Count Your Blessings!

With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

Count Your Blessings!
Count The Garden By The Flowers, Never By The Leaves That Fall.
Count Your Life With Smiles And Not The Tears That Roll.
..... Author unknown.

Knowing me, Knowing you..... Aha.....!

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Malaysian Flora USDA Zone 11
Welcome to our exotic world of everlasting summers and tropical rainforests!

Monday, December 7, 2009

My Year End Awards














My post today is dedicated to Nell Jean of Secrets of a Seed Scaterrer, my first commenter of my previous post, Mussaenda philippica 'Queen Sirikit'. Reading her posts always put a smile in my face. She is a great writer, photographer and presenter. She also has a great sense of humour.

Christmas came early for me. I am looking forward to enjoy the spirit of the season with my blotanical friends around the world. Hey, I have received some presents already! I have just been given an Honest Scrap award by James Missier of Garden Chronicles when more presents arrived. These are prized possessions given by my blogger friends from Blotanical which I will treasure and display at my sidebar.

1. On 22 Nov 09, My Nice Garden (MNG) has received a second Honest Scrap Award from Babara_elaine of Gardening in Mannheim, Germany. Her post is titled, "Proud to be an Honest Scrap. "

2. On 23 Nov 09, MNG received a Best Blog Award from LeSan of Blue Gate Gardens. Her post is titled, "The Red Carpet Needs Shampooing".


3. On 27 Nov 09, MNG received a Best Blog Award from Wendy of Greenish Thumb. Her post is titled, "....... why someone would consider this blog "best".

I would like to thank Babara, LeSan and Wendy for having me in mind when giving out the awards. It feels great to be appreciated. Here's what I need to do:

Duty 1: Brag about the award.
Duty 2: Link back to the originator of the award
Duty 3: Write ten honest things about yourself
Duty 4: Pass on the award to 10 fellow bloggers you admire.

Duty 1 & 2 - already done.

Now, the 10 honest things about me:

1. I have never seen snow in my whole life. Rosey Pollen of Dung Hoe has taught me how to put virtual snow in my blog.

2. Neither have I even seen a real apple, peach, orange or cherry tree.

3. When I was little, I wished that someone will give me an autumn maple leaf of which I will keep in the story book I am reading as a bookmark. I thought all maple leafs came from Canada. That was until it saw real maple leaves in Korea.

4. I just learnt what is an advent wreath for Christmas from Babara_elaine and Diana of Elephant's Eye's recent posts.

5. I just learnt what is a christmas pickle ornament from reading Wendy of Greenish Thumb post today. Now I know its significance. Before that I didn't even know such a thing exists!

6. I still do not know/understand what is the 'allotment' that gardeners in the US talk about.

7. I felt funny when I received my first virtual hug from blotanists. I felt even more weird when I go overseas and get hugged by strangers. Hugging is not commonly done here, maybe because Malaysia is so hot and humid, so everyone is sweating (just joking). Now, I think virtual hugs are fun, friendly and nice.

(8-10 is how I learnt a lot from bloggers who comment on my blog).

8. I recently saved MNG from disappearing by using a test blog to practise my HTML kungfu. Thanks to Joanne. You see, I did my stunts, rehersals and auditions using a test blog. When I took too many chances, with many changes, my test blog was quarantined by google as a spam blog for more than a week.

9. It is only recently after my first scare (no. 8) that I learnt how important it is to backup my blog regularly. This I learnt from Diana (Voice in the Garden). Diana commented on my post and taught me how to do it. Her most recent post today talks about the Best Blog Award. Do check out this factual and very interesting read.

10. I learnt how to backup my blog, template, sign artistically at the end of every post from Jacqueline. I even learnt the code for typing copyright symbol on my photos. Join me in tutorial class at Jacq's Blogger Tips. Jacqueline is a newbie blotanist at John & Jacq's Garden. She has detailed classification of many plants which I find very useful.




I'm sure almost all of us have received such awards already which makes it meaningless to give out to them again. Moreover, why give headaches and what some call a double whammy? I spent a few days doing this post which took a lot of my time. Now, as we are nearing the end of the year, I'd like to take this opportunity to give my awards to everyone who has touched my life in one way or another.

I wish that James Missier, Babara_elaine can accept the Best Blog award from me. Wendy and LeSan already has both, I think. Otherwise, I'd like to give the Honest Scrap award to them.

