Versatile Blogger Award Goodness

02 May 2012 15 Comments

by Gwen in blogs, reflections Tags: , ,

A little while back, Yashikibuta nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award!

I really couldn’t believe it when I read her comment — it was definitely the last thing I expected to happen after taking a couple months off from blogging! :)  Thank you so much for nominating me, Yashie! <3  If you haven’t seen her blog, Thriving Pessimist, you should check it out — her dogs are as spoiled as my kitties! She definitely loves her furbabies :)

When you’re nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award, there are seven things you need to do:

1.   Nominate 15  fellow bloggers.

2.  Inform the bloggers of their nomination.

3.  Share seven (7) random things about you.

4. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

5.  Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture on your post.

Well, I’ve got 4 and 5 down, so I guess it’s time to do the rest!

Seven random things about me:

- Somehow I find it easier to clean the house when Ben isn’t home.  I have no real idea why this is a fact, but it is.  It takes me a lesser amount of time to get things done if I’m home alone, and I have a stronger feeling of contentment about it when it’s done.  Probably because I know it’s not going to get messed up again in five minutes (kidding, Ben, kidding *cough* )

- I love bad reality TV shows.  I know that makes me a horrible person, but it provides a nice distraction at the end of a long day.  My favorites include: Geordie Shore, Wife Swap, Come Dine With Me, and Jersey Shore.  Don’t judge.

- I weigh more now than I ever have before and it freaks me out, yet I’m having trouble sticking to a solid diet (or healthy eating/smaller portion sizes) and exercise plan.  :( Something I struggle with on a daily basis.  I’ve managed to lose 2kg in the past few weeks, so that’s a good start, but I need to stick with it this time!  I don’t eat horrible food, but I don’t get enough exercise and I know this.

- I would call myself a Pagan at this point in time.  I practiced Paganism for almost 10 years of my life, before becoming a Buddhist, but Buddhism just wasn’t doing it for me.  I would like to find a group of Pagans to celebrate holidays here in New Zealand, but I’m not sure where to start looking.

- I sometimes isolate myself when I’m going through anti-social bouts.  It could be a mild form of anxiety, but it’s definitely not because I don’t want to see people.  I’m not sure why I do it, but yeah. I wouldn’t say it’s depression, but a general feeling of “I’d rather stay home than go out somewhere” can, and does, happen with me sometimes.  I’m getting better at pushing that aside.

- I would love to volunteer at an animal shelter one day when my work schedule allows for it.

- I love socks.  What do I want for Christmas usually? Socks. Why? There’s a 5th dimension in my house (wherever I live) that eats socks.  I’m not kidding. This is absolutely the truth.  So when you see a website like Not Socks Gifts, just know that socks will always be a welcome gift under my tree ;)

11 bloggers I’d like to nominate for the Versatile Blogger Award:

NZ Ecochick

Craving Fresh

My little corner of Rhode Island

Moon over Martinborough

Jimmie Chew

Promenade Plantings

Sarah the Gardener

Eight Acres

Nigel Gnome Grows a Vegetable

Moonlight Micro-Farm

The Kitchen’s Garden

I had a hard time listing the blogs to nominate, as I read so many at the moment, but these 11 really stood out lately! :) I do think a few of them have already been nominated for this award, but I don’t see anything wrong with someone being nominated more than once — definitely check out those links if you’re looking for new blogs to follow!

I love spam.

28 Jan 2012 6 Comments

by Gwen in blogs, cats, reflections Tags: , , , , ,

It’s been a while since I posted! Apologies!

I spent the rest of my annual leave frolicking in the garden,  catching up on good television and laying around with my kitties.  And getting engaged!  I think most of you saw that one, though.  I just wanted to type it.  Again.  I swear I’m done saying it now :)

Tomorrow now & gwen will resume to regularly scheduled posting with a Snapshot sort of Sunday post for you to enjoy.   Today I want to share with you my love of spam.

Not spam in a can.  The spam I receive here!  The comments lately have been amazing.

Here are some of my favorites from this week, along with awesome cat pictures, because the cats have all told me that they’re not getting enough face time on now & gwen.  I picked photos as random as the spam.  Enjoy!

