I thought I would try and resurrect an old favourite, although I suggest we all take a turn rather than me doing it every week, because I will run out of ideas. Or upset somebody.
If anyone thinks this is a good idea and wants to do the next one, but doesn’t know how to post on WordPress, I am happy to help, and you can email me for destructions on adempster73@gmail.com.
Right, here we go. Nothing sophisticated, just a bit of a laugh and if there is a question you feel is too personal, or strikes the wrong note, don’t answer it. Short answers are absolutely fine.
- What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
- What is in your cutlery drawer? (a) Is it organised into knives, forks, spoons; (b) disorganised but you know where the corkscrew is; (c) full of plastic baby spoons with bunnies on, (d) set up to display Aunt Elspeth’s best fish knives? Or (e) ‘What’s a cutlery drawer?’
- Where would you like to live, if money and mobility were no obstacle?
- Pets. Yes or no. Why and/or what.
- What stupid little thing really winds you up? (You can refer to the cutlery drawer or the pet, if you wish).
- Would you like to swing on a star? Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
That’s all folks! Have fun with it and volunteer for another one. Or not.
The 'Spill 
Good idea! Here goes
1. I’m going to have to think about this one …(That’s not the advice)
2. a) which would be surprising to anyone who knows how bad I am at organising spaces. Years ago I made a mental association between different pieces of cutlery and different Sisters of Mercy albums, and I’ve been able to remember which goes where in the drawer ever since! Sad but true
3. Still South Leicestershire , I have no desire to move very far, but in a house where I can have a room specifically for listening to music. only the other day wyngate jnr came in and told me I was playing it to loud. He’s just turned 12!
4. Yes….
Goldfish – wyngate jnr wanted them. They have become my pets by default. Alas, I’ve got a poor record of keeping them alive.
Leopard gecko – wyngate jnr wanted one. It has become my pet by default. I do much better looking after the gecko.
Hamster – Mrs wyngate carpenter and wyngate jnr called in at Pets At Home to pick up supplies , saw the hamster and seemingkly couldn’t resist. It has become my pet by default. It’s doing fine.
5. People getting music trivia wrong, musical subgenres a speciality. People claiming the Cramps are goth or Iggy is anarcho, that sort of thing.
6. I like the idea but I suspect that the physical reality wouldn’t really work.
Sisters of Mercy albums! That’s brilliant, I don’t understand how it works but if it works, don’t fix it!
Best advice? Take the high road. Which I do when I remember.
Cutlery drawer? There’s a certain spoon I like to eat soup with and people in my household often use it before me. I have a list.
Like to live? Argentina.
Pets? We have a couple of dogs. They’re great companions and handy scapegoats when I eat gassy foods.
Winds me up? Songs on song-bar with the theme keywords in the title.
Swing on a star? I’m sure you and your silly fella are great company and all, but no. I don’t go for that.
tx for kicking this off @ali. Should be fun!
😂😂
1. A bit that came from my Uncle about relationships. Went something like: Any one can make it through the flush of desire. If you find someone who thrills you when you’re having your worst own day, or even better her own worst day, marry her.
2. Organized quite thoroughly. I like being able to open it in the dark if I have to,
3. The Pyrenees. French side, close enough to a mountain I can reach in an hour.
4. All our pets(4) have passed on in the last few years including Murphy my avatar. My wife and I both agree the pain of their passing is tough. We’ve always had pets but it may be in our past now. My son has a very sweet German Shepard and she’s round a lot but she’s getting old too .
5. People saying “do your own research” when what they actually mean is they troll the interwebs till they find someone who agrees with them.
6. Seemed to work for Francis Albert so sure.
Thanks for resurrecting this Wyngate. I’ll try to conjure some questions and toss ’em in.
Sorry Ali I guess I should read from the top. Thanks.
I can’t claim credit!
“Do your own research” bugs me as well. They don’t actually mean do your own research , they mean get your “information” from the same websites as me. My response would at least sometimes be “I have done my own research and I’ve come to the conclusion that you are talking crap”
Can I Get an Amen!
