29th April - roll of honour

My friend Lorna at Lorna’s Tearoom Delights has very kindly nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award.  If you haven’t discovered Lorna’s blog yet, do take a look:  she’s planning to publish a book on the tearooms of Scotland, and her blog features some mouthwatering photos and delightfully engaging descriptions.

I’m glad that my Journal is being enjoyed so much, and thank you to all my readers for your lovely comments.  The same applies to The Hazel Tree, my online magazine – which reminds me that another reader has kindly nominated this for an award, too.

In accepting the Versatile Blogger Award, I have to nominate seven other blogs for the same accolade.  I enjoy so many, that it seems unfair to pick just seven.   I would recommend you to look at any of the ‘Other blogs that I like’, listed in the margin on the right.

Anyway, here are seven recommendations:

Words by Apostol Cornel in Romania – with a unique take on photography, Cornel inspires us all to look again at flowers, birds, landscapes and everyday objects and see the real beauty in them.

Sansom Photography’s blog is hosted by my daughter, Verity, and her partner, Chris Sansom.  Both are talented wedding photographers, and their beautiful images speak for themselves.  They have just photographed their 100th wedding, which was at Rudding Park near Harrogate.

Ordinary Goodness is a blog based in New Zealand, and focuses on everything from family life to seasonal changes and wildlife.  Lyn writes with heartfelt sincerity and her insight inspires you to stop and reflect on what’s important.

David Heilman is a photographer in Pennsylvania whose images of the natural world reflect his talent and his passion.  His beautiful photos are accompanied by detailed field notes which give an insight into his method and inspiration.

Homestead Ramblings is written by a lady in the American Mid-west whose love for her family and her country shines through every word.  Warm, honest and thought-provoking.

Rayya is a vet in Australia who is so caring and passionate about her work that I have no idea how she finds the time to write a blog.  When she does, her dedication and skill often leave me in awe.

VivinFrance is hosted by Viv who lives in Normandy;   she is a keen observer with a talent for raising interesting questions in her beautifully-written poetry.

Now I feel bad that I haven’t included all of the others, too, because they are just as deserving.

Apparently I must also share seven things about myself.  This is difficult.

1.    I love remote islands and wild places.
2.    I love watching thunderstorms.  I haven’t seen many lately, but we used to get lots in Shropshire.
3.    I’m a keen collector of rocks, crystals and fossils.  There’s a piece of labradorite on my desk at the moment.
4.   My map reading skills are legendary.  Once, we were heading for the Gower but I turned over two pages by mistake and we ended up in Merthyr Tydfil.
5.    I love the sound of woodpigeons, the scent of bluebell woods, the atmosphere of old churches (no surprises there, then!)
6.    My typing speed is around 100 wpm.  I learned to type when I was 15;  a local lady used to hold weekly classes in her garage.  It was freezing, and we all used to type pretty fast so we could get home.
7.    I can speak Welsh.  Dyna digon!

If you’ve won an award such as this, congratulations!  I would just warn you to be wary of sharing personal information that might relate in any way to security passwords for accounts etc.

Some sites say that you must nominate 15 bloggers for a Versatile Blogger Award.  I’m not sure if the rules are getting confused.  I know that some of my fellow bloggers are multi-award winners, and there are lots of similar awards doing the rounds as well. They all seem to be pretty informal and unregulated.  If you have won several awards already, and the task of compiling the response to yet another is just too time-consuming, please just accept this as a big compliment and forget the ‘rules’!

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