So, a new year begins and here I am the winner of an award! Struth, whatever next eh??? The lovely Chloris is the award giver, so thanks ever so much for that!
Now the award I’ve won is the…..Liebster Award.
So, what I have to do, is answer 11 questions set by Chloris…..deep breathes, here I go!
1. Why did you start your blog?
I began to blog in 2007 after listening to a woman talking about blogging on Radio 4, she had bought a run down house and was using the blog as a kind of diary. I was tickled pink by the idea as I hadn’t heard about it before and promptly began blogging on another site. Sadly that platform deteriorated and became over-run with spam and adverts which was when I began blogging here, on my own website, so I would never have to tolerate adverts again! I very much see my blog as a kind of diary and it’s lovely to be able to look back and reflect upon this and that, it’s also lovely to have made so many new friends and get to see what is going on right across the world, that was an unexpected bonus.
2.Which is your favourite gardening book?
My favourite garden book is the one I have just finished reading, The Painted Garden Cookbook by Mary Woodin, it’s the type of book I’ll forever dip into, it’s an illustrated collection of homegrown recipes covering all seasons.
3. What do you love to do when you are not gardening?
Oh….SO many things!!! I like to ramble, cycle and paint…..I love to read and listen to music, especially classical music…..I am a long standing stargazer and love messing about at the rescue and watching wildlife…..down to the tiniest insects and creatures that creepeth about in the undergrowth. I love to play guitar and vamp away on the piano. I am currently enjoying taking pictures, which is a first for me as I’ve always had awful cheap cameras before! Some of the nicest things I enjoy are sitting in the garden with friends and family, sitting on my couch with a dog either side, and, of course….last but not least, a glass or two of chilled white wine with lots of ice cubes!
4.Describe yourself in 3 words.
A little eccentric.
5.What is your favourite film?
How can a girl just choose one???? I shall be disobedient and list a few….
All quiet on the Western Front
Pulp Fiction
Gone with the Wind
To kill a Mockingbird
Wuthering Heights
Twelve Angry men
One flew over the Cuckoos Nest
Shawshank Redemption
Lord of the Rings, Trilogy….there are many, many more….
6. Tea or coffee?
Tea…..oh…..and…..wine!
7. Favourite flower?
The humble poppy….always! I let it grow wherever it seeds.
8. How long have you been gardening and what got you started?
My parents were not gardeners, they were artists and musicians and didn’t much bother with the garden. The first thing I ever grew was a runner bean that came back in a crate with all our belongings from Australia where we had been living for a year. I didn’t know it was a runner bean at the time, but I planted it up in the same said crate it arrived in and watched it grow….hooked I was….HOOKED!
9.Do you garden organically?
ALWAYS!
10. How do you deal with slugs and snails?
I carefully gather them up and cart them off to another part of the garden in the hope they’ll eat weeds or something.
11. Do you prefer cats or dogs?
I like them equally.
Now….I get to nominate people to receive this award….here you are…
Our plot at Green Lane Allotments
So….. what do you have to do when accepting the Liebster Award ?
You link back with the person who nominated you, answer the 11 questions , then you can nominate other blogs if you so wish. If you have already received the award, no problems….if you don’t wish to take part, worry not….I shant hunt you down if you don’t……
Here are your questions…..
1. What is the worst injury you have sustained while gardening/plotting? In-depth gory details please….
2. How would/do you deal with wet, slushy, soggy leaves fermenting on the lawn that refuse to be raked up?
3. Have you ever had an invasion of Bamboo trying to colonize your garden? If yes, how did you get rid of it?
4. Do you have any irrational fears/terrors re an animal or insect? If yes, how/when did it begin?
5. Has anyone else ever danced barefoot in the rain or hugged a tree?
6. Do you believe that the moon can influence the growth of plants?
7.Do you have a favourite flower legend/story/superstition?
8. Have you ever used a plant medicinally? And I’ll have NO stories of magic mushrooms or Belladonna mind!!!
9. Which is the most important to you, house or garden?
10. Do you constantly talk/complain about the weather to anyone who will listen?
11. What is the most you have spent on a plant over the last year?
And finally….
Anyone can have a crack at those questions….not that I’m nosy or anything….
Hahahaha…..Belladonna!!!!
