Last week I was thinking about how the blogging world had changed since I started ten years ago. One of the features of blogging back in the day were Blog Awards. Sometimes they came with little images you could attach to the side bar to let people know that among your blogging peers you had been considered deserving of recognition and they usually came with a list of questions to answer to help people get to know you and your creative process better.
I remember being very excited when I was nominated for my first award and promptly set about answering the questions and passing on my nominations for further recipients. However, I quickly discovered that not everybody appreciated being nominated for an award and a couple of my nominees quite firmly put me in my place by saying they didn’t ‘do’ blog awards. I think some people considered them rather like a chain letter and not necessarily an indication of quality. I was just grateful that someone considered me worthy of notice.
Blog awards declined along with blogging, and I hadn’t thought about them for years until last week Amanda was awarded ‘Outstanding Blogger’ and chose me as one of the blogs to pass it on to. I was just as pleased and grateful as I was the first time round and very happy to take part.
In time honoured fashion, we start with the questions:
- What would my perfect holiday be? It would have to be Cornwall all the way. Beaches for beachcombing, swimming and wave jumping…
…castles
…and cottages.
2. Where is my favourite place to walk? Generally on a beach I suppose, but beaches are less for walking than for shuffling along, head down, looking for treasures. This past year we have walked more in our local area than ever before and so currently, my favourite place to walk is the Lincolnshire Wolds.
Just hilly enough to be interesting and challenging, with deserted medieval villages, hidden churches…
…and fabulous vistas, but close enough to home for an easy day trip.
3. What inspired me to start a blog? I was just finding my feet with my embroidery and I really wanted a place to document my journey. I liked the format, the ease of adding photos and also the feedback from other people out there on a similar wavelength – journaling with an audience.
4. What did I miss most during lockdowns? Other than my two oldest children who live in London and Birmingham respectively, the thing I missed most (and still do) was writing and stitching in my local coffee shops! I use a fabulous app called Coffitivity which gives the ambient noise of a coffee shop (proven to aid concentration) but nothing beats the real thing with the added extra of a proper latte…
5) What was the last book I read? ‘The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria’ by Max Adams. It was 99p on Kindle and I’m fascinated by the Dark Ages so I gave it a punt. After having read some shockingly written historical non-fiction kindle books recently, which seem to have been cobbled second hand from other people’s books on the same subject and one that gave quotes in French, Latin and Gaelic without glossing any of them, this book was a delight. It’s superbly researched, original, erudite without ever being dry and a damn good read.
So, bloggers to take up the Outstanding Blog Award, (should you so wish) are:
No pressure to do so – it’s just a bit of fun.
Thank you for the nomination. A few days to think about my responses and gather my thoughts.
No pressure, just thought it might be fun!
Think so, too. The biggest problem is finding other bloggers to add, as you say most have stopped for one reason or another. The other questions are food for thought.
Thank you for the nomination. I also need to give some thought to it!
And I entirely agree about “The King In The North”, and indeed, Max Adams’ work in general. He’s one of the authors I can happily re-read.
That’s a good endorsement. I’m certainly going to look at his other books based on this one!
Lovely post! Thank you for joining in, and for blogging too 😊
You’re very welcome and thank you for the opportunity!