Yippee and Thank you to Bebe’s Kitchen!

Bebe from bebeskitchen.wordpress.com just nominated me for the  One Lovely Blog Award and the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I am tickled! I’ve seen other blogs that I enjoy following receive these – including Bebe’s Kitchen – and I am pleased to be similarly regarded. I feel like I have learned a lot about this medium in a short time from reading other blogs … and, of course, I am still learning. I put a lot of work into A Taste of Morning. If I had known how much I would enjoy blogging and following other bloggers, I would have started this a long time ago. It has, literally, opened up a whole new world for me as I follow writers, photographers, adventurers, cooks, gardeners and other interesting people from around the globe.

One of the rules (presented below) is to nominate 15 other bloggers for these awards. (I am a little confused about whether I am supposed to have one or two lists – and I am not sure that I could have separated them, so I combined the two. If I have done this incorrectly, forgive me.) I had difficulty narrowing down my list of nominees to 15 bloggers. There are some blogs (e.g. doliphoto.com) that I follow that I know have received these awards recently and so even though I would have like to have included them, I did not put them on my list. Once again, I am thrilled to be a part of this wonderful community!

The Rules:

(1) Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post.

(2) Share 7 things about yourself.

(3) Nominate 15 bloggers you admire.

(4) Leave a comment on each letting them know they have been nominated.

Seven Things About Me That You Probably Don’t Know From My Blog:

(1) I have had Boston Terriers for more than a quarter of a century.

(2) My husband was the first person I met after moving to Kansas.

(3) My favorite movie is Cinema Paradiso.

(4) I love learning about almost anything.

(5) I am a science fiction junkie.

(6) I love dancing.

(7) My nicknames are “Pepper” and “Doc”.

 16 Very Inspiring Bloggers & Lovely Blog Nominees, Presented in No Particular Order:

(Sorry, I just couldn’t quite narrow it down to 15!)

(1) abigailthompson.wordpress.com

(2) thelabkitchen.com

(3) hikingphoto.com

(4) acorninmykitchen.wordpress.com

(5) lyndamichele.wordpress.com

(6) saraincucina.wordpress.com

(7) forgottenhavredegrace.com

(8) kathryndawson.wordpress.com

(9) bighungrygnomes.wordpress.com

(10) redneckrosarian.wordpress.com

(11) corygrahamart.com

(12) amnmusic.wordpress.com

(13) briangaynorphotography.com

(14) ianspagnolo.com

(15) myaukun.wordpress.com

(16) boozedandinfused.com

Thank you to those who read and enjoy my blog! Thank you to those whose blogs I read and enjoy! You all give me inspiration to keep doing A Taste of Morning.


Wine in the Wild

Some friends and I went to Wine in the Wild last evening. Wine in the Wild is an annual fundraiser for Sunset Zoo, which is about two miles from The Morning Star. It is the first time that I have been to this event. With the B&B, it is often difficult to g0 out for an evening; but I have been working on getting out to see more of what is going on in town. We had a lovely, relaxing evening, strolling around the zoo and sipping wine.

Sunset Zoo has an interesting history. In 1929 the City of Manhattan purchased a hilltop expanse of land for a cemetery. A large area of that land was too rocky for digging graves and in 1933 was dedicated to become Sunset Zoological Park. This, of course, was during the Great Depression, and original funding for the park was provided by the WPA. Even though the zoo has been modernized over the decades, extensive stone walls and walkways built by WPA workers still form an attractive part of  its hardscaping. The zoo has a working relationship with Kansas State School of Veterinary Medicine and is home to over 300 species of animals.

Below are some of the pictures that I took last night. It was hot and bright out when the event started at 7, cooler and pitch black when it ended a little after 9. Many of the animals seemed to be sleeping, but the birds put on a good showing.