This is a very pretty award logo, it makes me smile and I think the title is very apt. Thank you so much to Cay at Life of Chi for the nomination. Cay is originally from Norway so English is not her mother tongue, she claims her vocabulary is limited and to be a terrible speller, but I would never have guessed she was not English. Her novel, Life of Chi is being published in short instalments on her blog Life of Chi.

In accepting the award I have to answer these questions:-

What is the weirdest food you have ever eaten?
Don’t be daft, I don’t eat weird food: I’m a vegetarian [okay, I do eat fish].

What is your biggest accomplishment?
Finishing Ignoring Gravity and planning a series of novels to follow it, all about Rose Haldane, identity detective. It’s been a long time in the planning.

What is your biggest regret?
Not taking a year out between A’levels and university to travel the world. I started travelling in my mid-20s as a journalist but, on reflection, I think I missed out. I had to wait many years to make it to The Maldives [below] but it was worth the wait.

Tell me about what you consider to be your best attribute.
Perseverance. I am pretty dogged, stubborn those closest to me may say, and work hard to achieve my goal. My worst attribute is a sister to Perseverance, it is Impatience.

Why do you blog?
I initially started blogging to improve my online profile as a writer, as opposed to a journalist. But now I blog because I can’t not blog.

What is your favourite animal?
Cat, specifically my long-gone beautiful ginger cat Gatsby.

What is your most-worn item in your closet?
Black jersey jacket by Agnes B bought 20 years ago for work, and still going strong.

What is you favourite snack?
Wasabi peas.

If you could live anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
Spain [below]. If you could do anything over what would it be and how would you do it differently?
Start writing fiction earlier in life.

Now I will nominate five other bloggers to pass this award on to. This award is meant as a gesture of appreciation for your blog, if you don’t do awards that’s fine too.

1. Include the Sunshine Award icon in your post and/or on your blog
2. Link to the blogger who nominated you
3. Answer 10 questions about yourself
4. Nominate 10 other bloggers to receive the award [10 is rather a lot, so I’ve just done 5]
5. Link to your nominees and let them know you nominated them
6. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer [I am going to forward the same questions Cay asked me]

These are my five nominees, please visit their blogs. None of them are about writing, because one of the things I love about blogging is the diversity out there.

Con Jamon Spain is written by a British couple who relocated to Órgiva in Andalucía, Spain. Their blog is a lively mixture of daily life, Spanish history, nature and local walks, combined with great photography.

The Cheergerm and the Silly Yak is a wonderful humorous blog about gluten-free food written by a wife and mother, whose husband was diagnosed as a coeliac. Her blog is full of great everyday recipes and she writes with a touch of humour which always makes me smile.

Wendy Kate at Spanish Scribbles draws beautiful sketches, mostly in pencil, of daily life and places around her in Jimena de la Frontera in Spain.

Izzwizz [below] at Travels with my Son writes an honest, uplifting blog. She says, “When I reached the age of 40 and I still didn’t have a child, I knew I had a problem. If I’m honest, for the last few years I’d wanted the child more than I’d wanted the boyfriends….. so you won’t be surprised to learn that not only was I childless but I was single too. Adopting was my salvation.”

Sometimes I don’t want to read about books, or cookery, or look at photos of fabulous beaches. I just want something different. And that’s when I read Sparkonit. I am the least technology-competent person around, but I enjoy reading this science and technology blog about lots of stuff I don’t understand. Try it!