I’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by Jeanne, from the website Jeanne in the Kitchen. Thank you for the nomination, Jeanne! It was a nice surprise.

Check out her blog for lots of great posts which feature recipes, food experiences, travel and awesome nature photography.
As I understand, these are the rules for participating in the Sunshine Award
- Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog.
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Provide a link to your nominator’s blog.
- Answer your nominators’ questions.
- Nominate up to 11 bloggers.
- Ask your nominees 11 questions.
- Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts.
Eleven Questions for Me
Below are my answers to Jeanne’s eleven questions.
Question 1 : What’s a hobby you picked up as an adult that you wish you’d started earlier?
Learning French. It is not easy to learn a second language, and it is not easier when you are older. I started learning French when I was almost 60 and a few years later, I am still working on it. I should say English is also a second language for me (Swedish is my native language). However, it is a lot easier to become fluent when you are embedded among native speakers.
Question 2 : If you could invite three fictional characters to dinner, who gets a seat?
I think that would be Asterix, Obelix, and their little dog Idéfix, or as he is called in English Dogmatix. For those who don’t know, they are characters from one of the most successful French Bande Dessinée in history. The comic takes place during the Roman occupation of Gaul, what was then France. When I was a kid, I loved this comic strip and had pretty much all the albums.
Question 3 : What’s the most ridiculous thing you believed as a kid that you maybe… held onto a little too long?
When I was a kid, I and other kids in the neighborhood believed that there lived a witch in the forest next to our neighborhood. The witch was dangerous and ate children. We used to throw stones and scream into the forest to scare the witch. Another ridiculous thing was that I believed that planet Earth was 6,000 years old and that evolution was a hoax. I held that belief until I was almost 20.
Question 4 : What’s a movie or show you can quote without trying?
Interstellar and Annihilation. For example, the quote from interstellar “When you become a parent, one thing becomes abundantly clear. And that’s that you want to make sure your children feel safe”. “Once you’re a parent, you’re the ghost of your children’s future”.
Question 5 : Describe a habit you’re proud of building over the past year?
This year I am taking exercise more seriously and I am going to the gym several times per week.
Question 6 : What’s a small daily ritual that genuinely makes your life better?
I drink coffee and I floss every day, and I think those two daily rituals make my life better.
Question 7 : Share a memory that still makes you laugh, even years later.
We used to tell our kids “Why did the ….” jokes like “Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field!” One day our 3 year old son had a “Why did the ….” Joke” too, so I listened. He said, “why did the elephant go to the store?” and I said “no why”, and he said, “to buy a moped”. The joke didn’t really work but it was so unexpected and silly that I started laughing and he thought that he had made a really great joke. It’s a funny memory.
Question 8 : If you could have a blog post, go viral, which one would you want it to be?
It is hard to pick but maybe one of my super facts: “Two events may be simultaneous for some but not for others” because it is mind blowing, or “Quasar TON 618” because it is fascinating, or “Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us” because so many still doubt this despite the fact that we’ve known this to be true for several decades. It is a challenging fact to many. I think most reasonable people would agree if only they knew something about the evidence.
Question 9 : Is there a meal you can cook from memory without a recipe. You can just walk into the kitchen and create something.
Pancakes, waffles, ham and cheese sandwiches, grilling hot dogs and put ketchup and mustard on them. OK I guess that is not very challenging. However, I can brew IPAs without following a recipe as long as I have the ingredients and I know which hops are used for flavoring and which are used for aroma.
Question 10 : Tell us about something you’re looking forward to in the next few months.
At the end of May, we will visit our grandson Jack again. He is our first grandson, and he lives with his parents (my son and his wife) in Baltimore. We have decided that we are going to go fishing.

Question 11 : You’re invited to my house for dinner. What should I cook?
What ever you like, but Swedish meatballs would work.
Here are my questions for my nominees:
For my nominees I am going to do the same as Jeanne, answer the same questions from above, but you can also pick an alternative from the questions below. So, basically you can pick one of two alternatives for each question.
Question 1 : What’s your favorite movie(s)?
Question 2 : What is something you’ve done or experienced that is unusual?
Question 3 : What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?
Question 4 : What’s something you’re really passionate about?
Question 5 : If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Question 6 : What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend or a day off?
Question 7 : What’s something you wish more people understood about you?
Question 8 : What’s your go-to comfort food or favorite meal?
Question 9 : If you could have dinner with any three people (dead or alive), who would they be?
Question 10 : What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Question 11 : What kind of music are you into?
Ten New Victims
Below are my nominees. Naturally, whether you participate or not is entirely up to you. I do not have any particular expectations, and I fully understand if you are not up to it.
Anneli from wordsfromanneli
Di from pensitivity101
Pete Springer from petespringerauthor
John Howell from johnwhowell.com
Luisa Zambrotta from words music and stories
JoAnna from Anything is Possible
Lynette d’Arty-Cross from lynettedartycross
Beth from I didn’t have my glasses on
Cindy Georgakas from Unique Times with Cindy
I have been nominated once before, and these were my answers back then.

