Welcome to the round up of posts on Smorgasbord this week of posts that you might have missed.
One thing that you probably have not missed, since Easter Eggs have been in the stores since January is that next weekend is the religious festival and also a time for families to get together and celebrate the extended holiday weekend.
As you know I do like to throw a party occasionally and this Easter I have decided to hold a traditional parade.. well two to be exact as they will be posted on Saturday and Monday. To be in the parade you need to send me a photo… several already have so I only have a handful of places left on the floats...All the details are in the post and it is easy to enter…..
The time for the Blogger’s Bash in June has come around very quickly and as part of the event is the annual blog awards. There are some amazing bloggers included in the categories as there are every year. Very honoured to have been nominated along with so many from our community. Now it is your opportunity to vote for your favourites.
As always I am very grateful for your support and delighted to hear from you every week. Also my thanks to Paul Andruss and Carol Taylor this week for their input which is appreciated…
And here are the posts from the week….
With Easter next week I thought that you would enjoy this five part short story over the two weekends from Paul Andruss, first published in January 2018… Set in Ireland in the 1930s it follows the life of a young man with a mysterious past who lives in The House by the Sea.
Colleen Chesebro is on hiatus as she house hunts but she asked that we continued to share our poetry.. Here is my weekly contribution… and etheree ‘Age Defying’
This week L.T. Garvin shares her memories of her best friend in Junior High School and their aspirations to enter the talent contest with the classic Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner….keep on rolling and enjoy.
Welcome to the third post from the archives of Donna W. Hill and this week Donna shares the workings of a canal and the period of transition between water levels as an analogy for the times in our life when we are in limbo between events. In this case the treatment for her guide dog’s chronic disease.
The last in the present series from the archives of Norah Colvin which is actually reflections on learning by her daughter Bec, and written when she was 26 in 2013
Author Stevie Turner asked 18 authors questions about significant life events that would inform and inspire… and over the week or so I will be featuring the contributors. The anthology’s proceeds are being donated to Cancer Research, and at 99p/99c it is very good value.
Welcome to the round up of posts that you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
Some stand out moments from the week that I would like to make a special mention about.
The first was the nomination for the blog for the Versatile Blogger Award by Brigid Gallagher which I was very honoured to receive. I know that many bloggers are now award free. I quite understand, as when you are at full tilt, it is tough to take the time to respond to an award and also to draw up a list of willing nominees.
However… even after six years, I still get a kick out of awards and I have met so many wonderful bloggers through other people’s nominees, that it is well worth the effort. And also it is an opportunity to showcase newer bloggers who are still finding their feet or deserve to have some promotion.
Anyway.. this was my response with 7 more secrets about me…..and some nominees who are terrific bloggers.
The second highlight is the release of Understanding: An Anthology of True and Significant Life Events… Compiled and contributed to by Stevie Turner and 18 other authors including myself and quite a few of our blogging community.
The proceeds from this anthology will be going to Cancer Research and it is a very worthy cause.
Over the next week I will be posing a number of author profiles of those who have contributed and I hope that you will follow those authors and also support their work in this collection.
About the anthology
The following authors and bloggers kindly answered questions posed by Stevie Turner regarding significant life experiences they had undergone. These events include sexual abuse, a near death experience, alcoholism, being diagnosed with cancer, depression, losing weight, getting married, being a mother to many children, being the daughter of a narcissistic mother, and many more!
In this first post I share the authors who have contributed with a profile on Stevie Turner, D.G. Kaye and in the coming two weeks will feature the other authors in separate posts.
This week William Price King shares the life and music of the legendary Glenn Miller whose music is still loved over 70 years since his untimely death during the Second World War.
In the second part of her posts on Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, D.G. Kaye shares the fundamentals that you need to know about renting, shopping, tipping, exchanging your cash, dining and how to drink safe water.
This week my guest is author Ann Chiappetta who shares where she would love to live in the world, the animal she would most like to talk to and her favourite season.
This week in the R’s of Life, I look at the true cost of retail therapy and the waste associated with our drive to own the latest and the most fashionable. And also the mountains of food that goes uneaten in most of our countries when millions are starving.
This week I share the abundance of food that you can enjoy as you lose weight… starving the body is not an option, and cutting out food groups is counter productive.
Donna W. Hill is a breast cancer survivor and in this week’s inspiring post she shares her motivation and also encounters with butterflies and knitting.
