Monday, May 14, 2007

Bliss Wins Best International Garden Blog

A big thank you from all of us at Bliss to all of you who voted for Bliss! Thank you!!! And many congratulations to the GardenRanters (who won 3 Mousies), Pam at Digging (also 3 Mousies) and Carol of May Dreams Gardens who won a Mousie in what is possibly the best category to win it in! Well done all of you and all the others that won a Mousie for their websites. The results of the Mouse and Trowel Awards are here.
I'm thrilled to have won a Mousie for Best International Garden Blog. I never expected to be nominated, let alone win an award, as I've been blogging for such a relatively short time. But in that time I've been made to feel very welcome by the garden bloggers international community. So many people from the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, India, Canada, Spain, Britain, Australia, Sweden and recently Finland too, visit my blog and are kind enough to comment on it. It is very encouraging to find that many people appreciate my efforts on creating a (hopefully) lovely garden and blogging about it too. So winning this award is an absolutely wonderful token of your appreciation.

Of course, a very warm thank you to Colleen , who has done so much work in creating and running the whole Mouse and Trowel Awards competition. Colleen, thank you very much!

When I told the Bliss team about the award they were thrilled to bits too, not so much about the trowel part of it, the under-gardener and I were very much welcome to that, but the mouse part, well that was an entirely different kettle of fish.

cats: So we've won a mouse?
me: Yes.
cats: Only 1? But there are 9 of us, what was that Colleen person thinking of?

me: Erm, it is not that kind of mouse, it's a computer mouse.

cats: Computer mouse? Are you mad? Where's the fun in that? We'd like real mice please or toy ones if we can't lay our paws on the real stuff. We'd like to hunt, pounce, play, kill and eat our mice, thankyouverymuch!
me: Look, how about I give you all some toy mousies and a few pieces of cat candy too?
cats: Well, alright then (grumble), but we think this whole Mouse and Trowel thingy sucks! No real mice, what's up with that?
In the end, the cats got their own mousies and candy, the under-gardener and I celebrated with a glass of home made elderberry flower champagne and fun was had by all. Cheers!

Pussy cat, pussy cat,
Where have you been?
I've been up to Michigan
To look at Colleen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat,
What did you do there?
I frightened a little Mousie
Under her chair.

Paraphrasing a British nursery rhyme

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done and congratulations. Have a glass for me too!

SchneiderHein said...

Hallo Yolanda, das freut uns sehr und es ist wirklich ein Grund zum Feiern! Gerade da Du ja wirklich noch nicht lange die Blog-Welt bereicherst, ist es erstaunlich, aber wirklich gerechtfertigt. Ich finde es erstaunlich wieviel sich in diesem Medium tut. Fast jeden Tag kommen neue interesante Blogs dazu und die Stunden, die ich in diesen Welten verbringe, werden immer mehr. Dafür ist unser Fernseher schon seit Wochen fast unbenutzt. Auch Gartenzeitschriften & Bücher kaufen wir schon lange nicht mehr, da sich dort die Themen Jahr für Jahr wiederholen und jedes Thema oft nur kurz angerissen wird. Ganz anders hier bei Dir: Die Darstellung der Entwicklung Deines Seitenstreifens mit Weg finde ich viel schöner, persönlicher und informativ. Soetwas können Printmedien in den seltensten Fällen bieten. Mach bitte weiter so!
Herzlichen Glückwunsch natürlich auch von Wolfgang.
Liebe Grüße Silke

Colleen Vanderlinden said...

Congratulations, Yolanda Elizabet!

I love your rendition of the nursery rhyme. Very cute :-)

My three cats were equally disgruntled regarding this whole "computer mouse, not real mouse" issue. That's all anyone in my house has heard about for the past two months: "mouse and trowel, mousies..." Needless to say, both the people and the cats in my house deserves some special little treats, just for putting up with me :-)

Congrats again!

Naturegirl said...

~~Congratulations!Quite an honor and well deserved!~~
I have just recently been visiting your blog and enjoy it very much particularly the cats!
Very original the way you posted this news! Good job!hugs NG

Gotta Garden said...

Congratulations! I'm so happy you won!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Yolanda !!
Right praise and true perfection... I would say.
You've got a mouse infestation and that with all those cats.....

Susan said...

The win was well-deserved, Yolanda. I look forward to continuing to visit your garden. Congratulations.

— Susan from South of the River

A wildlife gardener said...

May I add my congratulations too, Yolanda Elizabet? A very well-deserved winner. I liked your pussycat conversations too! And those photographs...simply purrfect! Prr! Prr!

Anonymous said...

YE: Congratulations and another very clever post! I love that little trowel from days past sitting beside the 21st century mouse! Kind of like the I. M. Pei pyramid nestled in the courtyard of the Louvre!

Libbys Blog said...

Ya! Well done you! I'm not at all surprised you have a fabulous gardening blog! Plus beautiful puss cats too, which to me is always a bonus! Congratulations! x

Anonymous said...

Well done, Yolanda Elizabet. We've all enjoyed visiting Bliss over the past months. Congrats on your Mousie!

Entangled said...

Congratulations! Your garden and blog are both very inspirational!

LadyLuz said...

Woo-hoo Yolanda. Well done, gal - many congratulations: so well deserved.

