Versatile Blogger Award

In November, Wuppenif nominated the Dark Creek Farm blog for a Versatile Blogger Award. I was simultaneously delighted (thank you, Wuppenif!!) and horrified (it turns out there’s quite a list of rules associated with this here award…) Of course, the award landed in my blog comments right when things were getting even more insanely busy around here than usual.

As a result, I haven’t had a minute to even think about compiling a list of my favourite blogs and seven things about myself. With the conclusion of the 30-Day Farm Blog Challenge, I can take a quick breath before launching into my next project, participating in the NaBloPoMo challenge for December. Yes, I think I have officially lost my mind.

Versatile Blogger Award Rules

1. Thank the person who gave you this award. I’ll start with thanking Wuppenif, a blog covering all my favourite things – food, gardening, living lightly on the land…
2. Here’s a link to the blog… So far, not so difficult.
3. Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. Sigh. This is where it gets tricky. There are just so many cool blogs out there! I’m not sure that I can do this part in a timely manner…
4. Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site [I’m not actually a hundred percent sure which site that would be… Is there an official Versatile Blogger website? Must do more research…].
5. Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

I’m not actually sure how to do this part officially, so I’ll post the seven things here and then let Wuppenif know I’ve done so over in the comments of that blog… If I missed something obvious, oops!

7 Things About Moi

i. I have way too many books. I used to think it was not possible to have way too many books, but I have discovered I was wrong. I am in the midst of a major cull that will see my collection cut by 75% and that will still leave me with … yes, way too many books. This, I try to remind myself, is why the world has libraries, so one person does not wind up with way too many books.

ii. I love libraries. Which is a bit weird, really, for someone who has way too many books. Why I would ever need to set foot in a library is beyond me because even with my vastly reduced (and still shrinking) collection, I could read all day long, every day and still not get to the end of what I have right here because… I don’t even have to say it… I have way too many… You get the point.

iii. I have way too many library fines. Honestly. There is no hope for someone like me. Obviously, when you have way too many books and you bring home way too many more books from the library, there is no possible way to read all those library books so they sort of sit there, buried in the piles of the books that live here and the next thing I know, the library is sending me pithy notes in my email box saying things like, “Did you know you owe us quite a bit of money? Did you seriously need to take out fourteen books about building tree houses?”

iv. I love tree houses. I would like to live in one. Again. I did spend a lot of time living in a tree house back when I was a teenager. At the time, we lived in Fort McMurray waaaay up in the frosty northern end of Alberta. Each year at about this time I think about how very, very cold it was out in the un-insulated tree house and how I would have to eventually give up and slink back into the actual, real house until after the spring thaw rolled around again. When I build my ultimate dream tree house it will have a cozy wood stove and most excellent insulation. And, it will be located somewhere other than Fort McMurray. Before embarking upon a project like this, one should be prepared. Hence, the need to read many books about tree house construction.

v. The other dwelling I would love to build is a vardo.

Gypsy vardos are, quite simply, gorgeous.

I have a half gypsy cob mare who will pull me and my glorious wagon all over North America. That, I believe, is when my blog will get interesting.

vi. My all-time favourite sweet treat is chocolate-covered macaroons.

It is NOT possible to have too many macaroons…

I found the recipe for these chocolate dipped macaroons in, yes, a library book called The Art of the Cookie: Baking up Inspiration by the Dozen, by Shelly Kaldunski.

The book has so many good cookie ideas, in fact, I am going to order myself a copy (you see how easy it is for a total biblioholic to get into trouble?). Until then, fines are adding up as I have renewed this book the maximum number of times allowed but I have not yet reached the end of the Christmas cookie baking season.

vii. And, finally, one place I’d love to go before I die is Outer Mongolia. If anyone has a whole whack of airline points they’d like to get rid of, I’d be happy to help you out. While I’m waiting for those points to be transferred, I will make my way through the shelf or two of books on Mongolia I have been collecting over the years and which have earned an exemption from the Great Cull. Unlike the books about growing cool cactus and succulents, which have found good homes on other bookshelves.

Now, for my nominations for nifty blogs to check out:

Sailor’s Small Farm North of 49 Tilly’s Nest  Our Little Acre  Nature’s Place  The Crowded Acre  Adventures in Natural Beekeeping

Ack… there are so many more! But, the hour is getting very late and I have an early morning tomorrow and a very full day ahead… So, for now, I’ll leave it at that and let the nominees know as soon as I catch my breath and get a teeny bit caught up around here! (Hah!)

**My apologies to the loyal readers who slogged through all that thinking they were reading the farm blog… I just realized there wasn’t much farm content there at all… which is maybe ok given the name of the award is the VERSATILE Blogger Award… We will return to our regularly scheduled farm blogging tomorrow.**