Before I get into this post, which is a continuation of my ongoing series, The Library Stack (in which I share my stacks of borrowed books from my local public library), I would like to say thank you to the very talented Mariss @ Fabricationsfor also nominating me for an Outstanding Blogger Award. In the Postscript section of this post I will answer the questions she posed to her nominees.
It’s been a while (November 2020) since I shared my latest “Library Stack” and I thought I would just catch you up on several stacks over the past several months.
And here are the previous library stacks that I have not shared before:
As you can see there appears to be a limited number of general themes of the types books I borrow from the local library – home decor and crafting. These are my fabric subjects for a book browsing over a pot of tea!
You might have noticed that I have The Shopkeeper’s Home by Caroline Rowland in two different stacks – if I really enjoy a home decor or crafting book I just borrow it again and again!
I’ve been reading a lot (well “a lot” for me) of fiction books but those I am reading from my home library (see post Curating a Home Library) or library borrowed audiobooks; and I might share some reviews in a future post. You can follow me on Goodreads@tierneycreates if you’d like to see what I’ve been reading fiction wise and read my reviews.
For how long have you been writing a blog? Since October 2013 – over 7 years
What made you start? Originally it was a vehicle for my soon to be opened (and eventually opened) tierneycreates Etsy shop – I closed the shop after a couple years but kept the blog
Why do you continue to blog? I enjoyed sharing my experiences with others and reading their experiences on their blogs – I get inspired
Have you ever met any of your fellow bloggers face to face? If so, how did it feel? Yes I’ve met the lovely ladies from Gray Barn Designs when they attended a show opening of one of my pieces – see post Visioning Human Rights in the New Millennium, Part I
Do you write regularly? If so, why? I go in spurts – where I write regularly and then take a break, it all depends on my mood
If you’d like to see my other nomination and the questions answered (by my tierneycreates Beastie) check out the post Outstanding Blogger Award (and snow).
Tierney here, writing to you from the “Snowpocalypse” in Colorado, buried under quite a bit of snow.
“It so bad their (snow) plows are getting stuck or tipping on to their side…”
Any of my blogging friends live in Florida or anywhere warm? May I move in with you?
I’ve spent the weekend inside working on a new quilt, which I will share in a future post. For this post I wanted to thanks Helen @crawcraftsbeasties for nominating me for the Outstanding Blogger Award, get the questions answered that come with the nomination, and throw a couple nominations out there myself.
Helen the maker of Beasties, like my tierneycreates Beastie, had her Beasties Paddy and Plunkett answer the questions for her Outstanding Blogger Award nomination and so I thought I would let my tierneycreates Beastie answer the questions for me.
Outstanding (Beastie) Blogger Award
Hello, my name is tierneycreates Beastie and I am a Monster, but the good kind of Monster. I was made by Helen of CrawCrafts Beasties in Dublin, Ireland. You can read my story at I’m A Monster!!!. You can also check out the other posts I’ve had to guest blog on (i.e. when the human Tierney falls off the blogging-wagon and I have to help) in the series of posts: Beastie Adventures.
Right now I am holed up in the house with Tierney during our “Snowpocalypse” in Colorado. I did go outside today to look around and here is what I saw:
Snow, snow and more snow. I had Tierney take a photo of me on the front porch as I nearly froze to death (I kept my dog Mikelet inside as it was way too cold for him):
I think it is appropriate for Tierney to let me handle the questions for the Outstanding (Beastie) Blogger Award nomination since I am sure it is my guest blogger posts on her blog that got her this nomination. Thanks to my maker, Helen @crawcraftsbeasties for recognizing my excellence as a Beastie blogger!
My answers to the questions Helen posed:
Coffee or tea? (Or no hot beverages at all?) TEA OF COURSE, ALWAYS TEA.
Where in the world would you most like to visit, and why? TIERNEY WANTS TO GO TO NEW ZEALAND, BUT I WANT TO GO TO IRELAND AND SEE WHERE I WAS BORN/MADE AGAIN
What is the most delicious meal you’ve ever eaten, and where did you have it? THE PLATE OF SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS MADE BY MY FIANCE JOHN BEASTIE (see post Guest Blog Post: Mail Order Groom).
