My Dusty Flip-Flops Has Nominated Me For The Entertainer Blogger Award! And It’s Not For My Singing…It’s For My Blogging!

 

“The Entertainer Blogger Award” is one blogger nominating a fellow blogger whom he or she finds fun, inspiring and entertaining.  As far as I can see, it’s a great way to encourage each other and get to know more about who is behind the posts you are enjoying.

I have been nominate by mydustyflipflops as you can see below in her fascinating post:

https://mydustyflipflops.wordpress.com/2018/06/11/the-entertainer-blogger-award/

My Dusty Flip-Flop is a very lovely traveller who has been to places I would love to go to one day.  I love reading about her travels and seeing her photos.  She is also a very encouraging and supportive blogger.  She is one of the first people who commented on my posts and I am very grateful for her kind comments.

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There are some specific instructions in connection with this award:

Rules

• Thank the person who nominated you to add the link to their blog
• Add the rules so others can follow
• Answer the same questions
• Nominate people who you find fun, inspiring and entertaining!
• Include the graphic in your post

 

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So here we go with the questions:

Why did you start blogging in the first place?

I have been writing and receiving letters and e-mails since I learnt to write.  In fact I  still possess thousands of beautiful letters that I have received over the years.  I also have never deleted a personal e-mail.  I wrote long letters full of personal details and accounts of the antics my family members and friends were involved in.  In recent years many of my friends have said, you should start a blog.  I was not keen on the idea at all, it seemed like a waste of time doing something trivial when I could be spending those precious moments on more important things.

One of my friends, who has a well established blog, set me up on WordPress,  posting some of his favourites from a collection of short stories I had sent him.  I could not believe it when people started reading and sending me lovely comments.  What has encouraged me to keep going is the feedback and encouragement of other bloggers.  I kind of feel as if I am writing to friends that I have recently met.

I have also found it helpful as I had a challenging situation to deal with some time ago.  At the time, I found it overwhelming.  It lead to me going to a park on my own one night instead of going home.  That night, I was the victim of a crime that has temporarily removed me from the life I love. Sometimes I have found it hard to talk about what happened.  But when you write, you can go at your own pace, little by little.   If you have had enough, you can save your words and resume later when you are feeling up to it.  So I have been able to communicate feelings I have not yet done so verbally.

At the same time blogging has helped me to reinforce my determination to make life beautiful.  (Reference to one of my favourite films “La Vita È Bella” where a man in a concentration camp for being Jewish tries to keep his family going through their ordeal.)  I want to dwell on all of the wonderful in life…and I want to look forward to the future with a gigantic thirst for life and love.  I try to make sure my site is generous with posts that reflect how joyful life should be despite challenges that may temporarily bruise us.

What is your favourite book?

          

If we are talking about novels, these are my favourite three.  I must admit I am far more comfortable with classic novels in general and I am happy to read my favourites over and over again.

Persuasion by Jane Austin is a favourite because I read it without knowing Jane Austin and without having any idea how it ended.  So the book took me through an emotional roller-coaster and I could not believe the ending.  I also love “North and South” by Mrs Gaskell for that same reason.  I had no idea how it was going to end.  I think I relate to a character who has had their hope destroyed and suddenly quite out of the blue someone turns everything upside down and the pain turns to joy.

Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Muskateers series…when I read these, I feel at times I am sitting on the edge of my seat with the action that throbs through the pages of these books.  Uggggh…would I love to be able to write like that!  To be able to pack that kind of excitement into each chapter.

But the question was not what is my favourite novel, but rather, what is my favourite book?

My Dadda was lost in his life.  He had made some bad decisions which had consequences that would tie him for the rest of his life.  He was intensely sad.  His father had died in childhood as well as two of his siblings.  He had many questions.  He was disillusioned with those he thought he could get help from.  My Dadda read a book, a book which answered his questions…and it motivated him to change his personality and stop his harmful habits.  He became a loving husband and father.  He is one of many I know who have made changes after reading this book, however, the changes he made directly effected my life as a small child and meant that my parents would ensure I had access to the best education available.

