Rewarding Awarding

Last week, at least I think it was last week, you know how time flies so fast it's hard keeping up sometimes, anyway, I do believe it was last week that fly in the web at French Leave very kindly awarded me the Sunshine Award for spreading a little of it around with my blog. Fly is very much involved with her small community and writes about the ins and outs of living in a French village in the PO, dissecting the crap and shady dealings that make up part of everyday life in France. Life in the raw, as it were, the rose-tinted glasses having been thrown out years ago. You want to know what really goes on behind the shutters? Read fly's blog.

Today, I was very kindly given an award by Dash at French Sampler, the Vraiment Française Blog Award for my blogging on living in France. Dash's blog is full of beautiful photos and gorgeous descriptions of places, gardens and her favourite things. In fact, beauty is at the heart of most of Dash's posts.

It's so nice to be appreciated, so thank you, ladies, for my awards, and please know that it's a pleasure to read yours too.

As for introductions to my favourite blogs, as I should do so with the Sunshine award - 12, theoretically, in total (yikes!) - here is a (small) selection of ones I read and enjoy.

Hausfrau for her 'happily unreconstructed housewife' life in Wiltshire.

Gigi, who writes sporadically at French Windows. Maybe this award will encourage her to write more often...

Newly discovered, thanks to Keith at A Taste of Garlic, is Mya at Missing You already who makes me laugh.

Dirk, at Berry Deep France who is another old hand at living in small town France.

I don't have a very extensive blog roll in fact, so I'll leave it at that for the moment. I can hardly nominate The Times Online, or the Telegraph Online. I often read Go Fug Yourself, for a good laugh, but it isn't a site to nominate either.

On a different subject, my mother has managed to park my dotty dad in a care home for a week so is dashing out for a visit tomorrow which will include gin, wine, good food, friends, town, personal shopper, eating out, eating in, chilling out, having a carefree time, enjoying evenings with the boys, wine, gin and hopefully some sun.

So if I'm not here, you'll know where I am...