Thank You

To one of my very favourite bloggers Venomous Bead, for passing to me the Versatile Blogger Award. I'm grateful and touched that my somewhat stream-of-consciousness ramblings have found an audience, even a small one. The last thing I properly won was a ten shilling postal order in a crossword competition in my comic, which gives you several clues as to how often something like this comes along for me.

The very best thing about these awards is the fact that they open up loads of new blogs to me, and as a relative newcomer to the blogosphere, that's great.

The very worst thing about these awards is that, as a relative newcomer to the blogosphere, I haven't yet accumulated enough of a blog list of my own to be able to pass on the honour. I feel bad about this, but hope you'll understand.

My other guide to the world of blogs, Perpetua, has provided a helpful solution for my embarrassing situation, and on this occasion I am going to use it. I promise to do better in the future, as my blogging experience increases along with my reading list.

Meantime, thanks again for the mention, and congratulations to all the other bloggers mentioned, whose blogs I will certainly be visiting!

A little ray of Sunshine!

Well, here’s a shock ! On what seems to have been one of the hottest days of the year, I sat down in the early evening cool and opened up my laptop to discover that one of my fellow bloggers has kindly nominated me for a Sunshine Award. 

The Fly in the Web, whose wonderful “French Leave” blog I was lucky enough to discover through another fellow blogger, has listed my blog among her nominees for this award which is given  to “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere”.  I’ve come over all unnecessary: not least because the last time I “won” anything it was a 10 shilling postal order. I think that gives you a clue as to the frequency of my successes.

As we had burglars over the weekend, and I also had to spend the day flat-hunting with son#2, neither of which were especially uplifting experiences, this was a doubly cheering piece of news!

I was initially rather lost as to what I should do, but Fly had spelled it out in her blog post, and although her kind nomination came with the caveat that there was no obligation to do anything at all, I shall, because I think it’s fun! However, being new to the blogging world, you will have to bear with me a bit…I may not quite reach the requisite number of nominations as I’m still building my list of regular reads! Thanks to the award itself, it looks as though I’ll have a number of new blogs to check out, which is great news. However, in the meantime I’m going to attempt to fulfil half the brief..

Here are some of my favourite reads:

 Hobos in France…written by the lovely Chrissie, this blog documents an incredible story of injustice, incompetence and, well…fraud. Not, you might think, the stuff of “sunshine”! Chrissie and her family have, however, shown me and many others that it is not only possible to rise above some of the cruellest injustices that life can throw at you, but to do it with serenity and a sense of humour. Their story is an emotional roller-coaster but shows what genuinely wonderful people they are.

Then, there’s Perpetua at Perpetually in Transit whose initial forays into the world of blogging have now become a real passion – for her and for her increasing band of regular followers. I’ve really enjoyed her blog since she first began, and she has been a great source of encouragement to me in my first tentative steps into the blogosphere.

One of my newer discoveries is Doris Brazil Speaks Out. A great, quirky read which shares my sense of humour.

A blog which isn’t really a blog in the conventional sense, but raises a smile with me every day, is Craftastrophe…a regular look at why some people should never, ever, venture into the world of selling their home-made creations, and which has made me realise that some of my own efforts, although I’d never offer them for sale, are better than my hyper-critical eye has given them credit for!

Another new blog, and one which speaks to my experience of living in France, Ma Parole!,  Zoe’s accounts of her life as an Estate Agent in La France Profonde.

Now to tackle the brief, part deux..

Favourite colour....My head says cornflower blue. My wardrobe says black.
Favourite animal...Lebowski the cat. Despite his wonky tooth and his habit of leaving mouse entrails in the hall.
Favourite number …Why would anyone have a favourite number?
Favourite drink....Probably tea. I’m such a lightweight.
Facebook or Twitter...Facebook. I shouldn’t, but I do.
Your passion..... Would that be today’s passion, yesterday’s passion or last week’s?
Giving or getting presents....I like both.
Favourite day.... The day my holidays begin
Favourite flowers....Ones that TH can’t kill through over-zealous gardening.