Well the lovely Fiona Palmer, who hails from the tiny town of Pingaring, in the wheatbelt region of W.A. I’m thinking, with all that wheat, there might be a little baking going on. *hint*
(At least I hope she bakes as well as she writes.)
Start by telling me if it’s scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today! 🙂
Pumpkin scones Jenn, as my kids love them and they are so easy to make.
(Bingo! Scones are a favourite of mine.)
At home…
My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
No gnomes at my place, my kids would probably go bowling with them. But I do enjoy my garden.
(Am assuming the gnomes would be the pins and not the bowling part. Image of bowling gnomes a little disturbing!)
What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
I used to have a vegie patch, but my mum has a better one so it’s easier to raid hers. But I have the big fruit tree enclosure down the back near my chooks, so I can give back. I have a few plums, grapes, oranges, nectarines, mulberry and peacharines.
(And, of course, they are all big. Everything’s bigger in W.A., so they like to tell the east!)
If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?
Depends how hard you looked? There is always a stash of chocolate hiding somewhere, away from kids and husband (but not nosey visitors!). But its mainly fruit and veg, feta, sundried tomatoes, oh and sometimes up to five cartons of eggs, maybe more. (I can’t give them away fast enough!) (Make that three cartons. Frittata at my place, anyone?)
If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)
No sorting in my wardrobe, but most colours are black, blue, and khaki. Although I’m slowly branching out to other colours. (After having kids, I still can’t bring myself to wear white!)
(I wore a lot of black, blue and khaki in my youth — the ‘fall down drunk. Wake up bruised’ look!)
What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
Black shorts and a grey, purple and black singlet.
Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
I’d hate to house sit, I’d be worried something would get broken!!
Country curiosities…
We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?
I wear my Redback boots more often than a hat.
(Actually we REALLY love The Sunburnt Country too!!!!)
If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?
I love my dogs, so it would have to be a dog, but a clever one like a Kelpie.
(We might not look too clever, but we get what we want, when we want it – food, sleeping on the bed, walkies. Those dumb kelpies chasing dumber sheep in circles all day are clearly not as smart as us!)
Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?
My son makes these jokes up all the time, and his never make any sense and he thinks they are so funny. I should have asked his help for this one.
(Yes, you should have! It’s not too late.)
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
Probably not until I quit my day job. Even having that first contract I didn’t feel like I was an author. Now that I have four books out, and two more on the go I feel more assured.
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Sitting down to write. Once I start, I’m fine. It’s the getting there that I find the hardest.
If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?
I don’t think I’m qualified to answer this, I haven’t picked the right title for my own books yet!
(One day you will need to do a blog on YOUR titles. I’d love that. We could guess which one was which book. Bet they’re good.)
Fun stuff …
What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.
We are very a like, my protagonist and I. I think we could have lots of fun.
(And drive a tad fast!)
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
Jamie Whincup. But I think they would miss him, and all I’d leave them was a totalled V8 supercar.
If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?
Pull faces.
(Hope the wind doesn’t change! Isn’t that every mother’s favourite saying?)
Hey, everyone, what’s a saying YOUR mum is famous for? Let us know in a comment. (Sorry, nothing to win for leaving a comment. But it will honour mums everywhere!)
What food would you be, Fiona?
Hot chips, love them.
How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).
7.
Now kick back and enjoy Fiona’s latest book trailer. Or go www.fionapalmer.com
Hi Jenn and Fiona,
I’m playing catch-up today, on posts and blogs that is. Life out your way sounds like lots of fun, Fiona. My mum wasn’t a big one for those old sayings, yet I know lots of them, so maybe she did use them when I was younger and I just didn’t realise. No specific one leaps to mind though.
Anyway, have a lovely weekend! Cheers, Susanne
Thanks for having me over Jenn. Yes, my mum always said ‘the wind will change’ and the scary bit is I say the same ones to my kids now. Oh the horror!
Enjoyed the post, Jenn and Fiona. I hadn’t heard of a ‘peacherine’ before, Fiona, but am assuming (possibly wrongly!) it’s a cross between a peach and a nectarine? What sort of skin does the fruit have? Favourite saying of my grandmother (can’t remember my mother having one in particular) was, ‘Dinna fash yersel’, old Scottish version of ‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist’. Words to live by!
I LOVE that saying.
So many sayings… so many kids. six of them actually and most of them boys!!! If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all.. definitely one of my all time favourites. Hmmm, what else? One of my mother -in-laws favourites – waste not, want not. What can I say…they all ended up with waists! Hmmm, not a saying , more a suggestion. “Pray to St Joseph” especially when things are lost (and you know what? I’ve heard they use it successfully):)
Good grief. Waste not, want not was always a biggy in my family too.
I can’t recall one my mother said. However, my father used to say, “Don’t get off your bike. I’ll pick your pump up”. I suppose, if anything, my mother would say to let the dust settle…
The one that stuck in my mind and probably emotionally scarred me for live was “You’re big enough and ugly enough to look after yourself.” That one hasn’t been handed down for the generations.
I can’t believe you rate yourself a 7 on the weirdness scale, Fiona. You are not that high!
My mum’s saying, for when we whinged with a good old, “But I thought…”: You know what thought did? Thought thought his feet were out of bed so her got out of bed to put them back in again.
Mums….
I loved this post… and like Christine, I’ve not heard of a ‘peacherine’ – will look out for those! Sayings… my Dad used to tell me he ‘was going to see a man about a dog’ and as a little kid, I wondered what on earth could be so interesting about that dog??! Clearly, he was off places I had no need to know about!!! I LOVED this post, and Jenn, have ordered your fabulous book this morning… Fiona, have your first two in my TBA pile, up next!! Thanks for an entertaining monday morning read ladies!
Hey, happy to have dad sayings too. I think I may do a whole blog post on this topic actually. And thx for ordering my book. I love to hear from readers – anytime. And I LOVE your mum’s saying. I may adopt that one.
Ohhhh – I am a turkey… it was Mum sayings wasn’t it! Sorry, I was so busy chuckling at the questions, I lost focus!!! My Mum often said… ‘unless you’re bleeding or on fire, it can’t be all that bad…’ hmmm – maybe??! Have heard myself utter those words to my children… not sure they’re all that sage?!!!!