What have you made that you’re most proud of, and why? I AM STILL LEARNING TO SEW ON MY NEW “BEASTNINA” THAT HELEN MADE ME, BUT I THINK TIERNEY IS PRETTY PROUD OF THE QUILT SHE DISCUSSES IN THIS POST – The Lesson and The Equation.
What’s your plan for today? STAY WARM AND NOT GO OUTSIDE AGAIN UNTIL THE SNOW MELTS!
Speaking of staying warm, when Tierney helped me back inside after I nearly froze to death in the blizzard. However when she helped me back to my new home on the storage unit in her studio (more in a future post), she neglected to remove the snow from my shoes!
Luckily I caught her as she was leaving the studio so she could help me remove the snow and I would not get frostbite!
Nominations & Questions
As part of being nominated for the Outstanding Blogger Award, Tierney and I need to nominate some other bloggers for this award and pose some questions to them. Helen @crawcraftsbeasties in her post Outstanding Blogger Award, already nominated a bunch of our mutual blogging buddies such as: Handmade Habit, Tammie Painter, Fabrications,and Quiet Water Craft (and I see that Mariss @Fabrications also nominated some additional mutual blogging buddies), so here are our nominations trying not to overlap:
If you choose to participate, here are a couple of questions for you to answer:
What has blogging added to your life?
Share the link for one of your favorite blog posts that you have written.
If you were stuck in the house for the entire weekend due to a snowstorm, what would you do with your time?
What household chore do you most enjoy, and what do you least enjoy?
What did you learn from surviving 2020?
We’ll close this post with a picture of Mike (big Mike as opposed to Mikelet, the Beastie dog which is a “miniature” Miniature Schnauzer) who actually went out in the Snowpocalypse today and played ball in the backyard, running around in the trench/”racetrack” that human John created for him.
Here he is in a quilt, trying to get warm after being outside.
The word “Liebster” sounded vaguely familiar and quite German. I studied German for a year when I was in college and I remembered the German word “lieb” which means dear as in beloved.
I checked an English to German dictionary online (interglot.com) and discovered the definition for “Liebster” is: “friend, dear, sweetheart.
Sounds like a nice name for a blogging award (smile).
It’s been a long time since I’ve received a nomination for a blogging award as I’ve been blogging for nearly 7 years and it seems like these awards are primarily to give exposure to new blogs. So it was quite a pleasant and appreciated surprise.
I appreciated her comments on her post regarding my nomination:
Tierney at Tierney Creates. Queen of quilts, this is a creative and artistic blog, plus Mike-the-dog-who-thinks-he’s-a-human.
(You might be wondering why I follow a blog/website called homeschoolguru when I do not have any children that I home school. Well this blogger found me and commented on my blog a couple months ago and I took a peek at her blog and discovered it was absolutely delightful! Yes she writes many posts helpful to parents who home school but she also covers many other topics of interests and her posts are witty and engaging!)
Okay so here are the rules of being nominated:
LIEBSTER AWARD RULES
• Thank the blogger who nominated you, and provide a link to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions given to you.
• Share 11 facts about yourself.
• Nominate 5-11 other bloggers.
• Ask your nominees 11 questions of your choice.
• Notify your nominees once you have uploaded your post.
By the way, it’s late in the evening, the wind is howling like crazy outside and I am sitting in bed writing while sleep is attempting to creep upon me. I might ramble during the rest of this post, please forgive me. I did not want to let too much time pass between the time I was nominated (May 5th) and when I answered the questions that come along with being nominated.
I think these questions are designed for you all to get to know me a little better, but some of you have followed my blog for years and might feel like you know enough already (or more than you want to know!)
Question #1:Do you have a book out or in the pipeline?
Yes, in the pipeline! I have an idea for a children’s’ book or a young adult book (or both), but not ready to share yet.
Question #2: How long have you been blogging and what is your favorite subject to write about?
I’ve been blogging for nearly 7 years – my blog began in October 2013 as a vehicle originally for my now closed tierneycreates Etsy shop. I do not have a favorite subject to blog about, I just enjoy sharing stories from a “Crafter’s Life”.
Question #3: If you could move to a different town, state or country… where would you be?
New Zealand – not sure what town – I’d just have to first visit all my blogging buddies that live there and see which town was the friendliest for me to build my small off grid cottage! (But I would need some serious solar power for running my sewing machine all the time).
