Blogger Recognition Award

Blogger Recognition Award

The Blogger Recognition Award is an online award given by bloggers to other bloggers as a way of recognizing the efforts they put into their site.

I want to thank OUR CROSSINGS for nominating me for the Blogger Recognition Award. Aiva, Ericeira and Valters, are from Latvia, but, currently live in Sligo town on Ireland’s West Coast and together they make up Our Crossings. They write about their travels, both in their new home country and around the world, while still working in busy careers. Please check out their blog. You will be glad you did.

Rules for the Blogger Recognition Award

Thank the nominator, and publish a post on your blog about receiving the Blogger Recognition Award. Make sure to provide a link to the nominator’s blog in your post.

  • Give a brief story of how your blog started.
  • Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
  • Nominate 11-15 other bloggers for this award, and inform them of their nomination.

My  Blogging History

I had just retired in November 2014 and was about to embark on a 7 1/2 week trip to New Zealand, Australia and Vancouver. We had a dinner planned with the 6 victims, er, volunteers who were to look after our house and snow shoveling while we were gone. I started my blog as a way to keep them and our families up to date on our travel adventures and it just grew from there. The first blog, was a free blog site from WordPress https://retiredanddownunda.wordpress.com/ . It was private and fulfilled this purpose, admirably. It never had a lot of readers, views or likes. It would seem many of my family and friends were too shy to hit the LIKE button. That is OK. From time to time, they would let me know they were there and how much they were enjoying my posts.

I liked blogging so much, I went on to the next free spot and the next and the next and now, I am on #6. Leaving #5 with over 470 followers was tough, but it has never been about the Followers for me. It is about the readers of whom I have a loyal few. You know who you are. Thank you all for continuing to read and comment. And thanks to all who visit, no matter how frequently.

I post daily as much as possible. My posts are based on the photos I take. Each set of photos stimulates my creativity in a different way. If I am in a creative mood, I write my posts in batches and keep them “in the hopper” for later posting. My posts are almost always time shifted in this fashion, sometimes as far as 2 months out.

Advice to New Bloggers

As a blogger of 6 sites and over 5 years, I have received a lot of helpful advice from readers and other bloggers, that I have taken to heart.

  1. Write your posts as you would speak to a friend. Be yourself, be honest and be concise. Many bloggers do not have a lot of time in their day. Shorter posts are more readable and you will be rewarded with loyal readers.
  2. Read the posts of those bloggers who read you. If you like them, click LIKE. If the posts stimulates your mind, COMMENT. This may seem incredibly narcissistic of me, but LIKES and COMMENTS are the only way bloggers know if they are on the right track or if they need to improve their posts. Thanks to all who LIKE and COMMENT on my posts. You have made me a better writer.

And my Nominees in no particular order are…

I know how much time and effort it takes to participate in these award nominations. Do not feel bad if you do not have the time or do not wish to participate. I enjoy reading all of your posts.

Please visit these blog sites and I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Thanks again to Our Crossings and all my readers. Allan

I’d like to Pasta Thanks Along!

Published by

kagould17

Not much to tell. After working for 3 companies over 43+ years (38 years 7 months with my last company), I finally got that promotion I had waited my entire career for……retirement. I have been exploring this new career for the past 7+ years and while it is not always exciting, the chance to do what I want for myself and my family instead of what my company wants has been very fulfilling. Early on, there was a long list of projects in my “to-do” hopper and I attacked these projects with a vengeance for the first 9 months of retirement. Eventually, my brain told me that this was not what retirement was about, so it took me another 5 months before my industriousness again took over and I attacked another line of projects, this time somewhat shorter and less complicated, as well as many new projects related to the family weddings in 2016. After going hard for 6 weeks and 3 weddings, my body was telling me to relax, then the flu bug hit and as soon as that was done with me, my sciatic acted up. No rest for the wicked. In 2020 and 2021, the Covid 19 pandemic changed the whole retirement gig. I was lucky to not be still working, for sure. I enjoy photography, gardening, working with my hands, walking, cycling, skiing, travelling, reading and creating special photo and video productions obtained in my first pastime. I may never become wealthy in any of these pursuits, but I already feel I am rich in life experiences far beyond any expectation.

22 thoughts on “Blogger Recognition Award”

  2. Thanks for accepting this award, I know it takes time and effort to create a special blog post dedicated to the award and I’m glad you did! I was super excited to nominate you, – your posts, photos and little stories always make me smile and it’s something I look forward to every single day 😀
    I was just reading about the freezing temperatures on Canada’s West coast and thought of you right away – did you guys got the cold spell in Edmonton too?
    P.S. I can only imagine how much planning was involved organising your 7 1/2 week trip! 😊 Aiva

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    1. Thanks Aiva. I feel bad for turning down the Sunshine Award a week or so ago, but have had 2 of those already and wanted to give someone else a chance. I also was nominated for this one in July. You are right, it does take time putting together all the links and nominee notifications. I nominated someone once who not only flat out refused the award, but wrote a post telling all the things that were wrong with these nominations. Oopsie. A simple sorry, I can’t do it would have been fine.

      Thanks for your loyal readership of my blog and your kind comments. As to the freezing temps, watch this spot tomorrow. Still cold here. The retirement trip was the trip of a lifetime, but since then we have had another 2 trips of a lifetime, so fingers crossed, we can continue. Thanks again, Aiva. Allan

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  6. Congrats on your nomination. And thanks for nominating me. Just wondering whether you’ve saved all the content from your previous blogs. I’m sure it would be neat to go through them and see how much your writing and blogging has evolved over the past five years.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you and you are welcome. I know that responding to these nominations is a chore, but showing appreciation never hurts. All my other blogs are still running. When I look back at my first one https://retiredanddownunda.wordpress.com/ , it was a bit simpler, but still humorous. You may have to do some scrolling to see the good ones. Thanks for reading and commenting and enjoy the week. Allan

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  7. Congrats!!! Although I don’t comment on every blog I do enjoy reading them. I also enjoy seeing the world through your eyes and you’ve thought me to always be on the lookout for that perfect shot. Thanks for your dedication…

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