My Village Is An Onion...

Today I sat down in front of my computer, coffee in hand, to meander happily through cyber-space. This is a Sunday thing, a sacred fragment of me-time and a pleasure I rarely feel guilty about. While I try to keep up with it all during the week on my commute, there's something about the big screen and multiple tabs that makes a Sunday trawl more delightful than flicking between windows on my phone and keeping half an ear out for my station announcement.

You see this is my village, or a large part of it anyway. Scrolling back through Facebook updates and tweets often uncovers a delightful surprise from a friend or loved one that may have passed me by in the busy-ness of the week. And checking out what my fellow bloggers have had to say - and perhaps leaving them with a thought or two of my own - is like peeling back layers of an onion. At different times, in different ways, each reveals something new, a different dimension that in my mind's eye, I had not imagined.

Today, I clicked on one of my Gidday faves, Adventures in Expatland. Linda is an American, living in The Hague with her family, who is forging new paths for herself as a writer and 'go to' person on the highs, lows and in-betweens of expat life. She's featured a few times on Gidday from the UK before and today, she's here again for two very special reasons:

...she's received the Versatile Blogger Award (And deservedly so. Good onya, mate!)

and

...she's nominated me for one.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
(That's an excited squeal for you newcomers to Gidday)

The Versatile Blogger Award is a peer acknowledgement and apart from getting to put the little Versatile Blogger logo on my blog, I get to share with you 7 things about myself as well as another 15 of my favourite versatile virtuosos. As this post is already getting on a bit, let's just get cracking...

The Seven Wonders of the world Kym

• My birthday is August 1st (which most of you probably know via the sleeps to go posts). My point is this - it's the Horse's Birthday.
• I was actually due to 'arrive' on this here planet on the day 'The Eagle' landed and man set foot on the moon - 20th July 1969. I've not been late since.
• If you've been reading Gidday for a while you probably know that Dad is Dutch but did I ever tell you that on my Mum's side we are descended from Bernadette Devlin, the youngest woman to be elected to British Parliament?
• I jumped out of a perfectly good plane somewhere near Bendigo, Victoria in 2003. Note: I was strapped to the front of a burly skydiving instructor.
• I was blonde (and I mean Annie Lennox blonde) for about 18 months. This happened to coincide with Lil Chicky's wedding so my bleached barnet is preserved for all eternity.
• I received a scholarship from The Order of the Rechabites at age 13 and received my Alliance Francaise certificate at age 14. I drink and don't speak French. Cest la vie.
• I played the role of Frenchy in our High School production of Grease. I wore a pink wig as Teen Angel (our Maths teacher Mr Smith) crooned 'Beauty School Dropout' at me.

The Fellowship of Fifteen

Ham Life
Local lad Matthew blogs about living in London, camera always at the ready.
The Vegemite Wife
Fellow Aussie somewhere up north who blogs with irony, humour and originality.
Perking The Pansies
One half of 'absurd' gay couple trying their luck in secular Turkey. He (Jack) wrote a book about it.
Lost in Cheeseland
An American in Paris. A recent addition to the blog roll.
Happy Homemaker UK
The name says it all. A pleasure to dip into.
4 Kids, 20 Suitcases and a Beagle
Another fellow Aussie living in Qatar. Always frank, often poignant.
The Displaced Nation
A group of cyber friends gathering yarns from global travellers everywhere. Confession: I am a Libby groupie.
Spies, Lies And Pies
Writer Charlie Wade leaves stories, book snippets and occasional 'old man' rants here.
AdBroad
She calls herself the oldest working writer in advertising. I call her brilliant.
In Search Of A Life Less Ordinary
Expat Brit exploring life in 'The Lucky Country'.
The New Australian
Another Expat Brit in Oz finding much to write home about.
Postcards - The Blog
Published and proud. Celebrating a decade in The Downs.
And Here We Are
Fresh off the boat from Bavaria. Another recent addition to the blogroll.
A Big Life
An Aussie in Germany. We from Down Under get around you know.
Ladaisi
A twenty-something artist living in Denmark. My little dash of creative juice.

