Ladies and Gentlepeeps of the blogerati, I stand before you today, humbled and modest, to accept this sumptuous award.
The rather lovely (and still on my list of bloggers to meet) Mike, has passed this gorgeous trophy to me and took a moment to give me that most very British of compliments.
Yes, let it be broadcast across the land (or at least as far as the Aldi at the bottom of the road), that I am “an all-round good egg”. I cannot express my emotions at present, so overcome am I with feelings of joy and elation. I must pause here to wipe away a small tear of happiness that has welled in my eye, desperate to escape and flounce off down my cheek.
Right, got the wee bugger with a tissue…
However as bloody usual, there is a caveat. I knew there would be of course, you don’t spend as long as I have mucking about on the interwebs without knowing how these things work. So whilst I’m delighted to receive the award from such a distinguished member of our little hobby, I knew there’d be a catch. Or a set of rules.
And there is, and they state that I have to pass the award on to “five other blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community”. I also have to credit the originator and so, because I’m British and we know how to follow rules, I have just done so.
Now for the hard bit. Who deserves such a finely crafted objet d’art?
1. I’m gonna cheat a bit for this (I’m sure they won’t mind… ) and nominate two sisters. Both have been blogging for a long time and both bring something different to our little hobby. It wouldn’t be fair to say that you can view one as being ‘serious’ and the other ‘silly’, particularly as they are both prone to outbursts of both so… umm… anyway.. so before I dig myself in any deeper the first award goes, jointly, to Meg of meish and Anna of the Little Red Boat. (I’m also figuring that most of you know about them, so didn’t want to waste two awards by giving them one each… wait, that didn’t come out right…).
2. Next up is a blog I’ve read and enjoyed for years. If you have a few hours to spare head into the archives and prepare for belly laughs and tears. What’s New Pussycat? by the lovely, funny, Shauna, who has recently been published in the equally funny, uplifting and triumphant book The Amazing Adventures of DietGirl (it’s really good!). Note: Shauna claims to be an Australian, and whilst she does use odd words sometimes, she doesn’t like Vegemite so I’m somewhat suspicious…
3. Every now and then you stumble across a blog which just grabs your attention, such was the case a couple of years ago when I happened upon Anne’s blog, I Like. She has a wonderful eye and a genuine love of the things she likes. Part retro-fest, part wonderous exploration of everyday places and things, it continues to inspire and delight.
4. Another old-timer gets the award. Without this man I wouldn’t even know the word obfuscate existed. He continues to churn out the most amazing content and seems to operate at a level higher than most. Sometimes I have to read his posts three or four times to make sure I’m sucked all the beauty I can from them (not all of them though, let’s not get too carried away!). He is currently known as An Unreliable Witness, and I’m sure he will cherish such a glorious award.
5. And, because there is no show without punch, the erratically brilliant blog that is Pandemian. Another blogger who has been at it for a while now, but who remains present and which I have to admit I have a bit of a thing for… so I’m not biased at all. Honest.