Jocelyn at Knitting Linguist gave me an award a while ago. I think it might have been a long while ago, like maybe a long long time ago. It's not that I wasn't amazed, flattered and really really happy about it that I didn't post right away. I plead busy- busy working, knitting, reading, but mostly just living my busy life as a teacher, tutor, wife, mother, grandma. Anyway. Now I am thrilled to publicly acknowledge the award and pass it on to others.

This is the award: Jocelyn said so very nicely that she liked my photographs, especially photos of one of our common interests, Southern California, where we both live and knit.

I asked her what photos she particularly liked and she listed several. Sweet lady, she went back through old posts and told me what days I'd posted the pictures.

I scrolled back and looked at all the pictures she mentioned, and I am truly pleased and delighted that she likes so many of them. I love taking photos, sometimes cropping them to get 'just the right composition', and then sharing them here on my blog. This is just the kind of encouragement I love and need to keep me carrying my camera with me everywhere at all times and snapping those serendipitous shots and then posting my favorites. I decided I'd repost her faves, the ones I have identified as being Southern Californian in origin. Not surprisingly, the majority of them are beach themed.

Oak tree photo posted on January 26th, shot in my neighborhood's nature walk trail.

Sunset photo on January 15th, taken earlier that week in Ventura, California.

The umbrella picture on November 18th, photographed on a beach in El Segundo, California.

Rocks and ocean on October 24th, Thornhill-Broome Beach, near Pt. Mugu, between Camarillo and Malibu.
The door photo September 3rd and on September 2nd, Gardens of the World, Thousand Oaks, CA. This is California Mission architecture-stucco and wrought iron.

The carrots on August 10th, from the local Farmers Market.

The palms on July 17th. Palm trees-so very Southern Californian.

And to celebrate our love of yarn-

the yarn on spools on October 28th, Ventura County Weavers and Spinners Guild Open House.

OK. Back to the award--

The official rules are as follows:

1. Copy the award to your site.

2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.

3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.

4. Link to those on your blog.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

The other bloggers I choose (and this is the hardest part, isn't it? choosing seven from amongst so many really great bloggers) are-- Here is where I get completely, totally unable to choose. How can I choose just seven? How can I not say, I love all the blogs I visit? Every blog where I'm a regular reader attracts me for one of two (and sometimes both) reasons: great writing and great photography.

I have tried to nominate 7 bloggers, I've written names down, I've realized I just can't do it! Consider yourselves ALL tagged. If you have a blog, if you can write any words on a computer screen and make meaningful sentences from those words, well, I think that's creative and just simply amazing!