Ah one of the neighbor’s lambs went for a walk with me today. in my small New Zealand town.. (image credit agoda.com)
Question #4:What is your favorite quality about yourself?
I grow wiser as I grow older and have learned to put things in “perspective”.
Question #5: Are you an Introvert or an Extrovert or even both?
I am both. I spent many years presenting as an Extrovert, but now I am enjoying embracing my Introverted side while functioned as needed as an Extrovert (smile).
I am I in the mood to deal with people today?
Question #6: What is THE JOB of your dreams?
If someone could pay me a nice salary to blog full time and make things in my craft room, that would be it. Or perhaps I get my book (or books) published someday and use the royalties to just craft and blog all day!
Question #7:Other than blogging/writing what is the one favorite thing you LOVE to do?
Go on walks alone listening to audiobooks/podcasts, or with my dog, or with my partner (but I talk to him instead of listening to books!). If my legs and feet could handle it I would walk for miles and miles each day!
Question #8:Where is one of the first places you plan on going after quarantine is over?
Can anyone guess? Yup, it the PUBLIC LIBRARY! I cannot wait until I can run free (no worry I will be clothed) through the stacks and stacks books in the library. All those lonely books, waiting for me to check them out…
Question #9:Speaking of COVID-19, is there anything that you learned about yourself or will be changing about yourself when ‘life moves on?’
Several years ago I discovered “Minimalism” and I was trying to move towards a quality life with less stuff in my life. Then I kind of slip off that path for a while. Now I’ve been using COVID-times to refocus on what really matters in life and to be careful how I spend my money and my time.
Question #10:Is there anything as far as food that you will absolutely NOT eat?
Oh yes – Liver and Onions! I gagged it down as a child, and never again. Also I will never eat Oreo cookies or Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream – yuck! Their flavors nauseate me.
Question #11:Do you own a website for your writing?
No, not yet…
Well I am super sleepy now, as I am sure you are too trying to read all this boring information about me – hopefully you have not done a face-plant into your computer keyboard – ha!
I will continue my rambling…um, I mean completing the requested Liebster Award nomination information in my next post.
Update 05/12/2020
I’ve decided not to do a “Part II” to this post and just finish up on this post.
Eleven (11) Facts About Myself
I used to be obsessed with Barbies (Mattel toys Barbie dolls) from my late 20s to late 30s. It was something related to some challenging childhood memories and Barbies provided me with a lot of comfort. When I got into my late 30s to early 40s I was finally able to let my Barbie collection go. I sold some on Etsy, some on eBay and gave away/donated a lot of Barbies.
I love public libraries. Walking into a library immediately calms, relaxes and excites me. This is related to many wonderful childhood memories at the library. I think it was the summer when I was 10 years old that I spent every day at the library. I would ride my bike to the library and browse books for hours – both children and adult books. The librarians knew me well. When I lived in Central Oregon from 2005 – 2019 I got to know the Deschutes Public Library quite well and had some librarian buddies at the downtown branch. I even had several art quilts in library art shows (see post A Novel Panel Idea). When I travel I try to visit a local library whenever possible.
I’ve likely read way too many self-help books but I am still strangely drawn to them. I tried to swear off of them (see post Musings on Self-Improvement) but I might be secretly listening to one right now and just not telling all about it (smile).
Fabric scraps make me happy. Very happy. I love the idea of saving something meant for a landfill and making something (eventually, hopefully, possibly…) out of it. I’ve become more selective over the years what scraps I get from other quilters and I’ve donated many fabric scraps in thrift shops (they sell well at thrift shops) as I shared in the post A “Humane” Way to Eliminate Fabric Scraps.
My husband (who suddenly passed in December 2019) and I adopted rescued dogs, specifically rescued miniature schnauzers, for nearly 25 years. I currently have a rescued miniature schnauzer, Mike, who is 9.5 year old. His story is in the post – Taking Chances: The Mike Hogan Chronicles (re-post). I have been thinking about the future and wondering should I continue with miniature schnauzers or explore adopting those teddy bear looking labradoodles?
