Welcome to the round up of posts that you might have missed on Smorgasbord this week.
I hope you are all doing well and have enjoyed your week…
A red letter day this week. The sun came out yesterday afternoon, the wind dropped and I was able to sit out in the back garden for nearly an hour. It looks like I will be able to do the same this morning in the front garden. It is amazing how just sitting quietly with the sun on your face next to the bird feeder and bright yellow daffodils makes everything right with the world. Well your small part of it anyway. I know just how these cows feel after being shut up for the winter months lol.
I was out and about during the week included in a lovely post by Jane Sturgeon along with Harmony Kent, Alex Craigie, D.G. Kaye and Lauren Scott. Jane shares her reviews for her books and celebrates twelve years of blogging. If you are looking for your next read, or your TBR is looking a little skinny!!! head over to check the reviews out.
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog…
William Price King joined me this week for the Big Band Era with Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Webb, Benny Goodman and The Lindy Hop .On Friday he began a new series on the music giant Stevie Wonder….You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies was here on Monday with a short story… and she also joined me in the funnies posts this week. Despite being on her winter break in Mexico she is still visiting posts and commenting, not just here but around the writing community. She will be back with us again the first week in April. Follow the link to Debby’s blog to browse her archives…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylorwashere on Wednesday with her A-Z of food and the letter ‘S’. On her own blog you can find Pavarotti, Mermaids on her Monday Musings, some dugongs and manatees, Riverdance and a bit about septic tanks…on Thursday Thoughts.. to catch up with all of Carol’s posts this week Carol Taylor’s Weekly Round Up – March 12th – 18th 2023
Thank you very much for your visits, comments and shares to social media, as always it is appreciated ♥
Welcome to a round up of posts you might have missed on Smorgasbord this week.
It has been a mixed week weather wise here with high winds, some sunshine and flurries of snow. We have got off lightly looking at the headlines from around the world, and even in the UK less than 100 miles away at the nearest point, there has been very heavy snow and disruption.
We are getting ready to have our kitchen renovations done so we will be moving our computers back into the dining room for a while. It will be good to get that job done. Looking at the empty pots in the garden I am also looking forward to better weather at the end of the month to visit the garden centre to get the new plants and get the outside looking more colourful.
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog…
William Price King joined me this week for the Big Band Era with The Andrew Sisters, Artie Shaw and The Turkey Trot ..Also the last post on the life and music of the incredible Quincy Jones. On Friday a new series on the music giant Stevie Wonder….You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies will be here on Monday with a short story… and she also joined me in the funnies posts this week. Despite being on her winter break in Mexico she is still visiting posts and commenting, not just here but around the writing community. Follow the link to Debby’s blog to browse her archives…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylorwill behere on Wednesday with her A-Z of food and the letter ‘S’. On her own blog in Monday Musings Carol explores the properties of Clove as a natural antibiotic, and shares news of a message in a bottle found over 100 years after it was set adrift.. and some music.. In her green kitchen some great tips for keeping bananas fresh for longer, a homemade cleaning agent for your kitchen, energy efficiency for your appliances old and new, and buying fish on the Internet! On Thursday … ever eaten a chocolate burger?….Catch up with all of Carol’s posts this week:Carol’s round up 5th – 11th March 2023
Thank you very much for your visits, comments and shares to social media, as always it is appreciated ♥
Welcome to the round up of posts on Smorgasbord that you might have missed this week.
It has certainly been a busy week for us with parties and travel and a very special lunch with two exceptional authors and friends. The first photo is from my sister Diana’s 80th birthday lunch which was the third of the meals we enjoyed while we were in Portsmouth including on the Sunday at No 27, a fabulous restaurant. Here we are enjoy our lunch.
The birthday cake that my sister Sonia organised and set alight with a sparkling 80...
The next celebration was meeting up with Judith Barrow and Alex Craigie for lunch in Cardigan in Wales.. so wonderful to finally meet Judith after 9 years and Alex who she introduced me to. Love their books and it is a long awaited meet up.
Alex had contacted me a couple of weeks before to ask for a high resolution of the cover for my latest collection and I wondered why… and what an amazingly creative gift it was.
Let there be light.. so touched and will treasure always.
I would also like to thank Abbie Taylor and Toni Pike for their wonderful reviews this week on their blogs for Variety is the Spice of Life… I am so grateful..
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog…
William Price King joined me this week for the Big Band Era with Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and The Blackbottom dance…Also the next post on the life and music of the incredible Quincy Jones You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies is here on Monday with a repeat post from her archives on the subject of Epistolary Writing and will be joining me in the funnies post later in the week. Despite being on her winter break in Mexico she is still visiting posts and commenting, not just here but around the writing community. Follow the link to Debby’s blog to browse her archives…D.G. Kaye
Carol Tayloris here on Wednesday with her A-Z of food and the letter ‘R’. On her own blog on Monday she exploredNatural Antibiotics…Colloidal Silver, John Herschel Glenn and Whoopi Goldberg…It was pancake day on Tuesday… a delicious treat anytime of year. On Wednesday Carol explored the cuisine of Finland…The Land of Reindeers and Midnight Sun…On Thursday Carol reminded us of Dolly the cloned sheep and where that technology has led science, also an amazing fusion of rock and wagner that will amaze you. Catch up with all of Carol’s posts in her weekly round up CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…19th-25th February 2023-
Thank you very much for your visits, comments and shares to social media, as always it is appreciated ♥
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord
I hope the week has treated you well. We where out to lunch on Monday to celebrate my 70th birthday and the treats spilled over to Valentine’s Day, even after 43 years still something we like to celebrate.
This week is my 2nd eldest sister Diana’s 80th birthday so cause for more celebrations in the family. The three of us are all in February, and my brother slipped into March. A busy time of year for parties.
It is also my blogging anniversary today and hard to believe that it is 11 years since I signed up with WordPress… time really does fly when you are having fun.
Apart from a lovely lunch on Monday I have also been out and about this week…with the lovely Robbie Cheadle talking about poetry, sharing one of my favourites and one from by latest collection, plus a wonderful review from Robbie for Variety is the Spice of Life. Thanks to Kaye Lynne Booth too for her hospitality on Writing to be Read.
If you would like to share two posts from your archives in this current season please let me know if you are happy for me to delve into your archives to select them. I am currently scheduling for the first week in April. It would be lovely to have a few more.
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog…
William Price King joined me this week for the Big Band Era with Billie Holiday and Bunny Berigan, Count Basie and The Tango…Also the next post on the life and music of the incredible Quincy Jones You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies was here on Monday with a repeat post from her series on relationships in time for Valentine’s Day. Online dating is big business and whilst many find love, many also find scammers and Debby offers some practical advice on how to stay safe…She also shares one of the posts from her archives on the subject of telecommunications. Despite being on her winter break in Mexico she is still visiting posts and commenting, not just here but around the writing community. Follow the link to Debby’s blog to browse her archives…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylorwas here on Wednesday with her A-Z of food and the letter ‘Q’. In her Monday Musings Carol looks at another antibiotic alternative.. Grapefruit Seed Extract look at food packaging and in particular takeaway containers and some lovely music from Oliver. – Catch up with this post and her other posts this week Carol Taylor’s Weekly Round Up 12th -18th February
Thank you very much for your visits, comments and shares to social media, as always it is appreciated ♥
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
I hope your week has gone well. January went very quickly and cannot believe we are in February already.
The three of us with my mother in 2000 on their first visit to our home in Madrid.
It is a busy month in our family, as we three sisters all have our birthdays. My brother slipped into March and was a bit of a surprise as my mother was 40. She was always a good sailor but on our trip home from two years Sri Lanka, which was extended because of the Suez Canal crisis, she felt unwell. She went to the doctor on arriving home to the village where we had our home and he diagosed dispepsia! A month later she rang him and said dispepsia just kicked me.
I was four at the time and since my mother wanted a home birth I was packed off to Northampton with my aunt who travelled down to pick me up and take me back on a coach. I was a little brat and despite her best efforts and that of my cousin Roger then a teenager of 15, she had to return with me after only two days, as I was determined not to be left out of this massive event. My brother was born that night but I slept through it all, exhausted by my machinations! I was allowed in to meet him first thing the next morning and I don’t think that was the first time my mother said to me ‘You little monkey!’ lol.
