have a morbid fear of heights and cannot even climb a ladder without feeling uneasy ( yes just like Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo)....However, at the age of 22( in a fit of bravado) , I took part in a parachute jump for charity...and actually threw myself out of a small plane at 1,500 feet above Cumbria!
To this day I can NEVER understand just how I did it!
I remember too that I had to be helped from the outer Promenade Walkway of Seattle's Space Needle by a concerned Japanese tourist ( oh the shame)

3. I am colour blind

4. My first job was as a Bank Clerk at the Nat West Bank way back in 1980. I never ONCE balanced my till in the two years I was there and when I left the bank to start my nurse training my reference from the manager included the statement " As a bank clerk John Makes a very good psychiatric nurse"

5. I am a terrible driver, I am not an aggressive motorist or overly fast...I am just, well, basically crap! (just ask Chris if you don't believe me)
Having said this I have only ever had one small bump in the car (that is involving another motorist!)......and I was stopped once by the police in a traffic jam for letting our dog Finlay steer the car

6  I nearly drowned in a very common trailer trash pool in Loret Del Mar when I was 10 and never set foot into a pool until the age of 40 when my best friend Mike and I had private swimming lessons at a private pool ( oh I remember the shame of walking out of the pool with our 20 year old teacher in front of 40 chattering 4 year olds)

7. Although I bang on about "arthouse" movies all of the time...my favourite tv shows include Judge Judy, Road Wars,Harry Hill and Mock the Week

Sigh........Just paid the chatty sweep......70£ ....bloody hell 

For my choices I will nominate Rich over at uglydogsfarm ( he has the neatest barn I have ever seen)Diane at  Heart Shaped and Dia's perfectly formed The Odd and Unmentionable........well done

34 comments:

  1. John, I enjoyed this post and reading these tidbits about you!! I have to say that I admire you for throwing yourself out of a perfectly good airplane--While it was for a good cause, I know that I couldn't do it!! :-)

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  2. So funny. I'd never thought about the Janet and John names!! Its a good job he wasnt a bit older as the books of my day featured Dick and Dora, with Nip and Fluff being the dog and cat!! xxxx

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  3. Your bank manager had a good sense of humour, John. So did your older brother - Janet and John!

    (P.S. was your driving dog called 'Finlay', or did it nag you so much that you 'finally' let it take the wheel?)

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  4. Aren't you supposed to kiss the sweep for good luck? Tee hee.

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  5. Hello John!
    I can't believe you jumped out of an airplane...there is absolutely NO WAY I could ever do that. But I have gone to the highest lookout area on the Eiffel Tower and for me that's pretty good. I loved what your boss at the bank said about you...very fitting! Loved this post...made me laugh as usual. Hope you're having a good day.
    Maura :)

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  6. I hope you are going to paste your "Stylish Blogger Award" into the sidebar along with your exclusive "Laughing Horse Award". The picture of you slightly inebriated at Kenwood Hall in your designer gladrags must have clinched the richly-deserved style award. You are the veritable Beau Brummel of Trelawnyd!

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  7. Sometimes its more than clothes that maketh the man, John.
    Love that you have revealed these details of yourself here. I share your fear of heights. I've tried that notion of facing it to overcome it...rubbish! While I haven't jumped out of a plant (nor ever would) I've stood at the top of as many things (Eiffel Tower, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Great Wall of China, CN Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral)...still scares the whatnot out of me.

    I think I might have framed that job-reference!

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  8. Good to 'know' you a little better. Heights can be a problem for me too. I was 'holding on for dear-life' at the top of the Empire State Building.
    Colour blindness....would that pose a problem at work with colour-coded things? Or can you 'switch over'?

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  9. Congratulations on your award! I enjoyed learning more about you. I'm with you about the fear of height. I'm always ashamed when I have to hire someone to clean out the gutters, which I could reach easily if I could get about four or five steps up on a ladder.

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  10. Pillock! We only pay £40 for our sweep & HE talks a lot too! xxx

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  11. Helena for the Oscar?

    And a small point - why do you always write £6 the wrong way round a 6£? Very strange...

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  12. I've never been so insulted!! In the Kenwood Hall pic you're the man in something from Debenhams standing with the man in head to foot Hugo Boss!!!

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  13. In the style of wit and wisdom, you're a winner... Congrats!!!

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  14. You jumped put of an airplane!! Way to go!!
    So, did your chimey sweep look anything like Dick VanDyke in Mary Poppins?
    Oh, congrats on the award!
    xoxo

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  15. Aah, we had Dick and Jane in our readers, you can be glad Andrew hadn't gotten hold of those!
    How wonderful, parachute jumping! I wanted to do that for a long time, er, until I found out I couldn't ride the rides at the Space Center, thought I was going to die! I have aged into a fear of heights, now the step ladder bothers me.
    I love the reference! I have one for DH, as a plumber, he is a good electrician.
    Oh, I can almost see it - you letting Finaly take the wheel, cannot imagine what the policeman thought when he saw that! LOL!
    Such a shame about your near drowning experience! You really missed out a lot in your youth.
    Holy Cow, that's a load of money for a sweep! We used to do it with a bunch of chains and a brush and had them to do it again the next time! Oops, forgot for a minute there - fear of heights! Still too much money.
    I think the award is well deserved, for your writing style alone! Congratulations!

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  16. Your post was so good today.. Have been gone for a few days and have been reading up on the blogs I follow..
    My husband is a twin and it's really unique how they are connected. His brother lives 1,000 miles east of here and it's uncanny they both know when the other one is having problems with their health.. Or they will try calling each other only to get a busy signal, only to find out later they were trying to call each other.. I just laugh..
    Have a great day and Congratulations on your award..
    have a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now from Iowa.

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  17. I still think you should write a BOOK!

    I hope the cold is better...

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  18. Why thanks for my award - I just did the 7 things a few posts back (except I did 10!!!. As far as real style goes I think I'm onto a winner with my white badger stripe and multiple glasses all worn at once! You are so wrong about the hole in the road - yes it became a dump, but it was originally very cool and could have been restored to its former glory (complete with fish tank - see Pete Mckee's painting of the fish tank- priceless!)

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  19. Well deserved John!

    You have a STYLE all your own and I very much enjoy reading your blog...

    Thank you SO MUCH for passing the award on to me - I wish that I could tell a tale with YOUR style!

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  20. http://www.therealmckee.co.uk/shop/open-edition-prints/hole-in-the-road-fish-tank

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  21. >Sometimes its more than clothes that maketh the man, John.

    Having seen John's wardrobe, I think that's rather a good thing, too.

    Nx

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  22. Which NatWest John I worked at Attercliffe Common briefly then
    42 High Street you never know our paths may have crossed. I was a secretary and sometimes worked at George Street as well.

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  23. it was Rhyl branch!!!
    lol
    I lived in wales before moving to sheffield via york!

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  24. Anonymous9:30 pm

    Hey John! I couldn't figure out what was going on at first when I checked my blog, and then discovered my first-ever nomination. I'm thrilled. I'm overcome. First and foremost, I want to thank YOU for nominating me, then I must also mention my parents, my husband, my dog, my agent, my supporting cast, and my fifth grade teacher who made me stand up and read my Edgar Allen Poe-styled horror story to the entire class. Without her coercion I probably wouldn't be writing today.(NOT!! Like anything could shut me up.)
    Seriously, I'm touched and grateful for the mention. Thank you. And now I have to nominate another blogger (you're already taken!) as well as find/expose seven additional things about me that I haven't already exposed before. A challenge! I'll have to study your revelations for inspiration. YOU never cease to surprise me! Dia

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  25. How cool you are! LOL Just checking in to say hello. :O)

    Mal

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  26. We had Janet & John in our readers here in NZ too. With Mother & Father living in a brick house in an English suburb. Talk about inappropriate ...!

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  27. Oh - it's just that you spelt it 'Finaly'. Don't change it now, or it will confuse everyone.

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  28. Absolutely hilarious. Loved it. Congrats on the award!
    Staci

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  29. Your 7 facts made for a fun read. Thanks!

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  30. Anonymous3:14 am

    I am trying to visualize you being escorted off the promenade of the space needle by Japanese tourists and snickering to myself. Thanks for the image!

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  31. Great post. I loved the reference from your bank manager.

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  32. You failed to mention it was ME twinny who tried to swim to your rescue in Loret de mar when you nearly drowned-I had to climb 3 sets of stairs with all the towels and rubber rings back to the hotel room after you had pegged it-hmmmm ?

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  33. TRIED!
    you failed lol
    it was an ld man that pulled me out!!!!

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