Oddly sleeping Damara

Hello! Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or vice-versa? My site discusses a lot of the same subjects as yours and I think we could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel free to shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Wonderful blog by the way! — Navy seal spam site

Why yes! Your site does discuss the same subjects as mine.  I would LOVE to guest post on your blog!  Everyone knows I like to jump out of helicopters and run around with a gun and do other navy seal sorts of things, like gardening and playing with my cats…

Oddly sleeping Leon

In my house when I take bored, after that I just ON my PC and open YouTube web page to watch the YouTube video lessons. — Youtube spammer

Me too!  When I take bored (which really isn’t often), I just ON my PC and open YouTube to watch the video lessons too!

Like lessons on how to win at being a funny cat!!

And then the ultimate comment, made of much win…

The gift of Leon! Not spam!

With it, I had a pork belly sandwich, which I chose after some dithering because face it, I love pork belly.  — Dithering pork fan

I’m not sure what that had to do with my Plantnappers & Christmas post, but hey.   Some people just love pork belly sandwiches, and want to tell the world about it while using interesting vocabulary, like dithering.

Can you say random? Have you had any awesome spam love lately? Please share!

New Year’s wishes

31 Dec 2011 2 Comments

by Gwen in blogs, food, gardening, home, reflections, snapshots Tags: , , , , ,

I can’t believe this year is over.

It’s gone amazingly fast (most of it), except for when I was waiting for seeds to grow and moaning on here about that!

We’ve had some awesome things happen in our lives this year, for better and for worse.  I’m hoping 2012 brings more happiness for the now & gwen house, and that the ground stops moving in Christchurch.  I already have new ideas for the garden next spring if we’re still in this house by then.  I guess only time will tell :)

Starting this blog is probably one of the best things I’ve done for myself in ages.   I never really expect people to read it, but it’s always a blessing to receive lovely comments from you, and it’s been awfully therapeutic for me.  I’ve needed an outlet for a while and gardening, while quickly becoming my most favorite hobby, is quite a solitary experience for me.  It’s been wonderful reading so many blogs and (e)meeting so many lovely bloggers out there!

Things are still full steam ahead outside!  I picked my first King of Blues beans today and blanched them in some salt water.  They tasted amazing, and were longer than my hand — I wasn’t expecting them to grow so long!  The kittens had to inspect them before cooking, of course.  In the picture, I’d snapped all of then in half, so picture them twice as long as that.

I think this variety of beans would be really great to grow if you have kids.  Watching them turn from a dark, purple-black to green while they blanch is lots of fun!  The magic happens very fast. :)

I also tied up the peas a bit more today, and pushed them over the top of the fence so they’ll grow in that direction instead of flopping over.  Some of them have started to yellow.  I’m not sure why exactly!  I’ve always read that peas don’t need much fertilizing/feeding, so I haven’t really feed them in a while.  I’m wondering if it’s a deficiency or if they just really dislike being so close to spring onions.

I picked a bunch of sugar snap pods and lots of huge snow peas that I’ll be eating for dinner tonight!  I’ve found that the pea pods have a really sweet smell when you pick them, even though the flower has dropped off of it days before then.  It lingers on your fingers like marigolds do when you’re deadheading them.

I moved the red sail lettuces from bed #2 to bed #1 to make room for all the tomatoes and capsicum plants.  They were touch and go for the first day, but they’re settling in nicely and look like they’ll be bolting this week.  We had some really hot days last week that made my green lettuces bolt, so I pulled them from bed #1.

I spotted our first tomato today as well and let out a little cheer!  Nearly all the full-sized tomato plants and pear tomato plants have flowers on them now.  In a few weeks I think we’ll get a lovely first crop!  I can hardly wait :)  We’re going to attempt making our own chutney & tomato sauce with what we harvest in 2012.

The nemophilia is looking as lovely as ever, with the white snowstorm poking up through the baby blue-eyes.  I think this flower will be a keeper for me.  I’m going to look forward to growing them every year.

Best wishes from now & gwen to you and yours! :) See you in 2012!