I wish to thank all my friends in the Followers List here at the sidebar, all who have faved me at blotanical and also those who came and took time to comment on my silly posts.

a) Commenters who regularly dropped by and they are my main source of inspiration and motivation
b) Commenters who once in a while dropped me a line to encourage me
c) Commenters who made a special appearance to drive home an important point

Here is a list of my commenters, from my 5.5 months blogging history with 90 posts. I must confess that I have copied this idea shamelessly from my blotanist friend, Tatyana of My Secret Garden.


1. A Home Far Away
2. A.M.I.N.A.
3. Accidental Huswife
4. Among Trees
5. Amy
6. Andrea (Europe)
7. Andrea (Philippines)
8. Andremoller
9. Angel.Pearls
10. Anna
11. Anne
12. Anya
13. Arati
14. Awarewriter
15. Ayie
16. Azplantlady – Noelle
17. B:)
18. Babara
19. Balisha
20. Bangchik
21. Barry
22. Bay Area Tendrils Garden
23. Becky
24. Bengbeng
25. Beth
26. Beth F
27. Bettyl
28. Blossom
29. Bonnie
30. Boo-Bah
31. Bradzio
32. Bren
33. C
34. Caite
35. Calico Crazy
36. Cameron - Defining Your Home
37. Carol
38. Carolyn Ford
39. Catherine - Gardener in Progress
40. Catsynth
41. Chang Boon
42. Charlotte - Galloping Gardener
43. Cherry
44. Chubskulit
45. CIELO
46. CiNdEe
47. Cinj
48. CK Ng
49. Corner Gardener Sue
50. Crix
51. Daricia
52. Darla
53. Deborah Elliot
54. Denise
55. Diana (Voice in the Garden)
56. Diane AZ
57. Digital Flower Pictures
58. Dirt Digger - Tessa
59. Dirt Princess
60. DoanLegacy
61. Donna
62. Dot
63. Dragonfly Lady
64. Dragonfly Treasure
65. Easy Gardener
66. Ebie
67. Eden
68. Eileeninmd
69. Emokid.xd
70. Elephant's Eye - Diana
71. Erin
72. Evelyn Howard
73. Evergreen Tree
74. Evolution of a Gardener
75. Fickleinpink
76. FJL
77. FlowerLady
78. Flowers
79. Flowrgirl1
80. Flyingstars
81. Frances
82. Gail
83. Garden Frisk
84. Garden Girl
85. Garden Gnome
86. Gardenfrisk
87. GardenMom
88. GartenGrl at Cool Garden Things
89. Gittan
90. Goldcoast at bigfoot.com
91. Green Thumb
92. Gunilla
93. Heather
94. Helen - Islandgal246
95. Hootin' Annie
96. Irene
97. J Bar
98. Jackie
99. Jacob Royer
100. Jacqueline
101. Jama
102. James Missier
103. Jams O Donell
104. Jan - Thanks For 2 Day
105. Janean
106. Janie
107. Jay
108. JC
109. Jen
110. Jessica
111. Jo©o
112. Joanne
113. Joanne MV
114. Joey
115. John
116. Joops
117. Judys424
118. June
119. June Art Studio
120. Kaija
121. Kanak Hagjer
122. Karen - An Artist's Garden
123. Katarina - Roses & Stuff
124. Keats The Sunshine Girl
125. Keewee
126. Kerri
127. Kiki
128. Kilauea Pottery
129. Kilbournegrove
130. Klivengood
131. Laura Livengood Shaub
132. Laura Z
133. Leia Brown
134. Lena/isis
135. Les
136. LeSan
137. Life Ramblings
138. Life.in.the.tropics
139. Life's Journey
140. Lili11
141. Lillebeth
142. Linda
143. Linda MacDuff
144. Linda May
145. Linnea W
146. Lino Ruiu
147. Liz
148. Liz & The Professor
149. Lona - Hocking Hills Gardener
150. Loree
151. Lori
152. Lotusleaf
153. Louise
154. Lynn
155. LynnS
156. Magical Mystical Teacher
157. Manang Kim
158. Mania
159. Margaretta
160. Maria Berg
161. Maria Cecelia
162. Marice
163. Mary Delle
164. Mary/theteach
165. Maurice
166. Meems
167. Meredith
168. Mia
169. Michelle
170. Miss Daisy
171. Moa
172. Mosaicqueen
173. Mother Natures Garden
174. Mr_Subjunctive
175. Muhammad Khabbab
176. My Mother's Garden
177. Nancybond
178. Nell Jean
179. New Nork City Garden
180. Nice A
181. Nightfall00
182. Nurse Mommy
183. Pamhubbard
184. Pams English Garden
185. Patsi's 'Garden Endevors'
186. Perrenial Gardener
187. Philip
188. Photo Cache
189. Pittsgrove Farms
190. Poetic Shutterbug
191. Rainfield61
192. RainGardener
193. Rajesh CTR
194. Randi
195. Re
196. Rebecca Sweet
197. Red Studio
198. Roses & Lilacs
199. Rosey Pollen
200. Sandee
201. Sandy Carlson
202. Sandy W
203. Shadowy Steeds
204. Sharkbytes
205. Sharodindu
206. Simon Eade
207. Smiling Sally
208. Snowcatcher
209. Spotofgardening
210. Stephanie
211. Stopwatch Gardener
212. Sue
213. Sue Swift
214. Sujata
215. Sukhmandir Kaur
216. Sunny
217. Susan at Stone River
218. Sweet Bay
219. Sylvana
220. Sylvia K
221. Tabib
222. Tammie Lee
223. Tatianak
224. Tatyana
225. Teresa
226. Terra
227. Tes
228. The Explorer
229. TheUrbanFieldGuide
230. Thoughtfully Blended Hearts
231. Tootsie
232. Town Mouse
233. Urban Green
234. Villager
235. Vilt og vakkert
236. Vincent
237. VP
238. Vrtlarica
239. Wacky Mummy
240. Wendy
241. Wise Acre
242. Xinex
243. Yan