I absolutely love pretzels. I’ve loved them since I was little. I enjoy quilt retreating with my friend Judy because she loves pretzels too and always has a nice stash of yummy pretzels (sometimes with a special garlic seasoning on them) to the retreat for us to snack on! (Of course quilt retreats are all about snacking, right?) My sister and I have a funny memory related to a pretzel:We like to meet up in New York City for a sisters weekend occasionally (she lives on the East Coast) and I was having the most delicious street vendor large hot pretzel I’ve ever had in my life. I gave her a bite of it. Well then I asked her to hold the pretzel while I rearranged something in my tote bag and BAM she finished off the pretzel while I was not looking, She claims to have had an “out of body experience” and does not remember finishing off the pretzel! We tried to find the vendor again for her to replace my pretzel but we never found another NYC street vendor pretzel as delicious…
My favorite genre is science fiction and for a while I was really into post apocalyptic fiction, especially if there were some type of strange mutation to humans post apocalypse! Of course with the pandemic in place I am avoiding anything in this genre as it is too close for comfort.
I am a recovering perfectionist. I still love organizing things and an organized environment but I have definitely “chilled out” over the years and don’t try to make all things perfect in my life!
I got addicted for a while to those smartphone games like Candy Crush (but I did not give them any money, only played for free) and they were distracting me from working on my creative projects. Finally one day I convinced myself to delete them from my phone!
I know what it is like to be hungry and not know where your next decent meal is coming from. I am grateful that I overcame that time in my life.
Seeing someone snuggled in a quilt I made brings me a sense of joy that I cannot even put into words!
The Nominations
The last part of the Liebster Blogging Award nomination is that I need to nominate between 5 – 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 questions of my choice. I think 11 question is a bit much, so since I am getting close to my blog’s 7th anniversary, I am going to nominate 7 bloggers and ask them to respond to 7 questions; as well as share 7 facts about themselves. I will notify them in a comment on their blog and participation of course is completely optional!
I selected blogs/blogger that I have recently followed who are posting intriguing content to give them some exposure (please know I adore you my long time blogging buddies and you deserve blogging awards everyday!).
SEVEN QUESTIONS FOR THESE BLOGGERS TO ANSWER (some borrowed from the previous list I was given)
What made you start a blog and do you have any favorite topics for your blog posts?
If you could move to a different town, state or country… where would you be?
What is your favorite quality about yourself?
What are your favorite creation(s) to date during the pandemic’s stay-at-home times (if you are expressing yourself creatively during this time)?
Where is one of the first places you plan on going after quarantine is over?
Other than blogging/writing what is the one favorite thing you LOVE to do?
If a movie was made about your life, what actor would like casts in the leading role (as you)?
In addition to answering these 7 questions, if you like please also share 7 facts about yourself.
And if you like, nominate 7 other bloggers for this award to introduce your readers to blogs they may not already follow but you think they will enjoy!
Here are the rules he posted on this particular blogging award nomination:
As per the rules of this award, I have to now ask all nominees three questions of my own. I will keep mine pretty similar to those above, and because I’m feeling a bit dull, I’ll keep it strictly business:
Which one word do you think best describes your blog?
Is there a post you’re particularly proud of and would like to reshare?
Have you any grand goals for your blog/practice this year?
And, of course, the spirit of the award means nominees should also go ahead and nominate thirteen others, ask questions of their own etc. etc. As usual, there is no obligation to do that, or anything at all because I have said so. Go your own way! But indeed, my thanks once more to Dernhelm, congratulations to all nominees, and big thanks to all for your patience! See you at the after-party, which I was told is down there somewhere…
My Answers
Which one word do you think best describes your blog? RANDOM
I follow many wonderful blogs and I randomly nominated names of blogs that came up in my WordPress Reader this evening. I think all the blogs I follow are unique and wonderful 🙂
My Rules
A year or so ago there were a lot of these award nominations floating around my regular group of blogging buddies, and I completely understand if you got burned out and do not want to participate in this award nomination.
But if you are one of the 13 above and want to participate, I have borrowed three random and unique questions from the website CONVERSATION STARTERS WORLD for you to answer in your blog post about the award:
What mythical creature would improve the world most if it existed?
What would be the coolest animal to scale up to the size of a horse?
What ridiculous and untrue, yet slightly plausible, theories can you come up with for the cause of common ailments like headaches or cavities?
