Today
I’m sharing my Liebster Award post. It is well overdue and I was nominated by
the lovely Mary whose blog, ‘Over 40 and a Mum to One’, has just entered the
world of being self-hosted, something that I will be doing soon too. You will
now find her blogging at www.over40andamumtoone.com,
so this is a good time to write this post so I can share her new blogging home.
The
Liebster Award is given to blogs who have less than 200 followers. It’s a great
way to find new blogs and helps these blogs to reach new readers and build
their blogging audience. I feel touched that Mary felt my little ol’ blog
deserved a nomination. After 7 months of blogging for The Mad Mummy Musings, I’m
still in awe of the fact that people actually read my ramblings. And some of
you keep coming back for more so I must be doing something right!
So
this is how the Liebster Award works:
- List 11 facts about yourself
- Answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated you asked
- Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or less followers to nominate
- Go to each bloggers page and let them know they’ve been nominated
- Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog
11 Facts about me
- No matter how hard I try I can’t roll my tongue up at the sides – Grrr!
- When I broke my arm as a child I couldn’t have a plaster cast as the break was too high up the arm – I was gutted as no one wants to sign a sling!
- I hate Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, and mince pies. A bit “baah humbug” I know but I just don’t like dried fruit.
- When I was about 6 years old I was picking out (cleaning) my horse’s feet and dropped one of them on my thumb ! Ouch ! He then proceeded to stand on it and I was left nail-less after a week or so. A flappy black and blue nail was great for scaring friends with until it fell off.
- It took my husband 7 years to finally propose to me and it took us another 7 years before we had our first daughter. Doing it all in 7’s.
- When I was a teenager I went through a phase of loving Coleslaw sandwiches.
- According to my hubby I sometimes snore at night. How rude, women don’t snore!
- I’m a princess. Yes really, I am. That should keep you guessing, hee hee!
- I cry really easily when watching sad films. I’m hopeless at being brave and get far too involved in all the emotions of a film. I need a huge box of tissues nearby to mop up Niagra Falls when it comes.
- I don’t like it when people put up a facade. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve and often find those who always put up a facade have something to hide. It makes me feel uneasy.
- If you read my Super Sweet Blogging Awards post, you will know that I LOVE chocolate! I can hunt out any chocolate in the house with ease and will fight my daughters for the last piece of chocolate. Would I give you my last Rolo? No ! It’s mine, all mine ;0)
So
there you have it; 11 facts about me. Now onto Mary’s questions:
The 11 questions given to me
What is the most important thing you’ve
learnt since becoming a parent?
That
nothing goes accordingly to plan and that’s ok. Becoming a parent has at times
rocked my world. It’s a roller coaster ride of emotions and events. There are
no hard and fast rules about how to survive it except to say, “Trust your
instincts and enjoy the ride.”
Why did you start blogging?
I’ve
always wanted to write and never knew whether I was any good at it or not. I’ve
always wanted to write a book, so I suppose writing a blog gives me a space to
call my own and a place to write from my heart without rules and restrictions.
I would love to write for others/magazines but often find that my confidence
comes more in writing for myself than for others. I find blogging therapeutic,
fun and I have met some fabulous people in the 9 months since I started this
journey. It’s an exceptionally supportive community of amazing people.
If you could swap places with anyone for
a day – who would it be and why?
I’ve
mulled this question over and over and I’m sure there are many celebrities or
iconic people who I’d love to change places with for a day, but I've decided
that I’d actually love to swap places with my eldest daughter for the day particularly
when she’s at school. When you have your kids at home with you and then they
branch out into the big wide world on their own, you start to lose that
closeness and that understanding of what their day is like. I would love to be
her for a day at school to see exactly what she does and how it feels to be her
in her world. I’m sure it would give me greater insight into how she has developed
into her own person.
What is your favourite place in the
world and why?
Probably
Majorca & Menorca, in the Baleairic Islands. I have such fond memories of
many holidays spent on both Islands as a child. We went back year on year and
my time there was always happy. We went back with my eldest daughter not long
after returning to the UK from our time living in France. It was an incredibly
healing holiday particularly as I was still recovering with my PND. It was like
a soothing band aid for my Soul. And we were able to make new and happy
memories for us as a family unit too.
If you could change one thing about
yourself, what would it be and why?
That
I worry too much; about what people think, of what may happen, of what the
future holds. I need to chill out more and just let life play out as it’s meant
to. I’m sure I use up far too much energy when I’m fretting.
