I haven’t done an awards post for well over a year, although I’ve been nominated for several. But I was recently nominated for another two which have shamed me into doing them all, although I intend to fit all seven into two posts. I won’t be writing as much as I usually do for each, or nominating as many people as the rules ask for.

In this first post, I’m responding to four award nominations – most, but not all, in the order in which I received them. Some with similar rules, I’ve tried to put together.

This is the first award and the one I’ve been sitting on the longest:

I was nominated for One Lovely Blog Award by Joy Pixley a whole year ago now (i.e. February 2016) so it’s a big (belated) thank you to her. Joy’s blog Tales from Eneana, is full of amazing stories – many of them in response to various writing challenges. I recommend you check her out! Joy is a very creative writer and her stories really draw readers in. Joy is currently writing her first book, set in the fictional world of Eneana, and it promises to be excellent!

These are the RULES for this award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
2. List the rules and display the award.
3. Add 7 facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 10-15 bloggers (or as many as you can /want) for the award, and comment on one of their posts to let them know.

So I’ve already done Q’s 1 & 2.

Q. 3 I’ve written several Award posts that ask for facts about yourself, and it’s hard to think of anything else original enough to say. But here are a few, not too exciting revelations:

• I’ll be seventy in April. What an admission! I cringe at the thought and cling to the fact that people tell me I don’t look it (even though I feel more like eighty at times). This is how I feel, especially when confronted with any modern appliance.

• I’m a summer person and tend to shrivel up in the winter. It’s not that I don’t love the stark beauty of the winter landscape, because I do. A crisp, frosty morning can be beautiful and exhilarating. I just hate the really short days and the long hours of darkness. I loathe writing by electric light and long for the time when we can enjoy our lovely long hours of English twilight.
• Travelling  is a passion with me I’d spend most of every year doing it if I had the money and time to do so. As it is, we have lots of short breaks around the UK, and go abroad a couple of times most years.
• One of the ways I unwind is by spending hours in my kitchen baking. I’ve baked since I was a child and by the time I was twelve my mum retired from that particular household activity as I muscled in. Having six children of my own, my baking skills were later put to very good use.
• I adore swimming and think I should have been born a mermaid.
• I also love riding  – which probably sounds a bit strange coming from a would-be mermaid.

Q. 4  A few nominees are listed at the bottom of this post. 

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I’ve decided to do he next two awards together, as the rules are exactly the same – so I can cheat a little here.

I was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by Aquileana in March 2016 and can say it’s an honour to be nominated by such an awesome blogger. Aquileana’s posts on her blog La Audacia de Aquiles must be some of the most popular on WordPress, and rightly so. If you love to read about Ancient Greece, I suggest you have a look through some of the posts she’s written. Sometimes Aquileana writes about various aspects of literature, occasionally teaming up with other bloggers – poets, artists etc. to do literary criticisms. All are equally interesting! (I’ve linked to one of Aquileana’s Greek posts above).

I was nominated for the Best Blog Awards by Inese, whose wonderful blog, Making Memories, is another hugely popular one. And rightly so. The name of Inese’s blog stems from the many beautiful photos she shows, mostly of Ireland, but some are of places in the USA taken when she visits family who live there. All Inese’s posts are accompanied by a superbly entertaining  and interesting commentary which includes historical background and a look at the lives of people past and present. Needless to say, I also recommend this blog to everyone.

These are the Rules for both of these awards:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Add the logo to your post
3. Nominate 5 – 10 bloggers of your choice and tell them about the award.

There are no facts to find or questions to answer for either of these awards .

Nominees are listed at the bottom of the post.

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And this is the fourth and final award for this post – and the logo’s a real cutie:

I was nominated for this award by Lynne Hoareau, so thank you Lynne and apologies for the long delay in my response. Needless to say, Lynne’s blog, Lynne’s Recipe Trails is about Food and Cookery, and it’s a great one too. I follow a few cookery blogs and always enjoy finding new recipes – or variations of an already existing recipe – and Lynne’s posts provide both variations and individuality, many with a keen eye on healthy eating. Lynne’s is now an award free blog.

These are the Rules for this one:

• Anybody nominated, can nominate seven (lucky number) other bloggers.
• Anybody nominated, answers three questions.
• The questions you ask while nominating, can be any three questions.

So, here are my answers to the three questions – with a note to be passed on:

If any of the questions asked are offending or simply do not want to be answered, the nominee does not have to answer them to earn the award. This award is for bloggers who strive to write for everybody, and no matter how many viewers they get, make an impact on a reader. This award is an expression of gratitude to the nominee. It should be awarded to anybody that you choose deserves it and it doesn’t mean that they must have hundreds of followers and likes.

The following are the three questions are the ones Lynne answered on her own awards post and passed on to her nominees. I’m going to do the same again (time restraints!) but asking three different questions is what the rules suggest. I’ll leave it up to my nominees to decide what they do.

1. Who was the first blog / blogger you heard of / read and did they inspire you to start? 

I’ve answered similar questions to this on a few award posts now, but here’s a version of it again…

I had no idea what a blog was until a number of people suggested that, as a writer, I should have one. To be honest, social media of any kind wasn’t my ‘thing’ – although my daughter, Louise (thestorytellersabode) had already set up a Facebook page for me – which to this day remains hardly used other than having my blog posts linked to it. All the bloggers who inspire me are those I’ve met since I started my blog and are too many to name.

2. Do you see Blogging as a future career or just a side hobby?

Blogging would never be a career for me. I love writing my various types of posts, and although a few are linked to my books and writing in general, most are about what interests me. Other than writing and flash fiction, that includes history, customs and traditions and travel. I also used to enjoy doing my Word of the Week (WOW) posts, which I stopped over a year ago due to lack of time. I hope to be able to start doing them again soon.

3. What is your all-time favorite Album and Why?

In a nutshell, I haven’t got one. I adored Leonard Cohen’s voice and had LP’s of his as long ago as the ’70s. Later on it was tapes, and still later I had some CD’s. But I like a wide variety of music, including folk music, some classical and even some country and western pieces. I just go with what I like at the time.

Nominees:

I’m going to break the rules completely here and nominate a few bloggers who can choose which one of the above four awards they like. No one is under any obligation to accept any, of course. (Apologies, too, if I’ve missed a notice on anyone’s blog that says you’re Award Free.)

Inese

Joy Pixley

Johawk the writer

Ellie Blue

Susan Langer

Timi Townsend

Forestwoodfolkart

Singledust

Arv

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In my second awards post – which will, hopefully be tomorrow – I’ll respond to the other three nominations.