What a nice surprise to be nominated by Thistles and Kiwis for a Sunshine blogger award! This is awarded from blogger to blogger as a way to meet some new bloggers and acknowledge the blogs we enjoy reading.

Here are the rules: 

• Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you.
• Answer the 11 questions the blogger gave to you.
• Nominate at least 5, but no more than 11 bloggers who deserve the award.
• Tell those bloggers you nominated them!
• Create 11 original questions for the nominees to answer.
• Include the rules and Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your blog.

Questions I was asked to answer:

1   What is your favourite cookbook?

If I have to bake something for a party or birthday I turn to Mary Berry’s cookbook as the recipes are reliable and turn out well. Linda McCartney’s cookbook also has some great vegetarian recipes.

2   Summer or winter?

Definitely summer. As much as I love snow, I always look forward to days of blue skies and warm sunshine.

3   What was the last film you saw?

At Berlinale (the Berlin film festival) I watched “Maudie’, about the Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis, who suffered her whole life from rheumatoid arthritis.

4   Did you enjoy it?

Yes, it was a very good movie and I liked Maudie’s cheerful art. If I’m ever in Canada I’ll be sure to go and look for her paintings in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

5   What is your favourite cheese?

I love cheese. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but probably just a classic mature Cheddar or smoked cheese (there are some Czech and German varieties).

6   Where have you always wanted to travel to?

There are many places on my wishlist, but two places I’ve wanted to visit for ages are Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe/Zambia) and the Drakensberg mountains (South Africa).

7   Dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate?

All chocolate 🙂 But especially dark chocolate and milk chocolate.

8   What do you usually eat for lunch?

Either a meal from our work cafeteria (they have various hot meal options), a sandwich or a panini from the café down the road from my office.

9   If you could meet just one person from history, who would it be?

There’s lots of of people I’d like to meet, so on the spur of the moment I’ll pick Julius Caesar. After studying Latin for so many years and reading a lot of historical novels, I’d be curious to find out which of the many depictions of him is most correct.

10  Toast or cereal to start the day?

Normally I rush too much to eat breakfast, but if I’m at a hotel I normally head for the muesli. I used to eat oat porridge for breakfast as it was the one thing that kept me full till lunchtime.

11   What do you like blogging about most of all?

I like the fact that one day I can read back on the trips I took and remember details I might have otherwise forgotten. Also, when I started blogging I discovered a lot of interesting blogs to read!

Now to the people I nominate: I tried to pick blogs I enjoy reading and who might also like to take part in the challenge, but if you don’t feel like it there’s no pressure 😉

The Rachael Way

The Sunny side of this

A New Life Wandering

This is another story

Springhill Stories

The Beauty along the road

Dear nominees: if you would like to participate, the questions for you are:

1 When and why did you decide to start blogging?

2 Which places would you most like to travel to?

3 Which is your favourite out of the blog posts you’ve written? (include a link)

4 What book did you most enjoy reading in the last few months?

5 What time of day do you normally work on your blog?

6 What is your favourite recipe?

7 What is one of your favourite photos?

8 Name some blogs you enjoy reading

9 What is the next trip you plan to take?

10 What is your goal or wish for 2017?

11 What’s the most amazing thing you’ve seen while travelling?

Have fun and thank you all for your great blogs 🙂