Blogging awards make excellent writing prompts and get me writing about something other than books as well as encouraging good blogging etiquette; i.e. visiting other blogs, commenting and being supportive.
This lovely award has been passed on to me most recently via Fi’s Magical Writing Haven whose exquisite river of stones vignettes are a joy to indulge in.
However, I must also say thank you to a few others who have also mentioned this blog. So ‘Merci beaucoup’ Elizabeth, medieval historian at Lapidary Prose who used her award to acknowledge her gratitude to family, followers and supportive writers and Subtle Kate from Sydney and Liz Shaw who offers creativity prompts for writers, journalers and artists at The Writing Reader.
Ok, 7 things you may not know about me:
- I am an Aquarian.
- The 1600 acre hill country sheep farm where I spent my childhood was one of the Middle Earth locations in the film ‘Lord of the Rings’.
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- Golden Plover, Whitsunday Islands
I once worked on the 104 foot (30m) tall ship ‘The Golden Plover’; I was employed as a hydro ceramic engineer (dishwasher), except when the Captain or 1stmate shouted “all hands on deck”.
- I have visited more than 30 countries.
- I was a bridesmaid at a traditional African wedding in Lagos, Nigeria.
- I am married to a man who was born in a manger refugee camp in Bethlehem whose name starts with J.
- I like to read Buddhist philosophy.
And a few more blogs I recommend:
Arabic Literature (in English) – I don’t travel as much these days, so I love to read translations, experience different cultures and travel through books.
Books & Bowel Movements – Cassie’s enthusiasm for books and the way she writes about them is contagious and I love that she loved ‘The Bone People’.
Tomcat in the Red Room – he doesn’t post very often, but writes the most amazing reviews and has a natural vocabulary I envy.
Nexus –A humanities teacher and an artist sharing wonderful moments in the classroom and elsewhere.
Hooked – One woman at Sea, Trolling for truth – when I need to go to sea I watch one of her video posts; the writing is exquisite and I hope she publishes a book soon.
Word by Word 
Well deserved; you are one of my favourite blog reads…
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Thank you Nelle, I always look forward to your visits!
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You SO SO SO SO SO SO deserve this. Thank you lovely lady.
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Thanks Cassie, so do you!
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Congratulations on the award! And those really are 7 interesting facts about you. I shall adopt the phase ‘hydro ceramic engineer’ from now on – brilliant!
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Congratulations! I’m so pleased we have connected and really enjoyed learning more about you.
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Well done! When I read the part about the Lord of the Rings set I almost pee’d a little. That’s amazing. Great post, keep writing!
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🙂 Thanks Jen, it was a pretty magical place to grow up in and yes I won’t stop writing. Vous aussi, bonne continuation!
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Central Otago? South Canterbury? God’s Country, all of it.
Congratulations on the recognition, Claire. I’m just discovering your blog and I could get lost in its inspiration and spirit.
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Thanks Julie, the farm is on the west coast of the North Island, near Port Waikato, wonderful limestone and bush country on the coast.
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Hello Claire, congrats on your award! (Found you from She Writes.)
I must say, I was really impressed by No. 2 & 3, and No. 6 made me smile.
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Hi Claudine, thanks for commenting, it was fun to share something a little ordinary but different and I am happy to have made you smile.
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Fascinating! That sounds like a whirlwind life. Hobbits and tall ships, eh? Can’t get much better than that!
Juliet 🙂
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A playground for the imagination indeed!
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Thanks for the mention and ‘wow’ you have such a interesting and rich life.
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Loved learning what you shared about yourself–Did you eat snails at the reception? I remember big fat snails were a delicacy in Nigeria.
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I don’t recall snails, all food memories annihilated by the recurring image of the flaming cow being prepared early that morning. It was pretty radical, even for this farm girl!
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Hi, for some reason I didn’t get one of those ping-back thingies – so I’ve only just seen this! Many thanks for your kind words about my blog. You’ve made my day. My week, actually! I’m sorry I don’t post more often on my blog – I really should, I know: but I find putting my writing ‘out there’ to be an incredibly intimidating/scary process: so much so, in fact, that the very thought of it often stops me from writing anything at all. Gonna work on this though. promise!
Tomcat.
p.s.: your ‘7 things about me’ makes my life sound/seem incredibly, incredibly dull by comparison. Gotta work on that, too…
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And I didn’t come to tell you I’d mentioned you on here, so apologies for that, but I meant it when I said I really enjoy your reviews and your writing expression, just make sure you keep writing whether its online or offline, you have a clear thought process and a wonderful way of expressing your views and like I said, an excellent vocabularly. I also like your choice of books.
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Deaer Claire,
Dropped by to thank you for reading and ‘liking’ my poem, Endurance, and was delighted to read all of the interesting details you shared about yourself. What an amazing life you’ve led. Congratulations on treceiving he award.
Aloha,
Doug
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Thank you Doug, I prefer not to be the subject of my blog, but these awards are a prompt to share a little more of the personal recipe and the journey.
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What an interesting life you’ve led so far, Claire. Wow, I’m in awe of you absolutely! ♥
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