Well, which is the most popular book of all human history?  Available in thousands of languages, available in the “mother tongue of the vast majority of people today?”  A book that moved brave men and women to risk their lives to make sure that people could read it for themselves in the language of their hearts?  For every good reason!  I have been reading it’s pages since childhood and they are to me quite simply better than gold, or pearls or honey as many  others have said.  I can read it over and over and it still makes me marvel.  I learn more and more. Ingenious…revealing aspects of the human heart in clear light.  One thundering theme…how the original purpose for this earth and the human family will be accomplished…nothing and nobody in the universe can prevent that.

What do you dislike the most?

Broad beans…I don’t get on well with broad beans.  I wish I did, because I love my veggies.  Something strange to me about the texture…I just cannot warm to them after many attempts.

However on a far more serious note:

I don’t like what is very obviously nuts…racism, abuse, war, crime.  But what grieves me deeply, is that there seems to be millions upon millions spent on this:

….despite disasters like this….

PAIN IN MY HEART!

No matter how many words are spoken or printed justifying this…they are essentially hot air.  The reality is, things like this are monstrously wrong!  It is just one example of how much we need help.  This world is so upside down…law is numb, life is cheap, love is shallow and self-serving.  There is a definite limit to how long these ridiculous injustices can go on for.  Things will change.  This is not what this planet and our human family were designed for…and I long for the day the whole earth is at peace.

What is your favourite food at the mall?

I am not a frequent visitor of malls or shopping centres as we call them here in England.  Nope, best to avoid places that would make me spend my pennies on fluff and glitter.  Charity shops are my favourite place to shop, except for shoes and underwear (I will buy these brand new and make sure they fit perfectly and are good quality).

However, when I worked in the infirmary we were sometimes asked to take some of our patients out for the day.  We often went to Brent’s Cross Shopping Centre because of the free parking and other facilities that made life easy for us.

We used to take the ladies to a lovely little spot named Lola’s.  Before 11.30am, if you bought a coffee, you could have a free cup-cake.  The ladies loved it!  The team who worked there were super.  They used to treat the ladies, who were all over ninety years of age, like members of the royal family.  Big thank you to the team at Lola’s Cupcakes.

What is your favourite pastime?

Top of my list is:  Climbing trees!

I like being outdoors.  I love hiking.  I like playing sports….far more than I enjoy watching.  I used to play basketball every Friday evening.  I miss it so much.  I like playing any sport with a lot of running around.  I am not particularly skilled myself, I just love joining in and I can burn off my energy.

My sisters and I were brought up swimming many hours each week – at least ten hours a week we would swim.  We have always had a lot of stamina and energy…but I am really deficient when it comes to hand-eye coordination.  So I try to play in defence.  I am great at running around and getting in the way…but as soon as I manage to win control of the ball I have to pass it to someone else because I am useless.

None-sport related…top choice is karaoke.  Have I won Entertainer Awards for my singing?  You will find out in a future post!

 

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That is quite enough of me.  Let’s get to the exciting bit…

My Nominees:

I have no idea how many bloggers I am supposed to nominate…and I have nominated quite a few already for other awards, so I am going to nominate some of the blogs I have discovered recently and I am loving:

Thegirlwhobakes   https://rimjhimbathla.wordpress.com/

Gbolabo Adetunji  Akosile    https://gbolaboadetunji.blog/

Laleh Chini   https://avoicefromiran.wordpress.com/

averyj0624    https://caffeineandbookmarks.wordpress.com/

GRACELIFECOLLECTIONS    https://gracelife2017.wordpress.com/

 

There is a world of bloggers out there…it is fun to get to see what other bloggers are coming up with and publishing on their sites.  I am really enjoying this blogging business.  Thank you for all of your support.  I hope you enjoy answering the questions and I look forward to reading your replies.

Have fun…and have a fabulous weekend!