17 Dec 2011

An award, a prize and some parcels ...

I've had a really happy week. These last few days have brought unexpected and much appreciated surprises in the form of an award, a giveaway prize, a parcel of books and a winning entry in a photo competition. I'm not sure what I've done to deserve such abundance but it's certainly brought a smile to my face and given me a huge boost.

First, very warm thanks to Jo of The Good Life blog for including the Urban Veg Patch in her Liebster Award list. It's rather lovely to have this award as, even after a couple of years of blogging, I'm never sure if what I write is of sufficient interest beyond being a record for myself. Jo regularly takes the time to leave appropriate comments on my posts which is lovely to read and very reassuring.  I've been reading Jo's blog now for over a year - and very good it is too.

As other bloggers have said, it's really nice when readers leave comments;  it strengthens the online community and friendships are developed.  I've met some lovely people through blogging, this year has been especially rewarding in that respect and awards such as this are a lovely way of introducing the blogs I enjoy to a wider audience.  In order to accept the award, I have to follow a few simple rules:

Copy and paste the award on your blog - (check!)
Thank the giver and link back to them - (done with pleasure!)
Choose five blogs (with less than 200 followers) that you'd like to pass the award on to and leave a comment for them on their blog.

This last rule is where I thought I'd run into problems as many of the blogs I enjoy have already been chosen for the award by Jo's other blog nominees.  But after carefully checking that I wasn't duplicating anyone's choices, these are the five that I would recommend:

Suburban Veg Plot
A Life Less Simple
Lovely Greens
Erin's Urban Organic Gardening in Sidney
Charlotte's Plot

These are all new to me this year and I've really enjoyed reading them and getting to know their authors a little bit and hope that others will find the time to pop over and take a look.  (I would have added A Woman of the Soil, Wellywoman, Little Green Fingers and FlightPlot to this list but that would be flaunting the rules  and we wouldn't want that.)

And what about my other luck?  Well, it appears that one of my photos has earned me the first prize in the UK Veg Gardeners photo competition and I'm going to be the very lucky recipient of a pair of Felco No 7 secateurs! Obviously I'm over the moon at this but can't quite believe it as there were some stunning entries from other members. Congratulations to Mark at Mark's Veg Plot and Karen at The Garden Smallholder whose photos were also, very deservedly, chosen.

Unbelievably, shortly after the above news came my way, so did another email from Jo saying that I'd won the giveaway that she was hosting on her other blog, Through the Keyhole.  My two childhood obsessions were with reading and making things, whether by sewing, knitting, drawing or building, so I'm really looking forward to the arrival of Jo's very generous parcel as I've won a copy of Cath Kidston's book 'Make!' (as well as other lovely things such as a tin of fudge - mmm, yum! - and a book of Victorian niceties.) Perfect timing as, with a few days off over Christmas, I intend to indulge in a spot of sofa flying (as Flighty would say).

But I did say parcels, didn't I?  More than one?  Yes.  Because I've taught children's art clubs, gardened with children and our newly formed Transition Town will be hosting children's crafting workshops, CICO Books have sent me two rather lovely books to review.  These are Green Crafts for Children(35 projects using natural, recycled and found materials) and My First Sewing Book. Both are beautifully photographed with some very interesting projects to make - perfect for ages 7 and up and just in time for Christmas.  I have a weekend ahead of me and an enormous stash of crafting supplies so I'll be back with a review tomorrow.

     

The sun is shining here in London;  I hope that each of you has some sunshine in your day too!

Caro xx

18 comments:

  1. Sounds as if you've had a brilliant week then! Thanks for the mention BTW. Your words about blogging as a hobby are almost exactly what I would say. I've made a lot of friends from it, from all round the world. And there are always new ones to be "met", as we have discovered (again) this week.

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  2. Well done you - all awards and prizes are well deserved and couldn't have gone to a nicer person.

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  3. Congratulations. What a couple of days!! I completely agree about the lovely online community of bloggers out there. I look forward to hearing about your crafty weekend. I'd love to hear what you think about the Cath Kidston book. I've seen a few of her books and fancied trying one of them but never got round to it.

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  4. Well done, thoroughly deserved too! Thank you for the mention which is always appreciated. Have a lovely Christmas x

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  5. @Mark Willis
    I have and you're very welcome for the link. I'm very pleased to have found your blog and look forward to reading more in the future. x

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  6. @elaine
    Awww, shucks, Elaine! Nice of you to say so ... *blushes*. Caro xx

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  7. @wellywoman
    Welly, I'll be letting you know - I love the Cath Kidston style so I'm looking forward to seeing what this book is all about. Do you craft? Perhaps we should have a gardeners-who-craft-in-the-winter blog! Caro xx

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  8. @thegardensmallholder
    Thank you Karen, coming from you that's high praise indeed! Wishing you a happy Christmas too. Caro xx

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  9. I wonder if you bought that lottery ticket as I suggested in my email, you've had lots of luck recently. You'll love the Felco secateurs, I picked up a pair in Wilkinsons which were marked down by 75%, I got them for the bargain price of £10. They're probably my most used tool.

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  10. What an enjoyably uplifting post!
    The award is well deserved, and they're lovely prizes and parcels all of which I know that you'll be making such good use of.
    Many thanks for the mentions! Flighty xx

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  11. Thanks for the prize and the Fat Baby seeds Caro :) It really means a lot coming from such an inspiring blogger as yourself!

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  12. Congratulations on all the goodies and goodness coming your way Caro :)

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  13. Thank you so much for the prize- it's incredibly kind of you and I am enormously flattered!

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  14. @Jo
    I rarely do the lottery Jo, I always forget when I'm out and about. Perhaps I should start!

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  15. @flightplot
    Thank you Flighty - and it's always a pleasure to introduce people to you! Caro xx

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  16. @Tanya @ Lovely Greens
    What a lovely compliment Tanya! The award is well deserved, your blog is always enjoyable thanks to your personality shining through! The Fat Baby seeds will be on their way in the New Year, with much love. C x

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  17. @Anna
    Thanks Anna, I'm very much looking forward to it!

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  18. @charlottesplot.com
    You're very welcome Charlotte. I've been very pleased to discover your blog and am pleased to share. Caro x

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