Friendship Friday Blog Hop 501

Friendship Friday

Welcome to Friendship Friday!

Welcome to Friendship Friday at Create With Joy – a week long blog party where we invite you to:

  • Share what’s unique about your blog and spotlight your favorite features!
  • Link your favorite posts, projects, giveaways and blog parties.
  • Chat with us in the comments – we’d love to get to know you!

You may share as many features as you like! Please include the Friendship Friday button on your blog and a link back to our site so that your readers can find us and join the fun!

(To grab the Friendship Friday button, simply right-click on the button – save it to your computer – then upload it on your post and link it back to our site.)

Friendship Friday is the place to make new friends, to grow rich relationships, to explore new blogs, and to expand your social networks! Who will you meet this week? Whoever it is, have fun connecting with one another – building friendships is what this community is all about!

Thank You For Celebrating Our 500th Party With Us!

Thank You

Last week, if you were with us, you know that we celebrated a blogging milestone with the publication of our 500th Friendship Friday post. Thanks to all of you who left such nice comments and helped make the occasion so special. It was quite an emotional week for me!

If you haven’t had a chance to visit and link up, please do so – the party is live for another week!

Meet Our Friend Of The Week –

Maria - Trowel And Seed

If you were born and raised on a Caribbean island and moved to the United States later in life, where would you live? The first thing that comes to mind is a warm weather state where sun and surf are a natural part of the landscape, but not Maria. This Caribbean city dweller fell in love with a Midwestern crop farmer and is now an integral part of a close-knit Minnesota community where farming and gardening fills her days!

If you’re intrigued by Maria’s story so far, then you are going to love Trowel And Seed, the blog where Maria captures all of her state-side adventures!

Dahlias by Maria

Exploring Maria’s blog is a fun and revelatory experience. The more you read, the more respect you’ll have for this real Renaissance woman who is so full of surprises and depth.

Maria is a Master Gardner, so reading about her experiences growing dahlias and looking at the incredible dahlias she grew this October was pure joy! However, you might be surprised to learn that Maria formerly served in the US Army… that she lost all of her possessions in a fire during her final military move… and the reason why the vase that survived the fire is particularly significant to her.

Cardamom Custard Fig Tart

You might also be surprised to learn that Maria is a masterful chef and baker! This year, she’s been blessed by an abundance of figs, and she’s been using them in every possible recipe and form she can find! For October, a month of transition, she created an incredible Cardamom Custard Fig Tart that looks so artistic, it’s almost too beautiful too eat! But, preserve the beauty of this dessert in with a few photos and enjoy the luscious, bright tastes of the season!

Maria's Dog - Hello Autumn

Finally, whether you enjoy faith-filled essays or personal stories about daily living, Maria has plenty of wonderful stories and lovely photos to share with you on her blog!

Making new friends and deepening existing relationships is a joy. Be sure to visit Maria this week, explore her blog, leave her some comment love, and congratulate her for being our Friend Of The Week at Friendship Friday at Create With Joy!

Click The Join The Party Button To Link Up!

Friendship Friday is open for your viewing and linking pleasure all week. Be sure to say hello and introduce us to yourselves and your blog in the comments!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


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24 Responses to “Friendship Friday Blog Hop 501”

Read below or add a comment...

  1. Angie says:

    Oh wow! Thank you for much for featuring my little blog! And I love how you really captured my “essence.” 🙂 By the way, the doggie’s name is Riley. 🙂 Thank you so much again!

    • Congrats Maria (aka Angie) for being our Featured Friend of the Week and thanks for introducing us to adorable Riley!
      I truly enjoyed learning so much about you today and I’m sure our community will too! 🙂

  2. Brian Frum says:

    Maria has so many good things going on and such a cute pup. I think I’d rather live in the Caribbean somewhere these days. Thanks for joining our Thankful Thrusday Blog Hop!

  3. Ellen+Pilch says:

    Such beautiful dahlias. Thank you for hosting. Have a nice weekend.

  4. Lee Good says:

    What a lovely blog Maria has, I especially love her images and that fig tart looks delicious to me. Thanks Joy for hosting the longest standing link up around with so many contributors. So pleased I finally worked out how to link up again, with you and your husbands help… just needed to be in a different browser. For some reason Chrome would not show the ‘Add Link’ button.

  5. Hi
    I am shami who blogs at shamiatcraft.

    I create embroidery stitch tutorials and simple designs to practice those stitches. Your link party is a good platform for me to showcase my works. Thanks for hosting it.

  6. Thanks for sharing this fascinating friend!

  7. Amy Johnson says:

    Wow! Maria’s dahlias look incredible. I can’t even imagine leaving a Caribbean Island for Minnesota though. That must have been a tough transition.

  8. Congrats on your 500th post. Thanks for hosting and have a wonderful weekend!

  9. Joanne says:

    Oh wow; look at those flowers! That must have been some adjustment going from the Caribbean to the midwest! Brr.

  10. Congratulations Angie – I enjoyed your story!! And Create with Joy – thanks for hosting the party every single week. I so appreciate the time you spend to make it happen for us. I’m wondering, what is your criteria for being featured? Been joining for a couple years. In any case,, thank you so much!! Have a wonderful weekend.

    • Hi Helen,
      I’m so glad you’re a part of our community! Congrats for being our Friend of the Week at Friendship Friday #240!

      Picking a Friend of the Week is actually a more challenging and time consuming process than you might realize! Each week I go through well over 100 thumbnails, narrowing down choices based on a range of factors including visual appeal, title/topic, seasonal/holiday appeal and theme. (Note: Visual appeal is VERY important at this stage. The best way to improve your odds of getting clicked on is to post a good quality photo!)

      Then I narrow down themes by rotation. I try to feature a variety of blogs on a rotating basis so that everyone in our community will have the opportunity to meet bloggers that interest them.
      I also try to feature new bloggers and seasoned bloggers; bloggers who are celebrating special occasions and milestones; etc.

      When I have narrowed my choices down to a few candidates, I do a deep dive into the person’s blog and social media to get a better feel for who they are and what they do. No one knows in advance that they are being featured – I do my best to discover what’s unique about each person I feature, to learn what they’re passionate about, and to spotlight them in the best possible way.

      I hope that helps!

  11. April Harris says:

    I always enjoy Maria’s blog posts and it is so nice to see her featured here! Thank you for hosting the party, Ramona. Have a lovely weekend!

  12. Thank you for hosting – and congrats on over 500 parties! Great spotlight on Angie – those are some serious dahlias! I could learn some tips from her blogs to transform for my less-than-impressive flower garden into something I could be more proud of!

  13. meowmeowmans says:

    Maria sounds like such a neat lady! We will definitely check out her blog, so thank you for sharing with us, Ramona.

    Hugs to you, dear friend. Thank you for hosting! 🙂

  14. Marjorie at Dash Kitten says:

    Oh wow. We had dahlias when we were small and I have never forgotten their impact on me. They were beautiful!

    Happy Sunday selfie.

  15. Lydia C. Lee says:

    Congratulations on 500! That’s a long time and a lot of dedication!

  16. So very nice. Thanks for spotlighting her.

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