To put my thoughts out there on Gidday From The UK is an amazing experience.To be acknowledged by my one of my virtual village absolutely rocks. Hope you stop and visit them for a while.

Gidday! It's Me...

I collected my photos tonight...it's been a long wait since mid July (another exercise in patience for little ol' moi!) but at the risk of being narcissistic, I think it's been worth it. 

I wanted to choose some (of the nine I bought) to share here but I'm finding it really hard to pick my faves. This is not good.  I get unbelievably bored with the state of 'being indecisive' and to be honest, if I dither too much longer this post will not go up tonight and you'll all have to wait even longer - and let's face it, waiting sucks. So without further ado, here's today's top three:

Down to business - the one for LinkedIn

A bit of 007 fun

A smiley, happy me

If you want to check out all nine, click here and you'll whip across to my flckr album quick as you like.  In the meantime, I'm off to update my Facebook profile with this one:




Colourful, free and ready for a new chapter.



Staycation...The First Day

Today is the first 'real' day of my little stay-at-home holiday (yesterday was a Bank Holiday here in the UK so everyone else had a day off too - which makes it feel a little less like it's my holiday.)  I had not specifically planned to post about it but I've had such a brilliant afternoon, I just had to brag about it share it with you all.

It started with a routine dentist appointment. I got the usual tut-tutting around my general lack of flossing, a bit of a clean and polish and that was it for another year.  I grant you, nothing really exciting to report.  But wait, it gets better.

Next it was a visit to the Oxfam bookshop, one of my favourite things to do.  I cannot believe that I lived here for over 6 years and only discovered this little gem about 6 months ago. I have not bought a new book since and my new-found attachment to this trove of glorious treasures has merely fuelled the little voice in my head that suggests that I would never get the same unabashed joy from a Kindle.  Today the cunning plan was to drop off a bag of books that I'd read (I am a big fan of recycling the literary love) and have just a quick fossick before grabbing a spot of lunch and seeing a movie. 

Well, it was a longer fossick than anticipated and I came out with another half a dozen to add to my bookshelf.  But the best bit was a couple that have been on my 'list to read' for quite a while. First there's Leaving the World by Douglas Kennedy - I loved my first read of his, The Big Picture, so much so that I resolved to read more of his stuff (see Book 5. in my 50 Book Challenge). And there was also Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell, highly recommended by several literary-ily addicted friends and a Man Booker Prize Winner. I left Oxfam feeling like I had discovered the Universe (or at least a small planet).

The rest of my afternoon was spent with teenage babe-in-the-woods, Hanna.  I cannot remember the last time I went to the movies on my own (probably over six years ago which was the last time I was single) but it's such a joyfully selfish and indulgent thing to do.  I loved the movie and the girl who plays the lead is just brilliant/stunning. 

I emerged from the darkened cinema to a day turned all bright and sunshine-y so I polished off a fab afternoon with a spot of reading at home in the sunshine.

So that was my perfect, perfect Day 1 and I can't wait to see what Day 2 will bring!

A Guilty Secret...

I have a confession to make.

(Yes another one - you get real value on this blog!)

After many years of living here in the UK, the thing I love to dip back into most, particularly on a damp Bank Holiday afternoon like this one is an episode of Neighbours.

I mean, what's not to like about that laid-back never-rainy life in a cul-de-sac? (Which technically should not be called a Street but rather, a Court - actually it is a Court in real life, Pin Oak Court to be exact.)  It really signals a day off for me - whether it be on holidays or with a sick note in hand, to be best enjoyed from my super comfy vantage point under the green blanket on the couch in between other bastions of daytime telly, Loose Women and 60 Minute Makeover.

So today's late afternoon downpour had me rescuing the half-dry laundry and settling down to some cosy couch-based entertainment.  Bliss!

What will I do for the rest of my week off?