Worth the wait

Notice the dust collected on this wine bottle? Yes, this superb Bordeaux was definitely worth the wait! After the excellent birthday champagne Monday, this wine was close to perfection. I highly recommend it for a special occasion or no occasion, other than the pleasure of indulging in a fine wine. And thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes for David!

I also must thank Rosemary, Kay and Guatami for honouring me recently with blogging awards.

Rosemary at Living as Rosa presented me with another Thinking Blogger Award - and one can never have too many of those! She also wrote the nicest, kindest things, which made me wonder if she's available to do publicity for my book.

And Kay at As It Happens, gave me a Shameless Lion's Roar for Powerful Words, as did Guatami at Rooted. In return, I am encouraged to post the award on my blog; list three things I believe are necessary for good, powerful writing and then pass the award along to five blogs I wish to honour. These bloggers then will pass it on to five others, etc., etc., "sending a roar through the blogosphere," as Shameless says.

For me, the three essential ingredients in good writing are courage, a poetic use of language and authenticity/accuracy. In addition, imagination, humour, conviction of the heart and the ability to look at all sides of the story are equally important. These bloggers have these qualities in abundance. They dare to say what they think and are not afraid to venture into dangerous emotional territory. Although they come from different geographical areas and diverse backgrounds, all five have one thing in common: they dig down deep, taking intense personal experiences, examining them and bringing them to light for all to consider and ponder. We are enriched, educated and/or entertained by their writing. Recipients are listed in alphabetical order by first names:

Amber at The Believing Soul
Holli at Baby Faith
January at Poet Mom
Marilyn at Moojo Cafe
Rethabile at Poefrika

Meanwhile, the mail today brought packages from two dear Canadian friends. Gillian of Indigo Blue sent me the inargural issue of the second incarnation of Victoria magazine, along with the wonderful Halloween collage she made. Maddie of Persisting Stars sent more of her lovely photographs; some that I purchased; two that were gifts.

And in the "we know you're going to love this" category, Cath Kidston sent a Christmas catalog and my favourite London department store, Liberty sent me news of a stunning acquisition of Japanese handblock prints by Kamisaka Sekka, with images from the Chigusa ( A Thousand Grasses -1899) and the Momoyogusa (A World of Things - 1910) series. How did they know I'd be in London soon and unable to resist a visit??!!