It's Award season . . . move aside, Oscar.

Both Pauline at Little House on the Hill and Derrith at Tied up in Ribbon have very kindly nominated my little blog for a Liebster Award*  

Thank you both.

I'm supposed to list 11 random things about myself and then answer the questions posed, but that would make this a very long post and I fear, one that may not be interesting enough to hold your attention all the way to the end, so I've decided to combine everything and answer a selection of the questions as random facts. 

{Have I lost you already ?}

Ok, so here goes (be warned, they are indeed random) :

1.  Elephants are my favourite animal.  I've had the delightful experience of being up close with them in the wild and have the utmost respect for them. They are just lovely.

Mabula Game Reserve, South Africa - 2003

2.  I like tomato soup, tomato sauce (ketchup) and tomato bredie, but I don't like tomatoes.  Go figure.

3.  I do however LOVE bananas. Anything with bananas. Especially a split, with oodles of ice cream, chocolate sauce and nuts. YUM.

4.  I cannot resist dots, stripes, gingham checks and hearts. 

5.  I love to travel. I've been to every continent in the world {except Antartica} My favourite places {so far} are Cape Town in SA, Hoi-An in Vietnam, Mackinac Island in Michigan, USA and Santorini, Greece. 

Santorini, Greece - 2012

6.  I should probably at this stage mention that the reason I've been privileged to travel the world is that I spent many happy years in the travel industry working for Air France.  I'm now a SAH(P)M but I still love to travel . . . Thankfully, the Hubby does too, and we have an excellent puppysitter ;-)

the Air France days - that's me, 2nd from left... a few years ago !

7. I was born in bonnie Scotland, raised, schooled & lived in sunny South Africa and currently ensconced in the beautiful midlands of England.  I speak with both a Scottish accent and a South African accent :  I switch mid-sentence (without missing a syllable) from one to the other, depending on where I am or who I'm speaking to. My family & friends can verify this. It's weird, I know, but c'est la vie . . .

8. I love tulips. Lots of them. 

9.  I live with my lovely Hubby and our two most-adorable-pups-in-the-world, called Ben & Jerry - after our favourite choc fudge brownie ice-cream. Despite their names, they are both girls {sisters}, but they don't seem to mind.

10.  According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I'm an Extrovert. 

11.  That said, I can often be found curled up on the sofa, quietly, engrossed in a book and quite happy with my own company.  Although if truth be told, I'd probably rather be having tea & a natter with company ;-)

Right, now to pass on the Liebster to another 11 bloggers.  It's not easy to only choose just a few of all the great blogs that I read, but I know that some of you have already received a (well-deserved) Liebster Award previously, so I'm hoping that for these 11, it's something new & exciting.  If you haven't already discovered their lovely blogs, please do pop by for a wee peek.

So, in no particular order, I'd like to nominate:

Sarah at Chantille Fleur

Anne at My Blethering Blog

Holly at Damita's Pretty Wrap

Anne at Frayed at the Edge

Hazel at Hazel's Crochet

Gracie at One Saylor's Log

Shelley at All4MeggyMoo

Carol at Naturally Carol

Julie at Mack & Mabel

Lee-Anne at Craftyfatcat

Kate at Granny Taught Me To Crochet

Phew . . . this is turning into a rather long post - so apropos my random facts above, here are my 11 questions to you:

1. What's your favourite animal ?

2. Sweet stuff or savoury ?

3. Where in the world is the best place you've been to ?

4. Do you still live in your country of birth ?

5. Which of your hobbies/crafts/talents is your favourite ?

6. Hot & sunny or cold & snowy ?

7. Dogs or cats ?

8. What simple things make you happy ?

9. Town, country or by the seaside ?

10. The book or the movie ?

11. Are you an Adventurer or a Homebody ?

Right, that's {more than} enough about me - over to you.

Have a happy weekend,

  xoxo

*  To receive the award your blog must have less than 300 followers or be less than 6 months old. If you are honoured with the award you then write a post including the following things.

• List 11 random things about yourself
• 11 questions posted by the the blogger who presented the award to you
• Present the award to 11 bloggers
• Create 11 questions for them to answer.