congrats on the nomination Thomas! ❤
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Thank you so much Carol Anne
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Congratulations on your award and many thanks for the nomination. 😊 I enjoyed reading your answers. I’ll post my question/answer response in the next few days. Cheers.
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Thank you so much for your kind words Lynette. It is great that you saw my post before I had a chance to tell you in your comment section. Cheers 🍻🍻🍻
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Cheers. 😊
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Congratulations on your award! You deserve it 🌹
I thank you for your kind nomination and I am really honoured to have been designated. 🙏
I’d love to participate but I prefer to use my blog time to visit my friends’ blogs and comment on their wonderful posts. I also feel that their valued comments, their words of supports, their appreciations are my awards.
I am confident that you will not feel offended by my declining 🌹 😊 🌹
Thank you again
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As I believe I said on your blog, declining is of course perfectly fine and I understand. Thank you so much for your kind comment Luisa.
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Thank you so much for understanding my decision.
I really appreciate your kindness
Sending a hug
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You are so very kind Luisa.
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Thanks Thomas. Will post my answers later. Off to get a tap…………… (don’t ask haha)
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A tap sounds good to me
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See my response to the MLMM Wordle later haha.
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Sure I will look
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Thanks for thinking of me, Thomas. I’ll try to respond soon. It was nice to learn a bit about you in this post.
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Thank you so much for your kindness Anneil
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great answers, thomas and thanks for the nomination – i’ll try to answer them over time, maybe one at a time in my posts because they are good questions. i so agree with you about that quote from interstellar, it has stayed with me and is so powerful.
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Thank you so much Beth. I appreciate it. Yes I love that quote from Interstellar.
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Congratulations, Thomas!
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Thank you so much Kymber
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Excellent! C’est si bon. J’ai appris beaucoup de choses nouvelles sur toi. 🙂
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Merci beaucoup, Jeane. J’apprécie tes aimables paroles, ainsi que ta nomination.
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Avec plaisir. De rien. 🙂
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Congratulations, Thomas! 🎉 These were interesting questions and I enjoyed your answers. The story about your 3-year-old’s joke was cute. 😀
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Thank you so much Debbie. Yes I thought it was so funny how a joke that did not work could turn out funnier than a real one.
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Floss every day. That’s a first for me!
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My dentist was complaining that I didn’t. Then I did it and the next dentist told how well I am taking care of my teeth. So, perhaps it is working.
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I enjoyed reading your answers to the questions. Wishing you a lovely time visiting with your grandson. 🙂
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Thank you so much Barbara. Yes I am really looking forward to it and going fishing with my son and grandson.
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Thanks again Thomas. Here are my answers
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I loved your answers Di and thank you so much for doing it.
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You’re welcome Thomas.
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Lulu: “Congratulations on your award, and great answers!”
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Thank you so much for your kindness Lulu
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Hi Thomas,
Here is a link to my response to your award nomination. It will be live tomorrow. https://johnwhowell.com/2026/05/13/thomas-wikman-and-the-blogger-sunshine-award/ It will post tomorrow at 4:00 am Central
Thank you, Again.
John >
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Thank you so much John. I am very much looking forward to reading it.
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I don’t normally do awards, but yours looked fun.
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Thank you so much John. It is very kind of you.
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Hi Thomas, this is such a fun post. I enjoyed your answers very much. I think learning a third language is very brave.
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Thank you so much Robbie. I am not 17 anymore so it is going a bit slower.
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Yes 🤗💛
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Congratulations on your award! I like your picks for #4, movies you can quote without trying. I enjoyed both of those movies and really need to finish reading the Southern Reach trilogy. I doubt I could narrow down my answers to that one since I’ve been told “everything reminds you of a song lyric, a movie quote, or an episode of The Simpsons” but I would probably say any random Monty Python film is the most likely answer for me lol
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Thank you so much James. I love Interstellar and Annihilation. You have a larger set of movies you can quote than I do. I love the Monty Python movies but I cannot remember many quotes.
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Hi Thomas, just a follow-up on your Sunshine Blogger nomination. I started my response but haven’t been able to finish it because I’m a little busy at the moment with visitors, so I’m going to have to pass. Thanks again for nominating me though. Much appreciated. 😊
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Well thank you so much for doing it Lynette. There is no hurry.
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Thanks, Thomas. I may follow up at a later date; I’ll have to see.
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