You’re welcome but be careful with the knife drawer in the dark.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
My father in law, now deceased said if you can find a job you enjoy and you get paid for it you’ve made it; suffice to say still looking!
What is in your cutlery drawer? (a) It is organised into knives, forks, spoons; we have a separate drawers for kebab skewers, corkscrews etc.
Where would you like to live, if money and mobility were no obstacle?
Somewhere with acres of woods and a stream for the Doggos. See next answer.
Pets. Yes or no. Why and/or what.
All the pets. Two young Golden Retrievers (Arlo and Indy) as well as three house cats (Russian Blues) previously had various snakes – boas, corns and lizards as well as rabbits and hamsters when the kids were young.
What stupid little thing really winds you up?
People not indicating! It seems to have become the norm in the U.K. and drives me nuts!
Would you like to swing on a star? Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
No.
Yes, I am often heard to mutter ‘Oh look! One of those new-fangled cars without indicators!’ Grrr.
1. “Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think”, a cliché, but it was the motto of my sister who passed away after a long illness in 2010
2. a combination of (a), 3/4 of the space and (b), the rest…
3. Saas-Fee, Switzerland, car-free town, surrounded by majestic mountains
4. Somehow yes, “the cat with no name”, turned up some nine years ago, took some time to win her trust, since then I am the only one who can do anything with her, the rest of humanity has to stay at least 5 meters away from her, I moved to an apartment about one and a half year ago, she, being an outdoor type decided to stay, now being looked after by a friendly neighbour (still considered to be a part of the rest of humanity), I still look after her a couple of times a week, a fine 15 km mountainbike ride…
5. Agree with leaveitallbehind9 on this one, people not indicating seems to be the norm here in NL and Belgium, it’s a little better in Germany, and, oh yeah, Belgian BMW drivers who all seem to think they are Max Verstappen (although Max (despite being born in Belgium) isn’t Belgian nor a BMW driver…)
6. No, just “Dream all day” (the Posies, 1993)
I am sorry to hear about your sister, but that is a good motto for life. The cat with no name sounds very enigmatic and I ‘m glad he/she has found somewhere acceptable to be.
1. Never argue with a drunk or an idiot.
2. Cutlery
3. Somewhere in Europe
4. Cats. We have a brother & sister Ziggy (Stardust) & Macy (Gray).
5. Instagram in general, people taking pictures of their food & drink, in particular.
6. No, but wouldn’t say no to being “better off than you are“.
‘Cutlery.’ Well, I asked for that. 😂
Great idea, Ali! I hope we can keep it going for a while…
1. The only piece of advice I remember hearing was from an old chap (probably younger than I am now!) on a bus advising moderation in all things when I was around 13/14. I may not have always followed it but it’s a good thing to bear in mind. Hunter lyrics have some value, e.g. ‘Nothing’s for certain/It can always go wrong’ (Stella Blue)
2. I got a new kitchen last year, so I now have one drawer for eating cutlery (and the corkscrew) and one drawer for cooking utensils etc.
3. Now that I have overcome the trouble from my neighbours and their landlord, I’m quite happy where I am. My son seems to think I should move into the countryside but I love being on the edge of a city yet having easy access to fields, rivers etc.
4. Pets that basically look after themselves if you house and feed them are OK (I had a cat for 21 years). Dogs are not pets, however, they are family members who need constant attention and I don’t really understand why anyone subjects themselves to that. I also mistrust them and increasingly see them as predominantly simply a way for humans to massage their egos while condemning other animals to death to feed these genetically-engineered wolves. A favourite statistic I now spew out to daffy dog lovers is that, were it a country, the pet food industry would be the fifth largest consumer of meat in the world, with all the concomitant land destruction and carbon emissions growing that meat entails. Halving the number of pooches would help save the planet.
~ ducks and runs for cover ~
5. Lack of consideration in others. So many people seem incapable of even recognising that others exist, particularly drivers who could easily let a pedestrian cross a road or let another car in front of them but don’t.
6. Swinging on a star sounds a tad warm.
Re 4: I’ll lay down the covering fire whilst you make a run for it, Chris. But I’ll only be aiming at yappy/trophy/pointless dogs. Any canine with a purpose (Guide Dogs is one of the few charities I always support, f’rinstance) can stay … as long as someone else is looking after them; I CBA.
