It's Award Time! ... and it's a double whammy!

I've had the extraordinary honour of having both my blogs nominated for awards.  It has been both surprising and delightful to be so mentioned.  But not only that, this particular blog of mine has now been recognised twice over.

Mary @  Muse (formerly known as Going Native) has just recently nominated me for the  Sunshine Award  which is a prize awarded to those bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others. 

The rules for this award are:
1.  Thank the person responsible for nominating me.
2.  Answer 10 questions.
3.  Nominate 5 other bloggers who inspire you, link their blogs and let them know they've been nominated.

I was also awarded the Leibster Award  back in February by the lovely Marisa @ Onslow and Miss B.  Liebster is German for ‘favourite’ and the Liebster Award is given to blogs with less than 200 followers. 

The rules for this award are:
1. Thanks the person responsible for giving the award.
2.  Pass it onto 5 favourite up and coming blogs with less than 200 followers.

So I'm combining both awards in this post, and as I said, it comes as a great surprise when these lovely events happen and I do want to thank both Marisa and Mary for the honour. 

I know both their blogs inspire me and are definite favourites of mine.  Mary's blog is a voyage of discovery.  Not only does she share her wonderful garden, but her posts often raise many questions and issues that need careful thought and fruitful action.  Marisa has a terrific blog that covers everything from her passion for travel, to her gorgeous garden, to the lovely area she lives in and the dogs that accompany her almost everywhere she goes.

Well ... let's get onto those 10 'Sunshine Award' questions now ... and the photos are all mine.

Favourite colour ... has always been purple since I was very young.  That hasn't changed!  You'll always find gorgeous purple blooms somewhere in my garden.

Favourite animal ... butterflies!  They take my breath away.  I could follow them around all day.  Actually I did that when I was a child.  There was a stand of Oleander shrubs out the front of our yard and I experienced the joy of watching butterflies emerge from their chrysalis and try out their new wings.

Favourite number ... 8.  That number has special significance for me.  It's the date my husband, my first grandchild, my first childhood best friend and myself were born.  It's also the date I first met my live-long love, my husband.

Favourite non-alcoholic drink ... tea!  Yes I'm unashamedly a tea drinker, can't stand coffee.  I absolutely love a cuppa in a fine china teacup poured from a teapot.  Strange to say this, but it's true ... there's nothing quite so refreshing at the end of a long hot summer's day.

Bushbernie At Drytropicsgarden

Facebook or Twitter ... Facebook.  I love it.  I have two Facebook pages.  One is my personal page where I keep in contact with friends and family near and far, and the other is my gardening persona's page ... BushBernie ... where I become part of a very wide world filled with fascinating gardeners.

My Passion ... not surprisingly I would have to say gardening.  I'm not into elements of garden design or landscaping.  I'm an eclectic gardener and my place shows it.  Unlike my father who had a passion for growing just Roses, I'm one of those gardeners who just loves growing plants ... lots and lots of different plants.

Getting or Giving Presents ... definitely giving.  I love trying to come up with something that will have meaning for the recipient and will be something they will treasure for a long time.  Of course with the grandchildren it's brilliant to see their reactions ... yes, Grandma the boat is fantastic, but look at what the sippa cup can do!!!!

Favourite pattern ... I found this an interesting question, but after much thought I think I would have to say that I am a big fan of the patterns in Nature.  The patterns on tree trunks, the patterns in sand dunes, the patterns on leaves and flowers, the patterns in clouds, the patterns on shells, the patterns in waves ... there is no end to the wonders of patterns found in Nature.

Favourite day of the week ... Sunday.  There is just something about a Sunday.  Waking up on a Sunday morning, knowing that a new week has begun, is so re-affirming and full of promise.  But what I especially love is knowing that even though the week has begun, the hectic pace has not, and it's a day to kick back, relax and rest.  Sunday is usually verandah day around here ... breakfast, morning tea and lunch are eaten out there and we seem to spend a little time just snoozing after that!!

Favourite flower ... now this is hard, very hard.  I am a flower nut.  I don't think there's a flower anywhere, any place that I would not love.  Well, maybe not the bloom of the Corpse Plant, the Titum Arun!!!!   Anyway, if push came to shove and my life depended on identifying a favourite flower, I would probably say ... the humble Daisy.  I do so love Daisies of all types. 


Righto, now to share some of the bloggers I find positively inspiring and are amongst my favourites.

Laurrie @ My Weeds Are Very Sorry is a gardener in Connecticut where she has a wonderful garden with a wild meadow and hillsides behind her suburban lot.  She shares her successes, her mistakes and the lessons she's learned on her gardening journey.  I'm in awe of her obvious talents when it comes to designing a garden.

Steve @ The Rainforest Garden is not only an inspiring gardener with a love of tropical plants, but is also a very creative soul.  He shares his love of gardening in his corner of Florida and shares his wonderful artistic talent, with a dash of humour and joie-de-vie!

An inspiring Aussie gardener is definitely Catmint @ Diary Of A Suburban Gardener who shares her beautiful garden filled with natives, her thoughts on environmental challenges and threats to wildlife, as well as her love of literature of all sorts.

I find Karen @ Wall Flower Studio Seeds  not only inspiring because I'm in awe of her great artistic talent, but also because of her commitment to natural, organic gardening and the growing of heirloom plants from seed, and her commitment to speaking out about environmental issues that affect her beloved country of Canada.  She is a multi-talented lady ... a horticulturist, a floral designer, a gardener and a professional artist.

Then there is David @  Tropical Texana. He is a fellow teacher, a Texan with a great sense of humour, a beautiful garden and some handsome looking chickens.  You never quite know what to expect from David's posts and that's what keeps me going back.  I really enjoy his idiosyncratic blogging style


There are of course many, many other wonderful bloggers who I find inspiring, but being limited to choosing a certain number makes it impossible to share all those bloggers I love to visit. 

So many of the bloggers that I would love to have included are highlighted on my sidebar titled 'Bloggers I Love To Visit'.

But for these awards, I have intentionally stuck to bloggers who don't have hundreds and hundreds of blog followers and are perhaps not as well known as many others.  I think the purpose of nominating bloggers for awards like these is surely to shine a light on those who don't have thousands of people visiting their blog every day or those who have not been previously nominated many, many times by other bloggers.

In closing I'd really like to say once more ...

to Mary and Marisa.