10 THINGS THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME,

10 Things you may not know about me... 11 actually!

I HATE tomato Ketchup!  It's like a phobia, I cant bare the taste, smell, colour or bottle even! I have no idea where or why this is the case, must be something from my childhood I guess. (so much so that I can not even post a photo of Ketchup below).

I LOVE grey horses with grey noses.  I have had 4 horses in my life and all have been grey.  My heart lurches when I see a grey horse in a field even.  Maybe Knights in shining armour, riding on white steeds, you know childhood dream stuff.

I never would have dreamed that I would love my children so much.  I was not a maternal person until I had kids of my own and now my life is complete.  It used to worry me that I may not be a good Mum, so it's unreal how the natural bond of your own child/children takes over.  Maternal instinct always astounds me.

I was was working on the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise liner for 4 days from Southampton to New York, a week after it had hit a tidal wave and the sea was still incredibly rough, I spent virtually the whole trip in my cabin being violently sick, (as did most of the other passengers),  I thought the ship was going to sink and we would be too far out in the Atlantic to be rescued.  Never ever have I been so pleased to see land.  It was one of the "nightmares" of my life!

I believe in Angels, Fairies and mermaids.... as does my daughter, who is truly my angel.

I was "Head Girl" of my Junior school!!!

I have a passion for cute cafes, with pretty mis-matched china, gorgeous cakes and milky lattes.  They just lure me in and I get lost in my cafe world.  My dream one day is to have my own.

My desert island must-have would be my UGG boots.  I am addicted to Ugg boots.  I have them in all colours, lengths, indoor ones, outdoor ones, old ones and new ones.  I put them on my feet as slippers when I get up, as I hate having bare feet and wear them the whole day through.  It's a nightmare now when I put on a pair of heels for a party as I wobble around and my poor feet are crying out for their comfy Uggs.

I am a Cordon Bleu trained cook.  But only worked in the business for a couple of years before I realized that this was not the job for me, as the hours were so unsociable, the money was rubbish and you constantly smelled of food!  Oh, and I got fat.

I come across as a confident person but actually I am very shy inside.  I have battled with this for most of my life especially as a child...  My worst nightmare is walking into a crowded room alone.  I start to sweat even thinking about it.  I think that I hide it well though.


I got married in CHANEL.

DEAR 16 YEAR OLD ME.....

Dear Me ...( aged 16 )                        

My advice for life would be...

Always dream.... dreams are nicer than the real world and if you believe them enough they may come true,  anythings possible.

Believe in yourself.

Treat others how you would like to be treated back.

Smile and the world will smile with you.  Be sad and you will be sad alone.

Have fun and be fun and you will always have friends.

Listen and you will learn. Especially to grandparents stories and tales, they have lived and seen so much and have fascinating snippets of advice to offer.

Learn as much as you can whilst you are young, however boring it may seem at the time,  as when you are older, time is less available and nothing is as easy as it was when you were young. But never stop learning.

Only boring people get bored.

Don't care too much what people think about you, it's what you think that matters.

Drink champagne and dance on the table.

Wear short skirts and high heels whilst you have the legs to show them off.

Take up a good opportunity whilst it is there, there may not be a second chance.

Don't worry about your future, who you will marry, how many kids, where you will live, as what will be will be.

Sometimes push yourself out of your comfort zone, try something new.

Don't worry about failure, it's better than never having tried it.

Remember... You can't control the uncontrollables!

Laugh out loud every day.

Be glamourous, stylish, interesting and always have a lipgloss with you, just in case!

Say to your parents/partner/children you love them when you feel that moment, don't wait, as it may not be the right moment again.

Pretend you have confidence even if you haven't.  Only you know that you are shy.

Listen to others and learn from the ones you admire.

Speak your mind and thoughts when you think you need, or just want to.

Don't judge others, as you don't know what they have been through in their life.

Burn that special scented candle you have saved in the drawer today, not tomorrow.