Now that I have scared you all off from participating…
Feel free to nominate as many blogs as you like or just have fun answering the questions and do not bother nominating anyone.
Everyone, nominated or not is welcome to share their answers to these questions in the Comment section just for fun!
Linda Kelley at kelleysdiy.comnominated me back on June 27, 2017 for a Blogger’s Recognition Award:
This post is to thank her, as I have been very remiss as it is now July 8, and to recognize some blogs that I follow. I cannot find her original post with the rules, but I did find her notice to me on my June 18th post Cabbage Rose Quilting & Fabrics, Ft. Worth TX.
Since I cannot locate her post with the rules, I am just going say thank you to this very talented DIY Craft & Lifestyle Blogger. She is celebrating a year of blogging and will have a series of giveaways to celebrate the 1st year of her blog July 17th and ends Aug. 14th. Winners announced Aug. 15 – Giveaway Update Daily.
If you are a blogger who has ever dreamed of having a lot of followers she is the role model – she has been blogging for 1 year and has amassed over 5000+ followers.
I am also going to nominate some blogs I have not previously recognized in my other blogging award posts.
The Non WordPress Blogs
For those of you on WordPress (WP) we are sort of spoiled. Using the WP Reader it is so easy for me to sign up to follow and to follow other WP blogs. It is easy to click “Like” on their posts and to comment. On non WP blogs it can be a bit trickier to do this (and some do not have a “Like” button). Usually I have to sign in and verify I am a real person, etc. to comment. I have to admit sometimes even though I want to comment, I do not because I am pressed for time and it is not as easy as with my WP fellow bloggers.
I want though to send some love to the awesome non WP blogs I follow:
MaryFons: Writer! Quilter! All Things!– I met Mary at Trends in 2016 through a fellow friend and immediately liked her. She also gave a great presentation on the history/evolution of quilting (she is a quilting historian). She is the daughter of Marianne Fons of Fons& Porter. Her blog is well written and documents her travels, quilting adventures and life adventures and challenges (she suffers from Crohn’s disease/Ulcerative Colitis).
Lady Linda:ladylindateacup.blogspot.com – Linda is a dear quilting friend of mine who is one of my “Quilting Sisters” that I attend and annual quilt retreat. She has been blogging many years and is an Etsy guru/goddess. She was the one who first inspired me to open my (now closed) tierneycreates Etsy shop. She is an avid collector and seller of antiques especially dolls and small sweet vintage items. She is also really into tea. She knows how to do a proper English tea and has a beautiful collection of tea cups and tea service. She is also one of the very nicest people I have ever met. She is a retired 2nd grade school teacher and she is who you would have wanted to be your teacher!
WoolieMammoth: http://wooliemammoth.blogspot.com – I have mentioned this blog several times in the past, as well as her wonderful YouTube channel, Quilt Roadies. Anna’s blog focuses on the happening in the Central Oregon quilting scene as well as her travels in her RV across the country. Her YouTube channel provides many wonderful walking tours of quilt shops across the country, visits with famous quilters, and other travel adventures.
Wendy Hill’s Blog:www.wendyhill.net/blog/ – My friend Wendy Hill is a very talented quilter, quilt teacher and quilt book author. Central Oregon is “infested” with nationally and internationally known quilters/teachers/book authors. She blog documents her projects, book writing process, and travel adventures.
Kristen Shields:kristinshieldsart.com/blog – Kristen is a member of the local Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) group I belong and is a very talented quilter, knitter, painter and all around crafter. Her quilts have been featured (and award winning) at QuiltCon. Her focus in modern quilting.
SimpLeigh Organized – I love the title for this blog which combine the word “Simply” and the blogger’s name “Leigh”! This blog is filled with excellent home organization and cost savings tips!
WordPress Blogs
Now I will send some love to WP blogs I enjoy following that I have not mentioned in previous posts on blogging awards:
No rules for anyone to follow related to this nomination (as I cannot find them), just know I appreciate reading your blogs!
Now with this post I am finally caught up on nominations! In the future if anyone nominates me, I might just say thank you in the Postscript section of the post and call it good (smile).
Thank you to One Creative Family, the mother/daughter creative crafters team, for nominating my tierneycreates blog for the Liebster Blogging Award.
