30 | December | 2011 | A Winsome Journey ~ imagine, dream, create

I am humbled and truly honored to receive this Candle Lighter Award from a very talented and inspiring writer; Renee ~ writinfeemail.wordpress.com . This award allows me to bestow recognition on others blogs who inspire and whom lend an a positive influence to fellow bloggers.
Being relatively new to the blog-o-shere; I don’t have hundreds of followers; but the ones I do have and the blogs that I do follow, I cherish. I look forward to reading what is going on in their world, and sharing what is going on in mine. I find inspiration in their comments and reaction to what I have posted.
C’s (thekitchengarden.wordpress.com) sheep was ill, and limping…If she didn’t live half way across the country I would have driven to her farm to help her in a minute, without blinking an eyelash. You see, blogging has allowed me to develop connections not afforded by other means. Beautiful, meaningful connections; common interests, common goals. When I stop by these blogs, I find there is a bit of excitement, anticipation of what is to come…what is new. What will they share with me today?

I recall being sent, some time ago, chain e-mails asking about your thoughts on several questions…one question was asking how you would like to be remembered, or something to that effect. My answer was always the same – 2 simple words – “To Matter”. To this end, I can think of many blogs and bloggers who inspire me on a regular basis, who “matter”, but they have already been bestowed with his lovely recognition.
One blogger, friend, and fellow llama owner comes to mind immediately; she is an inspiration to many, always caring, of animals, people, and “mattering” in the community. If she sees a wrong, whether it be bullying in schools, or animals in trouble, she is there “trying”, trying to help, trying to make a difference. Teri, http://blog.timesunion.com/farmlife she writes a Farmlife blog for the Albany, NY Times Union Newspaper. Visit her blog, I think you will be inspired as well.

I have struggled this past week, with blog content, writing text I hope will interest others. Creating pictures that inspire and interest others is quite another, I often wonder; Do the photos have to coincide with the stories? I love to read comments, and thoughts…they give me a bit of confidence and inspiration to keep trudging along. Since my blogs posts are a reflection of my life. my words, and thinking are honest, which most times, makes writing posts easy. Posts are written on topics I love to share, the kinds of words, that make you go back in time to remember, or make you smile, or make you think, make you want to try something new, or old. These post are more than just words to me; I aspire for them to be meaningful, yes, to matter, tob touch another’s soul. My blog’s intention is to simply be myself, be true to myself, and share my time on our lovely little farm in the beautiful country side of upstate New York. I hope this is reflected in my blog.

Again, Thank you Renee for this renewing award.

Here are a few photos from our past windy Wednesday…the animals seem to love days like that; here they are pronking, playing, and running about the pasture. at times they were moving so quickly, I didn’t have time to change settings on my camera. I think that makes them fun. If you have never seen a llama pronk – You need to. It is the truest expression of JOY. They bounce, sort of dance, about the pasture, all four feet hitting that ground at once; truly a delight to see.