My First Blog Award!

I don't know if that's exciting or not.  Flattering it is though!

So, one of my new readers (Angela from Northern Hills) nominated me for a Liebster Award.

The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

Isn`t that sweet?  Getting nominated is not just an honour.  It's a lot of work too!  I'll list the rules at the bottom of the page, but it reminds me a bit of a chain letter.  If everyone follows the rules, all lesser-known bloggers will be nominated eventually.  I'll play along as well as I can though.

The first thing I have to do is answer Angela's 11 questions.

1-  What is your favorite hobby?
Most definitely it is reading.  There are not enough hours in the day to read everything on my lists.

2- What is your favorite vacation spot?
Tough one.  I'd love to go back to Port Fairy in Australia though.  

3_ Your favorite author?
There are WAY too many to choose.  I've read a lot of Jodi Picoult lately.  It's easy to get really involved in her novels.  Not too deep, not to slow, not over too quickly.

4_ Is there a movie you have seen recently that you just loved it?
Last night I watched "Romantics Anonymous" which was very cute.  It's a subtitled French movie.

5- What moves you?
People who cry.  Unfortunately it moves me to tears too.

6-What is your favorite scent?
As in perfume?  I prefer none at all.  But if you could capture the smell of peonies I might make my house smell that way.

7- What do you usually do on the weekends or day off ?
I like to sleep in, but usually the kids have to be somewhere and I have to get them there.  On Sundays I love to get together with friends over a meal and a game of Settlers of Catan if we can.

8- What is your favorite piece of clothing?
Jeans and a soft, warm sweater, but I don't actually own a perfect sweater right now.  I really need to shop for myself one of these days.

9- Do you have a favorite song?
Maybe "Be", by Joan Townend.  I sang with her years ago and this is just a simple meaningful song that often goes through my head.

10-Do you believe in miracles?
Absolutely.

11- What personality trait do you love about your best friend?
The ability to totally open up and express her spirituality in words.



Now, I'm supposed to tag 11 bloggers I love who have fewer than 200 followers.  Here's a few I'll nominate that I follow. 

1.  Rosa at The Diary of a Middle-Aged Gardener.  My very good friend and gardener extraordinaire.  She constantly inspires me.

2.  Coralee at The Angry Turtle. In a round-about way, she's my niece and I love how she parents, and her creativity.  She has also introduced me to other good blogs, like this one:   

3.  Patty Jean at Little Quiver.  I don't know her, but she does sound so lovely in her posts, as the Liebster award says a nominee must be.  Great photos, very back-to-nature and sort of homespun. 

4.  Lonna at Apple Jack Creek.  A very honest blogger about life, and a local for me as well.  Although she talks way over my head about knitting, weaving and spinning, she does amazing things with fiber.  

5.  Tamara at The Greenhouse Diaries.  She's always up to a lot of fun gardening activities (not actually gardening, mind you) and has some inspiring photos. 

6. ikat bag.  If you ever want to make a bag (any bag, any style), check out her recent series.  I love it and hope she never takes it off-line.  I love making bags.  Oh, I just looked at her followers.  Way too many to qualify. 

7. Julie at Dinner with Julie.  I couldn't see how many followers she has and it's bound to be more than 200, but I love her blog and included it anyway.  I love the mix of good food and honesty about her life, as told with good humour and modesty. 

8. Kevin Kossowan.  He doesn't seem to have a "Follow Me" button, so I don't know what his follower numbers are.  I love how he thinks about local food (and that his local is the same as my local).  He seems to have turned his interests in foraging and food into more than just a hobby and unfortunately doesn't blog as much as I'd like.  He seems to be very busy getting on with life.


I don't really have 11 to nominate because I don't read that many small blogs (or blogs of small readership?).  I think that I'll only tell the top 5 about their nomination because the others don't really qualify.  I'll just leave them on the list for you to peruse if you're looking for reading material.

That was a lot of work because I had to catch up on some of my blog reading while I compiled this list.  And now I still have to tell them I've nominated them.  Phew!  Time for bed for me.

Thanks, Angela, for the nomination! 

The rules:
    Say 11 things about yourself.
    Answer 11 questions that the nominator gives you. 
    Nominate 11 more blogs with fewer than 200 followers.
    Let them know you've nominated them.  
    No tag-backs.  

My 11 questions for you are:
 
1-  What inspires you to be creative?

2- What is your favorite vacation spot?

3_ Your favorite author?
4_ What are the last 3 books that you read?

5_ Is there a movie you have seen recently that you just loved it?
6_How would you describe your home style?
7- What do you usually do on the weekends or day off ? 8- What would you like to learn before you turn 65?

9- Do you have a favorite song?
10-Do you believe in miracles?
11- What personality trait do you love about your best friend?