Here are the guidelines they posted:
Acknowledge the blog that nominated you and display the award.
Answer the 11 questions the blogger gives you.
Give 11 random facts about yourself.
Nominate 11 blogs.
Notify those blogs of the nomination.
Give them 11 questions to answer.
The only thing I am going to do different is not to individually notify the blogs I nominate. I am going to leave it up to the bloggers to catch their nomination on my post and to participate if they like – it is completely optional.
Favorite book– My favorite book of all time would be Speaker for the Dead (the sequel to Orson Scott Card’s book Ender’s Game)
Favorite foods– Pierogies are my complete guilty plesasure, smothered with lots of sour cream, but because I would like to fit through my door frame I do not indulge more than a couple times a year in these delicious delights!
Rather be outdoors or indoors– Outdoors on a walk
If you could travel anyplace in the world where would that be– Australia
Why did you start blogging– as a vehicle for my tierneycreates Etsy shop which is no longer active (discovered I love blogging more than trying to sell stuff!)
How do you relax – crafting, reading or organizing (except after scaling back my life I have run out of things to organize)
Rather eat sweets or salty – Salty I guess as I have been trying to stay away from many sweets
What is your favorite family activity – Bike riding with the dogs in their doggie backpacks
What type of movies do you enjoy watching– Science Fiction and Indie films
How do you relax after a stressful day – working on a hand quilting project or knitting
11 Random Facts About Me
I have this fantasy I am going to start getting enough sleep each night
I collect schnauzer figurines (though I am trying to be good and not bring anymore into my life)
Somedays I tire of making quilts and only want to make small items, but then I get lured by a new quilt pattern
Every morning my miniature schnauzer Mike and I have a major cuddle – he loves to cuddle
I met my husband on a Alcohol & Drug Detox Unit…no we were not patients – I was in nursing school (it was the only hospital unit that had openings for student nurses) and he was a nursing assistant.
I have a ridiculous amount of yarn I have never used
I prefer my cooking to the cooking at most restaurants – luckily my husband agrees
I am trying to curb my addiction to self-help genre books and read more fiction
I like to occasionally have a dance party in my living room with myself and the dogs
I miss the excellent Chinese food we had when we lived in Seattle, WA. I have yet to find a dependably decent Chinese food restaurant in Central Oregon
Ice cream cones make me gloriously happy
image credit: Becco Eliacik, free images.com
The 11 Blogs I Nominate (in no particular order) for the Liebster Award:
Peggy and Sami Quilts(even though I am wondering how her dog Sami is actually quilting, I think she is just covering for Sami and Peggy is actually doing most of the quilting – ha!)
knitNkwilt(one of the first blogs I ever followed and one of my first followers)
The 11 Questions for these bloggers, if they choose to participate:
Paper of Plastic?
What is your favorite dish soap, and why (if you would like to elaborate on your dish washing liquid of choice)?
Your favorite non-alcoholic beverage
How many hours of sleep a night do you need to feel rested?
Is there a hobby you would love to do but you are terrified to try it?
If you have a pet and suddenly your dog, cat. hamster, etc. were granted the ability to speak to you, what do you think is the first thing they would say?
If you were required by law to stop blogging, would you be okay with it or would you find a way to secretly blog?
What is your favorite seasoning to use on a variety of dishes?
Where do you think lost socks go?
If you read magazines, what is your favorite?
Favorite Doctor? (for the Doctor Who fans) or Favorite Star Trek Captain?
I have been remiss. Three bloggers have been kind enough to recently nominate me for blogging awards and I have not followed through on them! Recently, outside of working my pay-the-bills healthcare job, I have not been interested in writing or other “productive” activities.
True confessions: I have gotten involved with this: MyPorch Swing.
All I want to do is sitting or lie on my porch swing with a book, or no book, and just stare up at the sky, or just swing and swing and close my eyes. I have mastered pushing myself with one hand to make the swing, swing, while drifting off to sleep into a Swing-Nap.
If you remember (if you are not new to my blog) in my series of posts on the annual May retreat I attend with my Quilting Sisters, the post Quilt Retreat Inspiration andProjects in which I share my distraction with the porch swing at the retreat center.
I appear to be suffering from Porch-Swing-itis. I just want to be in my swing!
