What a thrill it was to learn of my nomination for Blog of the Year 2012, particularly as the nomination came from a blogger I greatly admire, Pauline Cass. Pauline has been a great supporter of Western District Families, often leaving positive and encouraging comments. In fact, she is second only to my other wonderful commenter Ann in the number of comments she has posted. Pauline is also something of a mentor as she is one of the geneabloggers that shows me how its done.
On her blog, Pauline wrote my nomination was “ for…commitment to documenting the pioneers from the western districts of Victoria, Australia, not just her own families” and I am grateful for that recognition. When I dreamt up this blog it was to be entitled “My Western District Families”, hence the URL, however I thought that was too narrow, considering the many other interesting Western District families with fascinating stories to tell. It has been great to hear from readers, not related to me, who have found a reference to their ancestor on my blog.
Since the latter half of 2012 I have been extremely time poor and I have unfortunately had to curtail my blog reading, but there are several blogs I read when I do get a moment. I have narrowed those down to three blogs that I would like to nominate for Blog of the Year 2012:
FAMILY HISTORY 4 YOU – Sharn White – Sharn’s blog is quality. She is an excellent researcher and her posts are informative and thought-provoking.
GENIAUS – Jill Ball – Like Pauline, Jill has been a great mentor to myself and other Australian geneabloggers. She travelled a lot in 2012 and there were times I missed her daily presence in my life via her blog and social media, but she is back for now and for that I am glad. Whether it be a review, a family story or a geneameme, Jill inspires so many of us.
GOULD GENEALOGY & HISTORY NEWS – Gould Genealogy – When time is short, the Gould Genealogy blog, which I have on a RSS feed, keeps me updated with the latest in the genealogy world. In 2012 there was also the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge which kept me and many others inspired, writing or reading some of the great contributions.
THE RULES
1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award
2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.
3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/ and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)
4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them
5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience
6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…
Western District Families 
Congratulations Merron!!! … You may have missed it but, just prior to Pauleen’s comment, I also nominated you for this same award. This means you are now entitled to two stars on the award. If you go to the “thought pallet blog” (rule 3) you can read about this. So… it’s double congratulations and well deserved 🙂 Cheerio, Catherine
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Wow Catherine I didn’t know…sorry. Thank you so much. I’m just checking now and yes I did miss it and the comment before that so sorry again. I will post something tomorrow.
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No worries… enjoy!!!
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Well deserved. I enjoy reading your blog too – as a ‘displaced’ Wimmera girl (now in Sydney) and with Western District ancestors, it gives me a little touch of ‘home’.
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Thank you so much Jackie. I’m glad I am able to take you back to Western Victoria.
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a well-deserved nomination, congratulations. Your research detail is impressive with every post, and I would comment more if I could think of one with more depth than “that was terrific”, which is what I always think after reading (and I do read them all, except for skimming over anything about fires or animals having a bad time).
There is a Eugene von Guerard painting c.1845 of a huge flash fire which swept across the WD, possibly near Jos Ware’s MINJAH. It’s difficult to study and admire though.
best regards and good luck from me
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Thank you Ann you are far to kind. I appreciate every one of your well informed comments. I have seen the von Guerard painting of fire near Mt Elephant which has amazing colours. Is that the one?
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Congrats Merron … your ‘two stars’ are well deserved. And thank you for the kind words you have said about our Gould Genealogy blog. It’s always good to know that someone reads it ;-).
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Thank you GG. Keep up the good work!
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Congratulations Merron, I was very pleased to nominate you for your “outreach” work in the WD genealogy world. Good nominations too.
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Thank you very much Pauline.
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Thank you also for your kind and generous comments -much appreciated 🙂
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It’s my pleasure.
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Well done Merron, I always enjoy reading your blogs, even if I sometimes have to skim. Always impressed by how you find the time to do all the research!
Best wishes
Chris
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Thank you Chris. I wonder where I get the time too. Lots of late nights and coffee I think, but it’s all worth it.
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