This week Norah Colvinshares all things berry.. which resulted in a lot of discussion about what is a berry and what is not, and how to get hold of our favourites…
A new contributor this week and the first post from the archives of Susanne Swanson who shares her return to her kindergarten school, celebrating its 100th anniversary.
I have created an etheree in tribute to the month….
Glorious April explodes into sight
as trees and bushes prance in the breeze
clad with their springtime finery
whilst ancient Aphrodite
and Roman Aprilis
push open the door
to nature’s joy
at rebirth
and new
life
Welcome to the weekly round up of posts you might have missed this week. As always my thanks to those who are regular contributors and guest writers. Some wonderful posts on family, music, food and life in general.
Guest writers.
I began this blog magazine to share content with as wide a range of interest as possible. That includes showcasing other writers and if you would like a guest writing spot you can share posts that you have already written and would like to showcase again to a new audience here on Smorgasbord. It can be on any topic but I do have some younger readership so it does need to be family friendly.. Get in touch on Sally.cronin@moyhill.com with four links to your posts and I will come back to you with any further information that I need to create your post.
If you would like to see previous posts then just type in Guest Writer in the search box to the right of the blog title at the top of the page and it will bring them all up for you.
Posts from Your Archives
There will be details on a new series of Posts from Your Archives with a different theme after Easter. The family posts have been wonderful and thanks to all those who have shared their posts. These posts are different from the guest posts as they have a specific theme.
Both of these series offer you the chance to showcase your writing but also your books with any recent reviews..
Tribute to a writing companion…my office chair and Cathaoireacha…
I have been using the same chair that we bought in Carrefour supermarket in Spain for 15 years. It is leather with stainless steel arms and trim and was the most comfortable chair I have ever used for writing. I would swivel it around to watch television as well in our office and when we first arrived in Ireland three years ago, I was parted from it for six months. I noticed the difference.
Last week as I swivelled to pick up a file at the end of my desk, the chair tossed me unceremoniously onto the floor where I lay in a bemused heap. The handyman (in house) inspected the chair from every angle and we realised that one of the five stainless steel feet on the pedestal was being held up in pain and was an inch above the floor. Further investigations revealed a stress fracture and it was not reparable.
Going online to look for a similar style of chair, in leather was a bit of a shocker. Looked like it was going to be 400 Euro which is good value if I could get another 15 years out of it but still worth checking around.
When we first moved here David had bought some second hand office furniture from a warehouse in Wicklow and following a phone call we headed up there yesterday to inspect the stock. What a great guy… and it was a treasure trove in his warehouse with furniture stacked to the rafters including leather office swivel chairs. We spend 15 minutes moving things about and of course I spotted just the chair I wanted right at the back under a bunch of other ones.. David dug it out and I sat in it.. more fancy than my old one with more padding and leather arms, deep seat and back and perfect. Easily a 500 euro chair..
We called the owner over and prepared to negotiate..especially when he said it was from a bank office clearance and was the CEO’s chair…..you can imagine our surprise when he offered it to us for 70 Euro… wow.. no negotiating needed.
And as a bonus. We mentioned the demise of my stalwart writing companion… and lo and behold he had a five leg pedestal that fits all the models and he gave that to us for free.
David has now repaired the old chair and he is going to use from now on to replace the wooden one currently doing the job. I love my new chair as it has a bit more padding which is a bonus for my butt… and very happy that an old friend is not going to end up on the scrap heap. Here they are together… family.
I am married to a man who thankfully believes in buying second hand… I was too…. and whilst it is lovely to have shiny new stuff….at the end of the day a little bit of wear and tear and a fantastic bargain is as satisfying as spending six time more on a new item.
Recycling is so important and as the landfills continue to grow into mountains of household goods that have been usurped by new items, it is well worth donating them to charity shops or passed on to people like this guy who provides a wonderful service. Thanks to Pat Harvey who also sells a multitude of other products for the home.. Wicklow Hygiene Products Ltd..so if you live in the area.. he’s your man!
On the subject of family and cathaoireacha…chairs
When David and I came over to Ireland in early November 1980 to meet his family (we met and married in 6 weeks) I was given a warm welcome. When presented with a glass of wine.. which was often.. I would wish everyone ‘cheers’. Eventually I asked what the Irish was for ‘cheers’ as as one they announced that it was ‘Kaheeraka’ (phonetically). For many years afterwards when in Ireland or in the company of Irish acquaintances, I would raise my glass and say ‘Kaheeraka’.. only discover that I had been hazed.. and what I was really saying was Cathaoireacha..’Chairs’. Gotta love family…. all in good fun….No wonder himself is laughing in this photograph taken that weekend…..