This looks like a list of names for baby boys and girls!

Hopefully, I didn't miss out anyone.

Choose your toy. Santa Claus is coming to town!

I wish to be thankful for all the little things in life that means a lot.

If I have wrote something inappropriate or hurt anyone in the process, please accept my sincere apologies:

I AM SORRY I WAS WRONG! A gazillion apologies.

To those who came into my life and inspired me,

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR KINDNESS!



Now this is my award to you,

A

Wonderful

And

Refreshing

Day


21 comments:

  1. Holy smokes girl! How am I supposed to compete with this? LOL
    Great fantastic post! I can see why it took you some time to put together. I am very humbled by your graciousness. This was such a wonderful and thoughtful post by you and perhaps should be considered a standard for gracious blogging.
    Now if you will excuse me. I have to go polish up my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Autumn Belle,


    Since you mentioned it, I think you need a (((Hug)))

    Did you get the snow working? I still don't see it?

    You are a sweet person and I have learned so much from you! thanks for all you do. You truly rock! And that is american for you are amazing.


    Rosey

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy awards to you and hooray for your snow, Autumn Belle! You must have worked so long on this post, we want to give you a hug too! {{{U}}}

    Frances

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! I've long admired Autumn Belle's posts and am so honored to have this particular one dedicated to me. Hugs to you for the honor (it's cold here, I'm not all sweaty or anything).

    Love the list of aliases. I'll know where to look for the name for my next pet. You're honored again by so many blog friends who visit.

    Fun post, thank you again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. this was so interesting! I have still not yet figured out what allotment is too! ha ha. I think it's basically a community garden??

    Sounds like you've learned a lot from us just as we've learned tons from you!

    The pickle ornament originates from a European country I believe (Poland or Germany??). Supposedly the person who finds it gets good luck all year.

    I love your blog and it's so nice to get to know you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey Autumn Belle,
    I am enjoying this post. I have learn many things from your past posts. Congrats on the awards. Your list of commenters is admirable and I am honoured to be listed. Like you I have never seen snow, I even wanted to learn to ice skate and ski a few years ago. I hope to get the Christmas spirit soon when I see my kitchen almost finished. Hugs to you (((O)))).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Autumn Belle. I am trully amazed at the long list of names! You are trully honored by these visitors and permanent residents in your blogsite, like me. To reply to all 243 of us means an awesome patience and dedication (as you implied earlier, good blogging ethiquet), and lots of time. Honestly, i will not be able to do the same, in my condition now. I laughed aloud also in your list of honest confessions! I can relate to some of them being also from a tropical country, e.g. snow, apple tree, maple leaf, etc, etc. I am now inspired again to blog about these things, when and where i found them the first time. Maybe because i dont have much time, my creativity for blogging is less and you, Autumn Belle, really inspire and put some other sense into my head, hehe. Thank you very much. I will blog about these ASAP!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Autumnbelle - I will be back. There is a lot to read here, and links I need to follow up. Back up my blog??!! Tx for the kind comments. Diana