Liebster Blog love

03 Nov 2011 14 Comments

by Gwen in blogs Tags: , , , ,

now & gwen was nominated for a Liebster Blog Award by Emma at Craving Fresh a few days ago! :)

Leibster Blog Award
The Liebster is awarded to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers.  ‘Liebster’ is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.  There are a few rules to follow when you’ve received a Liebster Award:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all – have fun!

I almost fell out of my chair when I read Emma’s post.  Thank you, Emma!  This really means a lot to me! I think I’ve linked to you at least half a dozen times in the last month and a half, lol! But in case anyone missed any of those links, you really should check out Craving Fresh.  Emma’s posts are always wonderfully informative and you can tell that she’s really committed to finding healthier, greener ways of life for her family.

Here are the 5 blogs (in no particular order) I’d like to give a Liebster Award to:

1. Kitty’s Super Allotment  — Kitty’s blog is a bit of a mix of gardening and awesome story-telling about her allotment adventures.  She also posts really tasty recipes that I’d like to try one day! :)

2. Diary of a Mad Hatter  — Teri is constantly making me laugh with her posts.  Her blog is self-described as a place to share her personal stories, unsolicited opinions, and ridiculous, nonsensical thoughts, all of which are based on Real Life with a sprinkle of hyperbole and a dash of exaggeration.  And it’s the truth! Love it!

3. Boys Smell — Beth is a good friend of mine, and her blog almost always makes me actually laugh out loud before I get to the end of a post.  It’s a nice one to read to take your mind off of whatever’s worrying you in your day.  And it’s something I think everyone can relate to — all the crazy little things that your other half does to drive you completely insane.  You are not alone.

4. My Sunny Side Up Life  — Connie’s blog is a beautiful blog to scroll through.  Her posts are thought-provoking and her words are wonderfully put together.  She offers great parenting ideas and is really down to earth, which I love.

5. Dancing with Frogs — I haven’t been reading any of these for terribly long, but this blog became a fast favorite of mine.  It’s quite possible she has well over 200 readers, as she’s been blogging for a while!  Frogdancer is a mother to 4 boys and the way she blogs about her garden & day to day experiences never fails to make me smile.

It was super duper hard for me to pick only five blogs to share with you –and it was extremely difficult to gauge how many followers each blog has, so if I’ve made a mistake, please forgive me!

I hope you check out these blogs — I really think you’ll like them!

Thank you again, Emma!

Today’s ponderings

01 Nov 2011 11 Comments

by Gwen in blogs, gardening, reflections, Uncategorized

Just a quick post from me today — I know I said I’d do a garden update, but after spending a lot of time outside in the sun today, I just want to snuggle with cats and watch the new SoHo channel on Sky.  They’re playing A Game of Thrones! Expect mucho garden pictures tomorrow, I promise.

Here is what I’ve been pondering today:

Should I keep blogging every day?

Yesterday was the last day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  I enjoyed the challenge, and completed my 31 posts, but I can’t help but feel that the challenge was aimed at bloggers who run businesses.

Even though my blog isn’t probably what that challenge was created for, I did enjoy blogging every day when I could, so this month, I’ve decided to give NaBloPoMo a try.  National Blog Posting Month was originally in November, but it happens every month, so it’s something I can stick with, I guess?  The community there looks much more varied and I think I’ll like it a lot more, and if you do post every day in November, there are prizes to be won! Awesomesauce.

I guess I don’t have to think about making that decision anymore, since it was settled when I wrote the second paragraph.

Should I put Mr. Courgette in the raised garden bed?

Mr. Courgette is doing well in his pot on the back patio, but a slug got to one of his leaves (or perhaps snail…I’ve seen heaps in the compost bin).  I’m wondering if he’s big enough for me to put in the raised garden bed without fear of him being plantnapped. I think he won’t be vulnerable to slugs & snails in the garden bed, as it’s surrounded by gravel and they apparently don’t like it?

I have compared him with a picture of Ms. Courgette when I put her in the garden bed, and she looks to be a bit bigger than he was, so maybe I’ll wait.  I’m still not sure.  The plantnappers haven’t been back, as far as we can tell.

I shall mull this one over tonight, and decide tomorrow.

Should I move this blog to my own site/server set up?

