Merry Christmas and if you are dropping by over the holidays, here are the posts from the week you might have missed. I know many have been impacted by the ferocious snow storms across America and I hope you and your families are safe.
Contributor News this week.
William Price King has been sharing some favourite carols this week and the wonderful Andrea Bocelli with a selection from his Christmas Album…and on New Year’s Eve a party with music from William and some special guests . You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies shared some great funnies this week over here and on her own blog you will discover her latest podcast on grief and influences the way you celebrate the special holidays during the year. There are five book reviews in the Sunday feature this week of books that Debby has read during the year but did not include. Follow the link to Debby’s posts…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor will be back after Christmas with the next in her Culinary A-Z and the letter ‘N’ – Carol is also one of the special guests at the New Year’s Eve Party. Over on her own blog you will find her memories of Christmas as a child, some last minute recipes for mincemeat and stem gingerand a wonderful Monday Musingswith a video I recommend everyone watches as it will inspire you I am sure to look at our earth in a different way. Carol’s Monday Musings
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord..
I hope your week has gone well. Nothing much to report here but I have managed to get a few hours in the garden as we experience some random Indian Summer moments. I have also made progress with my Elephant tapestry as my intention is to have it finished and framed ready by Christmas. My next book release, a combined poetry and short story collection is also getting closer to being ready for editing.
I have also been giving some thought to how the blog might evolve in the next year and some new features I would like to introduce. As you will see from this week there has been an emphasis on new releases and book reviews and I do want to carry that forward next year with additional opportunities for authors to promote their work.
Contributor News this week.
William Price King joined me for The Breakfast Show for the first part of chart hits from 2005 and this week sees the second part of that year. From the following we we are going retro and sharing the top hits in the charts from the 1940s and 1950s and we hope you will enjoy those too. Also this week the next post in the series on Andrea Bocelli. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies was here on Monday morning with her first post in her Spiritual Awarenessseries on Angels….and later in the week sharing her funnies for our laughter posts. Over on her own blog you can enjoy Debby’s book review for the latest poetry collection by Frank Prem…A Specialist at the Recycled Heart – a link to Debby’s podcast – Grief: The Real Talk – 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 ‘I’… on her own blog a – Head over to enjoy – Monday Musings, a celebration of National Curry Week, Garlic,Fragrant Leaves, Fungi and her Saturday Snippets where the prompt was Firecracker. – CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…2nd- 8th October 2022
Thank you too for all your visits, comments and shares during the week. As always very much appreciated…♥
Welcome to the round up of posts on Smorgasbord that you might have missed this week.
I hope you are doing well in your neck of the woods. In this one we have had some glorious weather this last week and I have taken advantage of the garden. Decorating is going well with the dining room now pearl grey and white woodwork.. Awaiting the floor to be sanded and I am off to buy new curtains during the week.
The young plants I potted a couple of weeks ago are beginning to flower and it is a bit of mystery as to the colours as I bought variety packs and in a week or two I will share the results.
On the blog front
I am delighted that I Wish I Knew Then series is being enjoyed and there are several more scheduled for the coming weeks and so grateful to those who are participating and sharing their stories. This week Jacquie Biggar, Rebecca Budd, Denise Finn and Jacqui Murray share their thoughts on the prompt.
As always I will be putting on a Summer Book Fairfeaturing all the authors that I have personally recommended who are on the Smorgasbord Bookshelf. In the first posts beginning in June, I will be sharing books that are the first in a series to encourage readers to start at the beginning and hopefully then read the following books. I will then continue with authors with stand alone novels, non-fiction, memoirs etc. Look out for that from June 6th through to September.
As always I must thank these three amazing contributors as the blog would not be the same without them.
