The Sunshine Blogger Award for Is This Mutton!

Sharing a few sunshine-y images from Skiathos last year to go with the fact that I was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by the lovely Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper. (I also enjoy her Other Blog which covers the weighty topic of Brexit among others!).

The award is given from bloggers to fellow bloggers who inspire creativity and positivity by bringing sunshine to the blogging community and to their readership alike. It is a way of encouraging one another as in saying ‘Hey, you are doing a great job and we can see it. Keep it up!!"

Penny nominated four bloggers and posed eight questions. So here goes!

Why did you begin blogging?

I started way back in 2006 with my other blog  because I was looking for a creative outlet. I've spent 22 years now in the hi-tech world of semiconductors, covering PCs / servers / embedded devices, and I yearned to write about topics like gardening, the arts and politics. I originally trained as a journalist so I've always enjoyed writing.

Is This Mutton? started in 2013 but quickly ran out of steam. I revived it in 2016 as a project to help me keep my hand in, as a digital marketer, when I was looking for a new job.

Has your blog changed since you started it?

Definitely - initially I posted just outfits, and the images were low-res. Here's an example from 2013. My hair is a different colour but the garden still looks the same!

I didn't really have much of a sense of my own style. My confidence has grown in the last three years and I experiment a lot more, plus my images are high res! I also put a lot more effort into promoting the blog with paid promotions occasionally and careful use of SEO and Pinterest. It's hard to find an audience because women over 50 don't generally seek out blogs, unlike the millennial age group. Even my female family members of the same age think my blog is a useless hobby and don't read it!

Blogging is time-consuming – what are the challenges you face in finding the time?

I work full-time, so I operate to a fairly strict schedule. I usually publish twice a week, Sundays and Wednesdays. I take the photos at the weekend and write the posts on Sunday, scheduling the post for Wednesday which includes the #WowOnWednesday link up. I try to have a couple of spare posts in reserve in case I'm away. If I'm going on holiday, I'll write something in advance. On Wednesdays I get to work early so that I have half an hour to promote the new post on my social channels.

When do you write a post – the morning or the evening?

Always in the morning or afternoon - never in the evening.

What is your favourite topic?

That's a tough one.  I cover my two favourite topics, beauty and fashion! Beauty posts sometimes take longer because I might take before and after pictures, and photos of the products.
I love writing about jewellery too but I've exhausted all the world's birthstones, except for a couple of gems and a new series (pending) about the precious metals.

What’s the thing you love most about blogging?

The over-40s blogging community is lovely, so supportive, from all over the world. Everyone is so positive about each other's posts. I would love to meet them all!

What’s the thing you like least?

You do worry if anyone is reading! A lot of the comments are from fellow bloggers, which is lovely, but it feels very special to have comments from non-bloggers who have taken the trouble to visit and read a post.  I think we all beat ourselves up about our numbers not increasing as much as we would like. I'm philosophical about it - as I said earlier, our target audience is not huge. As long as I'm enjoying it, that's the main thing.

Where do you see yourself and your blog in five years time?

I'll be retired by then and I hope Is This Mutton? (and me!) will still be going strong.  We're all getting older and hopefully the readers will still be interested in seeing an ordinary woman,  by then over the age of 60, adopting ridiculous poses in the garden and trying to get miracles from face creams.

Now for my nominations!

Mary from Guernsey and her blog The Pouting Pensioner

Irish blogger Hilda for Over The Hilda

Leslie from the US with Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After

Anna from Mutton Style

The Questions for my Four Nominees

What's the blog post you're most proud of?

How do you get the ideas for your posts?

Where are your favourite places in the sunshine?

Tell us an unexpected fact about yourself

What's your favourite social media site and why?

Do you keep yourself on a budget for clothes for your blog?

How proactive are you in trying to build collaborations with brands, if at all?

What does your family think about your blogging habit?

The rules for this award are as follows:

Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog.

Answer the questions given by the person who nominated you.

Nominate other blogs and give questions for them to answer.

Notify your nominees through social media or by commenting on their blog.

List the rules and display a Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post.

Thanks again Penny, it was fun answering the questions! Look forward to reading my nominees' replies. Sharing this post with: #MuttonStyleMonday at Mutton Style, Creative Wednesdays at Claire Justine, Anything Goes at My Random Musings and #ShareAllLinkUp at Not Dressed as Lamb.

I'll be back tomorrow with Sentence a Day for February.

For More Mutton

Stay in the loop: follow Is This Mutton? on Bloglovin or Feedspot. I post extra goodies (handbags and shoes) on the Is This Mutton? Facebook page. Check out the Is This Mutton? Pinterest boards, including boards on other bloggers in fab outfits plus beauty, jewellery, hairstyles and fashion picks. Is This Mutton? is also on Twitter.