I would love to hear from more experienced bloggers about this.  Obviously I’ve only just started blogging, so I’m not really planning on moving anywhere just yet, but it would be nice hearing what the pros and cons are from bloggers who have had blogs on wordpress/blogspot/etc. and moved their blogs to their own websites.

I think the main reason I’m considering it is because I’d love to one day be able to have the kind of blog that supports itself somehow.  I guess I’d have to tie myself down to a narrower subject matter for that, but one can dream?

I would also like a bit more freedom when it comes to what’s actually on the sidebars of my blog, and the design, too.

What have you been pondering lately? Care to give me any advice on my ponderings? :)

Giving credit where it’s due: pictures in blogs

21 Oct 2011 6 Comments

by Gwen in blogs, rant, reflections Tags: , , , ,

I recently read a blog post that had some really nice pictures in it.  Beneath each picture, the author had put “Source: Google Images.”  It was a really lovely blog post, but the picture sources made me cringe every time I saw them.

I realize that copyright laws and the internet can be pretty tricky to navigate, but something tells me that ‘Google Images’ isn’t the true source of any picture out there.  Google is a search engine that produces images as the results of what you’re searching for.  It doesn’t actually put the original pictures up for you to see.  A human does that, and most times, it’s the human who took the pictures, or a company that paid for those pictures.

Some people may read this and think I’m nitpicking, but it’s something that really irks me.  I also know that it’s really hard to enforce these laws, but it doesn’t mean we should use other people’s work without their permission just because we can get away with it and they’ll most likely never find out.

Look at this trippy pasta picture!

I might be hella pissed if I found out someone was using one of my images without my permission, but then again, as long as the person doesn’t claim they took the picture, I probably wouldn’t mind if they used it.  This is why in my last post, I used a picture from commons.wikimedia.org — I found a picture that I was allowed to use freely, as long as I gave credit to the original photographer.

You can take pictures yourself, or find pictures that you have permission to use.  I strongly believe in giving credit where it’s due, and I urge you to do the same, if you’re a fellow blogger!

I did some googling myself and found this great article on blogging rules & etiquette from idiotsguides.com and will definitely do my best to not steal anyone’s work while publishing my blog posts.

This article goes over what is allowed and not allowed when it comes to using pictures on blogs, and I really think every blogger should read it when they create their first blog.

Please don’t be a picturenapper! <3

Image source: Abillis

October Bloom Day 2011

15 Oct 2011 14 Comments

by Gwen in blogs, gardening Tags: , , , , ,

Alana from Ramblin’ with AM left me a comment yesterday in a post where I asked if anyone knew any good gardening blogs I could follow from gardeners here in the Southern Hemisphere.  Her comment pointed me to May Dreams Gardens’ Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day posts! Thank you, Alana!

Basically, gardeners from all over the world post (on their own blogs) about whatever is blooming (or not blooming) in their garden on the 15th of every  month and then leave a comment on the monthly blog post over at May Dreams Gardens :)  Yay for finding more gardening blogs!

It’s already the 15th here, and the October post is already up over on May Dreams Gardens, so I’m going to post what’s going on in my garden :)  If you have a gardening blog & want to network with other gardeners, you should check it out!

Today was a weird sort of day, weather-wise.  It looked like it was going to rain, but then the sun would come out.  Then it would go back to looking like it was going to rain.  We did get about 20 seconds worth of rain, but it must just be blowing through.

Nothing is actually blooming in my garden yet, since it’s only the early days of spring, so I’ll show you what’s sprouting instead! :)

Nemophilia sprouts

Out-of-focus nemophilia sprouts

The camera decided our porch chairs were more interesting! :)

Nemophilia sprouts

In-focus nemophilia sprouts

I can’t wait till these bloom. I’ve got four different colors in my tire planters — baby blue-eye, penny black, snowstorm and five-spot.  I’m hoping they lure bees in to pollinate my veggies.

Japanese Maple

My first ever Japanese maple

I’ve always, always wanted to have a Japanese maple tree, and this house just so happens to have one in the back :)  She’s so pretty!  I think some of her lower branches might be dead as they’re not putting forth anything, but I’m not sure.  I need to read up on them, and possibly move her to a sunnier position.

Japanese maple

Wider shot of my Japanese maple

I still can’t believe we actually have one!