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Autumn Belle, I LOVE your virtual snow! I've always admired how technically polished your blog is. I am very honored for an award from you - thank you so much. And for you and the other commenter wondering what an allotment is really all about - take a look at my very first post, if you like: http://gardeningingermany.blogspot.com/2009/09/looking-for-garden-how-it-began.html. All the best to you - and definitely (((hug))). Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  10. Autumn Belle, well deserved my friend! I love visiting here and learning about your native plants and oogle over all the pictures. I enjoy posts that allow me to 'learn' a little bit more about my wonderful blogging friends ;) I wish I could send you some snow!!
    Thanks for the shout-out and I'll take the penguin on the second shelf ;)
    Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Autumn Belle,
    Congratulations on your awards! I am really happy to make friends with you thru our blogs! I enjoy reading your blog much. Please keep it up :)

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy awards. And it is very chilly out there on your blog. Snow is working wonders. Keep doing your wonderful posts.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Autumn Belle, what a great post! Warm congratulations to you on the awards! Your blog deserves them! You are an honest blogger and a very good, sincere and passionate commenter. Thank you for including me in your list!

    ReplyDelete
  14. LeSan, thank you very much for your kind words. I’m glad I didn’t let you down.

    Rosey, thank you for the hug. The snow was marvelous. I have immediately put it in my city photo blog because the background was black. It was very nice. For this pale background, I was still fumbling with the correct colour to match. You always delight me with your encouraging words and comments, I think you truly rock too! Yes! I like learning modern American slang. It’s cool.

    Frances, thank you for your kind and encouraging words and warm hug. Actually I used my time to do this ‘homework’, so I haven’t visited everyone back to make comments.

    Nell Jean, that was very sweet of you.

    Wendy, I wish that you will find many pickle ornaments this Christmas.

    Helen, I wish that your nice kitchen will be completed soon. This is such an important place in the house. I can imagine what you will delicious dinners you will cook and serve there.

    Andrea, I am still trying my very best to follow Frances’ footsteps to have good blogging etiquette. I am finding it hard to return back all the visits too.

    Diana, Sandy and Khabbab. Thanks for your visit and encouraging words.

    Barbara, thank you very much for your kind words. I’ll definitely check your post about allotment.

    Lynn, pictures about snow in your place will be fine too. Penguin will be reserved for you.

    Tatyana, I am glad to receive your blessings despite copying from you. Thank you so much.

    Today, I received many many hugs. So now I am sending back (((hugs))), (((hugs))), ((((((((hugs))))))))))))). Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  15. You have a bucketful of award.

    You have a bucketful of reader.

    They are part of your award.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you...thank you.... thank you for all the effort you put into this post. Most impressive :-)

    Congratulations on your awardSS, Autumn Belle,
    here's yet another virtual hug,
    Alice
    p.s.
    how do you back up your blog?
    By saving the posts in your email? Please let me know.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I like those soft toys in your pics. They are lovely! Giving and sharing would really make this festive season merrier. Have a great week Autumnbelle!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thank you Autumn Belle for dropping by and for mentioning the name of the flower,much appreciated and congratulations for the award!

    have a pleasant day and a blessed Christmas (hope not early to wish you ... hehe..)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hello Autumn Belle,

    What a very gracious post. It has been a pleasure reading your blog the past few months. I enjoy the beautiful plants that you can grow and am always excited when I see something on your blog that we grow here in the desert as well.

    As for right now, I am getting ready to start my day....it is beautiful and refreshing since the rain has left.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Rainfield, Alice, Stephanie, Noelle. Thank you very much for your uplifting messages.

    Alice, I hope you have received my messaged to you via blotanical. Otherwise, remember to follow my link to Jacq's blogger tips. The step-by-step details are very easy to follow.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Belle,
    Sorry for the late comment. (better late than never)
    Wow - you managed to get 243 names and you can identify each of them individually - that is so great!!

    I wish you would receive more awards & favours and that you have a wonderful Christmas & a Blessed New Year!

    ReplyDelete

Words are like the voice of the heart... Confucius

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