William Price Kingjoined me on The Breakfast show this week for the second part of the hits from 1994 and for the last part of the series on Friday featuring Ella Fitzgerald. – On Friday William begins a new series about the legendary Aretha Franklin. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies took us to St. Thomas this week on the Travel Column… and on her own blog shares her thoughts on being back in Toronto after her Mexican winter break and adjusting to the solitude again, weather and how grief plays its role in her perspective on life and the future. How Am I Doing? Head over to her blog to catch up on her posts including her Sunday Book Review D.G. Writes
Carol Taylor shared some amazing recipes this week to ensure we are getting sufficient Magnesium in our diet… on her own blog she reminds us about animals waking up after hibernation in our gardens and in particular what to and not to feed hedgehogs in her Monday Musings,
In her ‘My Kitchen Post, she shares some store cupboard basics, in her Food Reviewwhat constitutes ‘processed food’ and in Saturday Snippets her prompt is Glass.
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week.
A strange bitty week with weather… a bit of sun, a bit of snow, a bit of wind… but a great deal of rain. We are lucky, as I know large parts of Europe and North America have been getting frozen blasts and metres of snow.
The first week of 2022 and some milestone birthdays in the family with David’s 70th next Tuesday and my sister’s 80th in February. We were laughing the other day about how we never thought one day we would be talking about events and people from over 60 years ago. Also how many iconic events have taken place in our lifetimes, and what amazing inventions we have incorporated into our everyday lives in the last century. Here are just a few that gives us reason to be grateful to be born in this day and age…. despite the current covid pandemic, which could be a great deal worse if not for the medical knowledge and scientific breakthroughs of the last 50 years in particular.
Clearly space travel and landing on the moon was monumental.
Listening to music moving through cassette tapes, CDs to digital downloads.
Mobile phones – smart phones
Computers – laptops – notebooks
Microwave ovens
Worldwide web
Digital cameras
3D printers
Sliced bread (1928)
Advanced anaesthetics
The first transplants of heart, liver and kidneys
Development of the artificial heart
Vaccines that have virtually eradicated smallpox, polio, TB, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Scarlet Fever, Maleria and Diptheria.
I choose to be positive about the coming year with this very small selection of brilliant innovations from the last century behind us, and far more to come I am sure.
Tomorrow sees the start of the first feature from the new Smorgasbord Bookshelf where you will find all the authors and their books that I personally recommend along with one of my reviews for their books. Click the link to discover the authors currently on the shelves.
My intention is to read some of the older books of these authors in the coming year, as well as new releases, and I will change the reviews out as I post them.
I have some new authors that I am also planning to read and I will add those to the shelves too.
In this first feature I will be sharing bios, book covers and my review for all the authors presently on the shelves. There will be more regular features during the year including a Summer and Christmas Book Fair.
New book releases.
If you have a new book being released in the next few weeks please let me know the date if on pre-order or available so that I can create a promotion for you.
There are two links for new books released this week further down in the post to give you an idea of how they would look. One is for a new author to the bookshelf and the other for a resident author Email me on sally.cronin@moyhill.com so we can chat about what I need and dates etc.
As always my thanks to William Price King, who as well as joining me on The Breakfast Show, joins us on Fridays with his series Meet the Music Greats and Jazz Icons. To D.G Kayewhose Travel Column I am resharing through the first half of the year and to Carol Taylor with our joint series Cook from Scratch to prevent nutritional deficiency.
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
Another week flown by and well and truly into autumn.. This week a major job in the garden with the side and back of the house now fully lawned. Not that I can claim any credit except for buying the biscuits to go with cups of tea, but the team who were doing the work barely stopped for a break. Very impressed with the result and they did an amazing job.
That is the last of the major jobs before tackling the internal decoration and waiting for the guy to come and repair the wood stove.. we now have all the spare parts and it will be great to get them off the dining room table…
I have finished my clothes, bags and shoes declutter and next week I shall be starting on the kitchen cupboards…that will be interesting…
The Blog
I am also working on the blog format and plans for 2022.. I shall be entering my 70th year and I have an urge to complete some online and offline projects to celebrate. I also would like to revamp the blog in some areas, particularly if they are going to drop the classic editor completely so need to get that done before 31st December.
If you do visit the Cafe and Bookstore, you will see that for the rest of the year I won’t be accepting any new authors. My focus will be on the existing authors, their new books and reviews, and I am planning to feature everyone in the annual Christmas Book Fair.
Next year I want to up my own reviews for authors to hopefully help get their books noticed, and I will be doing some new features throughout the year to promote those in the Cafe.
I will do more on my podcastas well and also I plan on turning some of my own books into audio versions.
I began the blog in 2012.. so a ten year anniversary and in whatever the format it might take, I am looking forward to sharing it with you.
As always my thanks to William Price King, Debby Giesand Malcolm Allen for their contributions this week.. and to you for visiting, sharing and commenting.
Welcome to the weekly round up with some posts you might have missed here on Smorgasbord.
I hope you are all well… I know that like us here restrictions are being lifted in many countries although In Ireland there is going to be a slow roll out depending on any upsurge in cases.
The big news here is that overnight on Thursday criminals hacked the health service which is now offline which has resulted in the cancellation of thousands of appointments and more seriously life-saving operations. The government stance is that they will not pay any ransom and so as of this moment it appears that we are at an impasse. We all know that these parasites are out there, but to do this when all countries and their populations are at their most vulnerable is heinous. All I can do is wish them everything they wish upon others!
This means that despite assurances that the vaccination programme will be unaffected, it probably will be. So no idea when I will be getting my first…
On a brighter note, and thankfully there usually is one…the sun popped out periodically during the week and took some time off for some badly needed fresh air and a Vitamin D boost.
Also as always, I am very grateful to my friends and co-conspirators this week William Price Kingco-hosting the Breakfast Show with me with some more 1960s music, D.G. Kaye with her new May relationship column exploring the impact of grief on our lives, and some funnies to keep us smiling, Carol Taylorwith The Green Kitchen… and if you love soft dinner rolls…dig in.. And last but not least Daniel Kemp who shared his special brand of humour a the Open Mic Night.
Time continues to pass rapidly despite the turmoil in the world, and suddenly it is Saturday again. Welcome to the posts that you might have missed on Smorgasbord during the week.
Something to think about
I am so tempted to switch off from the news headlines and retreat into my rural sanctuary here in Ireland and ignore the world and its desperation. But, I am part of the world, as we all are, and our words and actions have consequences, especially today with the immediacy of our online contributions. It feels like a powder keg with a lit fuse coiling around the globe, as people take to the streets and their knees, in response to actions that even 10 years ago would have gone unnoticed except for those swept up in the events.
In our modern age of mobile phones with cameras, social media and a growing frustration with what is seen as archaic methods of out of date policing and government, it is unwise for anyone in power to assume that their actions will be swept under the carpet, and that there will not be consequences. Having said that, it also applies to the minority who are taking advantage of the situation by looting and carrying out acts of violence on innocent bystanders and businesses.
Fear and lack of leadership has led to disproportionate reactions from the authorities which has just fueled the situation. Instead of talking and reaching a consensus on a way forward, this reaction is destined to be repeated, unless radical changes are made. It is however, heartwarming, to see that even under such stress, many of those behind the shields have taken to a knee and shared their solidarity with the peaceful protestors.
For those protesting peacefully, I am with you all the way. It is not just the approach to colour in the media, by the authorities, and in the community, it is about developing a whole new approach to education, health care, and employment that currently creates such a divide in our nations. This is not just in the USA but also in countries in Europe where inequality still thrives across the different cultures and sectors of society.
We seem to have forgotten that under our skin colour, beneath our beliefs and beyond our different languages, we all share the same physiology and as human beings, we all have inalienable rights.
One of the most basic rights should be that our fellow man will look out for us when we are being persecuted.
And now time for the posts from the week…and thank you for all the support that I am very grateful for. As I am for the contributors who add such flavour, knowledge and humour to the blog each week.
And to start off another new book marketing series ... a follow on from Share an Extract of a Previous Book... now it is the turn of your most recent book. Full details in the post and an example of how it will look.
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 