Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Verklempt

I'm verklempt. My Dear Ellen enjoys willyouland enough to bestow an award, and invites me to name some sites that I enjoy. Can't say how fun this is going to be!

Recipients of the award are invited to name their own favorites by doing the following:

1. Copy the award to your site.

2. Link to the person from whom you received the award (Twinset).

3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.

4. Link to the award recipients on your blog.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate. Kick back and feel the gratification that flows from being a small cog in the progress of civilization.

These are my nominees:

FarmTales. The comic, informative and sometimes touching adventures of a Minnesota farmer/author/budding textile artist. Catherine is the author of the provocative and funny book The Compassionate Carnivore, which challenges us to question our food biases and think through how choosing what we eat can be a transformative act (Michael Pollan's books are only one take on the conscious eating story - this is another).

The Little Red Blog of Revolutionary Knitting If this chick isn't a machineknitter, she must be a machine - she's the Rachel Maddow of knitting, with anarchist tendencies thrown in. And she has about the cutest cats anywhere. Click on her Politics label. Warning - she's a saucy one - some might take offense.

The "Blog" of Unnecessary Quotation Marks is a site for those who sit in movies and point out punctuation errors on the screen to our annoyed companions. These are some funny, illiterate pix - and as errors go, unnecessary quotations are pretty mild - I'm more concerned about a certain former President who said things like "One of the very difficult parts of the decision I made on the financial crisis was to use hardworking people's money to help prevent there to be a crisis."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 12, 2009

The caregiver at Maple Corners takes us through the pain and beauty of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's, while operating an alpaca ranch and marketing fiber. Click on the Art label for images of Annie's mother's amazing art.

My father's parents were Irish immigrants, and I am an Irish citizen, so I frequently seek out an Irish connection to things that attract my attention. Jo's blog Celtic Memory is a lovely way to connect with Ireland, happenings in the textile world there and with the author's fascinating travels - Bulgaria most recently.

I really appreciate good photograph, so Mitchster's site is someplace I go every day. There is an on-line collective of photographers of who commit to posting a new picture of their city everyday. When I am missing some city somewhere, I'll duck in there for a fix.

RuthieJ knits, hunts and rides her motorcycle in southern Minnesota. I enjoy her illustrated walks on her property and nature observations as much as I do reading about her textile experiments. Nature Knitter is a eclectic place to spend a little time.

Two sites by hotshot bloggers who haven't the time to respond to something like this, but that I want to spotlight anyway are:

I met a lovely man when attending a bird banding recently. I overheard his conversation with another fellow while waiting to get a word in, and was unable to keep myself from blurting - "Are you the Bird Nerd?" Well, it was true, he admitted with a little grin. His site is full of beautiful photos and helpful information, such as where the Varied Thrush is currently appearing in Ramsey County. Also, the exclusive source for information on the gynandromorphic Cardinal. Check it out - you'll have best cocktail party factoid EVER.

Everyone knows the Birdchick - don't they? She is a famous (some might say notorious) Twin Cities birder who figured out how to make a career of her passion, while retaining her black polished fingernails and taste for scotch. She hosts Birds and Beers at Merlin's Rest every month. This is not your father's nature girl.

1 comment:

RuthieJ said...

Hi Kathy,
Thank you so much!
I'm humbled to be included in the group of other bloggers you consider worthy of the Kreative Blogger award!
Thanks for the links too--more blogs for me to check out.