Tuesday 17 February 2015

An Update and Liebster Award

Oh dear; I've had a bit of a blogging blip and not posted anything for what seems like a very long time. There's no particular reason for it so I'll just carry on as if nothing has happened. Which is precisely what did happen; on my blog that is; nothing.

I recently had a third Liebster award bestowed on me by Jo. Now Jo writes two blogs called Through the Keyhole and The Good Life both of which are well worth a visit. Since I've already done two previous Liebster posts (here and here), I've decided to make this a very mini one and only answer a few of Jo's questions and then pass the award to a few other blogs.

First I will give you three random facts about myself.

  • I was going to be called Ruth but then my parents changed their minds and called me Gillian. No other names apart from my surname.
  • I'm afraid of heights. Even seeing someone on a height on TV or in a photo makes me really anxious. I suppose it's not really the height that is the problem but being near an unprotected edge when I'm up high. It's getting worse; sometimes I feel like I can hardly breathe so try to avoid the situation if at all possible.
  • I love coffee creams.
Now to answer just three of Jo's questions.

What is your dream holiday destination?
In May last year we had the opportunity to have what could only be described as a dream holiday. You can read about it here, here, here, and here. I also love visiting Skye for a holiday and must have been there ten times in the past eight years. You can read about our latest holiday there, last September, in this post, this, this and this. To be honest, it isn't so much the destination that makes a dream holiday but who you are with. Getting away to somewhere relaxing with good places to visit is my dream holiday. It doesn't even matter about the weather.

St. Petersburg
What is your earliest childhood memory?
The earliest memories I have would be from Peru. I remember seeing a snake climbing over the fence into our garden. I'm not sure what happened to it after that! It was a small snake. Another time I saw two men carrying an enormous snake which they had presumably been responsible for killing. They seemed pretty pleased with themselves. That's two memories but they're both about snakes so that's alright.

What is your favourite season and why?
This is very hard to answer for I like all the seasons. Winter is good because I love Christmas and being able to snuggle up in warm clothes and blankets. Summer is good for getting out in the garden. Spring and Autumn are beautiful when things are just coming back to life or beginning to die away; both make spectacular displays.

I'm going to pass on the Liebster award to the following blogs:

Valentina at Weaving Olden Patterns

Amalia at handmade by amalia

and Marco at Marco Alpha Fotografie

This is what you need to do, please:

  •  tell us three random facts about yourself
  • answer the three questions below
  • nominate three bloggers for the award and let them know that they've been nominated
These are the three questions:
  • do you prefer to cook for yourself or to eat out?
  • would you like to be famous?
  • is it better to have enough money to live comfortably or would you rather be rich?
Thanks again to Jo for nominating me for the award this time.

The title of the post said this was also an update. Just a quick update on the garden. Look what the husband made with the willow grown in the garden.


It's a frame for growing sweet pea. Some have already been planted at the base and I can't wait for them to flower in the summer.


We also bought some Norway Spruce and Scots pine. They are still very small. They are in our 'nursery' bed until they get a bit bigger.



The Norway spruce came from the market in Banbridge where we buy a lot of our plants. I thought I'd show you a few photos of it.



Of course, at this time of year, no post would be complete without some photos of our snowdrops.



All the best for now. Sorry it's been so long and I hope I'll be back again very soon. Must go and make some pancakes!

21 comments:

  1. This is my first visit to your blog so this was a perfect 'getting to know you' post x

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  2. It's always nice when you get to know someone better! Thanks for giving me the award, you're so sweet! I'll post about it as soon as possible, thanks a lot! xx

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  3. Hi Gillian - Oh, how I love seeing the pictures of all the flowers at the market. They're a reminder that spring is not all that far off even if we are still blanketed in lots of snow and ice here in NY.

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  4. Thank you for accepting the award and joining in. I enjoyed reading the answers to the questions and also your random facts, I'm just the same with heights, and as you say, it gets worse as you get older, I'm terrible with it now. I love the willow structure, it's going to look beautiful covered in sweet peas.

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  5. So jealous of all that green and lovely flowers. I'm so ready for spring to come! Love the willow frame your husband made.

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  6. Hello Gillian,
    At first many thanks for your Liebster award, so very kind of you!!
    You show here wonderful shots. What a amazing building of St. Petersburg.
    And great the brightly colors of all these spring flowers at the market. The snow drops are very wonderful too. Nice to see this all Gillian.

    Many greetings,
    Marco

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  7. St. Petersburg is somewhere I would like to visit! I must visit the garden centre to get some anemones and aconites and other spring plants. I am useless with sweet peas, tried and failed many times... x

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  8. Funny, I had a bloggy blip and am now back with it again. Perhaps it is the time of year that gets to us. Whatever the reason you were gone, I am glad you have returned! The willow structure for the sweet peas is brilliant isn't it, and it will be beautiful in summer when they are grown up it and flowering - clever hubby you have there! Great to read some more things about you too of course! xx

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  9. How very kind, Gillian! Thank you for thinking of me. I'll post my answers soon.
    Amalia
    xo

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  10. Such beautiful flowers and baby trees! I'm looking forward to seeing them grow :) We used to grow sweet peas every year when we were children - it was so much fun having the seeds germinate on the windowsill, then they grew up all over the trellis in a riot of colour once planted in the garden!

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  11. The frame will look great covered with sweet peas. I enjoyed seeing the pots of flowers on sale x

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  12. So nice flowers, I can not wait until I can start out in my garden, but here it snow yet uff.
    Good evening to you.

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  13. So nice to get to no now you better. I can't believe you would be planting sweet peas fairly soon...sigh. I love your willow structure. I think sweet peas are one of my most favourite flowers. Have a great rest of the week!

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  14. Oh I have those blogging blips sometimes and it is for no particular reason! I do love to see sweat peas growing up a wigwam, please share a photo of it when they are in full bloom. The snowdrops are gorgeous!
    Caz xx

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  15. Ruth or Gillian, they're both good names. Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you were called the other name? My parents asked my older brothers what names they wanted for me, and they said "Call it Joe or Zebidee." I often wonder just what I would be like if they'd gone for Zebidee!

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    1. I think what we are called does have at least some effect on us. Zebidee is a great name.

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  16. Beautiful flower pictures, such a sign of spring! And the willow frame your hb made is lovely, it will look so pretty with sweet peas twining round it. I am the same as you about heights! Lovely to read more about you, Gillian.
    Wishing you a great weekend.
    Helen xox

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  17. Great post - it's lovely to get to know you better! I like Ruth and Gillian as names! Ruth is used as a name in Germany too and it seems to become more popular again. Gillian I haven't heard around here but I really like it a lot! :)

    Take care
    Anne (Crochet Between Worlds)

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  18. I'm loving the willow frams ... how clever :o)

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