What a lovely way to picture me, surrounded by creatures, I am always happiest that way I must say, and to have you along too completes the scene…..I’m so glad you like the dog pictures, it’s so good to be able to capture them properly now, they are always playing and running so it’s great now to finally have a good camera, I must say I am enjoying it. Thanks Shimon.xxx
A pleasure it was, to learn that you love to ramble, cycle and paint. I picture you surrounded by a great many living creatures, from those that crawl and burrow in the fields to those who soar in the sky, and numerous assistants on four legs or on two… who’re with you mostly, to join in the adventure, and I too am with them. Those dog pictures are just wonderful. They filled my morning with a transcendental smile… or was that Belladonna
well done!! and I too love the pictures of the crazy diggy doggies! 🙂
it is always interesting to hear more about fellow bloggers and sometimes surprising too!
xxxxx
Thanks Arose, sighs….those dogs!!! Just look at me lawn, or what’s left of it!!!!
Yes, sometimes questions do throw up more personal aspects of us bloggers.xxx
I forgot to add I absolutely love the pics of the dogs chasing each other. They are just blissed out they are having so much fun. :o)
Thanks Casa…….oh they sure are blissed out, my poor lawn aint…..what is a gal to do, pups must run!xxx
I could hardly concentrate on your answers with all your lovely pictures! lol.
Gone with the wind and Lord of the rings are two of my favourite films and I’ve never met anyone who liked them both before. x
Thanks…..now there you go! I’ve never met anyone who liked those two films either! Romance and fantasy don’t usually sit together!xxx
Congratulations on the award and really enjoyed reading your responses. As for those dogs… great actions shots! My gosh, they are happy souls. There is no stopping them. It’s like having your very own Merry-go-Round. I guess if you added big flat pavers around the circle, the dogs would just move farther out and carry on! Sounds like you are just thrilled with your camera…and rightly so. Such great photos.
Thanks Glo, lol….there is certainly no stopping those dogs, I’ve just bought some lawn seed….a gal can hope eh??? I think the lawn is a lost battle! I do love the camera, once I get my head around it I should be able to get some lovely shots.xxx
1) After installing my rain garden and hauling over 1,000 lbs of rocks I developed rotator cuff tendinitis in my shoulder and spent a lot of time/$$ at physical therapy.
2) We run over all leaves with a mower while they’re dry and let them mulch into the grass.
3) I avoid bamboo!!
4) I’m afraid of sharks but think that’s perfectly rational and have yet to find one in my garden. I do worry about black widow spiders but I”m not afraid of them. I’ll just squish them.
5) People should always dance barefoot in the rain and hug trees!
6) No
7) No, but if I did some research I could probably find one I really like. :o)
8) Working in the garden is always medicinal and cheaper than therapy. :o)
9) GARDEN!
10) I obsess about the weather and my family tunes me out.
11) I bought two shrubs once that were $100 a piece! They froze to death last winter. I was so mad. That cured me of zone denial forever!
Hahahaha….I loved your answers, thanks for that! Ouch, you’re poor shoulder, I do hope it is completely sorted!!!Given you’re scared of sharks, I’m SO pleased you weren’t eaten by one on holiday!!! Black widow spiders????? Oh my…..now that would be a totally rational fear, when we lived in Oz I was always nervous of the dangerous spiders, especially as they are so darn small, every time I put my hand in the mailbox to take the mail out I nearly had a heart attack!
Now how did I know you’d choose house over home….and of course you have danced barefoot in the rain and hugged a tree!
Sighs…..I would have SOBBED re those shrubs!!!! SOBBED!!! Thanks Casa.xxx
Congrats! Love the questions you answered…..You certainly have a rich and varied life! Makes one wonder where you find all the time….Ha! Ha! Fantastic post…..Hugs! xx
Why thank you Bushka….I don’t think there is ever enough time to do all the things that are out there! Hugs. xxx
Congrats on the award, it’s lovely to read more about you. I do like the sound of the cookbook so I will look out for it.
Thanks Jo, the book won’t disappoint! It has some lovely recipes!xxx
Fun reading this and seeing the enjoyable pics to go with the post. You are going to have a lot of fun with your camera. 🙂 xxx
Thanks Menhir, it is such a pleasure taking pics now!xxx
Congratulations and so well deserved.
I love learning more and more about you and know that you have only scratched the surface. You are truly multi talented and excel in all areas.
The other thing I loved about this post was seeing the angel dogs run and run and run:). Two happier I have never seen.
Keep up all the good work and it won’t be long before we begin to see hints of spring:) xxxx
Thank you for your kind words Janet! I’m not sure I’m multi-talented though!
I must say the dogs are happy little souls….it’s great watching them run and play!!!
I am seeing lots of signs of spring, the bulbs are coming up and buds are forming on many plants. It won’t be long now!xxx
Happy New Year Snowbird! One great thing about blog awards is that it allows you to get to know the blogger a bit better. Those are fabulous doggy action shots that go along with your answers. You caught their playfulness wonderfully.
