Sharing the Warmth and Wonder

Last week Vickie from Musings, Tea and Me featured me on her blog tour.  Which was a surprising, and lovely gesture.

Like awards, the blog tour comes with conditions (drat it).  We are to introduce ourselves (with photos) and answer a few questions.  The next step is to feature three of the blogs we love, and invite the featured people to follow suit in a week.

The selected questions are:

What am I working on?

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Why do I write/create what I do? and

How does my writing/creative process work?

Some of this is easy.  Some of it not.

The questions?  Bleah.  They fit me and my lifestyle about as well as stiletto heels and size zero clothing.
So I am going to ignore them and give a potted summary of who I am.
I am an appreciator rather than a creator.  I no longer work (except on a voluntary basis). 
I read.  Obsessively.  I garden,  Obsessively.  I am a beauty addict, and find it everywhere.  I am endlessly awed and fascinated by nature.  My partner (known as the smaller portion or his high and skinniness) and I have shared our lives for over thirty-five years.  The household is ruled by two furry black tyrants who answer, when and if it suits them, to Jazz n Jewel.  I am frequently disgusted by people.  I am as often awed by them.  I am endlessly curious.  Photos of a few of my obsessions follow.

The garden.

Earrings.  I have a passion for them and have ten more of these hangers.  And other earrings as well.  Oops.

And eastern rosellas.  I hope to see them in the garden again - soon.

In keeping with my obsessive nature, I follow, and love, a lot of blogs.  Some of them are written by people who share (and feed) my obsessions interests.  Some of them share life experiences, and others live half a world away both literally and metaphorically.  I recognise the similarities, I marvel at the differences.  There are writers (lots and lots of writers).  There are gardeners.  There are animal lovers.  There are other people with the dread disease (Multiple Sclerosis).  There are people with other ailments.  There are artists from a range of genres, and I warm my hands at the blaze of their talents.

I learn from bloggers, I laugh with bloggers, I cry with bloggers.  And all of them enrich my world.  My introverted anti-social self has found a home here.  And I cherish it.

I loathe and detest singling out just three bloggers.  It feels mean.  And wrong.  And exclusionary.  Just the same, I have done it.  And selected three very different blogs and bloggers.

Unlike Vickie I didn't approach these people and seek their agreement.  I was pretty certain that if I did so it would give them time to find excuses reasons not to join in.  I have essentially ambushed them .  I hope they will play - but will fully understand it if they decide not to.  If any of the rest of you would like to run with the meme - please feel free.  Take it away and run with it.   Sharing the love is always a positive.

Waffling over, and onto three of the blogs I love.  In alphabetical order, based on the names of their blogs. 

 The first is Mimsie from A Geriatric Grandmother.  Mimsie is 82, a mother, grand mother and great grand mother.  She also describes herself (most unjustly) as a bit of an all round twit.  Her body is being treacherous but her mind is still razor sharp.  I am in absolute awe at her memory and love the snapshots she shares of her life, and that of her husband.  She has also featured some stunning series of posts about animals and plants.   And gives us some funny and charming pictorial posts as well.

And then to Kim from My Inner Chick.  Kim's world was turned upside down and shattered when her much loved sister Kay was murdered.  By Kay's estranged husband.  Since then grief, anger, and pain have been, and are, an integral part of Kim's world.  Darkness and despair.  And, while grieving, she works tirelessly to get the word out so that other families don't suffer in the way she does.  Domestic violence is an obscenity and I am in awe that she hasn't buckled under the burden she carries and is reaching out to help others.  You rock Kim - and are one of my heroes.

And finally to jennifer from ripplestreak.  Jennifer is a gardener, a poet and an artist.  And a skilled photographer as well.  Multi-talented, and using all of those talents to create and share beauty.  The vibrant colours and lush words encapsulated in each and every one of her posts makes my heart sing, and brightens the greyest day and mood. 

I do hope that you will visit any of these bloggers that you don't already know - and get as much joy from them as I do.