Yin and Yang covet the mousie toys!

Dawn said...

Well done Yolanda! I love your kitty-cat conversations. Very cute! Enjoy your well-deserved award and give all your cats a pet from me.

;-)
Dawn

Anonymous said...

WOWWWWWWWWWW meis gefeliciteerd !!
Weet mijn god niet waar en wie die prijs heeft bedacht en hem uitgeeft maar heb even rondgestruind , en kwam er al snel achter , good on you !!!
Je katten zijn kostelijk , hahahahahahaha , hou wel van die verhaaltjes .Nogmaals proficiat !
groetjes Lenie

teresa g. said...

You certainly deserve it! Although I never left a comment, I visit your beautiful garden blog since I found it, recently. Congratulations!

Kylee Baumle said...

I'm so happy for you! I never doubted that you would win - you know I adore your blog, your gardens, and of course all your wonderful furry fuzzballs!

Virtual hugs are being sent to you from Ohio!

Anonymous said...

Gefeliciteerd Yolande- had niet anders verwacht!Het Bliss-Blog is een aanradertje voor eenieder!!!
De afmeting van het troweltje valt wel een beetje tegen....Alhoewel het erg handig is bij het verspenen kan ik zeggen ;-)
Vlierbessen champage, hmm eerst het echte spul even weggespoeld zeker?
Al die muizenspeeltjes bij de kattensnoepjes- enig!

Gorden + Planten said...

Congratulations!

SchneiderHein said...

Seid ich das Ende des Posts gelesen habe, summe ich die ganze Zeit "What´s new Pussycat" von Tom Jones. Vor ein paar Tagen war es "Singing in the Rain" ...
Eigentlich hat das Bliss-Team recht, 1 Maus für 9 Katzen ist schwer ungerecht. Vor allen Dingen, weil keine Katze dazu noch einen Spaten braucht ... Insofern fehlen eigentkich noch 8 weitere Mäuse (= Preise) für diesen wundervollen Blogg. Verdient hätte er alle 9!
Wolfgang

Shirley said...

Hi Yolanda - well done you!

Garden Cats + Crafts said...

Liebe Yolanda, hier hat absolut die Richtige gewonnen! Gaaaanz besonders herzlichen Glückwunsch, verbunden mit einem dicken virtuellen Kuß für Dich. Du hast es absolut verdient, das dachte ich schon beim Voten für Dich. Ich hebe ein Glas auf Dich und stoße mit Dir an. Bleib uns immer erhalten mit Deinen wundervollen Posts und den schönen Bildern von Garten und Pelznasen. Ganz liebe Grüße von Birgit

Anonymous said...

I didn't no about this contest but you are worthy winner. You have a really nice Blog! Congratulations! :)

Carol Michel said...

Congratulations, Yolanda Elizabet. Your international blog has helped us all know that gardeners around the world are not so different from one another. We are all mostly obsessed with plants and making pretty places to sit and relax in our gardens and growing some good vegetables. I love to visit and see what you are doing in your garden, thousands of miles from mine, but sometimes seeming like it could be right next door.

OldRoses said...

Congratulations to the Bliss Team! A well-deserved honor. I'm so glad you won. Nine cats? Now I don't feel so bad about my four.

Anonymous said...

Hallo Yolanda, Gefeliciteerd en geeft het maar een ereplek.
Ik geniet ook van je blog.
Groetjes Patricia

Anonymous said...

Why am I not surprised for winning the BIGB competition! Congrats a lot!

BTW you do rob me from my much needed sleep at night. Advising me to start watching BtVS, tssk. Now I'm sitting here all swollen eyed, but it's worth it. I started season 2 last night whith just _one_ episode, you now where that leads to... *grin*

Makes mental note that I do have to check on that garden IRL sometime soon.

Cheers

kate said...

Yolanda Elizabet, I would give you a big hug if I could for winning the International garden bloggers' award. You are very much deserving of the award ... your garden is an inspiration for every gardener from the four corners of the world.

I loved your pics and was glad that you included the Bliss team. I'm sure they enjoyed the celebration!

A toast to you and a virtual hug,
Kate ox

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi all and welcome to Bliss!

The Bliss team and I are a bit overwhelmed by all your kind words, virtual hugs and kisses and showers of compliments. Thank you all very much.

The under-gardener and I have drunk a toast to the good health of each and everyone of you and especially to Ladyluz as she needs a bit of help in that department and to John, for being such a good sport.

Once again, thank you all very, very much, we're touched!

Molly said...

Congratulations. The rest of the field never really had a chance of course. Great writing, a beautiful garden, and cats! The garden bloggers trifecta.

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Warmest congratulation! Well done Yolanda. I love your garden! Hip, hip, hurrah and cheers to you my potagerfriend./ Tyra in Vaxholm

Ki said...

Congratulations on winning a Mousie. And kudos to the untergartener too.

Anonymous said...

Big Kudos Yolanda. You may only be a relatively new garden blogger but obviously not a new gardener. I love coming to your blog and enjoying what's happening next.

BTW - great to see the Netherlands on the map!! And, in a big way now.

Anonymous said...

It is nice. I like it very much.

John said...

Congratulations on your award..Cute cats...I had my cat for 18 years..