Thanks Jennifer, all the very best to you too! I must say my new camera is a huge improvement on my last one, I am actually enjoying taking pics now.xxx
🙂 beautiful pictures and lovely reading… eh eh eh
I’m sure you’re going to have a great 2015… with a lot of work in your superb garden!
Hugs from far south
🙂 claudine
Thanks Claudine, I think my gardening year will start with sorting that lawn out!!! Huge hugs right back!xxx
Wonderful and very interesting post, Snowbird, and congratulations – very well-deserved that woman! Look at your bonkers dogs … what a mess they are making of your lawn … nutcases they are!!
Thanks Gilly, ‘fraid my lawn has mostly gone….AGAIN!!! They certainly are bonkers!!!xxx
What a wonderful post and–wow!–do Annie and Sam look full of pep and vinegar! My smile’s almost wider than my face looking at these (amazing and so professional-looking) photos!
I loved hearing more about your interests and gifts, Dina: you are so talented, and I’m so happy you faithfully blog and invite us all to share your adventures. What a weekly gift!
I bang away on the piano, too, and you make me very curious about a childhood spent with artists/musicians: was it (mostly) a delight (as I imagine)? Your parents certainly passed along their gifts…
Blessings on your sweet spirit and new week. 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comment Kitty, the camera is just wonderful and I’m hoping to get to grips with all the settings over the year, it is so much fun, and the lack of blurry pics is such a bonus!
We did have an interesting childhood, my mother wouldn’t have a T.V so we had to make our own fun. We had a piano and other musical instruments which we always played together…our dad was an artist and a sculptor, as well as being a teacher, he let us all paint a wall each in the house, that was fun too!
There were plenty of discussions too, my father was a card carrying communist and an atheist while my mother was an ardent Roman Catholic…dad loved classical music while my mum loved country and western…..talk about opposites attract! The house was always filled with interesting people who were real characters, sadly I don’t see so many these days!xxx
You really should write/illustrate a book about that amazing childhood! What a treat. I think “characters” are just people lucky and smart enough to have figured out who they are…too many fear that and conform into a blurriness of sameness. 🙂
What a lovely thought! I wish I had more photos……we also moved around quite a bit so things did get lost! I totally agree about characters, yes, too many people try to conform these days…..xxx
Congratulations on the award, and thanks so much for the nomination. Your questions are all fascinating, but I’m afraid my answers will be pretty boring. And I would say that you are not eccentric, just very good-hearted.
Lol, thanks Jason, I’m afraid I am a little eccentric though. I have to thoroughly disagree, you aren’t capable of being boring!!!xxx
A most enjoyable post, and wonderful mad dog photos.
Well done on the award, and it’s always interesting to find out a bit more about a blog friend.
I see that you’ve nominated me which I accept with thanks, but I always drag my feet a bit with doing these posts and generally don’t nominate anyone else. Please note that several of the links of those you’ve chosen need correcting!
I like Nikki’s comment, she should have done it as a post shouldn’t she! xx
Thanks Flighty, it’s good to be able to capture decent pics now, especially of running dogs!
Worry not re answering questions my friend! Thanks for pointing out the link problem, I have sorted it now, must have being having a senile moment or something. I totally agree re Anne’s comments, they were fun, I did enjoy them.xxx
I love the pictures of your hyper active bonkers dogs pretending to be greyhounds – just look what they are doing to that turf – have a care lads your mum only laid that last year! Thanks for passing on the award – I have made a note of all the questions and will try and get round to it as soon as I can – no promises. Your answers threw up some things I wouldn’t have guessed – and I didn’t realise that you had been blogging that long – a real old timer!
Lol….I’m glad you spotted the state of the lawn, or what’s left of the new turf, I don’t think there is a lawn than can take the wear and tear my two put it through….sighs….absolutely NO pressure re the questions!!!
Yes, I suppose I am a real old timer, I’m kind of shocked how quickly the time has gone come to think of it! Thanks Elaine.xxx
Dina, I just love the action shots of your dogs, they are brilliant. And all done with your new camera I expect. Thank you for accepting the award and taking time to answer the questions.I enjoyed reading your answers. Your questions are excellent and should get some really fun responses.
Yes, I can’t bear to use the old one now….and am loving the clarity of the new one.