My guest today, Julia Benally shares what she did grab when she had two minutes to get out of her house, why it would be wise not to cross her freshly mopped floors, a very disconcerting Christmas holiday, her favourite children’s song and a rather bouncy mis-purchase…
One of life’s certainties is that at some point you are going to be rejected personally or professionally. It can happen at any age and because it is a certainty, it does pay to prepare for it, or if unexpected have some strategies to cope with it.
With any project plan you need to have a start point and and end point…measurement is the key to identify progress and also to create significant events that warrant celebration.
This is the second post from the archives of educator and storyteller Norah Colvin and this week Norah shares her own experiences of telling real stories about family to young children, not just their immediate family but passing on living history about those relatives we have met but the younger generation may not have.
Miriam Hurdle shares two post in one with a letter that she wrote to her daughter and then she shares a very special post where Mercy shares the words that she associates with her mother, and the strengths she has inherited from her.
Welcome to the third of the guest posts from author L.T. Garvin and this week a short story of the difficult transitional years between child and adulthood, commonly called the ‘Teens’. The story is infused with its author’s personal experiences.
Thank you for dropping in today and for your support throughout the week. If you would like to be part of Smorgasbord Blog Magazine as a guest then please get in touch… either with posts from your archives on the subject of family… or as a guest writer on a variety of subjects. Sally.cronin@moyhill.com
Time does fly when you are having fun, and I cannot believe it is Wednesday already and time to give syllables their marching orders for Colleen’s Tuesday Poetry Challenge 129
This week we have to use synonyms for Colleen’s prompt words..’Hobby and Play‘… I have used ‘Pastime and Frolic’ in my Haibun.
I Wander Down Memory Lane #Haibun
I wander down my memory lanes, searching for a distraction. It is a pleasant pastime to dredge up events and people from distant years. To remember the childish laughter, to frolic again in summer sun and winter snow. I strive to recapture that love of life and sense of fun. And there it is. I am ready to face the real world again.
Life is a circle Seasons come and seasons go back to whence we came
Welcome to the weekly round up of posts that you may have missed.
The social media shenanigans continued this week with Facebook failing to respond and telling those kind enough to share or tag me in comments that I had been reported for abusive content. I had received no response after four weeks of appeals and emails so decided to pull the plug on my account completely late last week. I cannot have other people being embroiled in this, and also I felt that my reputation as an individual and an author was under attack and was potentially damaging. Without recourse to prove my innocence, I feel that it is becoming an issue for Facebook in general. I know that I am not the only person to have been treated in this manner, and I doubt the situation will improve.
I was on Facebook for ten years and had made many friends who have been incredibly supportive. If I was reported for alleged abuse, it would seem that 4000 other contacts did not feel the same way, as they would I am sure simply unfriended me.
Thankfully I can connected to most of those on other platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn and now the developing MeWe. Because of that there has been no impact on the traffic to the blog, which I am pleased about because of the author promotions that run each week. The plus side is that I notice considerably less junk in my email spam folders which is interesting…..
If you are not already connected to me on those platforms then here are the links to my main sites.
Anyway.. onwards and upwards and here are the posts on Smorgasbord this last week. Enjoy….thanks Sally.
Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America.
In her second guest post, L.T. Garvin shares a poem about an event in history that is forever etched in the memories of people around the world… It is one of those events that people ask “Where were you when….?”
This week Joy Lennick shares some shenanigans from her visits to an old people’s home where life was celebrated as much as possible, and sometimes romance overcame the sensibilities…
This week getting a project plan in place with some easy to follow rules to keep you on the straight and narrow as you embark on this healthy weight loss programme.
Last Sunday I was the guest of educator and storyteller Norah Colvin as part of her new series School Day Reminiscences Norah asked me about my education and schooling and I had to delve back over 60 years to access those memories…
This week we share the possible symptoms resulting from a vitamin B2 deficiency, the best food sources and Carol Taylorshares some amazing recipes with those food as ingredients.
My guest today is American poet and author Lynda Lambert who shares what is in her briefcase and purse, her fashion sense, a book close to her heart and dreams.
