Sunday Stealing:

 Another weekend, another trip to Darwin. Oh, what fun! So, I'll be doing this as I'll be packing, with the endeavour that once I've finished this, I will have everything packed and ready to go. 

Questions, as always, come from Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

1. What takes up too much of your time?

Lots of things. Pissing about on my phone being the worst culprit. Procrastinating is my other bad happy, hence me leaving for the airport in two hours and still not being packed. 

2. What do you wish you knew more about?

That's a hard one as I'm a curious person and I want to know more about everything. There is a part of me which would like to know more about Aboriginal culture. At school 40 years ago, we were taught nothing as were the times. Now, there is a big push to learn more about our First Nations people and their culture. 

3. What’s the best way to start the day?

With a cuddle. I love when the cat decides I'm worthy of a cuddle in the morning.

4. What mystery do you wish you knew the answer to?

What really happened to Harold Holt and Lord Lucan. 

Harold Holt was our Prime Minister the year I was born, and he disappeared from a beach outside of Melbourne never to be seen again. Was it a shark? A Chinese submarine? Did he just drown? Who knows. 

Lord Lucan is a British Mystery from about the same time. He allegedly killed his nanny and was never seen again. Odds on his mates smuggled him to Eswatini or some other upper-class scandal. 

5. What’s your favorite genre of book or movie?

I love literary fiction, if that can be classed as a genre. I do read romance and the odd crime novel, but I do prefer modern literary fiction. 

For movies, I do love Art House or foreign film but give me a good comedy or rom com any day. Good dramas can be very sustaining too. 

6. What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home?

The other side of the world - numerous times. Being from Australia, everything fells like other end of the world. So, Inverness in Scotland is the furthest North I've been in Britain, and Salem, Massachusetts the furthest North I've been in the USA. 

7. Where is the most interesting place you’ve been?

I will put this down to the last year. I was in Paris and I spent an afternoon at the Paris Archives. They were amazing. There was an exhibition about Marie Antoinette, set in this old building. It was fascinating. And in French. 

8. When was the last time you climbed a tree for fun?

When I was in my twenties, a friend and I were in Ireland, and we went to a place called Glendalough. I remember climbing a tree there. That was around thirty years ago. 

9. What do you consider to be your best find?

I was in KMart this morning, picking up a vegetable peeler to take to Darwin with me. I also found this little gadget which when you've opened a can of beans or chickpeas (garbanzo beans) you can put it over the lid and you can strain the can. I love that idea. It means you don't have to get the strainer dirty. 

10. What’s special about the place where you grew up?

It is very green and very pretty. Gorgeous part of the world. 

11. What age do you wish you could permanently be?

I reckon I'd like to be 38 again. 38 was good. 38 you haven't got the joys of menopause wreaking havoc - never a bad thing. 

12. What fictional place would you most like to go?

Hogwarts. I'm a witch. I'd fit right in. 

13. Where is the most relaxing place you’ve ever been?

L'Hotel de l'Orange in Sommieres, Occitanie, France. It's just magic. I am booked to go back next year in September. 

14. What’s the most interesting piece of art you’ve seen?

I'm a big fan of Francis Bacon. I can stare into his works for hours. 

I also once got to spend half an hour with Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. It was amazing to look at what that man did with light and brush strokes. 

15. Who has impressed you the most with what they have accomplished?

I was watching the Paralympics the other week. Every person competing is incredibly inspirational. 

Today's song: