Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed during the week here on Smorgasbord.
I know this week has been very difficult for many of you living in the US and in the path of the hurricane weather. I do hope that you are safe and that you didn’t suffer any damage to your homes. You have been in our thoughts.
Nothing much to report on the home front as we carry on getting the small jobs in the house completed and get the garden ready for the autumn. We are keeping an eye on the house selling market and if necessary we may hold off until the spring. Once you get into November and Christmas (sorry to use that word so early) house sales do tail off. We are not in a rush and may well wait until spring when it picks up again. However, at least we will be ready should the opportunity present itself and we will keep an open mind.
Contributor News this week.
William Price King joined me for The Breakfast Show for the second part of chart hits from 2004 and the second post in the series on Andrea Bocelli. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies will be here tomorrow morning with her first post in her Spiritual Awarenessseries on Angels… and over on her own blog you will find her less than successful attempt to switch internet providers with some lessons we can all learn from. Also links to two visits she made to Resa and Judith Barrow with a nostalgic look at a famous landmark in Toronto and photographic memories. Follow the link to Debby’s posts…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor was here on Wednesday with her A-Z of food with the letter ‘H’… on her own blog a welcome to October and what is coming up in the month…Monday Musings, a lovely recipe for Mushroom Lasagne, a post on the frightening and appalling statistics on food waste, more of the lovely fragrant leaves we can use in our cooking and Saturday Snippets where the prompt word was ‘Rain‘ -Head over to enjoyCarolCooks2 weekly roundup… 25th September -1st October 2022
Thank you too for all your visits, comments and shares during the week. As always very much appreciated…♥
It is eight years since William Price King joined Smorgasbord to share music across the genres. It is six years since we have featured some of the music legends and delighted to showcase them again in 2022.
Welcome to the next part in the Andrea Bocelli story. The multi-award winning cross over tenor has won not just critical acclaim for his beautiful voice, but the hearts of millions around the world
In September 1994 when Andrea was invited to sing at the renowned Pavarotti’s annual Charity Gala Concert, Pavarotti International in Modena. Bocelli sang Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s‘Mattinata’ (Morning).. A song with quite an interesting back story.
It was the first song ever written for the then Gramophone Companyin 1904 (which later became HMV). Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian composer who was best known for his two act opera, Pagliacci written in 1892, and still one of the top twenty list of most performed operas worldwide. ‘Mattinata’ was dedicated to the renowned Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso, and he was the first to record the song with Leoncavallo at the piano.. Just one of over 260 recordings between 1902 and 1920 by the great Caruso.
Also during the gala performance, Andrea sang a duet with Pavarotti, Maurizio Morante’s‘Notte e Piscatore’. Luciano Pavarotti
This was the year that Andrea Bocelli made his opera debut in Verdi’sMacbeth as Macduff. Performing at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa. It was also in 1994 that Andrea, who considered himself to be an agnostic, reverted to catholicism. It followed his immersion in the works of Leo Tolstoy who promoted the belief that life was not the result of pure chance, but had purpose and meaning. He performed the hymn ‘Adeste Fideles‘ in Rome before Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica at Christmas.
Having won the newcomer section at the 1994San Remo Festival, Andrea was invited to return in 1995. This time he entered the main competition with ‘Con ti Partiro’ and finished in fourth place.
The song was included on his second album, Bocelli, produced by Mauro Malavasi and released in November 1995. In Belgium, the song became the best-selling single of all time.
In this piece, Con te Partiro, Bocelli’s young voice is strong and well supported.His mixing of high and low notes confirm his distinct timbrewhich is extraordinary and transcendent,and his performance is as impressive as the power he brings to its expression. Andrea Bocelli
Later in 1995 Bocelli was invited to sing with soprano Sarah Brightmanand they translated the title of the song to ‘Time to Say Goodbye’. The single topped the German charts and stayed there for over three months. Three million copies were sold and this beat the previous record of best-selling single by one million copies, the single also won a sextuple platinum award.
In 1996 Bocelli released his third album.Viaggio Italiano is Andrea Bocelli’s third studio album and first classical album. The album features some of the most popular opera arias and Neapolitan songs of all time, such as Ave Maria, Nessun Dorma, O Sole Mio and la Donna è Mobile. Although released only in Italy in 1996, it sold close to 300,000 copies. Bocelli later received the ECHO Klassik “Best seller of the year”award for the album, after its international release, in 1997
Bocelli gives a warm,passionate,and heartfelt delivery of Schubert’s Ave Maria. It’s unbelievably heavenly and inspirational.
Bocelli continued to gain fans around Europe, topping the charts in Spanish charts with ‘Vivo Por Ella’ ( I Live for Her) his duet with Queen of Spanish pop Marta Sanchez. This was followed in 1997 with the French version of the song, ‘Je Vis Pour Elle’ sung with French singer Hélène Ségara; a hit in Belgium and reaching number one in France.
On March 3rd 1997 he appeared in Hamburg, Germany, with Sarah Brightman to receive the ECHO music award for Best Single of the Year for Time to Say Goodbye. This was followed in the September with Bocelli’s concert at the Piazza dei Cavalieri in Piza, A Night in Tuscanywhich was his first concert to air on PBS.
Whilst continuing to perform concerts and to record further albums, Bocelli remained committed to performing opera roles and early in 1998 he made his debut in a major role as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Teatro Comunale in Cagliari.
His fifth album ‘Aria: The Opera Album’ was released in March. There was some negative reviews for the album from opera purists who felt that his voice was not strong enough to master the arias. If you read the reviews on Amazon, it is clear to see there is definitely a divide between the critics and the massive response from Bocelli’s fans who loved the album.. Here is one review that sums up this controversy.
Thanks to Rick Holden (Sceptic@traveller.com) for showing Ms Miller how to write a proper review. Having listened to the album myself I can only agree whole heartedly with his comments. Unfortunately there are too many critics out there who try to analyse music note by note and impress us with their technical jargon.
The joy of music is all about liking what you hear, and whether or not the music moves you. How can anyone enjoy listening if they’re listening for flaws or mistakes instead of enjoying what they hear. Perhaps Andrea Bocelli isn’t the greatest Opera singer, I don’t know, but I can say that he has one of the most wonderfully melodic voices I have ever heard and he sings like a man who is enjoying every note he delivers.
His background or his potential for the future don’t bother me, he is the man of the moment, and that’s all that matters. I recently watched a video performance of his ‘Evening in Tuscany’ which I would reccommend to all fans. Maybe Andrea will never be a great Opera singer, but who cares? He can move audiences without all the fancy dress. VIVA ANDREA!
It was now time to win over the United States and in April, Bocelli made his debut with a concert at the John F. Kennedy Centre in Washington. This was followed the next day by a reception a the White House with President Bill Clinton.
As a very definite response to some of his critics, Bocelli appeared in Monte Carlo in the May and won two World Music Awards. One in the category “Best Italian Singer”, and one for “Best Classical Interpretation“. He was also named one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People of 1998. This was consolidated in September when he received his second Echo Klassik award for the best-selling Aria: The Opera Album which sold almost two millioncopies, one million of them in the United States achieving Platinum status.
Here is ‘E lucevan le stelle‘ from the album – Bocelli’s grasp of style and vocal technique are quite evident in this aria, and his talent undeniable.His sound is not rounded in a Pavarotti-like way but is quite virile with a *baritone-like color used over a wide *vocal range without any suspicion of strain. Do enjoy this aria which is performed lovingly, sincerely,and skillfully.
Note: barione-like color – timbre Note: vocal range –the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can sing.
As the millennium drew to a close there was very little that could stop the phenomenon that was Andre Bocelli.
On Thanksgiving Eve, Andrea was a guest on Celine Dion’s televisedThese Are Special Timeswhere they sang ‘The Prayer‘. The duet was included on Celine Dion’s album of the same name and the song also appeared on the film Quest for Camelotin 1998. ‘The Prayer’ won the Golden Globe for Best Original Songin 1999 and at the 41st Grammy Awards, Bocelli was nominated for Best New Artist.
His seventh album,Sacred Arias contained exclusively sacred music and reached number one on the US Classic Billboard charts two weeks later. This made Andre the first vocalist to hold all three top places on the chart with Aria: The Opera Album in second place and Viaggio Italiano in third place. To promote Sacred Arias, Bocelli recorded his second PBS concert in Rome and this special was nominated for anEmmy Award for Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program.
To end the decade and millennium on a high note, Bocelli performed at the Royal Variety performance at the end of November 1999 by invitation of Queen Elizabeth. The following day his autobiographical novel, La Musica del Silenzio was released in Italy.
William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.
His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.
While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.
Welcome to the posts from the week here on Smorgasbord that you might have missed.
Not a great deal to report this week on the home front. We have some areas that we think would benefit from some more work and that is okay. To be honest if we slip to the end of October we might consider waiting until the spring as a more appropriate time to sell. We are in no rush and the garden would look better then too. We shall see what happens. In the meantime plenty to be getting on with.
The weather is definitely on the turn but still some nice days and I have quite a bit of online work to catch up on anyway.
I am going to be working on my own WIP or two over the next few weeks as well as things around the house, so I have scheduled ahead. I will be in and out obviously to catch up with comments and your blogs.
Contributor News this week.
William Price King joined me for The Breakfast Show for the first part of chart hits from 2004 and the first in the new series on Andrea Bocelli. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies was here on Monday with her next post in her Spiritual Awarenessseries… and over on her own blog you will find her introduction to her new podcast Grief Talk, a wonderful Q&A with Alex Craigie and her Sunday Book Review for Falling by Stevie Turner. Follow the link to Debby’s posts…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor will be here on Wednesday with her A-Z of food with the letter ‘H’… on her own blog Monday Musings, Homemade Chicken Curry with Bamboo, the Cuisine of Estonia, more aromatic leaves with the Maple and Saturday Snippets where the prompt was Curve. Head over to enjoyCarol’s Weekly Round Up
Thank you too for all your visits, comments and shares during the week. As always very much appreciated…♥
It is eight years since William Price King joined Smorgasbord to share music across the genres. It is six years since we have featured some of the music legends and delighted to showcase them again in 2022.
Welcome to the first part in the Andrea Bocelli story. The multi-award winning cross over tenor has won not just critical acclaim for his beautiful voice, but the hearts of millions around the world.
Andrea Bocelli – The Early Years
Andrea Bocelli was born to Alessandro and Edi Bocelli who lived on a farm in the village of La Sterza, a suburb of the town of Lajatico, 50 kilometres from Florence the capital of the Tuscany region of Italy. His parents made their living by selling farm machinery and making wine and his family continue to live there today.
Andrea was born in September 1958 following what must have been a stressful time for the family. Doctors determined that the baby was likely to be born with disabilities and his parents were recommended to terminate the pregnancy. But Alessandro and Edi decided not to do so, and Andrea was born apparently healthy. However, it soon became apparent that he did have sight problems and was diagnosed eventually with congenital glaucoma.
Throughout his early childhood his mother said that music was the only thing that brought this little boy comfort as he struggled with his condition, and by the age of six he had begun piano lessons. Over the next few years he went on to learn to play the flute, saxophone, trumpet, guitar and drums. He was still only a small boy when he was introduced to opera. His nanny gave him his first record of the internationally renowned tenor Franco Corelli.
Born in 1921 this artist was associated with the dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory including composers such as Rossini, Verdi and Puccini. Dubbed the Prince of Tenors, he was celebrated universally for his powerhouse voice, electrifying top notes, clear timbre, passionate singing and remarkable performances. Having listened to Franco Corelli, Andrea was now determined to follow a singing career. Even at the age of seven he was able to recognise the foremost tenors of the time and within a few years he was performing their music in public.
Andrea gave his first concert in a small village near his home and I suspect that those in the audience, whilst marvelling at this young boy’s voice, would not have envisaged that one day he would be such an international star. Here is Franco Corelli singing Torna a Surriento.
In a devastating blow in 1970, at the age of 12, Andrea lost his sight completely following an accident during a football game. He was hit in the eye playing goalkeeper during a match and suffered a brain hemorrhage.
Undeterred, at age 14 Andrea won his first competition, The Margherita d’Oro in Viareggiosinging O Sole Mio.
Apart from his passion for music, Andrea did well at school and at age twenty, he began law studies at the University of Pisa. To earn money, Andrea performed in local piano bars in the evenings and after obtaining his degree, he spent a year as a court appointed lawyer.
However, singing was still a driving force in Andrea’s life and in 1992, the Italian rock star Zucchero held auditions for tenors to make a demo tape of his song Miserere, to send to Luciano Pavarotti. His intention was to persuade the great tenor to duet with him on the song but initially, having heard Andrea Bocelli’s audition, Pavarotti suggested that Zucchero record with him instead.
However, eventually Pavarotti did record the original with Zucchero and it was a huge hit. But the following year during the rock star’s European concert tour, Andrea Bocelli accompanied him and as well as Miserere, Andrea performed solo sets singing Nessun Dorma from Puccini’sTurandot.
Andrea Bocelli gives an exquisite performance of Miserere. The emotion flows easily and his passion is evident. This is a remarkable cross-over duet with Zucchero in spite of the fact that they have two totally different *timbres. He, Kai-Ru
Note: timbre – the character and quality of a musical voice.
Later that year Bocelli signed with the Sugar Music labelin Milan after the president of the label heard him sing both songs at Zucchero’s birthday party. In the December he entered the preliminary round of the world famous Sanremo Music Festival, performing Miserere and won the newcomer category with the highest marks ever received.
This was followed by his debut in the classical world in a concert at the Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia.
In February 1994, he entered the main Sanremo Festival competition with Il mare calmo della sera, and he won the newcomers section, again with a record score. Following his win, Bocelli released his debut album of the same name in April, and it entered the Italian Top Ten, being certified platinum within weeks.
With his distinctive *classical crossover sound, Bocelli delights us with a vocal contrast between the light, tenor quality of his voice and a cutting edge raspy tone filled with emotion. He is an impressive communicator, and in this song the emotion speaks for itself.
Note: classical crossover – a style that hovers between classical and popular music, targeted for fans of both genres and in this case for classically trained singers.Andrea Bocelli
William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.
His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.
While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
I hope that you have managed to stay cool during the last week and that those impacted by wildfires are safe. It certainly is a world of two halves at the moment with the Southern Hemisphere experiencing unusually cold conditions. There are several who are struggling to get crops in the ground because of the cold weather which will impact the prices even more in the coming year.
We have had sunshine all week and this is certainly the driest month we have experienced in the last four or five years. The last time was in 2017 and I think that was the year we had a lot of snow in the winter… glad we have had the wood burner refurbished.
David has finished the painting of the outside of the house. Just a couple of jobs on the list still waiting to be dealt with by outside contractors… some guttering needs to be replaced and we need the boiler serviced. We do that annually but this year it is even more important as we will need to ge an efficiency certificate for the house before we put on the market. Every one is busy at the this time of year particularly as many are taking advantage of the holidays to take a break. We are hoping that perhaps in early September we might get the call backs we need. Here is the finished product however with just the outside wall of the garden facing the road needing some final touches.
This week William Price King joined me for The Breakfast Show and shared the final post in the Nina Simone story. Next week we move into the classical music genre with the life and music of the great Pavarotti. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies was here on Monday with a brand new series exploring our spiritual well being.. Over on her blog you will find her posts including her experiences organising her own car servicing for the first time in 27 years, some very helpful writer’s links and her usual Sunday Book Review spot..this week some great feedback for her own books… head over to D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor will be here on Wednesday with an exploration of foods and culinary terms in her terrific series A-Z of foods with the letter E. This week on her own blog you can enjoy her Monday Musings, exploration of the cuisine of Egypt and Saturday Snippets.. all about the word ‘Vine’. You can read this post and the others Carol Cooks2
Thanks too for all your visits, comments and shares this week… they mean a great deal..♥
Welcome to the round up of posts you may have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
I hope you have had a great week.. The sun has been shining most days and this has meant that the last of the outside jobs on the house are well underway. Water has been a great attraction for the birds who already enjoy their outsize bathing trays that can hold a flock of starlings at one time. If there is a crow investigating ways to get into the bird feed pyramid we have built they seem to perform a synchronised Haka facing the intruder from the safety of the pool. Very entertaining and effective.
Charlie the crow is exempt from this behaviour and I do think they sense that his permanent disability of being unable to open his beak very wide makes him a non-threat. I had some double cream that had gone sour… and I know a certain someone who is very partial to a bit of dairy for some reason. I managed to catch Charlie in the act as he polished off the small tub ending up with the evidence all over his face.
Anyway they do provide plenty of entertainment through the kitchen window or if I am sitting in the sunshine. Apparently I am not a threat either and they chatter incessantly amongst themselves about the standard of the food and facilities… thank goodness they cannot access Tripadvisor.
As always my thanks to William Price King, currently on his summer break for the Breakfast Show and the life of Nina Simone. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies is back tomorrow morning with a brand new series exploring our spiritual well being.. Over on her blog you can you can enjoy her Sunday Review for Diamonds are for Nowby Ruth Harris..and a lovely heartwarming tribute to her husband G’s sense of humour… head over to D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor was here on Wednesday with an exploration of foods and culinary terms in her terrific series A-Z of foods with the letter D. This week on her own blog you can enjoy her Monday Musings, Chicken Recipes, Green Kitchen and Saturday Snippets.. all about the word ‘Tickle’. Carol Taylor’s Weekly Round Up
Thanks too for all your visits, comments and shares this week… they mean a great deal..♥
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
I hope that you are all well and have had a good week. Nothing much to report here as we continue with the revamp of the house to put on the market.. still a couple of months away but I am spending time looking online at properties in the area we are considering. We have always been lucky with houses, finding the right one at the right time, so hoping this time will be the same.
On the blog front.. the new series of ‘Posts from Your Archives’ begins in August. With your permission I will browse your posts between January and the end of June 2022 and select two to share in a post on Smorgasbord. They are copyrighted to you and will also include links and books etc. Full details are in the post along with an example of what your post will look like.. already 10 friends have signed up and I am looking forward to diving into their archives.
Thanks to my friends William Price King and Debby Gies for their music and humour contributions this week and you can find out more about them on their own sites. .
William Price Kingjoined me on The Breakfast show this week for the first part of the hits from 1998 and for the final part of the series about Roberta Flack.Coming up on Friday a new series about the legend Nina Simone. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies took us to The Bahamas to discover the beauty of this group of islands.. Over on her blog you can you can catch up with her posts including and explanation as to why you might be seeing the semicolon symbol on social media in another role other than as a punctuation mark…and also her book review for The Unravelling by Thorne Moore. .. D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor joined me on Wednesday with a repeat of her wonderful series A-Z of foods with the letter B. Carol is in England and has extended her visit for another month but she has left plenty to enjoy on her blog. This week a recipe for Chicken Nachos, The Green Kitchenwith a recipe for Garlic Knots, upcycling and going plastic free. It is National Picnic Month in the UK and Carol shares recipes to delight the family. Add in Saturday Snippets and you will not go hungry You can find all her posts Carol Cooks2
Thanks too for all your visits, comments and shares this week… they mean a great deal..♥
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed on Smorgasbord this week.
As well as decluttering in the house this week I have also been working through my posts and files, updating and cleaning up links.. I found a promotional video that I thought I would dust off and share on social media again.. the view has changed but the invitation is the same.
Other than that it has been a quiet week getting on with the house redecorating (my role at this point is purely supervisory lol) I just make sure the working half of the partnership is fed and watered on a regular basis.. strawberries seem to be a great motivator..
I did have a mishap this week and clearly whilst I am more than happy to lay the blame at the feet of WordPress, it is more likely I hit the wrong button. A post I was working on published and whilst I was able to delete from the automatic postings to social media of course an email notification was sent to thousands!
I have now inserted a fail safe and schedule the post for the correct date before I format. That way if anything goes wrong it won’t hit the airwaves.
I did send a notification out to all those who receive then to apologise and hope you will pop in on the 16th to read the finished post.. a heartwarming I Wish I Knew Then by Hugh Roberts.
Thanks to my friends William Price King and Debby Gies for their music and humour contributions this week and you can find out more about them on their own sites. .
William Price Kingjoined me on The Breakfast show this week for the second part of the hits from 1997 and for the third part of the series about Roberta Flack.You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies shared some great funnies earlier in the week and is taking us to The Bahamas tomorrow morning.. Over on her blog you can you can catch up with her posts including her book review for Ending Forever by Nicholas Conley, a social media rant and a surpriseand an exploration of epistolary writing.. D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor will be joining me on Wednesday with a repeat of her wonderful series A-Z of foods with the letter B. Carol is in England for a month to visit her family but has left her blog well stocked. This week a recipe for Chicken with Mango, a look ahead at July’s Friday food reviews including special food celebrations, Spices in the Larder, the cuisine of Denmark and Saturday Snippets with ‘Glory’ the theme. You can find all her posts Carol Cooks2
Thanks too for all your visits, comments and shares this week… they mean a great deal..♥
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
I hope that you are doing okay wherever you live. I know that certain countries in Europe and here in Ireland are experiencing an increase in Covid cases, but it seems that most people are unconcerned and have ditched their masks. Thankfully here it is a matter of choice and with us both having had Covid and not wishing to have again, I will be sticking with the mask for some time to come.
The work on the house continues, but most of the decluttering is now finished with the product of this exercise being collected on Monday. I spent some time in the garden repotting, deadheading and moving plants from front to back as they blossom. This includes one of my favourites. These lilies bloom for a few weeks only. During the winter I stack the containers containing the bulbs at the back of the house in a corner and cover. In April I set them out in the daylight and water them and here we are in the middle of June and they offer their wonderful blossoms again. They shout summer.
As always my thanks to my friends who share their expertise and fun with us each week.
William Price Kingjoined me on The Breakfast show this week for the first part of the hits from 1997 and for the first part of the series about Roberta Flack.You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies takes us to St. Barts tomorrow morning and will of course be finding some funnies during the week to keep us entertained. Over on her blog you can you can catch up with her posts including her helpful June writing links and her review for Paulette Mahurin’s latest A Peaceful Village .. D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor joins me on Wednesday with a repeat of her wonderful series A-Z of foods beginning with the lette A. Carol is in England for a month to visit her family but has left her blog well stocked. This week Monday Musings, MSG,the cuisine of The Dominican Republic,a close look at the many cooking oilsavailable and an entertaining Saturday Snippets.You can find all her posts Carol Cooks2
Thanks too for all your visits, comments and shares this week… they mean a great deal..♥
Coming up this week on the I Wish I Knew Then series are Pete Springer and Pete Johnson (Beetley Pete)
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed during the week..
I hope you have had a good week and are enjoying the weekend. There has been some more work on the house and it is really beginning to take shape… Ironic that we will get it looking great only to pass on to someone else lol.. Anyway that is a month or so away but I am already looking at property pages in the areas we are planning to look at seriously in the coming months. I am trying to be sensible about downsizing!!! Apart from anything else with heating oil having almost tripled in the last three months, heating a large house becomes an expensive luxury.
I am hoping that are luck with finding just the right house for us will hold, and whilst I am not looking forward to the packing up process, I am excited about finding our next home, intended to be our last. And also to finally welcome a new dog into the family, long overdue.
This week my friends William Price King, Debby Gies and Carol Taylor have given us music, sunshine and sea in Puerto Rico and wonderful recipes and I cannot thank them enough for their wonderful contributions. They are also busy on their own blogs and I hope you will head over to check them out.
William Price Kingjoined me on The Breakfast show this week for the second part of the hits from 1996 and for the fianl part of the series about Aretha Franklin. Next Friday a new series featuring Roberta Flack… You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies took us to San Juanon Monday and found some great funnies. It was also her birthday this week… on facebook it shows up as 107.. always a talking point as she certainly does not look her age lol..Over on her blog you can you can catch up with her posts including her Sunday book review for the compelling thriller Where There’s Doubt by Terry Tyler…. D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor joined me on Wednesday with her recipes to include sufficient phosphorus in our diets… and as always a busy week on her own blog including her Monday Musings and the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, Store cupboard Basics, Green Kitchen Bread Rolls and strawberry stems, Saturday Snippets all about ‘Spin’. You can find all her posts Carol Cooks2
Thanks too for all your visits, comments and shares this week… they mean a great deal..♥
Coming up this week on the I Wish I Knew Then series are Sue Wickstead, Jane Risdon and Claire Fullerton.
Christina Strigas is a Montreal, Greek-Canadian, who has self-published three novels. a trilogy based upon the real life of Zaharoula Sarakinis, a spiritual healer.
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Smorgasbord Blog Magazine 