1. Where do most visits to your blog come from?
   Most come from the United States and Canada but we also have visitors from the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia.
2. What is your favourite sport or exercise?
   I love to go for long walks with my dogs, that is my preferred exercise for my mind and body.  As a fan, my favorite sport to watch is my son playing college lacrosse but I also love college football (the band adds so much spirit) and baseball.  The Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs are the two teams that I follow. (Really hoping this is the year for the Cubs in the World Series!)
3. What has been a special moment for you so far in 2016?
   We adopted Annie in January and it’s been a long road to recovery.  She has been doing so well that we recently went to see her foster family and she had a wonderful visit with them.  She was confident, relaxed and happy to see them all.  She flopped down with each of their dogs like no time had passed at all and then happily jumped into our car when it was time to go home.  It was a big moment that we all enjoyed.
4. What is your favourite quote?
   It’s hard to choose but I recently found this one:  Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog.
   —Sidney Jeanne Seward
5. What was your favourite class when still at school?
   British Literature, I just love all of those classic stories.
6. Anything you had wished to have learned earlier?
   I wish I had focused on historic preservation and architecture when I was in school,  I have slowly figured it out with trial and error and lots of independent reading as we have renovated our old houses.
7. What musical instrument have you tried to play?
   I’m more of a listener than a performer.  I learned to play the clarinet in grade school but figured out pretty quickly that I preferred other people’s musical talents over my own.

I would like to nominate the following bloggers:

My Brown Newfies:  I have read this blog for years, long before I started my own.  She was one of my inspirations that maybe I could do this too.  You don’t have to be a Newfie owner or even a dog owner to appreciate her humorous and informative posts.

de Wets Wild:  I have always wanted to go to Africa and they post the most amazing and beautiful pictures of wild animals and their surroundings in South Africa.

The Swirling Dervish: We are big wine drinkers in our house and she writes about wine and regions all over the world.  It’s always interesting to read about what she is highlighting.

Under new management: A couple raising their kids while renovating their old house.  My husband and I have done this for years, and we are close to finishing so it’s fun for me to relive all the chaos, frustration and satisfaction of living in a renovation.

Harley, a puppy mill survivor:  The message is so important and they are highlighting and doing good work with efforts to end puppy mills.  The majority of puppy mill dogs are small and live their lives in filthy, small cages producing puppies for pet stores and on-line purchases. Harley’s story is an inspiration.

It’s crucial to raise awareness to this cause and  I have written Annie’s story so that people hopefully can understand what these dogs go through.  Whether the dogs are big or small, their fears and behaviors are similar. Like Harley, Annie lived in deplorable conditions with basically no health care and limited human contact and she is just now, at the end of her life, figuring out what it means to have a family to call her own.

If you choose not to accept this award, I understand.  I just want you to know that I appreciate your blogs and always look forward to new posts in my feed!