This award was ceated in response to the following post 'Telling It Like It Is' by Sue at The Creative Spirit.

WE ARE Honest Blogger!
the Sisterhood of
SHIfT HAPPENS!

As honest bloggers we:

(Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Add To...As You Wish)

* Speak our truth from the heart and tell it like it is.

* Share openly and honestly our true feelings without fear of judgement, Blame or shame.

* We write to share our achievements so others can also share our joy.

* We write about our bad times too, knowing that the love and support of others is around us and perhaps heal another’s pain in the process..

*We are human beings will real feelings and emotions and REFUSE to hide behind a mask.

* We dare to be different

* We are Free Spirits

* We realsie that by spilling out, we lighten our load.

* We acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses and don't see them in terms of success or failure.

* We laugh together and cry together

* We are all following our own journey in our own unique way

* Above all else, we may lie on the floor, screaming and kicking, or feel like life is collapsing around us once in a while….but at the end of the day, we drag ourselves up, dust ourselves off and rise to fight another day.

So Sue has given me this lovely, lovely award. I do try and be honest. I do try and let it all hang out. I shall try and think of some people to award it to tomorrow for I should be in bed!

Soul Sister

This is a new award.

A special award.

It is not one that gets passed from person to person to person in a long chain.

It goes to a person and then stops there.

Some other time someone else decides they want to award it to someone and they can come and borrow it and gift it to their Soul Sister.

There is a rule to this.

You must write about the person that you are awarding it to....

So how am i gifting with this award?

Anyone who knows my blog well can probably guess....

Mel


I started writing this blog some time ago now and I had no connection to any other bloggers to begin with. I found some big blogs but didn't form a personal link of friendship with the writers. I pressed the next blog button a lot and found many blogs I couldn't read and many that were not of huge amounts of interest to me.

Then I found Mel.

On the surface, at this time, her blogs were not quite as they are now. There was no witchiness evident. Nothing obvious to keep me there, except that we spoke the same language... But there was something. I have no children and I had never heard of unschooling. I was still drawn. I remember there being one picture, which I can not now find, where a little Bast figurine could be seen. A hint...

So I left some comment love and i got some back.

We became firm friends and she remains my best blog friend. There is much in our lives that seems to mirror. Sometimes the mirror isn't perfect, she has strengths where I have weaknesses. Our paths seem to run roughly parrallel and the things we work on often help the other, often unexpectedly.

From the beginning I have felt at home with her and at ease.

She is always there for me. She always fills my life with light and love. She is my Soul Sister.

Witch Award

Despite me being a witch that wanders around her path a little rather than always walking it... Mel has gifted me with this lovely, lovely little award...

So some other bountiful witches....

• Sam is a witch who I love to chat with. She always helps me see things in a different way.
• Miss*R is another bountiful witch from the opposite side of the world but with roots dug deep here, in my adopted land...

And that is as far as I am going to pass this lovely one i think...

MeMe

I have received his lovely award with some very kind words from my Soul Sista Mel...

So seven things and seven blogs...

• I have scar that runs over heart and no one can remember how on earth I got it... It wasn't there at birth and nothing traumatic ever seems to have registered with my folks that might have caused it. My Mum's best guess is a cat scratch. Writing this has just made me realise that a certain young man I know has a scar he believes is an old cat scratch that really, really isn't.
  
• I always wanted a tattoo but could never decided what to get. Somewhere out there in the world is a chap a couple of years older than me who probably doesn't tell the women that came after me that the dragon around his left forearm was for his first love...
• I once saw Nelson Mandela in the flesh! I wasn't quite close enough to hear his words, even though it was soooo quiet, everyone wanted to hear him. He came to open a statue comemerating someone who campaigned for his release. They became friends and so when he died Nelson Mandela was there....
• I was never one for dolls or cuddly toys. I just didn't get attached much. As a kid my only cuddly toy was a lovely lion called Aslan. Now I have some dragons called Domestos, Harpic and Big Blue. A lovely purple lobster. A seahorse. A crab and a mouse puppet. Oh and a three eyed fish.... *grin*
• I failed my first recorder exam becuase the examiner terrified me, looking over his glasses. I later went all the way to grade five. He was probably a sweet old man...
• I love water. I love the feel of it cool and clear in my throat. It is without a doubt, my favourite drink....
• In my younger days I was a bit of a goth chick. I loved the Pixies and the Sisters of Mercy. As I get older though, I realise that my music loves are a little frozed at a certain point in time. I love grunge. I am going to start expanding my colelction in that direction. Nirvan were amazing but so were so many others....

and seven blogs of wonderfulness.... I am not devoting much time to reading blogs right now so these are a few of my most favourite..... Some I have been reading a long time now. There will no doubt be some duplication here.... No apologies for that either!

• Barry is a wonderful chap. Full of grace. A fantastic attitude to life. Someone you would love to have in your family. Lovely stories full of gentle humour. It was his stories that drew me in (Lindasy helped) and once there I was hooked by this lovely man. His blog has changed with his life but it is always inspiring. This is a man who values his life and knows how to really live. May he do so for many, many years...
• Fiona is a lady who writes about her life. From her job as a painter and decorator to her gardening exploits. From lovely recipes to her hens and dogs. From money saving tips to the flowers of the month from her garden. I love it all... Actually this was the first blog I ever read.
  
