Awards season part 1 – Slow but Sure
It’s awards season … we’ve had the Golden Globes, we’ve had the BAFTA’s and just around the corner are the Oscars. And across Hollywoodland beautiful people will be rehearsing their acceptance speeches. Just in case.
Here is my acceptance speech which I meant to deliver in December but I drove 1100 km to England for Christmas and spent a month watching ‘Downton Abbey’ and ‘Midsomer Murders’ repeats with my mother. Then I drove 1100 km back here and went on a restrictive regime and lost some weight and yet still I… Oh for goodness sake! There are no excuses. Just my own base inefficiency so best I draw a veil and simply say:
Finally and formally and full of enthusiastically I need to say thank you for being given a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. My thanks for this award go entirely to the utterly fabulous Mel of ‘France Says’ – a genuinely inspiring blogger whose work I have read and adored for over a year. If you have any sense at all (and I am confident that you do) you will follow my lead and seek out and follow her blog. Her tales of a love-hate relationship with her adopted country (the clue’s in the title) are always piquant and funny and sometimes poignant. Long may you ride, Mel!
Here are the rules for this award:
- Thank and link to the person who nominated you
- List the rules and display the award
- Share seven facts about yourself
- Nominate 15 other blogs you enjoy, then comment on their posts to let them know that you have nominated them
Here is the award (I rather love it and it will be displayed with pride on my shelf … aka the side-bar)
Next I need to tell you seven things about me … this is actually quite difficult for me since I am not really very keen on talking about me at all (no honestly, I actually don’t). But in the spirit of the award I give you:
1. I am English and live in Southern France in one of the least populated places in Europe
2. I brought up my four daughters on my own – they appear to have survived the experience
3. Osyth is my pen-name but is also my real name
4. I once played Sinbad the Sailor in an appalling play written by a friend of Roger McGough
5. I have been known to make home-made custard creams which taste exactly the same as shop bought ones and cost twice as much to make … but it’s therapeutic
6. When I was a child I could fly. No-one believes me but I actually could
7. I was once told that I have an affinity with pigs. I am happy with this.
And finally, the most important and frankly most exciting bit …. my own nominations for Very Inspiring Blogger in no particular order (as they always say on those awful shows that showcase ‘talent’ for the voting masses):
1. Melanies Playground – She lives in France, travels the world and produces the most beautiful world of her own based on love and happiness. Extremely well read, her ethos is simple – you will die so you might as well enjoy life and why waste it on unpleasantness. Adorable!
2. The Venomous Bead – Witty, informed, extremely bright and a very very good writer, Helen lives in Costa Rica and engages on whatever she feels like engaging on whenever she feels like engaging
3. A Life Moment – Alice lives in England and writes wonderfully enticing recipes and throws in life and beauty tips along the way. Quite honestly a yummy blog!
4. Reads By Red River Banks – Jenny is a mum, mum-to-be and talented writer living as an expat and loving all things under-water
5. Pursuit of Happiness – JF is the youngest ‘old guy’ I have ever encountered. His energy and undoubted intellect not to mention his joy in trying out new things whilst simultaneously taking joy in all around him AND throwing out the wisdom of ages long before him is intoxicating
6. Carter Vail – Carter is an artist in the truest sense – poet, writer, photographer, observer, sufferer and delighted survivor
7. Blog sur Aude – The trials, tribulations and traumas of making a beautiful home in the south of France as lived and documented by a very talented interior decorator – feel the pain and glory!
8. Albert the Dog – Albert writes with wit and style which eclipse the talents of most humans.
9. Cotswold Views – Sue is a commercial copy-writer and has begun her blogging journey using the tools prescribed by Blogging 101 …
10. 2Far2Shout – eclectic, funny, visual and according to the writer outstanding in his own field … I’d say he has a point
11. La Petite Maison Bijoux – living in Haute Loire making beautiful jewellery inspired by the nature all around her, this blog has been a favourite of mine from the start of my own blogging journey.
12. Life on La Lune – Vanessa Couchman is a writer living in South West France these past nearly two decades. She writes of her place and particularly of its history with great style and engagement. Unsurprisingly she published a wonderful historic novel, ‘The House at Zaronza’ set in Corsica last year which I read with as much delight as I read her blog
13. Susie Kelly – is a hugely successful author and hardly needs any awards but I have to include her here because I so love her blog … life in France, dogs, places – beautifully written as you would expect from a bestselling writer
14. Aileen Hunt – is an Irish writer. I love Ireland as it happens but more than that I rather love her writing
15. Oh to Go a Wandering – Oxford Graduate who writes and dreams of travelling and owning a sky blue aga in a cottage with roses round the door (who doesn’t) and has fun in the kitchen and with a camera
PS: My tardiness is even more impressive than I thought …. ‘France Says’ actually nominated me in November 2014 but I’m confident that this was terribly worth waiting for!
Thank you very much….not just for thinking of my blog but for introducing me to other blogs which I shall enjoy exploring.
It’s a pleasure, I love your blog, Helen – I hope you enjoy exploring the others 🙂
Slow and steady wins the race, Osyth! Glad you came around to it, happy to learn a bit more about you (#6 proves we’re soul sisters) and very eager to discover your blogging nominees. Et un grand merci for the kind comments!