I enjoyed answering your questions Chloris, it was good fun! xxx
I love the photos of the dogs. Thank you too for the award – I’l keep your questions pending if I may as I have a batch of posts waiting for me to hit the publish button. Your answers were really interesting and thoughtful
Thanks Sue, I am enjoying getting better pics of running dogs! No pressure AT all re answering questions!xxx
Love those photos of your race dogs, but I feel exhausted now! Would love to hear more about your early gardening experience, too 🙂
And, for fun, I’ve answered your fascinating questions!
1. What is the worst injury you have sustained while gardening/plotting? In-depth gory details please….
Thankfully, my injuries have been no worse than rose thorns poking many many holes in me, snagging on my clothing, tearing favorite shirts, tangling up my hair.
2. How would/do you deal with wet, slushy, soggy leaves fermenting on the lawn that refuse to be raked up?
Since I essentially live in the desert, the problem I face more often than soggy leaves is foreign leaves. Leaves from homes blocks away. The configuration of my back patio is such that it’s a magnet for leaves here and yon. I try to rake them up and sweep before the cats go out because, sure as anything, they’ll find the dustiest heap and roll in it. And then come in and spread it all over the house.
3. Have you ever had an invasion of Bamboo trying to colonize your garden? If yes, how did you get rid of it?
Hmmm, no bamboo here, but asparagus fern is a similar scourge. And as scourges go, I haven’t gotten rid of it absolutely; it just pops up here and there, looking small and innocent. I try to pull it out wherever it’s found.
4. Do you have any irrational fears/terrors re an animal or insect? If yes, how/when did it begin?
Oh, yes. Squiggly slithery things make me shudder. Slugs, worms, lizards, larvae, grubs…. gah!
5. Has anyone else ever danced barefoot in the rain or hugged a tree?
Wimsey has definitely hugged a tree. He’s the tree-climber of the bunch. None of the cats are fond of rainfall. But we gardeners have been known to stand out in it, reveling in its rare appearance.
6. Do you believe that the moon can influence the growth of plants?
Hadn’t thought about it, actually, but it makes sense.
7. Do you have a favourite flower legend/story/superstition?
Hmmm. Afraid I’m not very fanciful when it comes to flowers. Only that the “easier” or more “fool proof” a flower is, the higher the likelihood I can’t grow it. Marigolds are supposed to be easy. They hate it here. Dianthus? I’ve killed a dozen varieties.
8. Have you ever used a plant medicinally? And I’ll have NO stories of magic mushrooms or Belladonna mind!!!
My mom insists ashitaba has health benefits and I’ve eaten some leaves, but have not noticed any ability to leap tall buildings.
9. Which is the most important to you, house or garden? Ooooh. If I had to choose, house.
10. Do you constantly talk/complain about the weather to anyone who will listen? With our monotony of “clear and mid-seventies”, there’s not a lot to talk about until we get too many days over 100F.
11. What is the most you have spent on a plant over the last year? You mean, buying a plant over and over and over even though it’s clear I can’t keep it alive? That’d be ‘Bill Wallis’ geranium. Being categorized as “impossible to kill” probably jinxed it for me.
Oh….those dogs would wear anyone out, I’ve never had such active dogs!!! And as for my new lawn, well you can see for yourself how it’s mostly gone….AGAIN!
The house where I first grew the bean had a glass greenhouse in it, when we moved in the glass panels had all blown down and the entire lawn and a good few inches below it was a mass of broken glass fragments, and as we had limited finances, we couldn’t afford to have it all dug up….so no gardening there! But still….I had my crates and started growing veg and plants in them….
I loved your responses to the questions…..hahahaha….it must be awful to be such a staunch gardener and loathe the creepy slithery critters! I remember you mentioned that, but didn’t realise how much they bothered you!!!
I’m off to try ashitaba, y’never know, it may just have me jumping off buildings!
Ha! My boy is my soul mate….we’re BOTH tree huggers!!!! Thanks Anne, loved all your answers!xxx
Perhaps you can seed your lawn, Dina. I know there’s not much hope of keeping your lawn aerators (i.e., Sam and Annie) from disturbing them, but it would at least help the specially torn up parts. Sigh.
As for slithery critters, they’re probably the reason I wear gloves when digging in the dirt. Just picturing gloveless hands encountering something cold and slimy makes me shudder again.
I am going to try re-seeding the lawn, the dogs will have to wreck the front while that grows back…..sighs….
Lol….I can’t stop laughing at you being freaked out by all that slides and slithers……xxx
Congratulations on the award, very well deserved. I enjoyed reading your answers and getting to know you a little better.
Thanks Jo, yes, these sort of questions do open a person up a little more, I always enjoy reading responses to more personal questions.xxx