Don't buy anything just because it is practical, does not show dirt and guaranteed a lifetime.  Buy it because you love it.

Remember animals/pets are our best friends, they listen and don't answer back and offer us unconditional love, when we show them love and trust.

Believe in angels, mermaids and fairies.

Have and keep secrets.

Make time to....

Follow your instincts and intuition, they are often right the first time around before you dwelt on them too long.

Enjoy your life, every moment, happy sad, good and bad, and remember to tell all the best bits to your own children one day.

Liz x  (aged 40 and a bit)   and still doing all of the above!

PHOTO GALLERY... Mountain life.

Just wanted to add a gallery page to my blog showing the area in both Winter and Spring.

It is like two different worlds, living on the side of the mountain in St Anton, one of Europe's most popular ski resorts, where each week during the winter we have approximately  6,000 holiday makers and a bar that sells the most beer in the whole of Austria in just 5 months!  There is every nationality here but the common language seems to be English, (luckily for me).  The town becomes a "party town" and it is famous for it's apres-ski. 

Then when the season closes at the end of April, the town goes into sleep mode and you will walk down the high street and see only a hand full of  locals and hardly a word of English spoken, it's all German or the local dialect of Tirolerish!  In the summer we get a few walkers to the area and coaches with tourists making a day stopover.

Spring in the mountains is simply beautiful.  It really is like the film the sound of music and Heidi.  So green and the most spectacular array of wild flowers, cattle grazing in the lush grass after spending the winter months inside and you wake up to the tinkling of their huge cow bells around their necks! 

Although I consider myself more a beach-girl, I am blown away by the beauty of the mountains.

Ski mornings

A regular occurrence, of finding my car in the carport covered in snow

sleigh ride through the valley

a lovely lunch spot

My morning drive to school

The view of the Gurgltal from my lovely Dan.

St Anton ski slopes below our balcony

The valley, East view from the balcony

Spring riding, still snow capped mountains

It's a dogs life! Spring

Same view but in Winter

My favorite gallop track!

Blond in the Alps

HOME FROM HOME

We just returned yesterday to the Tirol,  after spending the kids school holidays in the UK.  It was a whirlwind of visiting family and friends and all my favourite shops, cafes and junk shops, that I so dearly miss.

 Once again I stuffed my Ryan air hand-luggage case with Yorkshire tea bags, English Cheddar cheese, Bisto gravy granules, Colmans mustard, and as many glossy magazines as my 10 Kg hand luggage would allow.  I gave up long ago bringing back streaky bacon and Lincolnshire sausage for fear of it being confiscated by the Customs officer.  It's funny but having my creature comforts from the UK with me in the Alps, makes it seem so much more like home.

I GUESS YOU CAN TAKE THE GIRL OUT OF YORKSHIRE, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE YORKSHIRE OUT OF THE GIRL!

I got my fix of walking on my beloved beach in my Ugg boots and watching the waves bring lovely new shells ashore plus the odd piece of drift wood.  I love the effect, the sense of freedom that the beach and sea have on me.  I appreciate the flat ground, such a contrast from walking up and down mountains, the air too is different, walking at sea level is so different to my other life living on the edge of a mountain at 1380m above sea level.  Looking out to sea and seeing water for miles and miles compared to looking out and seeing very steep mountains.

I know I am so lucky to live two so completely different lives but sometimes it takes some adjusting to mentally and you always seem to have the feeling of being transient and being an outsider.  I seem to miss out on family occasions, fun parties, Harvey Nichols sale preview evenings, the nice weather, etc etc. Plus I never seem have the right clothes with me for the time of year either, except of course my marvelous Ugg boots, which seem to work well in the mountains, beach and countryside... Horrah for the Ugg boot!!   However  I do believe being born under the star sign of Gemini the twins, does help me balance the two worlds I live in and I have to say life is never boring, but as they say...  Only boring people, get bored!