Blog Love Sunday#4

Another Sunday, and another chance to spread the blog love… even if, as always, I’m doing it absurdly slowly. A whole fortnight ago I was given this Dardos Award by Kit of Kitmamas Pensieve and finally the pretty thing has made it onto the Mantelpiece.  Kit has been a true friend of this Blog  pretty much since the outset – how she found me I don’t know but she just turned up one day and started making those kind of warm,  intelligent comments that make blogging a joy – suddenly you are writing to a person and not just dumping the contents of your mind willy nilly for your own amusement and curiosity. There is a dialogue, no matter how brief – I like that. (BTW almost randomly but not quite, have you noticed that I now have nested comments? Means we can have [drum roll...] a conversation, we can reply to each others comments in a coherent way! This makes me absurdly happy, so go on try it out why don’t you).

Anyway, back to the subject in hand…

Kit’s blog is a collection of memories, fragments of conversations and photographs of her growing family. It isn’t just an adoring parents scrapbook though; it’s beautifully written and filled with insight, with the fun, boredom, frustration and mystery of parenthood. In the year or so that I’ve been reading, an intimate portrait of parenthood and family life gets painted ever more clearly, with warmth, honesty, and a gobsmacked mothers bright  adoration of her children. Don’t just take my word for it… read her yourself.

Blog Love Sunday #3 – Group Hugs!

I’ve been remiss; I haven’t been spreading the Love. Then this weekend the lovely Roadgurl5 popped over and hit me with the Lemonade Award, and not only did I realise that this was an opportunity to spread the Blog Love further than ever, but it reminded me that I have a tragically neglected Brilliante Award from Soulmerlin, so I’m going to mix and match by nominating a few people and let them grab whichever shiny object they desire. Yes yes, I know that these award things are supposed to have rules but this is my blog and I ignore the rules as a point of honour. So without further ado and in no particular order I give you…

Yoga for Cynics

I hereby rename the aforementioned blog Yoga for sarcastic buggers,  because behind the caustic wit lurks a big heart and fearless exploration of ideas that seem to me to be anything but cynical. Perhaps he is just writing to impress the girls, and maybe it’s starting to work because with a prose style that knocks spots off many a blog he has of late been getting pelted with awards. Let me join in the fray! Take whichever bit of tinsel you like best Dr Jay and do with it what you will.

A Little Piece of Me

Claire is an online institution with a salty sense of humour and a potty mouth to match. She’s an inveterate doodler,  boobie smoosher and fund of UK slang for the uninitiated. Did I mention that she’s also an all round good egg? Don’t ask me to pin this blogger down further because like Revels you never know what flavour you are going to get next…except that in Claire’s case, there is no need to fear the dreaded coffee cream. Claire, step right up and grab yourself whichever award you fancy, pass it on, polish it up, drape a bra over it or hide it under the bed. I know you’ll be imaginative.

Earth To Holly

Holly has a gift for noticing, and whether it be a leaf on the ground or a mesmerising cloud in the sky that grabs her attention, she will capture it and share her find with you. Holly posts beautiful pictures often with some thoughtful little twist to make you stop and look around and see things with fresh eyes. Her blog is full of warmth and friendliness, and this weekend she honoured me with the Lemonade award. Holly, you were already lined up for some blog love so take your Brilliante in the knowledge that this isn’t just some straight swap; you might have beat me to it but this one was always for you.

Soulmerlin

Henry is quirky, generous and his writing is a treasure trove of interesting stories. He authors several blogs, but this is the one from which he nominated me for my very first award, the Brilliante. With his quiet wit and contemplative outlook combined with a storytellers charm (and fascinating working life in the theatre) there is plenty to enjoy here. Henry is fearless in sharing his emotional and spiritual experiences – oh, and did I mention that he is a damn good photographer too? Henry, if you’d like it, the Lemonade award is yours.

There are no rules, take your awards and do what you like – display them, pass them on, add a link back or do none of the above, as long as you are feeling the love that’s all that matters.

Blog Love Sunday

Drum roll please for….

Greg, of The Midnight Garden

Hosted by the charming and archly witty Greg, this blog is ostensibly about gardening but we get enough glimpses of the writer for it to feel like so much more. Daily picture posts of flowers, the nearby ocean and other incidental detail as the author goes about his day become meditations on ephemoral beauty and the importance of noticing these small things. Greg is untiringly creative – from gardening to photography to writing, to picking up a paintbrush and painting a mural in his house, and these activities he shares with us so that we want to join in too. If I ever feel stale I know where to find the antidote; it’s in the Midnight Garden.

A New feature… Blog Love Sunday!

I’ve been writing away here in my own little bubble, but don’t think that I don’t notice what you are all up to. There are bloggers out there who regularly inspire me, wake me up with a jolt or remind me of just what it was I set out to do myself, but maybe lost a little of along the way. It’s time I gave back to those people! So with no further ado I present my first Blog Love Sunday, in which I choose to honour (in no particular order) my favourite blog authors.

Big drum roll please for…

Robin Easton and her blog Naked in Eden

It’s not difficult to heap praise on this multi-talented woman, and her blog only tells a fraction of the tale. To get some idea of who Robin really is you need to look at her entire website to see how much she has acheived, but what you’ll get a feel for here is not just about acheivment; it’s about life. Living fully is what Robin does best, and best of all she’s here to tell us all about it. A person as accomplished as Robin could easily be intimidating but as you’ll know if you’ve been lucky enough to have Robin stop by your blog, she is warm, funny and incredibly generous. I’m not going to say any more, because the best way to find out who you are dealing with here is to go and visit her and say hello.