Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to learn my blog has been nominated for the Liebster Award, by Alessia and Fabrizio, the authors of a lovely blog I’ve been recently following, Maple&Saffron.

Thank you, Alessia and Fabrizio!  I recommend for my readers to check out this wonderful cooking and travel blog, by a couple who have immigrated to Canada from a country I adore, Italy.

Here are the rules for this award:

• When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you.
• Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (make sure you tell them you nominated them!) and ask them 11 questions.
• You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated you!
• Make sure the blogs you choose have 200 or less followers  ( I did the best I could with this, but sorry, I might’ve cheated on some).

Okay, time to get down to business. Here are my random facts:

1. I have the worst handwriting of anybody I know. Good thing I can type well.
2. I am eight months younger than my husband.
3. I have one older brother and one younger sister. And you know what they say about the middle child.
4. Being in nature calms my spirit.
5. I have a cat figurine collection.
6. There is a sandy beach 25 yards from our front door.
7. I like a good joke and a thoughtful quote, some of the reasons I still use Facebook.
8. I feel more comfortable in small groups, or just one on one conversation.
9. I can’t imagine a life without pets.
10. I worked in a bank for about 15 years.
11. I consider my daughter and my son my most significant contributions to this world.

Maple&Saffron ask:

1. If you were to leave for a trip in 5 minutes, what are the 3 things you’d take with you?  An easy one, if we are talking living things and a long trip: my husband and our two cats. If not, my iPad, straightening iron, and camera.
2. What instrument have you ever wanted to learn to play?  The piano. The guitar is a close second (tried three times but never stuck with it ).
3. Which recipe do you really love cooking?  Not exactly a single recipe, but a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
4. What’s your favourite song when you’re travelling?  Hmm..only one? That’s hard. Life Is A Highway? 🙂
5. You’ve just landed in Italy: what’s the first dish you wish to taste?  Any kind of pasta! Or maybe margherita pizza..
6. Mountains, hilltops or beaches: where would you go on vacation?  Anywhere is fine with me if the weather is nice, and it’s not too crowded
7. What’s the best thing about your country?  Lots of open spaces and open minds
8. How do you like spending your day off?  Getting outdoors for a walk or a hike, or sitting on our deck in the summer
9. What’s your favourite world cuisine?   Italian
10. If you could only save one of your books, which one would you choose? One of my poetry anthologies
11. What role/part would you like to play in a movie?  Another tough one, but I went with Ripley in Alien. 

Here are my nominations, lovely blogs on some of my favourite topics. For those of you nominated who don’t do awards or don’t have time to participate, please know that I understand. For those who do, thank you for participating. Your questions to answer are after the nominations list.

Nature is my Therapy

One More Day

trifles

Welcome to my Mind, Pull up a Chair

Kurt Rees poetry

bliss in images 

lindatownsdin

Cauldrons and Cupcakes

Almost Spring

talktodiana

onewildword

1.   What is your favourite book genre to read?
2.   How long have you been blogging and what made you start?
3.    Name your favourite meal.
4.   If you could go anywhere in the world on your next vacation, where would you go?
5.   What is your most prized possession?
6.    What is your favourite way to relax?
7.   If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
8.    Which do you prefer: music, TV, or theatre?
9.   What movie did you see in the past year that you liked?
10.  Who is the most important person in your life?
11.  What are you most passionate about in life?