My brother and I making a getaway…
Anyway here I am almost 70 and still getting up to mischief…
I was delighted to be the guest at Lisette Brodey’s Writer’s Chateauthis week chatting about books, publishing, my amazing contributors and living in Ireland.. If you have not visited the interview then it would be great if you popped over. Lisette Brodey’s Writer’s Chateau Interview Sally Cronin
Part five of this series has gone out this week but I have made a pdf of the complete series and if anyone would like a copy email me on sally.cronin@moyhill.com
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog…
William Price King joined me this week for the Big Band Era with Fred Astaire and Leo Reisman, Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields and an example of The Black Bottom dance. Also the final post on the life and music of Sir George Shearing with a new series on the incredible Quincy Jones You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies On Monday I shared one of her early guest posts here on an entertaining travel adventure and Debby has left some funnies for us during the week. Despite being on holiday she is still visiting posts and commenting, not just here but around the writing community. Follow the link to Debby’s blog to browse her archives…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor was here on Wednesday with her A-Z of food and the letter ‘P’. In Carol’s Monday Musings she explores Trans Fats, Battery Storage, Killer Fungi and a Natural Antibiotic…The Chilli Pepper and on Thursday Groundhog Day, Chinese Steamed Cakes, Knish, Cootie Catcher plus the 1st public Conviences…Catch up on all Carol’s posts: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…29th January-4th February 2023-
Thank you very much for your visits, comments and shares to social media, as always it is appreciated ♥
Welcome to the round up of posts this week on Smorgasbord that you might have missed.
I hope you have all had a good week. Nothing earth shattering to report from here but when I read the world headlines, I am very happy to be living in a quiet rural area away from it all. I know I used to be so much more adventurous, but even my upcoming trip to see my sisters requires planning and preparations for just a few days away. The days of flinging some clothes into a bag, grabbing a passport and whizzing through an airport to catch a flight to the other side of the world are long over.
Even technology is going to become interesting during 2023 as mobile phones that are programmed for 3G become obsolete in the UK and Ireland, making way for the new 4G voice technology. This means new phones for the majority of us, and whilst there are only a couple of places in the UK at the moment that have scrapped 3G, they and Ireland intend to move to 4G by the end of the year. Considering I used to drive hundreds of miles on my own without a mobile phone I am almost ashamed I am not brave enough to drive the 7k to Tesco without one!
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog…
William Price King joined me this week for the Big Band Era with Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and The Charleston. Also the next post on the life and music of Sir George Shearing with the last episode on this coming Friday.The following week a new series on the incredible Quincy Jones You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies has arrived safely in Mexico after a gruelling journey with snow blizzards, delays due to iced wings. During her time away I will be sharing some posts from the archives on Smorgasbord and her own blog. Tomorrow morning… one of her early guest posts here on an entertaining travel adventure. There will also be some funnies along the way. Debby did a Bon Voyage post on her blog with some interesting geographical, political and safety information on Puerta Vallarta and if you are planning a winter break you will find very helpful.Follow the link to Debby’s blog…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor will be here on Wednesday with her A-Z of food and the letter ‘P’. Congratulations to Carol on becoming a great grandmother to Bonnie born on January 25th, a beautiful picture in her round up. On Monday Carol looked at the alternative options to antibiotics in the form of Echinacea, a better way to grow rice for the environment, a report on Trans Fats, a fitness update and a toadzilla found that would make anyone jump. Carol explores the cuisine of Fiji… very exotic locally sourced delicacies. Catch up on all Carol’s posts: Carol Taylor’s weekly round up 22nd to 28th January
Thank you very much for your visits, comments and shares to social media, as always it is appreciated ♥
Welcome to the round up of posts from the week you might have missed on Smorgasbord.
Greetings from wild and windy Ireland, and considering around 23% of Ireland’s electricity comes from wind power, I should say this week they have more than enough to spare! Ice is coming in for the next two to three days and being rural the roads tend to stay frosty until enough traffic has passed over them. So I am off to do the shopping this morning and get it out of the way. I know there are many others knee deep in snow at the moment and we get off lightly, particularly here on the east coast so no complaints just an extra layer of thermals.
