Now, wasn’t that a nice, succinct title?!
A few days ago Jester Queen nominated me for the Lovely Blog Award which I mentioned in a previous post and today I’m back to fulfil a few more criteria.
First up, I have to share seven things about myself that I haven’t previously shared. Hm, what can I say about myself? Not anything positive, I’m sure!
- I don’t iron anything. This gets me bad housewife status but no one ever actually notices.
- Despite being a bad housewife, I can fit a king-sized duvet in the washing machine and get hideous stains out of my husband’s T-shirts. American-style mustard being one of them. Turmeric anyone?
- The book that I am currently reading is an electric book and is a French translation of Heidi. Heidi because of course I am an intellectual with a fully paid membership to the literati. Not.
- I have a giant freckle thing going on on my forehead. This week it’s crept down my face to below my eye. My husband asked why I had a bruise on my face. As I was walking into the dentist. It might be copper deficiency, it might just be a freak of genes. It’s annoying.
- I collect recipe books. I have a lots of recipe books. Ask my husband. My favourites are ones that explore authentic world cuisines. I also love the encyclopaedia style ones with their plates (image ones, not china, no pun intended) of ingredients, it reminds me of my favourite pages of my children’s encyclopaedia (I remember clothes and furniture) and of old, old dictionaries (flags and flowers).
- I also collect postcards. Not the kind of postcard with garish place names and lots of little tacky, out of focus, slightly brown images. The kind of postcard that you think about hanging on your wall. I do hang them on the wall, in frames, collaged. I’ve moved on from blue tack. They haven’t gone back on the wall yet since we decorated the sitting room. I miss the pictures and bright colours. The wall seems very bare, empty and naked.
- I’m terrified of the sewing machine.
Next up, I need to ‘nominate’ some other people for this award. Now as I pedantically said the other day, I’m pretty sure that I’m actually awarding them the award but in either case I will present a list. It’s hard to know who to choose, the word ‘lovely’ throws me a little actually. It makes me think of blog design rather than content, maybe it’s the stylish badge that goes with it. I’m also thinking pink and grown up girly but as I have received it and I know who received it before me, this obviously isn’t a requirement. No offence, Jester Queen!
And when nominating a blog for any award, who do you choose? It’s a little challenging. There are some totally amazing blogs out there but in American metaphor it’s like being in high school and going up to the coolest girl in the school and giving them an award for coolness. Well, duh, of course I’m cool. And where did you just crawl out from? They are completely out of my league and probably not likely to notice any such award nomination. And should you nominate this kind of blog anyway? Isn’t it better to nominate some smaller, humbler presentation and help them grow, encourage them? Kind of like supporting small businesses. I’m highly flattered to receive the award, there is a difference between appreciation and recognition. And sometime it’s nice to be recognised.
Now I’ve waffled all that, I think I’ve rather dug myself a hole. If I nominate your blog, do not think that I think that less of you, your blog or your content. This blog must be the lowest of the low and I’m constantly impressed and amazed by the quality and variety of output across the blogging world. You all also have a lot more subscribers and readers than me!
Here are some of the blogs that I would like to recognise, for diverse positive reasons.
Life from the Trenches - Amy Stevens is from Joplin, MO. What she and her family have been through in the last year and how she has courageously dealt with that and expressed it with such beautiful, strong and thought-provoking posts, has been a real inspiration (although that word seems over used in blogdom) to me. I have ‘followed’ her from my first days in this virtual world.
Coming East – Whether in words or in pictures, Susan Okaty always has wise words to share. I love her sense of humour, the nostalgic journeys into past times and the lessons she shares with us all.
thekitchensgarden – Celia is completely indefatigable, it seems, in her energetic management of her farmy out in Illinois, her tales of sustainable farming and the characters that live in her barnyard are well worth a read. I admire her energy, strength, commitment and writing.
No Poster Girl – Life is tough living with a chronic health condition and most certainly doesn’t warrant the description ‘lovely’, but Jocelyn’s posts help us all have a little more understanding and compassion for the difficulties that she faces as well as being a voice for ME.
Kate Shrewsday – If I could string together sentences the way that Kate can, I would probably just freak myself out. Kate always has some very deep, intelligent posts to share, weaving together fascinating elements from all the disciplines and time periods, it’s an absolutely fascinating and probably didactic experience.
Finally, I have a birdy update.
Manky is self-feeding, sometimes. He has got speed up but hasn’t flown yet. We’re a little concerned about his wing development but not his vocal cords or his appetite. He loves melon. Possibly more than baby food.
Rocky is flying but is still working on his landings. He crashed into the window this morning. It doesn’t seem to do him any harm however.
Birdie and Sneaky are, interestingly, both getting a little more wary of hand contact. I think that this is definitely a good thing. We were worried about whether being accustomed to humans would put them at risk in the big, outside world.
Feisty could do with a little more flying experience. It seems that he just can’t be bothered. He’s also a little confused about his identity, he would pass as a water bird any day! He loves splashing and jumping in the water tray.
