Oh I have had such fun ...

... searching for sites for my four remaining Liebster Awards.

One blog already on my list was Dirty Feet and Rubble in My Hair about renovating a property in the Haute Vienne. I have huge admiration for people who are self-building here in France and not only doing it themselves but also finding time to write entertaining blogs about it.  I'll continue to follow Roz and Neil's adventures with interest. The suggestion for this blog came courtesy of Fly in the Web who writes two absolutely splendid blogs - French Leave and Costa Rica Calling; full of her gently sardonic well-observed humour.  In fact I see she also has received the Liebster Award for her Costa Rican Blog. Well deserved and thank you for your suggestion Fly.

Someone else whose blog taste I trust is Pamela Terry who writes so elegantly From the House of Edward.  It was she who led me to the story of Wilf, the Polish Lowland Sheepdog written by Angus from France Profonde somewhere in the direction of Toulouse.  So I turned (as I have done in the past) to Pamela's blogroll to see what treasures I might find.  Many of her choices are already very well-known and not appropriate for this award, but then I came across The Wind and the Wellies about life on Orkney.  I am fascinated about parts of the world where I feel people are living "on the edge" (for a time I followed someone in Nova Scotia) - all that weather and sea!  The blog is splendidly and amusingly written and photographed by (coyly named) Orkneyflowers. I'm going to enjoy following her story and give her the Liebster Award with pleasure.

One of the key things for me in following someone else's blog is that it should be well-written.  I love people who can use language well and who believe good writing in blogland matters; those whose skill is in reaching for an interesting word or a well-turned phrase that captures an image or conveys an emotion. Keith of A Taste of Garlic keeps an eye out for new blogs on France and so I spent a couple of hours wandering through  his reviews thinking this might be a place where I would find bloggers who deserve a larger following.  It was here that I found Victoria Corby.  I've chosen her not so much for that fact that she's in France, but because she writes well.  And because she writes well about writing.  That pleases me.  And because I admire the fact that she is writing, whereas I just talk about it.  Ah me.  I will continue to follow Victoria with admiration.

And my final choice, is one from my own treasure trove:  Au Fond du Jardin.  I suspect Natalie has more than the required number of followers to be eligible for this award, but she does not tell us, so I am offering it to her anyway.  I love her evocative paintings and photographs of her mountain countryside.  If we were starting afresh in our search for somewhere to live in France we too would be drawn to the splendour of the Pyrenees.  Natalie's blog gives me the opportunity to get a glimpse from time to time of that wonderful world.