Liebster Blog awards 2016....and 10 fun questions!

I absolutely love these fun blog awards. I know that some folks don't - and that is fine. I just really like to learn more about people and their lives. Thanks so much to Liz at Eight Acres for passing on this award and task to me! Everyone knows, Liz, right? She has a farm in Australia...and cows. And adorable dogs. She also writes ebooks. She is also super duper smart and I'm lucky to know her.

Award graphic here. Done. 

The idea of the Liebster Blog Awards is to discover new blogs and here's what you need to do to take part:

• Ensure you thank the person who has nominated you and include links back to their blog, after all it's important you share their lovely blog too!

• Include a photo/badge of the Liebster Blog Awards logo on your blog post to show you've taken part. 

• Answer the 10 questions asked by the blogger who has nominated you

• Nominate 5 bloggers that you want to share with your followers and blog viewers

• Create 10 new questions to ask your nominees - have some fun!

• Ensure you make your nominees aware that they have been nominated so they know to answer their questions!

So that is the business end of it... on the to the fun!

Here are Liz's 10 questions for me.... 

 1. If you had a big lottery win what would you do with it all?
Easiest one in the stack! I have this one all figured out. Even tho I came up with this a long time I go I stand by this plan. Totally.

2. How do you think you'd fair in a zombie apocalypse?
Someone once asked this over on the fb.... pretty much we'd just go out and lock the gate, mine the driveway, and man the gun turrets.  We'd be just fine. But fair warning for any of you nogoodnicks who think they'd just mosey on over. Remember our motto is, "Everybody plucks."

We'd actually be fine for a good long time. We are a pretty far walk from urban centers, we have water on the property, and food on the hoof. We'd do just fine in a total collapse or famine. Plague tho? I'd be the first to fall. I'm not even kidding.


3. If you had six months warning do you think you could grow all you needed to feed yourself and your family?
Yep. No problem especially with that much warning. We'd have a herd of goats, chickens, and a full larder to last for a good long time. The best thing about having a small farm is that it all works together. The goats graze the bramble, which makes the milk, which feeds the chickens, which feeds the pigz... which makes me bacon. We can grow enough fodder for most of the troops and everyone here free ranges because it's free. The only changes we'd make were to add cows because we'd need a steer just to feed the dogs.

4. What life-skill should every child have to learn in school?
I love this question. Money management. I see folks doing the darnedest things. Why are you buying that pizza on credit? Stop getting chips and a half a gallon of soda every time you stop at the gas station. Quit thinking that you "deserve" to have that vacation that you can't afford. What you deserve is financial freedom not slavery to debt. 

It's no wonder tho - no one prepares you for how to make a budget, live within your means, pay taxes, or manage a bank account. Folks act like managing your household is easy - but people need real business skills to get by in the world. Everyone learns from TV shows or sound bites...and that is not effective at all. Debt is a crippler and will ruin where you want to go in life.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I would like to live somewhere that does not have winter. I'm so over the snow. For most of my adult life I would have said "Maui." I used to go every year at least once and I love it there. But now we have too many dogs and cats and I couldn't put them thru quarantine. So I'm going with somewhere in the US where there is lots of sunshine, no winter, and where I would not need to mow the grass. I should look into that....

6. What advice would you give to someone who wanted to live more self-sufficiently?
Start working on your skills now. Learn how to cook, prepare and store food, and how to garden. Begin buying good tools and learn how to use them. Buy larger cuts of meat and learn how to break them down. Use every opportunity to learn new skills. Don't hire someone to paint your house or build some shelves - do it yourself. Determine to learn how to fix mechanical tools and vehicles. Get outside and learn how to work all day. Get in shape. Read a lot. Ask questions. Do not be afraid to try new things. Volunteer or "intern" at a local farm so you can see what it's really like. Develop a network of (online) friends who already have a self-sufficiency lifestyle.

7. What's your most hated food?
Bananas. By the way, that one banana is still stinking up the whole house.

8. What is your favourite quote/saying?
"Today is a good day to die!" Which is, of course, always best in the original Klingon. 
Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam

9. Is there a time you've made a massive fool of yourself in public that you laugh about now?
Sure. Like.... every day. Just ask my husband. He's mortified by me every time we go somewhere. I swear that he turns and walks away from me every time I scream his name when we are in the store. Ha!  Actually I learned to laugh at myself a long time ago so I don't get embarrassed. I do goofy things all the time and I'm the one laughing the loudest.  Like when this happen to me. The folks at the feed store really do start laughing when I walk in. I'm not even kidding.

10. If you had a warning label what would it say? 
When angry stand outside of a 10 foot radius and throw chocolate.  My temperament runs from easy going and slap happy to do-not-poke-it-with-a-stick rage. Sometimes it turns on a dime. In real life I swear like a drunken sailor. So I'm loud and can peel the paint off the walls with my foul mouth.  Mostly because of pigz. And my voice carries. Far. Really, really far. Sometimes because of bad neighbors. I'm not allowed to talk to the neighbors anymore. Pretty much just don't even start with me. Maybe my warning label should say that. This is surprising to people because I'm usually really happy and fun. 

Here are my 10 questions....
1. What is your favorite season and why?
2. What are you watching? TV shows? Movies?
3. What advice would you give your younger self?
4. How do you think you'd do in a zombie apocalypse?
5. What skill do you want to learn how to do?
6. What movie or book would you like to live in?
7. If you had the whole day to yourself, what would you do?
8. What is your favorite blog post (from your blog) and why?
9. If you had a warning label what would it say?
10. What would you do if you were not afraid? 

And the five blogger I would like to nominate are.....

Vera from Snippets from Labartere... she might have already been nominated but I just love Vera. She is fun and funny and they have been doing a terrific job on renovating their farm in France. 

Two Men and a Little Farm..... I just really like to see that we are all out there working. There is always something going on. (Hi 1st Man!) 

Homesteading Housewives... who are really Half Moon Hollow Farms now. I love these gals. Talk about a can-do spirit!

My pal, Dave, over at the Gastronomic Gardener has been really to busy to blog lately....but his pictures are so beautiful. 

And I'm not sure my blog pal, Ken, is into these things.. but he has some time on his hands right now so maybe this can be a fun distraction. The best thing about Living the Life in Saint-Aignan is that everything they do is done beautifully.  Ken could be unloading the dishwasher and we'd love seeing the pictures.

Happy Thursday everyone! Anyone else want to take a crack at the 10 questions? What are your answers?