5 Random Things I Like – Listography

I am joining in with Kate Takes 5’s Listography blog hop type thing.

The challenge this week is to share with you 5 random things that I like.

One thing I do very well is random. So if you challenge me to talk about dates or crushes, I will struggle but if you ask me about things and quirky ones at that, I am all yours.

1. Lighthouses

I think the first lighthouse I ever saw was probably Flamborough. If we were on the East coast at all, Dad always seemed to include a visit to Flamborough. Funnily enough, Him Indoors has exactly the same habit. What is it about lighthouses that appeals to me? That they stand tall and proud. That they are isolated. A psychic once told me I have a bit of the hermit about me and I do think I could spend a long time in a lighthouse alone surrounded by books and objets d’art. A old college acquaintance once gave me “The Bone People” to read and interestingly the main character shares my name and lived in lighthouse. Is it that the lighthouse casts light and guides people against hidden dangers? Who knows? All that is clear is that I see anything with a lighthouse on it I find it hard to resist.

2. Buddhas

I like Buddhas and I also like anything really that is connected to spirituality, Eastern mysticism or whatever you want to call it. I don’t actually know that much about Buddhism and the like. I dabble with my reading on the topic although maybe if I ever find my lighthouse, I can study it all in depth. My first interest in Buddhism probably stemmed from a rebellion against Catholicism and a wish to be different. At the very least I find mystical figures calming and the Buddha cute and amusing.

3. Kitchenalia

I suppose this is a bit of a cheat as it neatly enables me to include several favourite things in one place. I like old-fashioned country kithens with terracotta tiled floors. I like old-fashioned weighing scales, retro jugs, herb jars, cake-stands, rolling pins and so on. Is it because my late Mum was a cook by trade and a mistress of the kitchen? Is it a flashback to simpler times? Dunno but I like kitchenalia even if Him Indoors swears I made the word up.

4. Picnic Hampers

Am I just into food and greedy? Strange how I move straight from kitchenalia to picnic hampers. I literally want to buy every picnic hamper I see whether in posh shops, charity shops, car boot sales, wherever. I love the wicker and I love the old-fashioned shopping baskets too. I like hampers that are empty and I like those that come fully equipped or partially equipped. You get it by now then, I like hampers.

5. Fifties Fashions

If I had to be young in any era unless the Eighties, the Fifties would be it. I like the swing music loads. I like the fact that this is the time that rock and roll was born. I love that the fashions would suit me (well me as I was at my best) with the pulling in of the waist and the celebration of boobs and bums. I like the idea that women sort of knew were they were back then. Despite probably being a feminist or at least having very strong views about women and rights, I do think that wanting it all has led to a generation of women who walk around with a sense that they fail a bit at everything. In the good ol’ days, so long as you could produce a Victoria sponge and wear your pinny with pride, you were OK. If only life were so simple these days. (And yes I do realise that the image often covered a multitude of abuse, half-truths and the rest but for now I am enjoying my Fifties bubble).

So basically, if I ever get my groove back, you will find me living in a lighthouse with a marvellous kitchen full of that blue and striped crockery dressed in a floral frock with a pinny on baking muttering “Om” and hoping Mr Perfect turns up to whisk me away on a picnic.

Now hurry over for some more random things on the Kate Takes 5 blog.