This week Darlene Fostershares the sad loss of a family farm due to wildfires in 2017. Buildings that had weathered many a storm, and sadly the fires also brought tragedy to the community.
In her first post from 2015,Norah Colvin who is a dedicated participant in the Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction challenge, was reminded about a family mystery. And she shares a way to share family relationships with young children.
Welcome to the last of the posts from Sharon Marchisello’s archives.This week the very important issue of keeping our elderly relatives safe with regard to their money should they become forgetful or worse develop dementia.
And this week the words that Colleen has provided at a prompt are ‘Spring and Sing‘… I have chosen the synonyms ‘Bounce and Serenade’
The Footsteps of my Ancestors. #Haibun
Barefoot I walk the sands of time. A bounce in my step as the earth’s energy rises through the soles of my feet. I am connected to the layers that form the strata beneath me formed over millions of years. Through the debris of those ancient times I sense the echo of other feet. Those of my ancestors across the ages who have trekked this earth from continent to continent. Crossing icy wastelands and mountain ranges, to this place where I walk in their footsteps. The wind that accompanied them on their journey, serenades me as I draw strength from hallowed ground.
Earth as we know it was formed by the drifting sand and nomadic tribes
Welcome the second of the posts from the archives of children’s author and poet Bette A. Stevens. Today she shares a poem in tribute to her mother…
Thank you Mama
Thank you dearest Mama
For the lane you’ve led me down
The light you shone before me
Still helps me traverse on
Climbing formidable summits
Or facing storming skies
I know that you’re still with me
Watching through the Father’s eyes
I can always feel the sunshine
As your smile lights the way
Love truly unconditional
I’m thankful every day
Mama left us, bound for her heavenly home, in April of 2008. Mama’s strength of character, poise and wit—and her unconditional love— live on within all those whose lives she touched.
Inspired by nature and human nature, Bette A. Stevens is an author, retired teacher, wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys writing, reading, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature.
She advocates for children and childhood literacy and for monarch butterflies, an endangered species. Stevens’s children’s activity book, THE TANGRAM ZOO and WORD PUZZLES TOO!, was first published in 1997 by Windswept House Publishing, Mt. Desert, ME; a second edition was self-published by the author in 2012. AMAZING MATILDA, Stevens’s second children’s book, self-published in 2012 won a 2013 Purple Dragonfly Book Award (Honorable Mention for Excellence in Children’s Literature – Ages 6 and older category) and also placed #9 on The 2013 Gittle List for Self-published Children’s Picture Books.
Stevens has written articles for ECHOES, The Northern Maine Journal of Rural Culture based in Caribou, Maine. In 2013, the author published her first book for the YA/Adult audience: PURE TRASH: The story, a short story of a boy growing up in rural New England and prequel to DOG BONE SOUP, debut novel released January 2015.
When I first heard about Dog Bone Soup, I was intrigued by the title. From the start, I was drawn into this captivating story about a family living in poverty. Stevens does an excellent job of depicting an era when so many struggled. I adored Shawn’s character and admired his strength as he filled the shoes of his alcoholic father. This is a fast read that kept me turning the pages well into the night as there were many similarities to my father’s upbringing. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages.
If you would like to share your stories about family, including our fur babies.. then please take a look at the details.
Posts from Your Archives and the theme this time is all about family.
Personal memories of childhood or teens that are still fresh in your mind.
Family history, stories of your parents, grandparents and further back if you can.
Fur family past and present.
Favourite recipes.
Memorable holidays.
Places you have lived.
Memorable homes you have lived in.
Grandchildren tales.
Any family related post – education, health, teen years, elderly care, lifestyle.
Please remember that there are some younger readers who visit.
I think you get the idea.
The aim of this series is to showcase your blog and any creative work that you do from books, art, photography and crafts. You pick between one and four links to posts that you have written for your own blog from the day you started up to December 2018, and you simply send the link to those blogs to sally.cronin@moyhill.com
You have to do nothing more as I will capture the post and images from your blog and I will then post with full copyright to you.. with your creative work and your links to buy and to connect. I might sometimes need a little more information but I am quite resourceful in finding out everything I need.
So far in the Posts from Your Archives from September 2017, there have been over 700 posts from 200 + bloggers that have reached a different audience and encouraged more readers for their own blogs and current posts.