C’est moi qui dit merci – I only speak the truth 🙂 And as for number 6 … from now on I shall call you Tinkerbell 😉 Enjoying exploring the nominees and have a really great day 🙂
glad, honored, thankful and touchée, dear F… <3 even though my humble rye field is a no-award blog… 🙂 I'm gonna make an exception to my rule just for you, O.K.
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1. I was born in Romania, I do feel European, and France has been my current homeland for decades; English has been my 2nd language, French my 3rd and I can manage quite well in Spanish and Italian… 🙂 I'm a language teacher and a free lancer – my own boss… 🙂
2. Mélanie is my only real name, my family name is quite well-known in France and the French speaking countries: our daughter and I bear exactly the same names as the 2 daughters of the humorist-author Guy Bedos… 🙂
3. during my adolescence I was an athlete de compétition: 3 times national champion @ long jump;
4. I've been withe the same beloved French hubby – a rocket & satellite scientist(Polytechnicien & NASA specialist for several years) for more than 35 years, we have 2 "old babies"(LOL!) and we're an international family with a Taiwanese daughter-in-law and an American son-in-law… vive la différence! 🙂
5. I'm a catlover – à la vie, à la mort… 🙂
6. if I had another life, I'd spend it on reading in the languages I know and traveling… I have no "goûts de luxe", I don't mind wearing old "stuff" with no expensive tags on it as long as it's clean… 🙂
7. I'm totally convinced and aware that our life is made of choices/alternatives and based upon decisions that we have to assume… I don't believe in passivity, resignation, fatalism, people who "undergo" their fate… Conclusion: I’m not a ‘facebook status’ or a ‘blog post’ to be liked, so I quote a close and “old” friend:”take me, accept me or leave me, but remember this: if you leave me, it’s gonna be your loss, not mine!” 😀
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more about me here: https://myvirtualplayground.wordpress.com/about/
happy?!… 🙂 merci encore, Miss O! <3
No need for thanks – c’est moi qui dit merci! Thank you indeed for making an exception (I did know you were a ‘no awards’ blog but I couldn’t in conscience leave you off my list because I just really enjoy your little field of rye 🙂 I read your facts gleefully (some mystery maintained, some clues and as I imagined, a great deal of synergie …. husbands and sport and attitude to life and love!) Merci encore wondrous Miss M x
That’s an awful lot of blog reading! It’s a wonder you get time to write your own at all!
Fast reader, Cam – learnt it in a previous life 😉
thanks for that vote of confidence- wish I was a professional & paid interior decorator! Unfortunately the day job leaves no time for working in that world but my house is my art
both inspired and amused by your “seven confessions” here are :-
* I am English born, but my mother was Welsh and a distant ancestor came over from France in the 19th century. My Grandfather looked French
* I had two stints as a single parent (long story) and my kids have not only survived, they are genuinely kind, gracious, thoughtful, lovely & and sensible people ( they don’t get that last one from me!)
* My most bizarre job was as galley slave on a shark fishing boat
* My life is full of mad coincidences
* As a child I talked to myself and various invisible people constantly; I could make myself invisible too. Sadly I have lost this knack
* Between the ages of seventeen and twenty seven I moved home seventeen times
* I am outraged by any form of unfairness and injustice and take this way too seriously, it helps with the day job though
Thank you very much, Osyth! Having poked around some of your recommended blogs, it’s an honor to be included among them. After much delay, my People and I have decided we are going to be awards-free, but we certainly appreciate the thought and will enjoy exploring the other blogs on your list. 🙂
You deserve to be included with the best … yours is our favourite of all blogs! Being award free is a very good idea – definitely worth considering – I will consult The Bean for her wisdom (have you ever read 5 children and It …. The Bean is a bit like the Psamead!)
I don’t think my People have read that one–must have missed it somehow, but I will have them look up the reference. 🙂
You watch Midsomer Murders too? I love that series 😀 It’s kinda cliche, but it’s become a habit to watch it when I’m home. I once even managed to guess the murderer, and I was so proud of that 😀
Ah! It’s addictive so be careful! Actually it is filmed in my home massif – Oxfordshire so I spend as much time guessing the village as the murderer. You are now one of my mother’s treasures … she is fully obsessed with it (as, I admit, am I)!
That’s great! Even more challenges 😀
By some strange coincidence the last episode of the series running in Belgium was shown right before I left for Poland. I kind of liked the idea of not having to miss out when being in Poland 🙂
I pay 5.99 euro a month for a tele-pass so that I can watch things I normally see in the UK … including Midsomer! Very glad you are not missing out in Poland 🙂
Thank you so much for nominating my blog for this award. I have only just chanced upon it, so I don’t have my acceptance speech ready! But I shall certainly work on it. And thank you also for introducing me to some new blogs among those I already know and enjoy. 🙂
My very real pleasure … I have enjoyed your blog since ground zero on my own journey – and you used to live in Horseshoe Road and love Auvergne as little personal bonuses 🙂 I took 3 months to accept so leisurely as you like!
For some reason, your comment telling me about it was shoved into the spam bin on my blog. Can’t think why. Normally it’s good at picking out the real spam but sometimes it rejects legit comments, too.
How very rude of it! I’ve been called many things over the years but never spam!! Glad you found it in the end 🙂
Midsomer Murders repeats are the only legitimate way to spend any visit home in my opinion (how is it that death and violence can be so perfectly comforting…?) so you need have no shame on that account. Thank you for the nomination – it made my week 🙂
My pleasure – I love your blog and I am releived to find that you are clearly a kindred given your views on MMs 🙂