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog…
William Price King joined me this week to celebrate the Big Band Era with Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra and one of the dance crazes of the age The Cakewalk. Also the second post on Friday with the life and music of Sir George Shearing. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gieswill behere on Monday with an exploration of Intuition… and during this past week joined me for two laughter posts. Over on her own blog you will find her review for the fantastic upcoming release Sisters by Judith Barrowand a bumper monthly writer’s links . Follow the link to Debby’s posts…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor will be here on Wednesday with her A-Z of food and the letter ‘O’. Over on her own blog you will find Monday Musingson Chocolate and Jogging, in the Green Kitchena fascinating visit to a local organic farm and ways to use stale bread and Thursday Thoughts with a fantastic soup recipe and an interesting piece about lithium battery alternatives. You can catch up with the news: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…8th-14th January 2023
Thank you very much for your visits, comments and shares to social media, as always it is appreciated ♥
Since this series began in January 2018 there have been over 1250 Posts from Your Archives where bloggers have taken the opportunity to share posts to a new audience… mine.
The topics have ranged from travel, childhood, recipes, history, family and the most recent series was #PotLuck where I shared a random selection of different topics. This series is along the same lines… but is a ‘Lucky Dip’
In this series I will be sharing posts from the last six months of 2022
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.
It has been a pretty wild and windy week here and it seems the weather has been hitting most places with some unseasonal variations. I don’t want to wish my life away, especially when there is less in front that behind me, but an early spring would be appreciated.
Life has got back to normal after the holidays but we do have a few celebrations in the family to look forward to in the next few months. We have found one or two spots that we frequent in the area and looking forward to catching up with my two sisters in February in the UK after three years as we have some milestone birthdays between us.
On the blog front, a new series of Posts from Your Archives begins soon with the promotional post on Wednesday, a chance for bloggers to share two of their posts from the last six months of 2022… the catch being that I get to choose them. An opportunity to perhaps connect with a few more people.
There are several new books scheduled throughout January and if you do have a new release please let me know by emailing me on sally.cronin@moyhill.com so I can get you in the diary. If you have featured before I have all your details and just need the Amazon link, if you are new to the promotions then we can chat about that after you email me.
As always my thanks to my friends who contribute to the blog…
William Price King joined me this week to celebrate the Big Band Era and the dance crazes of the age and the start of a new series on Friday with the life and music of Sir George Shearing. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gieswas here on Monday with an exploration of Karma… and also joined me for the laughter post. Over on her own blog you will find her review for Ida: Searching for the Jazz Baby by Frank Prem, and a post reminding us to take care of our physical, mental and emotional care, especially during highly emotional life events. Follow the link to Debby’s posts…D.G. Kaye
Carol Taylor was here this week with her Culinary A-Z and the letter ‘N’. Over on her own blog you will find her first post of the new year Monday Musings with some goals she has planned for the year, on the Thursday Thoughts there is a reminder of soups.. always warming at this time of year and Carol’s plans to cut back on blogging while she focuses on her two cookbooks. You can catch up with the news: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…2nd-7th January 2023
Thank you very much for your visits, comments and shares to social media, as always it is appreciated ♥
Welcome to the round up of posts on Smorgasbord you might have missed this week.
I hope your week has gone well and I am sure you are busy with your holiday preparations. We have gone from white, frosty and Christmasy to gale force winds and driving rain overnight. I am not complaining as I will take a wet road over an icy one any day.
Although a few weeks away I am making preparations for my 70th, not a party but to renew my driving licence which is the age we have to do it here. It used to be you had to produce a medical certificate at 70 but they have just moved to 75 which is one step out of the renewal. To renew online however I have to go to a local office tomorrow with all my IDs and prove my identity, which gives me a card which enables me to avoid going 20 miles to the nearest licence office. I also get a free travel card when I am 70 which I can use on any public transport including all buses and trains. So whilst there may be a few more cracks in my face than last year, there are definitely benefits of turning 70.
I will however forgo any invitation to compete in Dancing on Ice as yesterday proved that I might not have the aptitude I used to have on roller skates. I went out to pour warm water in the bird bath, and next thing I knew I was flat on my back, having slipped on the ice that had accumulated around the bird bath during their ablutions. I was wet through from the bucket of water I was still carrying, and startled crows circled me calling out in distress. I assume it was concern that the human who spends copious amounts of money and time feeding the garden birds, and the crows when they can get at it, was lying injured on the ground. I suspect however it was excitement at the sight of the largest piece of road kill they had ever seen… possibly an early Christmas gift!
