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My Favourite Blogs #8: Full of Beans (and Sausages)

On 28th December 2015
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To finish off a fantastic 2015 full of some wonderful Q&As with other bloggers, Holly at Full of Beans (and Sausages) is another cracker (no Christmas puns intended…well, only a few…)! She’s a girl after my own heart, loving crafts, animals, baking, travel and the outdoors. I’ve been following Holly’s blog since she was included in a group email of Cornish bloggers – only to then wonder why she didn’t come to our meetups. As it turned out the trip would have been a mighty one, as in 2013 Holly moved across the pond to Canada to live with her childhood sweetheart Luke – the perfect tale of long distance romance! I love reading about her adventures, and am always astounded by her knitting capabilities – seriously – check out her Etsy to order your own. I really hope that when Holly comes back to the UK to visit next summer she manages to squeeze in a roadtrip to Cornwall so we finally get to meet, it would be so lovely to make another real life friend from a friendship brought about via blogging. Now, over to Holly to tell you a little more…

1. How would you sum up your blog?

The first question is a tough one! For me at least… I started my blog when I moved from England to Canada so that my family could stay up to date with my life and that is still its primary function. It is a little bit expat a little bit travel and a little bit everything in between!

2. Describe your ultimate meal (starter, main and pud)?

Ok to start I would have mushrooms stuffed with cranberry and brie and walnuts. For my main meal I would have a Linda McCartney vegetarian pie or, because they aren’t available in Canada, I would eat the version of it that I make and for dessert I would eat crème brulee! That is my new favourite food. I think I have just decided what will be on my Christmas table 🙂

3. If you were a vegetable what would you be and why?

An aubergine because they are so curvy and ladylike. I wouldn’t want to be a cucumber. Realising this definitely makes me think that I probably don’t even need to diet in the new year! Who wants to be a cucumber when you could be an aubergine?

4. Name the book/s that has had most impact on your life?

Probably Little Women. I so identified with Jo – the little lady with a big temper. That was me as a young lady. This book introduced the idea of transcendence to me. It was what I was looking for. I wanted to be able to work on myself in the way that I work on a piece of knitting. I will never be perfectly good but it doesn’t mean that I will ever stop trying.

5. Describe one of the best adventures you’ve ever been on?

Without a doubt the best adventure that I have ever been on was the one that started out with an email to a man I hadn’t seen for ten years and who lived 4000 miles away from me. When I sent that email I had no idea that we would end up falling in love all over again via email nor that I would end up changing my whole life and moving to Canada to be with him! We told each other we loved each other before we had even seen each other again. Four years later and it turns out that this is an adventure that still turns my head. I am still whisked off of my feet and I am still in the same mad throes of love that I was all of those years ago!

6. In a film about your life, what would three of the tracks on the soundtrack be and why?

Peaches by The Presidents of the United States. ‘Movin’ to the country, going to eat a lot of peaches’. When we moved to the beautiful countryside of Cornwall we didn’t eat a lot of peaches but this song reminds me of my time there as a child nonetheless. My Mom and I would sing this song together whenever it was on the radio.
Hedonism – Skunk Anansie. ‘Just because it feels good doesn’t make it right’. As I said before, as a teenager and young adult I would struggle to stay on the moral path. Occasionally I would slip and kiss the wrong boy. This song became a mantra!
‘Little Town’ from Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’. ‘Little town, it’s a quiet village, everyday like the one before’. I had always lived in a quiet village. Every day was like the one before. I would watch this movie and I would feel like Belle! Luke definitely wasn’t the Beast but he brought me on this grand adventure nonetheless!

7. What’s your go-to interesting fact about yourself?

The thing that most astonishes people – especially here in Canada – is that I once bred show hamsters and was a member of the National Hamster Council. I guess there is a stereotype about people who engage in this type of unusual hobby and I don’t fit that stereotype but it is totally true nonetheless!

8. If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?

Teleportation – so that I could whizz back to see my family whenever I wanted!

9. Name three countries you haven’t been to yet on your travel bucket list?

1) India, mostly for the food but also for the colours.

2) Argentina, what a beautiful country that is!

3) New York, I only live five or six hours away by car and yet I still haven’t been – how is that even possible?!?!

10. What would your patronus memory be? (if you haven’t read Harry Potter – it’s the moment in your life when you’ve felt happiest)

I have lived such a happy life that it is hard to pinpoint! Right now it would be from the summer – the moment I saw my family for the first time in a year and a half after having been stuck in Canada awaiting a visa for far too long. I finally got to go home to England and to actually have hugs and loves and it was unbelievable.

11. You’re an expat, so I feel obliged to dig further into that amazing world – other than your family, what is the one thing you miss most about living in England?

I think that changes depending on what I feel like! Sometimes it is food – especially wispa chocolate bars or salad cream or tomato flavoured snaps. Sometimes it is something more subtle like knowing the place I live like the back of my hand or the smell of rain on grass. Sometimes it is something big like being able to drive on the left (correct :p) side of the road or English people who are witty and sarcastic and call a spade a spade. There is just so much!

12. Equally, other than living with the handsome Luke, what is the best thing you’ve discovered about Canada?

The best thing that I have discovered about Canada is its nature. I live right on the vast Lake Ontario which looks more like the sea when you first see it. I live an hour away from Niagara Falls and the city I live in, Hamilton, has more than 130 waterfalls in it. Then there are the animals, the bears and wolves and coywolves and coyotes and eagles and beavers and vultures and skunks and raccoons. It is pretty amazing and very different to England in these respects.

13. If you could have one extra skill that you’re currently not great at, what would it be and why?
Pole dancing! I used to pole dance for fun when I lived in England, I find it such a beautiful and gymnastic art form. I will be taking up lessons again soon with a friend and whilst I prefer to be more aubergine than cucumber I hope that I will at least feel a bit healthier and fitter soon!

14. As this is the December Q&A, what lovely things are you hoping for this Christmas?

A dyson vacuum cleaner or new towels and bedding! Nothing too fancy I am afraid, I used to want clothes or shiny things for Christmas but now it is all about the highly functional things that will make life a bit easier. Although..if I am being totally honest…a shiny diamond ring would be quite nice too…