• Lovely Leone. Now this is a lady who has transformed her life in so many ways. I love her gentle writings and her beautiful creations. I wish she could see it all through my eyes.
• Suzie hasn't been around for a while due to bad internet things but I miss her voice and look forward to the day she is able to return. She is a wonderfully talented calligrapher.
• Misty is a lovely lady who I enjoy chatting with. She creates the most fantastic dragons that are so perfectly rendered. Sometimes they look so alive! She also makes all sorts of other lovely things like pendants and lighter cases. I also love the fairies.... Oh and did I mention the unicorn? *sigh* but she paints as well and one day i too will have some stained glass....
• Ms Yogini is also lovely and Mel has already said most of it! (and in far better fashion than I could! I love hearing about guerilla yoga. I love that she is out there doing so many things that I feel I should be...
• Miss*R is someone I admire greatly but it is her strength in telling her story that has completely floored me. Never before have I heard of anyone else being this brutally honest about the time they spent living with cancer. I hope this retelling has helped.
  

So Pleased to Show off my Melons!

The lovely Mel has given me this award - apparently my Melons are a Perfect 10! *laugh*

Mel was the first bloggy friend I made. Finding good blogs was hard at first. Using the next blog button can take you to little gems - but only if you have plenty of time. One day it took me to Mel's blog and I had a jolly good read. I couldn't put my finger on it but there was something.... The little Bast figurine gave me a hint that there was a lot, lot more to this lady than she was showing on her blog (at the time). I left some comment love and she came to visit. That was that really. My blog journey has been hand in hand with Mel ever since. We often seem to think and feel the same things at the same time. Even though we have never met or heard each others voices, it is blatantly obvious that she is a true Soul Sister....

So I would have to say that Mel herself is one of the wee things in life that brings me happiness...

A few others for the award....

Hot and Sour soup with prawn crackers.
A good dream.
Mud between my toes
Babies - of any sort, even baby slugs are kind of cute... *laugh* (*sigh* is that s sign of broodiness?)
Ticking things off lists (not anal at all...)
Boggy mires - I love wetlands of all sorts. I just find them so beautiful and green and lovely...

So now I have to pass this lovely little award on.... To some blogs that I think are great and deserve a perfect ten for their melons....!

First we have the lovely Postmuse. I have gotten into postcards and postcrossing and postsecret and.... but this project is much more personal. One woman, one huge collection of blank and dull and lifeless postcards sent out into the world to acquire life before they return home... Go see and find some cards to adopt... But even better, she shares some of the things written on the cards, little things that have meaning to the people who returned them that explain why they wanted that card...

The next are two fantastic photographers who happen to live in the same very, very beautiful part of the world as me. I love the way they give a look at the beauty of this place through their eyes... If ever you want to understand why I love it here so much, go and look at the world through there eyes for a bit... So they are the Simon and Keith (and Keith also has a blog dedicated to pictures of Trewidden Gardens which I adore).

Next we have Being Gemel..... This is an Australian blog I found by accident. Her lovely thoughts and beautiful photos make it a place I like to linger each day.... I must admit I am a lurker her, her posts rarely require a comment....

I think I shall leave it there, if you want to see some other blogs that deserve a melon award then go look at my blog roll on my profile....

It!

The task of this tag feels very appropriate today following the current discussion on bliss....

The lovely Ann has tagged me and this tag comes with tasks...

List six things that make you happy and then tag six bloggers.... Again with the no obligation thing....

Soooo happy....

1) Seeing how pleased my dog is to see me when I get in and having a lovely cuddle with her.

2) Having a bath with a good book, some lovely bath products, some chocolate and a cup of tea.

3) A brisk windy walk in the sand dunes when the sand is flying and the sun is thinking about going down.

4) Spending good time with the man, even if we are just in a shop together....

5) When I create something and I actually like it....

6) Eating a really, really gooood meal....

And for the blogs... only 6! How can I choose? I have no criteria to choose by..... And I could choose anyone... I think I should try and only choose those who might want to write about happiness....

So here goes!

Mel
Leone
Sue
Suzi
Moonroot
Sam

It worries me that I am starting to tag the same people but there are two in there who I have never tagged before.... I like tags which say choose so many blogs that such and such.....

An Award...

The lovely Mel has bequeathed this lovely little award on me...

Here are the rules:
1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Newly discovered blogs... hmmm... How newly discovered? This week? The week before? Within the last month? Is it new blogs or new bloggers?

Some blogs 'feel' new because the writer doesn't blog everyday while others become a part of the regular blogging routine very quickly....

So I think I will just list some blogs I have recently started following..... Do I wish to tag them? I don't know... I don't know them well enough to know how they would feel about that!

So then...

Bone Head Studios - beautiful and quirky sculptures
Clairedulalune - a lovely and vibrant take on life
Eco Yogini - Musing on yoga and green living
Healing Whispers - Suzi's new blog on healing, sure to be as good as her creative blog!
Misty's Musings - lovely sculptures that must take take hours and hours...
On the Front Porch - snippets from the life of a lovely lady!
Postmuse - hosts an orphaned postcard project which is really lovely fun!


It is strange though... No matter how may blogs I add, I always seem to have just enough time to read all the fresh crop of posts with my breakfast... So many of my favourite blogs seem to go silent as people enter busy times in their lives....