Royal gala apple tree

Tiny royal gala apple tree

Our little apple tree’s leaves are unfurling and are so pretty to see.  He (she?) is only about 6 inches tall right now, so I find it really adorable and precious :) That’s a lot of growing for just over a week or so! You can see the last picture I took here.

That’s pretty much all the new pictures I have to share :) If you haven’t read now & gwen before, most of my gardening posts have pictures in them. Please feel free to browse!

On an unrelated note: The plantnappers did not visit last night.  I am relieved. Very relieved!

To my gardening readers out there — anything blooming in your gardens? Will you be posting a GBBD post?

Plantnapper predictions & new sprouts!

14 Oct 2011 2 Comments

by Gwen in blogs, gardening, home, my other half Tags: , , , , ,

Note to plantnapper

I wish I'd written this note. Srsly.

So it’s Friday night here in NZ and I’ve battened down the hatches, cleared off the front porch of anything that can wander away, and locked the side gate.

If you’re thinking a hurricane is coming, you should read about the plantnappers from last weekend.

I’m thinking the plantnappers (or whoever) will be doing a walk through of the yard tonight, as the last three times it’s been on a Friday night/Saturday morning.

We purchased a driveway alarm system and I’m ready to see if anyone comes along tonight or in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.  The freaking alarm is so loud it can be heard from outside, so hopefully they get scared away if they do try to come back.  I’ll be calling the cops if I hear it go off, that’s for sure, while trying to keep Ben from beating the crap out of them. RAWR.

Unfortunately our landlord was in Australia when I called him last week about getting better flood lights.  In addition to getting those, our dishwasher needs fixing, and so does the handle on the back door. The dishwasher is acting as a glorified dish rack this week.

Sometimes I’m glad we don’t own our own home yet! Maybe one day.

Ben wanted to buy a baseball bat, but I convinced him this would be a very bad, no good idea.  At least, I think I convinced him.  They didn’t have any at The Warehouse when we were there last, so I guess the plantnappers are in luck.

In other garden news, my nemophilia flowers are starting to sprout in my tire planters!  They doubled in size today.  They are really keen growers! :)  We had some really hot sun yesterday, so everything looks bigger than it was the day before.  I tried to get a good pic of them but my camera refused to grab them.

My mini Greek basil (first batch) has finally started to sprout, too! The sprouts are so tiny that they aren’t very photogenic with our ancient Samsung :(  And the french summer thyme that had already sprouted is really going for gold.  I ended up transplanting it into the big round bowl pot and planted heaps more thyme seeds with those sprouts.  At first I tried to keep the different kinds in different sections, but I decided to just sprinkle them wherever, so I”m not sure what this pot will end up looking like lol! It’ll be full of thyme, though!

I think I’m going to need to transfer my eggplant & bell pepper sprouts this weekend.  Unfortunately the plantnappers also made off with a stack of my medium-sized pots, so I’m going to have to buy some more.  Damn them!

New growth on my king of blues beans

New bean growth

My peas are still looking healthy, but my King of Blues beans are looking a bit funny!  I’m not sure why…might need to get Ben’s Dad to look at them. The kittens did get a good nom in on them before I transplanted them into the raised beds, and we have had a few cold nights since then, unfortunately! They do have some nice healthy green growth coming up, but their current leaves look a bit brown and their stems have darkened up some.  It’s probably just me being paranoid.

And some exciting (to me, anyway) blogging news — now & gwen got a link back today from Madeleine over at NZ Ecochick! You should check out her blog — she gives some really lovely tips on how to garden if you don’t have a lot of space and how to reduce the rubbish you produce & live more sustainably.  She also just got a new bunny addition to her family, and decided to take her out on a leash, like Damara & Leon! So cute :)

And some more blogging news — now & gwen has had over 1000 views to date! I never thought this would happen in just over a month of starting to blog. Thank you so much!

I’ll keep you guys updated on the plantnappers! Now I’m off to go catch up on some Vampire Diaries!  It’s one of my guilty pleasures that I will not be ashamed about. I love Damon.  End of story.  Ben knows of my love for Damon.  He likes Natalie Portman, so we’re even.

Credit for plantnapper note picture.

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