Coronavirus #COV19 #Sunday #Family #Games #Baking #Anxiety #Cats

Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

Yesterday, Sunday 6th April was a gorgeous sunny day in Cambridge. A day that might have tempted some to congregate. I hope not, but some of the UK public appear to be foolish. Not us, we spent the day at home in the house and garden enjoying the sunshine. Hubby managed to get some charcoal so we had a barbeque, and played card games.

That was unusual – as they were drinking games!

It was my youngest daughter’s idea. For example you pick a card and the number says you have to… say a rhyme, or name a city, or whatever else the game rules say and pass it on. If you run out of rhymes, etc, or are too slow, you have to take a sip of your drink! The drinks were very nice, gin and tonic with fruit!

It was fun, but we didn’t go overboard and drink too much. Just enough to relax us all.

Perhaps Lockdown has some positives – we are definitely spending more time together as a family, chatting more and sharing our thoughts.

But we will have to be careful not to drink and eat too much! Or, I for one will be putting on too much weight.

Also, another source of piling on the pounds – we made banana cake with chocolate chunks. Apparently, everyone is baking banana cake at the moment. It was quite a job getting the ingredients – I had to improvise somewhat. It turned out really well but we overdid it on the chocolate! If I made it again I’d use less chocolate, but youngest daughter doesn’t agree!

During the meal I glanced up at the blue sky and sad thoughts returned. How can the world be suffering in such a terrible way on such a beautiful day? My thoughts turned to those less fortunate than us who are living in cramped living conditions, without a garden, perhaps in difficult situations. I looked again, I couldn’t see a cloud in the sky, and no airplane trails either. The environment is benefiting, but people are dying.

I just wish the Scientists could find a cure but it will be a long time coming before a vaccine is ready. They are saying one year minimum, perhaps longer. It is good to hear that influencers, musicians, pop artists and the like are donating money. I hope this will help.

We packed the barbeque away and settled down for the evening. It was only 6.30pm.

What to do now?

Relax.

Watch TV, read a book, go for your daily safe walk, or chat, or spend time with our visiting cat who has decided to call during lockdown. Except, this cute ginger cat just wanted to snooze!

Another day of Lockdown. Hope you are all doing okay and staying safe.

Links:

Workshops for young girls during this time:

From J K Rowling: https://www.wizardingworld.com/collections/harry-potter-at-home

David Hockney shares exclusive art from Normandy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-52109901

A message from Chris Martin #TogetherAtHome from Coldplay:

A beautiful song “We’ll Rise Up: a song from the NHS to the public”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/apr/05/boris-johnson-admitted-to-hospital-with-coronavirus

From my friend Sherri: https://sherrimatthewsblog.com/2020/04/03/dispatches-from-lockdown-in-an-english-spring/

Available for free on kindle unlimited and to buy in kindle and paperback: http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius

Mr. Sagittarius is a collection of poetry, prose and photographic images inspired by the botanical gardens in Cambridge. Photography is in the genes! Both my uncle and grandfather were photographers. My grandfather A.G. Ingram was originally with the photography company Ingram, Gordon & Co in Haddington up until the mid thirties.  Then he ventured on his own to form the Scottish Pictorial Press in Edinburgh supplying photos to the press.  When war broke out Scottish Pictorial Press became defunct.  After the war he started AG Ingram Ltd, Commercial Photographers, at 3 successive locations in Edinburgh, Scotland.

And 5 star review from Colleen Chesebro: February 2020 Books #AmReading

Early reviews: 5 stars from Ritu Bhathal https://butismileanyway.com/2020/02/29/february-2020-books-amreading/

Another 5 star review from Sally Cronin: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/03/04/smorgasbord-book-reviews-poetry-and-prose-mr-sagittarius-by-m-j-mallon/

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Author Spotlights: Inspiration – Robbie and Michael Cheadle

Author Spotlights-

Today, it is my pleasure to welcome Robbie and Michael Cheadle to my blog.

This is a rare treat, a sugary inspiration. Enjoy!

About Robbie and Michael Cheadle

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Robbie Cheadle was born in London in the United Kingdom. Her father died when she was three months old and her mother immigrated to South Africa with her tiny baby girl. Robbie has lived in Johannesburg, George and Cape Town in South Africa and attended fourteen different schools. This gave her lots of opportunities to meet new people and learn lots of social skills as she was frequently “the new girl”.

Robbie is a qualified Chartered Accountant and specialises in corporate finance with a specific interest in listed entities and stock markets. Robbie has written a number of publications on listing equities and debt instruments in Africa and foreign direct investment into Africa.

Robbie is married to Terence Cheadle and they have two lovely boys, Gregory and Michael. Michael (aged 11) is the co-author of the Sir Chocolate series of books and attends school in Johannesburg. Gregory (aged 14) is an avid reader and assists Robbie and Michael with filming and editing their YouTube videos and editing their books. Robbie is also the author of the new Silly Willy series the first of which, Silly Willy goes to Cape Town, will be available in early July 2017.

Continue reading “Author Spotlights: Inspiration – Robbie and Michael Cheadle”

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My Kyrosmagica review of the Cosy Teashop in The Castle

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I won a copy of Caroline Roberts The Cosy Teashop in The Castle via Suze Lavender, @SuzeLavender who blogs at http://www.withloveforbooks.com/

Book enthusiasts tip: Suze is great to follow as she does lots and lots of book giveaways!

My review:

I read this charming novel while  on holiday in Portugal.  More about my trip here: https://mjmallon.com/2016/09/11/portugal-missing-you/

The Cosy Teashop in The Castle is the perfect read to take away with you for a relaxing break. A light-hearted story set in Northumberland about a young women’s dream to run her own tea shop. Being a big fan of cakes, baking, tearooms, and castles, this really appealed to me. By the way there is the added bonus of a lovely cake recipe at the back of the book : Ellie’s grandmother – Choffee cake. Sounds delicious! There is also a very satisfactory dollop of romance that never goes amiss on a summer read! The only aspect of the novel that surprised me was just how steamy the romance sections were. Boy were they hot, just about as sweltering as the Portugal sun. So do bear that in mind! Obviously all that floury cake baking, combined with the chemistry between Ellie and the manager of the tearoom, Joe, really enabled the spark to light Ellie’s broken-hearted fuse. Phew….Yes, Ellie hasn’t had the best of times as far as men are concerned, making her a bit cautious, and Joe has his reasons to be a bit distant too. But the fuse well and truly does get lit, believe me!

My recommendation –  Read and find out more! 

My rating: 4 stars.

Have you read The Cosy Tea Shop in The Castle? Do let me know your thoughts if you have.

Bye for now, that little tea shop was surprisingly hot!

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