If you strive to succeed in our wide world
then let me give you a helpful hint
learn all you can about the rules
before you show to people
your singularity
and ability
to thrive outside
the confines
of life’s
box
Welcome to the round up of posts that you might have missed this week… especially if you normally pick them up on Facebook!
I won’t go into detail as I covered it in a post early in the week, but suffice to say that I was in Facebook quarantine for two days with my posts removed as not meeting the community standards and I also received notification that someone has reported my posts as offensive. I also got this message when I tried to share other blogger’s posts.
Those clicking the Facebook share button were also getting a blocked message and rather than cause them upset, I removed the button until Friday after I had sent numerous appeals to the governing body and emails (still no response) and I was able to finally share from other blogs and those sharing from here got through.
I have not posted any links to the blog posts themselves until today.. and hopefully you are reading this because it has gone onto my timeline.
I am not the only person to be affected this week including Debby Gies who you know as a regular contributor here. It is allegedly down to the new policies on fake news and too many external URLS being posted.
Clearly though someone thought that book promotions and health posts were offensive and rather than hit the unfriend button, decided to report me.
That’s life… Going forward I am restricting my own links to other blogger’s posts and once week my round up and hopefully we can maintain the status quo.
In the meantime several of us have also joined MeWe with is a similar interface as Facebook but is more user friendly. They also guarantee that none of our data will be sold. It is early days, but if you are an author you might like to check it out, as Colleen Chesebro, Debby Gies and myself are part of a Literary Diva’s Library on the new site to help you promote your books, reviews and interviews. Just click the image and it will take you there.. my personal profile is mewe.com/i/sallycronin
Anyway.. no more drama…… and on with the week’s posts…
This week William Price King introduces us to the unique talents of jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding.
This week Paul Andruss introduces us to the Hellebores… and some of the poisonous beauties much loved in ancient times as instruments of death…including deadly nightshade.
The next in the series to prevent nutritional deficiency by creating dishes containing the nutrient for the whole family… Carol Taylorhas produced some wonderful recipes using ingredients rich in Vitamin B1.
This week a look at how our childhood can influence both our willpower and how we regard the food that we eat. Understanding your relationship to food is important for health and also for weight loss.
This week a look at more of the official human rights as laid down by the United Nations, and our obligation to protect that right and to abide by the law… and when you look at the mortality rates of car accidents vs. murder rates and the high percentage of fatalities associated with texting and drink driving, you will find it hard to separate the two.
An unexpected gift of a turkey causes untold mayhem in the farmyard which as always creates an entertaining episode from the family archives of Linda Bethea
There are a number of flash fiction challenges on WordPress that are really fun to take part in and certainly do hone our skill at brevity.. Here is a post from Joy Lennick’sarchives on the subject and an example of her own flash fiction.
I am delighted to welcome author L.T. Garvin (Lana Broussard) to Smorgasbord with a series of guest posts, and her first is a heartrending poem about the past, her family and the devastating loss of a mother in wartime. Lana will be joining us every two weeks until April 8th.
My guest this week is author Ann Barneswho shares the animal she would like to have a conversation with, her weirdest dream, what is in her handbag, and what she would have done differently.
This series offers you a chance to share posts from your own archives that you would like seen by a new audience. Perhaps a post your wrote a year or so ago. If you are interested you can click on the link in any of the posts below to get the details. It is another opportunity to promote your books or other creative work as well.
Can you remember your first flight in a plane? Poet and author Balroop Singh shares hers which was a magical experience… she would love to hear about yours.
Jennie Fitzkee who has over 30 years experience as a pre-school teacher, and loves sharing stories with her class, shares her childhood in relations to fairy stories and how many have an element of violence. She explores the need for a reality check for children from an early age about life in general, but there need to be guidelines on how they are introduced.
Robbie Cheadle spends a great deal of time tempting us to eat scrumptious baked delights, and this is no exception as she shares the family recipe of Granny Una’s apple pie…bibs on…
Thank you very much for visiting today and I hope you have enjoyed the posts. Thank to those who have shared to Facebook, sometimes using alternative methods! I appreciate the support.
Hopefully all is more or less back to normal!!!!!!
Hi, my name is Lyndsey and welcome to my new website, where we talk everything books, from Cecelia Ahern to Lindsey Kelk. There's something for everyone, so sit back and enjoy. Lyndsey.