What is your best quality?
I
asked my hubby to help me on this one and we both agreed that it is probably that
I’m empathic. Having an elder sister with special needs meant I grew up quickly
as a child. I learnt at an early age to see the bigger picture and to be consciously
aware of others’ feelings. I learnt that there are always two sides to every
story and it’s important to see both those sides wherever possible. For me
being in touch with people’s emotions and feelings is important. Perhaps that’s
why I wear my heart on my sleeve so much.
What is your favourite meal?
This
is a really difficult one for me to answer as I just love food in all its forms.
The foods that would feature on a table of favourites would be home made chocolate
mousse, garlic prawns with crusty bread, a hearty stew, a plate full of crudités
and healthy dips, smoothies and juices, and some dark, mint chocolate.
How would you like to be remembered by
your children?
As
someone who loved with her whole heart, was fair, kind, understanding and not
afraid to say sorry when she got it wrong, whilst living life to its fullest.
Where does your blogging inspiration
come from?
Life,
and my experience of it. My writing tends to be very honest and perhaps a
little deep. I suppose that reflects the type of person I am. I find people
fascinating and I think reading other blogs can give you inspiration too.
What is the one tip you could pass on to
a fellow blogger?
Be
true to yourself and your own way of writing. As a new blogger you can get very
caught up in other blogs and what makes them popular or not. It’s quite a
fickle place to be at times and I’ve learnt to write about what interests me
rather than trying to be something I’m not. Each blog finds its own unique
readers eventually. For some that’s instant, for others it takes time. It’s a
bit like a good bottle of wine; some need more time to mature and become full
bodied.
Will you follow the bloggers you
nominate?
I
follow quite a few blogs and the ones I would have nominated I already follow.
I know that different people blog for different reasons and when I nominated
fellow bloggers for the Super Sweet Blogging Awards, I'm not sure any of them wrote a post
in response. So, this time I’m going to leave nominating others because I’d
probably be nominating the same people again. I’m chuffed to have been
nominated myself and wear my badge with pride. Thank you Mary for nominating
me. You never know I may manage 200 followers now ! ;0)
I
hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little more about me and I’ll be back soon with
more musings for your to enjoy. Until next time xx
********
If
you would like to follow me then you can link up with me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Bloglovin Please do leave me a comment. I love to read them xx
Love your answers and thanks for mentioning my leap into the world of self hosted blogs - see you there soon x
ReplyDeleteHello lovely Mary xx So sorry this post took me SO long to write. I am truly touched you nominated me and I enjoyed answering your questions; they made me very thoughtful about things ! So exciting you have gone self hosted. I'll be next xx
DeleteWhat a great idea! You've got some great answers there, I bet you don't really snore #PoCoLo
ReplyDeleteHa Ha ! I think I may do at times Gina despite the fact I'd like to think I don't ;0) I wake myself up when I've dozed off on the sofa at times - funny ;0) Glad you popped across to say "Hi" xx
DeleteWhat a brilliant post Charlie, a fantastic read and really good answers! I've not heard about this before - such a great idea. I dislike Christmas cake and pudding too. Weirdly like mince pies but that might be because they're covered in cream :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to find someone else who doesn't like Christmas Cake or Pudding ! :0) I will eat fruit and nut chocolate if that's the only thing in the house as that's covered in chocolate ! xx
DeleteI did one of these when I first started blogging too, it's a great way to share more about yourself. I found myself agreeing with many of your answers especially the crying at sad films, wearing you heart on your sleeve and being vary of people who put on a front.
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoyed sharing a bit more of myself. You can appear masked behind your blogging veil can't you? I'm so pleased someone else relates to the heart on my sleeve, facades & crying at films thing :0) xx
DeleteWhat a fab post - loved your answers. Feel like I 've learned loads about you :)
ReplyDeleteThank Cathy xx Glad it's helped you learn more about me. I really enjoyed writing it xx
DeleteA great post - always interesting to discover more - I love Christmas and glad that mince pies aren't all the year around or I would be huge!
ReplyDeleteLOL ! I'm glad they aren't all year round too or I'd be eating copious amounts of custard ! That was always my childhood substitute to Christmas pud, cake or mince pies xx
DeleteA really great post lovely - learnt lots of things about you that I share with you! I don't link Christmas cake or pudding either! Thank you so much for linking to PoCoLo x
ReplyDeleteThanks Vicky xx Glad there's someone else who doesn't do Xmas cake or pud ;0)
Delete