The Mystery Blogger Award
Well back to the purpose of this post (luckily it is 10 pm at night while I write this so I can fight my urge to run outside to the porch swing now that I am thinking about it) to thank Dewey Hop: Feisty Froggy Reads Through the Library for nominating me for the Mystery Blogger Award.
Dewey Hop|Feisty Froggy Reads Through The Library is one of my favorite blogs. She does not post frequently but when she posts they are well researched intriguing posts about a large variety of topics. As the blog’s title implies, the blogger is reading through the library, one section at a time and sharing the interesting finds!
Okoto Enigma created this award as a means of helping bloggers connect and discover amazing blogs. This is what she says the The Mystery Blogger Award is for:
“Mystery Blogger Award” is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve any of the recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging; and they do it with so much love and passion.
Here are the rules for accepting/nominating for this award:
Post the award/ image on your blog .
Thank whoever nominated you and give a link back to their blog.
Mention the creator of the award and give a link back to her blog.
Nominate some deserving bloggers and notify your nominees by commenting on their blogs.
Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice; including one weird or funny question.
Here are the questions from Dewey Hop’s nomination post and my answers:
If you could change one thing about our country, what would it be and why? I would make it mandatory that in general we treat each other with respect and kindness. There is no actual “us” and “them”, there are just fellow earthlings on one planet. We waste time and distract ourselves from the wonders and beauty in life when we are busy drawing lines in the sand.
Which super hero powers would you like to have, if given a chance? Why ? I would like the ability to know what dogs are actually thinking. Why – because it is about time I figure out the devious plans of Sassythe Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer!
What motivates you to blog (write) ? I like to use my blog to encourage myself…actually pressure myself to complete projects. I like to tell myself I owe it to my readers to complete a project I share the progress on in a blog post. It is likely highly imaginary and no one is really that concerned whether I complete a project or not, but blogging keeps me motivated. I also like to share interesting things I encounter in my life journey with others, in case they find it useful in their journey.
What is something you like to collect, if anything?Fabric unfortunately though lately I am well behaved. I also seem to collect crafting related magazines and books – I love looking over ideas with a pot of tea. As part of My MinimalismJourney I am trying to bring less things into my life/better curate my life, and so far I have been able to reign in my desire for new magazines and crafting related books but using my public library to fulfilled that need (see my series of posts on The Library Stack). In a future post on Sassy the Highly Opinionated Miniature Schnauzer’s blog schnauzersnips, she might share some photos of our secret collection of schnauzer kitsch!
If given the chance to rename any fast food restaurant, which would it be? “Kentucky-Fried Death”? “McPoison”? In general do not eat fast food. I read the book Fast Food Nation many years ago and it forever impacted me on how I view fast food restaurants, especially the major chains. I am about 13 – 15 years free of having eaten at “the golden arches” or other such places. On a rare occasion we will stop at a Sonic to get soft serve ice cream cones.
Here are my five (5) nominees of some “amazing bloggers with ingenious posts” (Please do not feel obligated to participate and follow the rules, but thank you for your wonderful posts I am enjoying):
Melanie @ Catbird Quilt Studio – another one of my favorite blogs. Melanie’s posts are well written, informative and focus on a variety of topics to include quilting, but not just quilting.
I’ve Read This– a blog I recently started following, this blog is loaded with well written book reviews and lots of photos of kitties! If you like cats and reading, this is a blog you should check out.
Zheng Fan Minimalist– this is blog I recently started following with a wide variety of engaging topics and posts!
Crave Food-Health-Life – a lovely blog with a variety of topics and wonderful healthy recipes.
The Dewey Hop/Feisty Froggy has accused the tierneycreates blog of being “versatile, informative, fun, and original“!
In order accept this award, I must list the rules (slightly altered by Dewey Hop/Feisty Froggy per her confession, ha) :
THE RULES:
You have to thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog!
Nominate bloggers of your choice.
Link the nominees and inform them about their nomination.
Share some facts about yourself.
NOMINEES:
I (like Dewey Hop/Feisty Froggy) will do my best to nominate people who really are versatile, informative, fun, and original. Bloggers, please don’t feel that you have to participate if you don’t want to, but you do deserve this honor whether you participate or not.
(NOTE: I would definitely have nominated Dewey Hop but then this would be a circular nomination, ha!)