No, working dogs are fine. But they’re not pets.
Hmm, I did have a dog but I primarily got her for my son. She became my pet by default, as wyngate will understand. She was a lovely dog and I was sad when she died, but I don’t want another one.
Not a dog person here either, and yet I seem to live in dog central. I didn’t like dogs as a child , I got used to them particularly after exposure to my mate’s rotweiler, but I’m coming full circle for several reasons a) dog turds everywhere – even though the majority of dog owners bag them, there are so many dogs around here that you are regularly walking through a dog turd minefield b) every so often you’ll get one that snarls and barks aggressively at you as it walks past, one owner round here had a thuggish looking huge bulldog that would strain at the leash as you walked past and it’s owner would cheerfully tell you it wouldn’t here you it was very soft , etc . Really? But anyway the old I get the more I wonder why I should have to put up with this dog aggression just for being somewhere in the vicinity c) wyngate jnr despite our efforts is very nervous of them , even tiny ones, it seems a bit unfair on him!
Rant over! Sorry if you’re one of the many responsible dog owners that clears up after you dog which also has a lovely temperament.
‘He’s never done that before’, said the owner of the dog that bit my son on the arm in a playground when he was around 4. Yes, dogs can be adorable. Or potential killers….
My son still likes dogs, for reasons I simply do not understand. I tense up whenever I see one bounding towards me as its owner tries to call it to heel.
A mate of mine had to fight off a particular vicious dog with a lump of wood in a park once which was trying to get to his baby daughter in her pram. Utterly terrifying he told me and I don’t doubt him for a second. He managed to hold it off until they successfully go away. No sign of the owners anywhere.
A colleague of mine has a favourite phrase “There are no bad dogs , only bad owners” but that still doesn’t get around the fact that as you say , many dogs are capable of killing humans.
Mind you, there are people like my mate who spectualrly fail to understand even the basics of dog behaviour. He was once hitting the aforementioned rotweiler on the haunches, depite it’s growls and everyone else in the room telling him to stop. Completely oblivious he turned round and said “It’s funny how they growl when they’re happy isn’t it?”. Happily he wasn’t the owner.
5. Lack of consideration in others. So many people seem incapable of even recognising that others exist, particularly drivers who could easily let a pedestrian cross a road or let another car in front of them but don’t.
Agreed, though I don’t think that’s a stupid little thing. Plenty of drivers do let me cross as a pedestrian , but there are occasions when it seems liek not a single one is going to. Doesn’t help that where I live there is a stretch of road about a mile and a half long at our end running the width of the village that doesn’t have a single pedestrian crossing, and gets very busy in places.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Apparently none I’ve ever remembered.
What is in your cutlery drawer?
(e) ‘What’s a cutlery drawer?’
Where would you like to live, if money and mobility were no obstacle? Wherever I feel like on any given day
Pets. Yes or no. Why and/or what.
No. I have children. They suffice.
What stupid little thing really winds you up?
Only one?!
Would you like to swing on a star? Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
I like the idea of moonbeams…
🤣🤣 I fancy moonbeams too, a gentle night light.
Never listened to advice…
I have a well organised cutlery drawer
I always fancied a lighthouse but it would need a reliable lift .
Pets, couldn’t be without them.
Going to the eponymous cutlery drawer and finding no teaspoons because they are all dirty and dumped in the washing up bowl.One day I am going to hide them all save one, honestly how long does it take to rinse a teaspoon??
I would love a jar full of moon beams
Great quiz, Thank you🙂
I had my own private teaspoon at work…
I hear you sister !
1. Best advice? “Apply anyway. What’s the worst that can happen?”
2. Our cutlery drawers are most definitely (a)! I would blame DsMam’s ultra-organiser skills, but to be honest, it’s one of the things I’m picky about.
3. Like to live? Not sure I’ve found it yet, but in the meantime right here is just fine, thank you. Call me when you find somewhere not being run by corrupt scumbags.
