''Arte y pico'' award

A few days ago I got this lovely award from Brenda of the brilliant Brendablog. 'Arte y pico' is the name. It translates as something like 'peak of art' or 'art and creativity. I will certainly not try to judge your choice Brenda :-)

If, by some strange reason, you're not familiar with Brenda's blog, do yourselves a favor and knock on the door of her intriguing world: apart from a vast variety of garden themes, ideas, inspirations, plenty of great pixels, you will find one simple, modest, outstanding lady wearing her heart right on her sleeve, who shares both her ups and downs with an extraordinary writing style that will make you feel as if you were her closest neighbor down the street in the lovely town of Tyler, Texas and you had known her for ages. I'd surely love that. Getting an award from her very self is an honor and I'm glad that she has knocked up against the door into my own world in the first place and considered my blog worth of this award. I'll express my gratitude by spreading the Arte y pico magic. Thanks Brenda!

The origin of the Arte y Pico Award: "This prize has arisen from the daily visits that I dedicate to many blogs which nourish me and enrich me with creativity. In them I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain me day to day and to share this prize with those who enrich me every day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few. The people I will name today deserve this prize, as do the very long serious list of bloggers I also enjoy to read. But I will name the first 10 and leave the rest of the work to all the bloggers that visit other's blogs and are nourished by them."


The rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.

3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.

4. Please include a link to the “Arte Y Pico” blog so that everyone will know where the award came from.

5. Show these rules

There's definitely more to it than the magnificent 5, but these are some of my favorite hot spots that stood out from the first visit. In no particular order, I pass this award on to:

• the prideful daughter of Poland - Ewa in the garden - I've been a fan of her blog for a long time; her commitment and consistency alone make her deserving of this award; and even through ordinary, yet distinguished, everyday posts I got to know her lovely country better than I ever would have thought
• when I first visited the Garden Brae from a link on Blotanical, I never thought I would find an outstanding blog by an even more peculiar and extremely witty Scottish lass, residing in the beautiful setting of West Coast Island with her faithful companion Oberon; it is very different from any other blog I read, and her astonishing photography won my heart at a first glance, definitely a 'peak of art' - the Garden Brae
• I remember stumbling across this blog, being fascinated by her day to day photos of her charming home in the beautiful English countryside, both of her garden, the places she visits and her adorable junior- Zvrk, the fact that we share the same country of origin has obviously not affected my infatuation in any way whatsoever ;-)
• Then there's the inevitable Linda of the Garden girl blog; I admire her passion and zeal, and her continual support since she first visited my part of the world and the undeniable influence she's had on the garden blogging community; creativity, design, interesting material, she's got it all!
• No garden tour ever finishes without me visiting Joy , the girls and their mischievous deeds; this lady makes me laugh out loud; her light hearted style and her posts full of humor radiate with her great passion for gardening and nature; I like her approach and I can only add once more: Canadian girls kick ass! - GardenJoy4me
  

I hope the rest won't hold it against me for not being mentioned, there are so many wonderful individuals out there, so many intriguing gardeners, and the path to your garden is much more than a glimpse into your very own piece of heaven; I wish more of my neighbours were like you, I hope that says it all.

Whoopsy daisy!

I'm flabbergasted. The lovely Linda from Garden girl blog really does have a pick on me. In the aftermath of the recent tagging plagues which I have barely recovered from, she somehow decided to strike upon me again... Honestly though, what better news than visiting one of your favourite blogs ONLY to find out it has rated your blog ''E'' for excellent. I'm glad it was you again Linda, I'm honoured, and you seem to be very good in this tagging and awarding thingie, you always seem to pick just the right people. Lol. I will put this up on the virtual mantelpiece for everyone to enjoy & covet. And as a sign of my appreciation and just for that, this one is for you:


My obligation is to pass the award on to another 10 blogs, and in abundance of so many wonderful blogs I encountered, that should present no significant problem...

GardenJoy4Me: well guess what Joy, reading your blog is joy4all of us too. There's always some interesting story or cute photo to admire at, and a daily dose of Joy's own brand of humor. What I appreciate most is that Joy finds joy in simple things in life, which she presents in an extraordinary and interesting way, and also she's the living proof that gardeners are a special type of people. Her love & care towards her little furry children is something to be admired at. Pretty much one of the first blogs I click on while touring around the lovely world of garden blogs. I believe this blog must have got these kind of awards in the past, so if you got this one, I'll still give you an E for Eenspiring.
I pass the award on to WeedWhackin'Wenches: a tour of their lovely garden and blog but also their wicked humor is something you'll be coming back for more. Curmudgeon and Wing Nut are always on about something fresh and full of useful and interesting garden advice. I give them an E for Excellent but mind you, it didn't take an award to make that apparent. Then there's the Brenda blog: I give her an E both for Excellent and Essential. Because she's also twisted hilarious and there's much more to her blogging than just gardening. She shared so many both wonderful and sad stories and pieces of herself and has written them in such a way that it has touched the hearts of many people. A truly inspiring and amazing woman we should all learn from.
I move on to HundeHaus: nestled in the beautiful southwest mountains of British Columbia, she sends out eye-catching photos and stories about nature's amazing wilderness she roams about with her beloved canine friends. I discovered it some time ago but could not stop reading back and it was for the 1st time that somebody's deeply touching post has made me cry like a baby. I give you an E for Endemic.
Mein garten im Fliesstal: a crafty gardener from the lovely German village. Now Sisah, the owner, didn't like me tagging her, but just for that I point my finger at her again, this time to pass an award, an E for her wonderful gardening Esprit and her lovely writing and beautiful pixels. And to urge you all to drop by @ Fliesstal.


Another five Eees to pass on:
Veg Plotting: ''I'm like a swan - calm on the surface, paddling like hell underneath!'' Need I say more? An extraordinary woman that sings as well as she gardens and a stunning UK blog that makes me wanna be back in those lovely English gardens and countryside.
Plantgurus: this inspiring blog is consistently packed with good read and awesome pixels. And add to it a drop of Channel islands' unique beauty.
OldCountryGardens: Melanie's blog overwhelms me each time I visit and I'm taking a 'wild' guess someone has given her this award many times in the past, but I'm also sure I won't be the last one to do it.
Ledge&Gardens: Layanee 'maintains' both excellent blog and garden and her generously shared witty wisdom is a useful delight for all of us gardeners. To add she just had a blogiversary the other day, I hope for many more years of quality time reading her blog.
Visions of Kefalonia: my favourite oasis of everything to do with nature and Kefalonia; and Jackie there does her very best in reviving my beautiful Greek memories and making me dream on my Kefalonian dream.

Please don't mind me not giving much explanation and zest for the last five, but the weight of the headachy weather and Kristy the cat sleeping on my lap have made me bring this to an end and remove the little meatball to a place where applying claws while dreaming away the mischievous cat dreams will not be such an issue.