Anyway, I broke my fall with my wrist and apart from various bruises from top to tail I have escaped with another lesson learnt. Throw the water in the bird bath from a distance when the hose is frozen.
This week I will be sharing the final Christmas book fairs including new book news for John Howell and Dan Antion, there will be festive music, videos and funnies with a couple of short stories, book review and the round up over the holiday weekend.
Contributor News this week.
William Price King has been sharing some wonderful international carols this week and there will be more festive music on Tuesday and Friday…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 was here on Monday morning with the next post in her Spiritual Awarenessseries – Old Souls.. It was amazing to read the comments and discover how many of you resonated with the post. Over on her own blog you can find Debby’s own exciting news of her latest release Fifteen First Times: Beginnings: A Collection of Indelible Firsts and you can read all about that in the promotion post that went out here this morning. On Debby’s own post you will find December’s very useful selection of writer’s tips,and the Sunday book reviews... for Robbie Cheadle and D.L. Finn. 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 some amazing holiday recipes including Homemade Christmas Ham, …Winter Warmers…Hot Chocolate, Fish Pie and a delicious Thai Duck Curry…Carol shares more edible flowers and if you have room after the Fish Pie, there are some fabulous White Chocolate Chip Cookies…make a delicious ice cream sandwich…Head over for the winter warmer recipes… take your appetite: Carol Taylor’s Christmas Recipes Winter Warmers
Time for some shameless self promotion… and a heartfelt thanks for the generosity shown by the writing community.
My thanks to Joy Neal Kidney who didn’t just review my latest book but the other three collections in the ‘Life’ series. Wow.. I was blown away..
Colleen Chesebro is celebrating the release of her latest collection Fairies, Myths, & Magic II: A Winter Celebration, and as part of her blog tour she kindly featured each of her hosts in a post. Colleen also included her review of my latest so I am feeling quite chuffed this week as you can imagine.
Author Aurora Jean Alexander included me in her festive newsletter this week with an update on her writing, including her latest release and recent blog posts, and a delicious recipe for tangy honey glazed ham topped off with a delightful poem. If you have a newsletter you have sent out during December please drop the URL in the comments so we can all enjoy..
Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord..
I hope that you have all had a good week… I know that some of you have had heavy falls of snow and whilst I am sure it looks beautiful I am sure it also brings its challenges. We are expecting a cold snap next week with a possibility of snow but it rarely comes to anything and if it does snow rarely stays more than a day or two. Let’s hope that is not ‘famous’ last words.
I have been busy finishing off the Christmas Book Fairand scheduling more Christmas Archive posts. There is some space after Christmas in the first couple of weeks of January if you have a post from that time period from previous years that you would like to share. Perhaps about New Year Resolutions… a short story, poem etc. Send the link to sally.cronin@moyhill.com and I will take it from there.
I received my wrap up stats from Anchor this week where I record my podcast and it is streamed on 6 other platforms… I then upload the recording to Soundcloud which I then link to the blog. When the current poetry and flash fiction series is finished after Christmas I am going to adding a new feature to the Book Promotions. I will record the blurb’s for new books I add to the bookshelf along with the links to buy and the author’s website. I will use the book cover as the featured image and I hope that combined with the actual new book post it will reach a new audience.
As the soundcloud recording comes with an embed link the author can then use on their own blog if they wish to promote their book.
Contributor News this week.
William Price King joined me for The Breakfast Show for the next in the series on hits from the 1950s and the next post in the series about the wonderful performer Tony Bennett and his increased popularity in the 1990s. You can also find William – Blog– IMPROVISATION– William Price King on Tumblr
Debby Gies was here on Monday morning with the next post in her Spiritual Awarenessseries. Debby also shares her Christmas Archive post which showcases two heartwarming festive commercials. Over on her own blog you can find her lovely review for the latest release by Colleen M. Chesebro, a promotion for Harmony Kent’s latest poetry collection 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 ‘M’…on her own blog you will find Monday Musings with some links on how to make the most of your Christmas shopping and some recipes. Carol shares her own festive recipes for pate and a banana espresso smoothie plus the best of the holiday foods that you can make and freeze in advance. Head over to check the posts out CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…27th November-3rd December 2022
Thank you too for all your visits, comments and shares during the week. As always very much appreciated…♥
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.
Smorgasbord Blog Magazine 