Liebster Love

We had our whirlwind tour of the Bay State for my mother's 85th birthday.  We came, we partied like it was 1983 (the year I left MA forevah, as they say), and we went back to New York.

May we all look so great and feel so healthy at 85.

When we returned home, I had a message that this blog has been awarded a Liebster Award.  

This award is given to bloggers who motivate and inspire and who have less than 200 followers, the idea being to foster new connections in the blogging community.  The award takes its name from the German word "Liebster" which translates to "beloved, dearest or favorite".  The person who awarded it to me is Lori Lawson of paintspinknit and capistranofiberarts.  I love Lori's hand painted fleeces and have been a dedicated customer since I started spinning.  Her work is top notch and you can see her in action in the excellent book, The Yarn Lovers Guide to Hand Dyeing by Linda Lebelle.  It is a real honour to know that she is even reading this blog!  Thank you, Lori!  (PS. Lori, I had to close my eyes when I looked at your etsy page...I need to spin down my stash before I build up my inventory any further...just so you know.)

As part of the tradition, the Liebster Award is passed along to five bloggers with less than 200 followers who have been an inspiration to the current awardee.  In accepting the award, one must:

-- Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. (Done!)

-- Post the award to your blog. (Done!)

-- Reveal your own five picks for the award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.  (And now....)

...here are my Liebster Awards:

Island Sweet:  Anyone who reads this blog more than once will know that I am a huge fan of Shawn O'Hagan and her beautiful work - spinning, dyeing, felting, embroidery, rug hooking, knitting, painting.  Whatever she touches becomes beautiful.  Rouse yourself out of your social media induced stupour and go look at her blog.  Whatever was dead inside of you will come flowering back to life in the most joyous, colourful way imaginable.  I promise.

Be the BQE:  Have you found yourself hankering for information, both contemporary and historic, about the Brooklyn Queens Expressway?  Perhaps mixed with a bit of Polish literature, Red Sox trivia, and 80s punk rock?  Add a dash of righteous indignation and you have Be the BQE.  You never know what he will be talking about (and sometimes after reading you still don't know what is he talking about), but you will be entertained.  

Dark Dissolution:  More information about death, dead people and dying than you ever thought possible from a man with a collector's eye (and the collection to prove it).  He doesn't post often, but it is always worth reading when he does.  I will even forgive him using the dreaded white on black blog design that leaves me semi-blind every time I visit.

The Ecstatic Adventures of an Exuberant Bodhisattva:  Ashtanga yoga and lots of crotch jokes - what's not to love?

Outside Blue:  This blog documents the homeschooling life of one family in New York City.  I can only aspire to being such a dedicated mother but aspire I do each time I read Dorina's blog.  Her photographs alone are worth the visit.

I feel like I could easily choose five more, but there you go.  Enjoy the links - visit their blogs and fill your day with yarn, crowded roadways, death, your pelvic floor and the West Village.  That is what I do and you can see how wonderfully it has helped shape me.