4. Pets? Ideally yes I’d have another couple of cats, but I’m away so much it’s not gonna happen.
5. Wind up? The girls ringing me from home on their mobiles. Our signal’s crap and we still have a landline (with half-a-dozen handsets around the house).
6. Would I like to…? I like walking the streets of Japan until I get lost;
I like studying faces in parking lots;
I like colourful clothing in the sun;
I like hammering nails and speaking in tongues …
We are lucky to live in Yorkshire, I think. I’ll have been here 26 years next month! It was meant to be temporary…
1 What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Believe in your own abilities.
2 What is in your cutlery drawer? (a) Is it organised into knives, forks, spoons; (b) disorganised but you know where the corkscrew is; (c) full of plastic baby spoons with bunnies on, (d) set up to display Aunt Elspeth’s best fish knives? Or (e) ‘What’s a cutlery drawer?’
Knives, forks and spoons in a proper tray, plus older knives forks and spoons in a heap at the front, mixed in with other stuff and two rolling pins at the side with the salad spoon and fork.
3 Where would you like to live, if money and mobility were no obstacle?
In the Entre-des-Deux Mers – the triangualr region to the east of Bordeaux, bordered bi the River Dordogne to the north and the River Garonne to the south.
4 Pets. Yes or no. Why and/or what.
Very much yes; we have two West Highland White Terriers, the young successors to our sadly-departed Westie sisters, who we brought into our lives in 2006.
5 What stupid little thing really winds you up? (You can refer to the cutlery drawer or the pet, if you wish).
People in shops asking “Can I get xxxxxxx?”. No, you can’t “get” anything. You should say “Can I have xxxxxx, please?”
6 Would you like to swing on a star? Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
Not really, I might get motion sickness.
Two rolling pins! That’s keen, though I know you like to cook.
One is smaller than the other.
Well, that makes perfect sense.
1. So much advice under the bridge. I will go with ‘that which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.’
2. Forks, knives, spoons on the top layer with a plethora of weird implements on the second layer. Two other drawers full of other implements.
3. I am happy where I live but it would be nice to be nearer the coast.
4. We have Tecna and Bloom, tfd’s kittens ( the official RR cats). They are now 7 years old. Officially my son’s pets but mine by default ( see wyngate). But I do like cats and have had cats for most of my life
5. Litter. Rudeness. Politics. Ok h, that’s three big things. Childproof caps on bottles (because I can’t get them open).
6. No head for heights so I will stick with the moonbeams.
1 What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
My dad has some ‘wise’ sayings most of which can safely be ignored but one of his that really speaks to me is, ‘Never do something for the first time!’
2 What is in your cutlery drawer? (a) Is it organised into knives, forks, spoons; (b) disorganised but you know where the corkscrew is; (c) full of plastic baby spoons with bunnies on, (d) set up to display Aunt Elspeth’s best fish knives? Or (e) ‘What’s a cutlery drawer?’
Mainly (a) with aspects of (c)
3 Where would you like to live, if money and mobility were no obstacle?
Can I add ‘if reality were no obstacle?’ If so, I would live where I do now (i.e. Bushey near Watford, Edindburgh, Orkney and Landau-in-der-Pfalz all at the same time.
4 Pets. Yes or no. Why and/or what.
Cats. Two. Archie and Cleo. Two years ago, when our lovely Misty (see my avatar) died we said, ‘never again’. Now, we couldn’t live without our two. Constant entertainment and unconditional love…
5 What stupid little thing really winds you up? (You can refer to the cutlery drawer or the pet, if you wish).
People misuing words. Language change without logic. When did we start being excited *for* things instead of being excited *about* things?
6 Would you like to swing on a star? Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
I’d rather be a pig…
And when did everything become a ‘journey’?
Exactly!
I’ll do next week’s EotW, Ali.
Thank you 😃
swing on a star,moonbeams in a jar? Our autistic lad does the unexpected and occassionally the amazing
We had a week swimming with whales ( meant to be dolphins but there were shoals of fish,so they were too busy for us )
Last day the swim session ended as ever with the big daddy whale leading his family away. They did a procession very close across the front of our boat.The lad,about 10 and nearly always non-verbal (apart from singing), suddenly shouted’showtime’ and clapped his hands above his head.
