Awards, awards everywhere!

I’ve been slacking. Lots of lovely fellow bloggers have tagged me with awards and memes and I haven’t yet passed them on. I seem to have accumilated quite a few so please forgive my tardiness is spreading the love. Please bear with me as I ramble on.

Here goes:

First up is the ‘Kreativ Blogger’ award given to me by Whistlejacket over atBabyrambles. It’s a sevens meme and after racking my brains over what seven things to share I’ve plumped for my seven of my favourite holiday/daytrip destinations in the UK.

1. Windermere – I love the Lake District. There’s just something magical about it. Craggy mountains juxtaposed against calm waters. Just perfect. Before we had children we would sometimes book ourselves into a B&B for the weekend, infact our last break away before we had Big E was spent in Windermere. There’s nothing like waking up to a view of mist rising over Lake Windermere. It’s an eerily beautiful sight. I could spend days on end wandering round the shops and dining out every night in the mutlitude of eateries. I’d love to breathe in the Windermere air everyday.
2. Whitby – We often travel here in the late spring for a day trip when the beaches are less packed than the summer months. A deckchair, sandcastle building then fish, chips, mushy peas and a cup of tea followed by a walk round the quaint shops. You can’t beat the seaside.
3. Filey – Before I had children I always used to wonder why people bothered going to Filey even when I’d never been. I had such misconceptions about it, that was until recent years. The beach at Filey is excellent. Perfect for children, wide and flat, well observed by life guards. There are the usual donkey rides, a small funfair and a couple of arcades but all in all a much preferable experience to the more gaudy seaside destinations. I fully intend to holiday at Filey with the children.
4. Snowdonia – A double whammy of gorgeousness. Majestic mountains over looking Cardigan Bay. We’ve spent many a holiday in the village of Llanbedr in a beautiful holiday cottage. Llanbedr is with easy driving distance of Shell Island, Barmouth, Porthmadog & Portmeirion. The area is a train mad toddler’s dream with the Ffestiniog Railway, Snowdon Mountain Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway (which we have yet to try).
5. Haworth – Famous for being the residence of the Bronté sisters, Haworth sits on the edge of the rolling heather filled moors above Bradford and Halifax. It’s steep cobbled main street offers quirky shops, little tea rooms, sweet shops, restaurants and lots more. The village station is the home to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (which we visit often). It’s also amazing walking country. Best of all it’s local to me.
6. Salts Mill – Built by Sir Titus Salt along with the village of Saltaire, Salt’s Mill is now home of the 1853 Gallery which exhibits work by David Hockney. The huge old mill also boasts a bookshop with and excellent children’s section, two restaurants, a Home Store, an outdoor activities shop, smaller galleries, a florists, jewellery stores and more I can’t even remember! I love to spend afternoons here. We’ll have a homemade scone and a chocolate milkshake in the diner. Choose a new book or three from the book shop then wander round the rest of the mill while the children nap in the pushchair. Simple yet perfect. Another local gem.
7. Chester Zoo – If it were cheaper we’d go at least once a month. Big E cannot get enough of the place and asks to go back all the time. There’s just so much to see. One day just isn’t enough. We always try to take a packed lunch as the on site restaurants can be expensive and busy. I’m considering asking for an annual pass for Christmas!

Next I have the ‘Your blog is bloody brilliant’ award which was kindly bestowed upon me by Emily at Maternal Tales and again by Whistlejacket at Babyrambles. Thank you ladies. I think your blogs are pretty damn fine too!

Thirdly thanks to Fraught Mummy at Brits in Bosnia I have the ‘Queen of Alll Things Awe-summm’ award. Her blog is awsome too. An intersting slice of life from a foreign land. Go have a gander.

You still with me? I’ll whistle while you grab a coffee. Finished? Let’s recommence…..

The ‘I love your blog’ award and meme has been generously giv Bare Naked Mummy, Working Mum, World of a Mummy, Discontented Little Mummy and Helen at Icklebabe (who also gave me the Zombie Chicken which I had already posted). It’s another sevens meme so in the spirit of economy I shall recycle my answers above! Thanks all round.

Emma at Me, the man and the baby and Very Bored Housewife were kind enough to tag me for the ‘One Lovely Blog Award’. So from one lovely blog to two others, thank you kind ladies. Go and have a read of their blogs of you haven’t already and subscribe!

And finally, Clareybabbling tagged me again in this sevens meme which I’d already done. Thank you Clare.

Please go and have a look at all these fabulous blogs. They’re all certainly worth a read!

As for the business of passing these on, I’m going to choose ten blogs that are new to me and you can take your pick of an award you’d like from above (be it a sevens or a simple no strings award). Take two if you like! Usual rules, link back to me, do any required meme and pass it on!

The ten blogs are:

Messy Mummy
Twelve Months of Mayhem
Queen Bee and Company
Martini Mummy
Tartan Mammy
Moaning Mum
Looking for Lynda
How I like my coffee
Bad Housewife
One with, one without

So, that’s me partly done. Thanks again to all the bloggers who tagged me and don’t forget to go and have a look at their blogs too. I still have a ‘Big Screen Meme’ to do for Dan at ‘All that comes with it‘, a ‘Top Ten Film Characters’ meme from Linda Jones at ‘You’ve got our hands full‘ and a ‘Picture Perfect’ meme from Tara at ‘Sticky Fingers‘. I will get there eventually, by hook or by crook……

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This post was brought to you by the elixir that is Diet Coke. Yes, I really did post this at 3:05 am.