Party Bags!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!

Today I will mostly be here enjoying my birthday treat from Mr Marmalade.

And to give you a clue as to which birthday this is, here are 40 random facts about me ...

• I’m a Capricorn, born in the Chinese year of the Monkey
• I spent my early childhood in South Africa
• I could speak Zulu before I could speak English
• I went to boarding school in Scotland until I was expelled at 15
• I attended 4 more educational establishments before giving up at 16
• I left home at 17
• I worked in hotels from then until I was 20
• When I was 20 I went to Secretarial College in Oxford as part of a pact with my parents
• I met The Italian Connection there, she was my room mate and is still my best friend
• My mother nearly fainted when she saw that said room mate had bright pink hair
• It turned out that we were both fans of Toyah Wilcox, this was a relief to me
• My favourite song when I was 14 was "I wanna be Free"
• My mother thinks this was the main reason I was 'difficult' during my youth
• I don't believe in private education
• I can write Pitmans shorthand @ 100wpm and touch type at 70wpm
• When I started work, I had a typewriter on my desk, there were no pc's
• I gave up an opportunity to work in New York, because my social life in Oxford was too good!
• I think happiness and family is more important than career
• If I had gone to New York, I would not have met Mr Marmalade
• My husband and my best friend have the same name, but hers has an 'a' on the end
• I have blood in the following varieties: French, Spanish, Scottish, English and Welsh
• My grandfather was a 'celebrity chef' in his day
• So was my great grandfather, and my great uncle, and a few more before them
• I grew up in hotels and am not modest about the fact that I can cook
• I wish I could sew as well as I cook
• I have been keeping chickens for the last 5 years and wouldn't be without a couple
• The one piece of advice from my mother that I regret taking, is not going to art school
• I wanted to be a beautician when I left school but wasn't allowed
• I put myself through beauty school 10 years ago
• I worked in a salon part time for a while, and then became disillusioned by vanity
• I do not use products which are tested on animals
• I abhor rampant consumerism
• I don't like shopping much and do my best to avoid it
• My parents think i'm a socialist bean eating hippy
• I can't grow flowers but I am expert at growing fruit and veg
• I am upset by waste
• I can't abide snobbery or discrimination of any kind
• One day I would like to own a field with a yurt on it
• I think time is the greatest gift we have
  
• My best advice for staying young: Avoid sunbeds at all costs, and laugh ALOT!

It's also my blogoversary soon, so I think a giveaway is in order. I will decide what to put in a bag of goodies for the prize when I am fully relaxed, refreshed and massaged

In the meantime, all you have to do to enter, is leave a comment with a random fact about getting older and put a link on your blog. I will make the draw on 21 January which is the day that this blog is 1 year old!