Daddy whale raised up his tail and slapped the water,a huge splash.
Four more times as the whales went on their way, heshouted and clapped.
Daddy whale slapped the water each time
t’was as spectacular as a moonbean in a jar
Amazing! He is obviously in tune with the whales.
Very late indeed to the party and not sure how to answers these even as I write but…
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
The piece of advice that has stuck in my mind was given to me by a woman from Glasgow who I met on one of the early social networking sites. Before Facebook/Meta took over the world. It was “you don’t have to give them what they want”. Which I think was in reference to the various new friends and/or potential partners one might meet online. Whether it was good advice or has any wider application I have yet to figure out.
What is in your cutlery drawer? (a) Is it organised into knives, forks, spoons; (b) disorganised but you know where the corkscrew is; (c) full of plastic baby spoons with bunnies on, (d) set up to display Aunt Elspeth’s best fish knives? Or (e) ‘What’s a cutlery drawer?’
I have two cutlery drawers. The top one has knives, forks, spoons all in their allotted places. The lower one has a system that makes perfect sense to me. But I’d be hard put to tell you what it is.
Where would you like to live, if money and mobility were no obstacle?
For years I would have said the Greek island of Cephalonia. These days I kind of accept that living in your favourite holiday destination probably wouldn’t work long term. Although Vienna (near the woods) does still seem tempting.
Pets. Yes or no. Why and/or what.
When I was a kid we always had a dog and a cat. Loved them both but cats are lower maintenance so I have never owned a dog as an adult. I haven’t had any cats for the past ten years either because I couldn’t bear saying goodbye to them any more. Maybe I should consider something with a longer life span like a tortoise.
What stupid little thing really winds you up? (You can refer to the cutlery drawer or the pet, if you wish).
People who tell me “I don’t see the point in giving up meat/booze and then eating/drinking something that tastes like it”. Like the taste was the issue in the first place.
Would you like to swing on a star? Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
No Possibly (I’m not sure what I’d do with them once I got them home)
But you did adopt a tiger…
Very low maintenance but I have ended up talking to him. I have to remember not to do that in front of visitors.
😂
I am even later than you, Severin. I tried to reply last week, but my new mobile phone will not let me log in to wordpress and I had to go to work, so, sorry.
2. My cutlery drawer is very tidy, but I have two drawers of things which are chaos itself
3. I just got back from Cornwall, so I would say my home county right now, but a converted church in rural, coastal Wales would also be pretty high on my desirable residence list.
4. Pets, no. I like my carpets and saying goodbye is too painful.
5. Repetitive TV ads, especially on sports channels where they are the same one every few minutes.
6. No, I’d rather be a mermaid.
Mermaid sounds alluring but as someone who swims like a brick, I will stick with the moonbeams.
Best piece of advice have ever been given – I don’t remember, but whatever it was, it wasn’t given soon enough.
My cutlery drawer is quite organised but hasn’t enough compartments to keep different sizes of fork, knife etc., separate. Suspect that Terry Pratchett’s creation, the goddess Anoia, who presides over things in drawers which stick up and stop you opening them, has an assistant, Irritatia, who deliberately mixes up large & small pieces of similar cutlery, ensuring that you inevitably pick up the wrong size first.
Where would I like to live? Difficult choice – maybe the Netherlands, where my daughter lived for many years. I could live near a canal and get around by boat. There again, both France and Italy have their appeal.
Pets? No pets. We had a cat dumped on us by a neighbour who was moving away and never returned for him. We loved him dearly, and when the inevitable final trip to the vet had to happen, we intended getting a kitten, but somehow never did. The only other pets we’ve had were tortoises, but both escaped into the woods, or were perhaps stolen. Anyway, we never saw them again.
What stupid thing winds me up? Misplaced apostrophes, and people calling someone else ‘hun,’ even if they mean it in a friendly way, which they usually don’t.
Swinging on a star and carrying moonbeams home in a jar? Not really, although if they ever invent the equivalent of the Starship Enterprise I might be tempted to take a trip into outer space.
Thanks hun! (Ducks) I hate that too. Also ‘babe’.