I follow many wonderful blogs and for this nomination I tried to focus on those with a very wide ranges of topics and/or uniqueness.
SHARING SOME FACTS (QUITE RANDOM FACTS):
I constantly listen to audiobooks. I am never without an audiobook queued on my iPhone and usually I have two audiobooks going at once. Currently I am listening to Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William McRaven (U.S Navy Retired), which I will discuss in a future post.
I love dogs’ noses. When not kissing the noses of my two rescue miniature schnauzers, I am admiring other dogs’ noses. Cats noses are pretty cool too.
For most of my life (age 11 forward) I have loved horror films. Classic horror films (Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolf-man…anything with Christopher Lee or Bella Lugosi); haunted house horror films; slasher-films, Japanese-style horror (The Grudge, The Ring), and silly horror films (like Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.). Then, suddenly about 6 months ago, I stopped enjoying most horror films and stopped watching the genre (except for the occasional classic horror film). It just seemed like there was too much horror already in the real world, I did not want to watch fictional horror on film anymore.
A couple years ago I had decided to become a runner without listening to my sister who said I needed to get orthotics and good sneakers. I ended up with Plantar Fasciitis and a Morton’s Neuromaon my feet and had to wear a walking boot for several months. After my rehabilitation, I now stick with walking. I never really appreciated my feet until they were not working very well. Now I treat them very well – custom orthotics, high quality sneakers and shoes, and daily foot exercises to avoid a return of Plantar Fasciitis (or have to get another one of those icky foot injections to treat the Morton’s Neuroma).
Terry the Quilting Husband (TTQH) and I are craft brews/microbrews aficionados. I never liked beer until we lived in Seattle and we met people who introduced us to craft brewing. In 2004 we traveled to Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels and Denmark on a beer tasting and friend visiting vacation. During this trip, TTQH, who is also a Military History buff specializing in the Napoleonic Era, got to see Waterloo. This was definitely one of those “Bucket List” items for TTQH. To get to Waterloo battleground and museums, we traveled from Brussels via train and then bus; and I had to pull out my very rusty high school French to get the last leg of the journey to Waterloo (no one spoke English on the local bus)!
Lion’s Mound, Waterloo (Photo Credit: European Traveler)
I am supposed to be working on our income taxes right now but I thought I would just have quick distraction by checking my blog reader and I discovered I have been honored with being nominated for another blogging award.
I have been nominated for several blogging awards in the past and I have been VERY remiss in following the guidelines on the nominations.
Commonly blogging award nominations propose that you nominate several of your favorite blogs/bloggers part of your acceptance post – to pass on the love. Blogging awards are great ways to give a kudos to the blogs you like to read and to expose to other bloggers.
My problem is I love all the blogs I follow. I want to follow even more but alas I have to keep time to work on craft projects, spend time with Terry the Quilting Husband and the dogs, and of course that pesky pay-the-bills-job.
I list some of the blogs I follow in my my Main Sidebar, however WordPress limits it to 50 blogs, so the earliest blogs I followed are not listed (but check out my Postscript section for a special note).
Since I have been so remiss on following the rules of the blogging awards nominations at this point I am just going to say thank you to those who nominated me and invite my readers to check out their wonderful blogs .
Blogger Recognition Award
Linda Kelley at the fabulous Arts & Crafts Blog Extraordinaire – kelleysdiy.com– recently nominated me for this award!
Black Cat Blue Sea Award
The intriguing writer, blogger and bibliophilist (there is your word for the day) – Of Tales and Dreams‘ Kamalini nominated me for this award in September 2016.
Ok, now this is embarrassing – I think there was one more blogging award I was nominated for but I cannot remember what it was or who nominated me. My sincere apologies to my fellow blogger who was kind enough to nominate me!
Postscript
I wanted to recognize two of the first fellow bloggers to follow my blog when I started it in late 2013 (back when I had like 5 readers as most were friends and family I badgered into following my blog – ha!).
Claire and Cindy – I really appreciate your posts and your comments on my posts over the years:
Ok, now this is embarrassing – I think there was one more blogging award I was nominated for but I cannot remember what it was or who nominated me. My sincere apologies to my fellow blogger who was kind enough to nominate me!
tierneycreates 