Inspiration and Inspiring Bloggers

My thanks to Juliet Wilson, known to most of us in the blogosphere as Crafty Green Poet. Juliet has nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. On those infrequent occasions when I am offered a blog award, I rarely feel able to accept these days. I would ask you, therefore, to view this particular acceptance as a mark of gratitude to Juliet for all she has done and continues to do to keep us in our proverbial 'green wellies' as we go about our lives on and off screen. Juliet's creativity is, I'm sure, an inspiration to many as it is to me.


So thank you, Juliet, and here are the rules... 

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and link to their blog. (Please see above)

2. Display the award logo. (Please see above)

3. Nominate 15 other bloggers - more or less - and provide a link where they may be found. (Please see list below. I am following in Juliet's tracks and nominating nine ... for now at least)

4. Go to their blog, leave a comment to let them know they have been nominated. (Box ticked)

5. Mention three things that inspired you the most during the past few weeks. (Box ticked - see below)

* * *  

A rainbow ... what could be more inspiring?

 Three Things that have inspired me during the past few weeks ...

•  Watching a 7-spot ladybird emerge from overwintering on a sunny afternoon of early spring. I find it fascinating to discover the measures that creatures large and small will undertake in a bid to survive the extremities of the winter season. Did you know that here in the UK the only animals who truly go into hibernation are our hedgehogs, bats and dormice? There is a good BBC AutumnWatch post on hibernation here by Tim Schoones. We have Grey Squirrels in the trees that line the local nature reserve just beyond our suburban garden, and I often see them scampering about in the winter months.   

•  Attending the Norfolk Festival of Nature (my account is here), and hearing Mark Cocker, Margaret Atwood, Graeme Gibson, Helen Smith (scientist) and Sheila Tilmouth (artist) speaking about the natural world and our need to ensure that appropriate conservation measures are adopted. This includes the education of our young scholars of today custodians of tomorrow, who need not only to learn but to love 'threatened' words such as 'acorn' and 'bluebell'. The festival writing workshop, 'In Woods', led by Dr Jonathan Ward was equally inspiring. 

•  Standing in a WWT Welney hide at sunset, waiting for swans to sweep in from the sugar beet fields, and catching the remarkable spectacle of Lapwing taking to the skies as one. Do you only have a 'murmuration' of Starlings or corvids, I wonder?

 * * *  

And now I offer the Very Inspiring Blogger Award to the following bloggers (in alphabetical order of their blog titles and with the confirmation that each nominee has been notified via his or her Comments box):

 A Photo a Day by Larry D. I like the concept and the discipline of this kind of photo journalism. Larry is versatile and has several blogs! 

A Year in the Life of my Wildlife Garden by Ragged Robin. This is a great idea. I love to start lists, but often fail to keep them going. The Tree Year project has helped me to focus.

 

Dartmoor Ramblings by Em Parkinson. Em's observations are incredible. Her photography of this wonderful part of the world is fabulous!  

FlightFeather by Elaine Ewart, who blogs about wildlife and poetry and has just been awarded Second Prize in the inaugural New Welsh Writing Awards. 

 

Jennifer Tetlow - a fascinating blog about Jennifer's sculpture and artwork practices and processes, often linked to the natural world.  

Loose and Leafy by Lucy Corrander. Lucy is the face of Tree Following, the monthly meme that unites tree bloggers across the globe. 

My Life Outside by Adam Tilt, who writes superbly about his wildlife forays, particularly on Gower (Wales) and on Mull (Scotland). 

Polyolbion by Matt Merritt. Matt is a key person for keeping the dual worlds of poetry and ornithology before our eyes.

The Quiet Walker by Amanda Peters. Amanda does wonderful wildlife posts, based on her observations. Amanda's blog is always full of photos.