blog award

While I was semi-absent from the blogging world during holidays, Carol's Notebook so kindly gave the DogEar Diary this award. The rules of the Beautiful Blogger award are to pass it on to seven other bloggers, and tell seven things about yourself.

I'd like to hand this one on to:

A Life in Books- I really like the look of this blog, the header image especially. Always features the most interesting books, too.

Nan's Corner of the Web- Nan's Corner is a blog I've discovered recently. I think I first started reading it because I stumbled across a post on an animal book (and she has the most lovely, fun chocolate lab you've ever met, frequently featured), then kept coming back for all the great, honestly written book reviews.

A Striped Armchair- one of the blogs I've been reading since I first discovered book blogs. Eva is on a challenge kick right now, so many I never heard of! Go on over and see if you want to join any of them!

Paperback Reader- The background of worn book spines on this blog is just awesome. I wish I had it on mine. I go there just to look at it, seriously (I'm all about the visuals, sometimes). Nice to read about all the books and things too, of course!

Bloody Hell, It's a Book Barrage!- Chartroose's blog has gone silent lately, which makes me very sad- I always loved reading her blog. I do hope she's well and returns someday soon! In the meantime, there's still lots of cool posts to read about books and things over there.

Read All Day is another blog new to me- and it has a very unique, bold look. I really enjoy Nina's writing, and have added quite a few books to my TBR because of her.

The Book Zombie- is so classy-looking. And the reviews are fun. I'm not really into vampire books, myself (yet- maybe I just haven't discovered the right ones) but there's a wide variety of books Joanne reads and writes about, so I keep coming back for more.

And seven things about me? Hm:

My favorite time of year is autumn. I love the colors of the fall leaves, and the crisp, cool air. I've come to love it even more now that I live in an area that has humid summers- the coolness of autumn is a blessed relief!

When we got our first cat, I wanted a beautiful cat (shame on me). Our first cat was very handsome- but high-strung and aggressive. Our second cat we picked because he was laid-back and easygoing- but sometimes he's so cooly removed and aloof. Our third cat we picked because she purred the most- and she's the most friendly, playful, happy-to-sit-in-your-lap cat! I think I'm getting better at appreciating cat personalities. 

I'm afraid of mold. On food. It gives me the willies. Especially the insides of old Halloween pumpkins- that's just horrifying. (Have I mentioned this before?)

I like composting. There's just something about making stuff you'd throw away into something that can feed my garden. When I find the real dirt at the bottom of the pile I'm thrilled. I don't know anyone else who gets happy over a pile of rotting vegetation and kitchen scraps.

I love houseplants, but don't have many right now. I used to have some philodendrons, until I read they were poisonous to pets (my kitten likes to chew on plants). Then I had a venus flytrap- very cool- but it got forgotten one weekend when we were away and dried out. The only live plant in my house right now is a tiny geranium bonsai I'm trying to slowly coax into shape.

For some reason, Christmas music gets on my nerves. I like to listen to George Winston's December album- where the carols and tunes are melded into piano music- and especially I like to play it at other times of year when it confuses people. Used to drive my college roommates nuts! They hated hearing Christmas music in the middle of summer.

Right now I'm thinking of my favorite food combinations with chocolate. Strawberries dipped in chocolate. Chocolate chips mixed with raisins and peanuts. Chocolate and cheese wedges. Chicken cooked in chocolate sauce- mole! What are yours?