10 Things I Like

When I have the energy to stop sniffing and wiping my nose, I may post on the various lurgies and illnesses that have beset us in the last two weeks. I may post about German hospitals and how wonderful they are. I may post about how my heart felt seeing my baby lie in a hospital cot with a drip in his head. I may post about how I caught the vomit of someone else’s gastro-infected baby With My Bare Hands. Or, I may not.

On a lighter note, and not including vomiting or spewing, I have been tasked by the lovely Literate Kitten to write about 10 Things I Like That Begin With The Letter “L”. It’s a much happier task than the above one.

1. Lily. A list of L’s would have to start with my darling daughter. Named for her paternal great-grandmother, she has been a joy since her birth seven years ago today. She is clever and sweet, responsible and kind, artistic and affectionate. She loves to dance, try strange foods, paint, swim and read. She adores her siblings whole-heartedly. She thinks she might be an artist when she grows up or a writer of children’s books. Happy birthday, little precious.

2. Love. Speaking of Lily, brings me to love. Isn’t love great? It drives out fear, makes heroes of us and perpetuates itself. Having a family has taught me the wonder of unconditional love.

3. Things that are long (watch it!): long walks, long kisses, long novels, long drives, long drinks, long baths, long meals, long naps. In fact for me almost anything with long is good (watch it some more!), except possibly long lectures and long queues.

4. Lemons. I love the colour and flavour of lemons. They bring me the scent of summer in my grey northern European life. Lily’s just taken 30 lemon muffins off to feed her class at school today. I bake the muffins with lemon zest and then, while they are still hot, pour over a lemon and sugar syrup that soaks into the hot cakes, making them soft and sticky. I’m also a big fan of the lemon’s close cousin, the lime.

5. Laughing is one of my favourite things to do. It’s one of the reasons I married my husband; instead of being one of the boys who made me cry, he was the one who made me laugh.

6. Lilac is my new favourite colour, along with her sisters purple, violet and jacaranda.

7. London is a city I like.

8. Lunch. Actually, I like all meals, but nowadays lunch is the one I appreciate the most, since I’m usually the most awake. I take the time during the morning to cook my kids a good lunch, and then we sit down together to eat and chat. It’s also our family meal at the weekend, because we tend to pack our children off to bed rather early so that we can lie in front of the telly, swigging whisky, smoking roll-ups and surfing our 1000 channels.

9. Lychees. My favourite fruit. I love how the hard outer skin conceals the fragrant sweet flesh. They remind me of South Africa and summer.

10. Lurking. If I could be paid to lurk, I would be a millionaire. I am an expert. I can lurk in bed, on a sofa, in a bath, on blogs. Give me a verandah with a book, a comfy chair and nice view and I can lurk for days. My husband is a good lurker and we are training our children to lurk too. They are getting good.

Edited to add: If you want to play too, sign up in the comments below and I will bequeath you your very own letter.