
Wishing you all a happy new year. All the best for a healthy, happy 2023.
Images taken at the wonderful Christmas light show in Edinburgh Botanical Gardens.









Merry Christmas everyone!
Wishing you a lovely festive day xxx
Our starter…
Turkey to come. We have been for a nice walk to inverlieth Park in Edinburgh.
Now stuffed! Have eaten turkey and all the trimmings.
Enjoy Christmas and wishing you a very happy 2023! From myself, hubby and my daughters! Hubby is cooking and I didn’t get a chance to steal a photo of him… so one of me in costume!
2nd April 2020 – It’s my mum’s birthday today, so Happy Birthday mum. I don’t know when I will see you next in person, (oh that makes me sad,) but we will keep on Skyping!
Me and Mum
Posing together
Two gals out
Shopping Trip
But much more – mother daughter
Friends, always best friends.
For me, birthdays separated from loved ones and the cancellation of The Edinburgh Festival, Fringe, and Book Festival have been oh so sad. BUT, there’s no point on dwelling on disappointments, we must all look to the future – beyond what is happening now.
I’d like to share with you some of my photos and poems about Edinburgh.
It calls me
This Scottish City
Beautiful
Lights twinkle
Edinburgh’s dark shadows
Perfect time and place
Your buildings
Adorned like parcels
Pink in blue
They twinkle
My home from home forever
The best gift of all
I see you
Bright castle hiding
Beyond trees
Magic night
Such a blue sky highlights you
Nestled on a hill.
And this one from 2017!
Tourist attraction
Make up Check,
Hat check
Time to beguile the tourists,
Hunt the illusion,
Where my legs should be
There’s air!
Find my pins when punters gone.
Some Coronavirus links:
D G Kaye author:
https://dgkayewriter.com/the-corona-diaries-observations-online-madness-quarantine-and-masks/
We all have events that we were looking forward to – weddings to go to, concerts, birthday parties and the like, but the most important thing in our diary at the moment is TO STAY SAFE and WELL and to ensure THAT EVERYONE STAYS SAFE AND WELL TOO.
STAY AT HOME!
Hope you and yours are keeping well.
Much love,
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.
It’s poet’s choice of words this week so I thought I’d share with you some of my photographs of Edinburgh – a city I love so much – and my first attempts at Shadorma poetry…
It calls me
This Scottish City
Beautiful
Lights twinkle
Edinburgh’s dark shadows
Perfect time and place
Your buildings
Adorned like parcels
Pink in blue
They twinkle
My home from home forever
The best gift of all
I see you
Bright castle hiding
Beyond trees
Magic night
Such a blue sky highlights you.
Nestled on a hill
Me and mum
Posing together
Two gals out
Shopping trip
But much more – mother daughter
Friends, always best friends.
To join in Colleen’s poetry challenge follow the link:
Ah, you can see I’m home-sick already! Missing my mum and dad and Edinburgh. Sigh.
Do you have a home from home that calls to you too?
Buy Book: myBook.to/TheCurseofTime
I’m a contributing author in the Plaisted Publishing House Ghostly Writes Anthology 2018 with my story Ghostly Goodbye. Available on Amazon, Apple, Nook, Kobo, Scribd, 24S, Playster, Indigo, Angus & Robertson, Mondadori Store:
Social Media Links
Authors Website: https://mjmallon.com
Collaborative Blog: https://sistersofthefey.wordpress.com
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time
#ABRSC: Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club on Facebook
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjmallonauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmallonauthor/
Tumblr: http://mjmallonauthor.tumblr.com/
I love visiting the art gallery on Belford Road in Edinburgh, and this tanka is dedicated to this sculpture I saw there in the gardens.
An enchanting face,
Sculpture that sees, smiles and lives,
Art’s favourite place,
Closed nostrils don’t breathe the grass,
Air spells curiosity.
I used hypnotise for enchant, and sculpture for shape.
Here’s the link to Colleen’s weekly challenge:
Hope you enjoyed my Tanka.
Happy writing!
Buy My Book on Amazon : myBook.to/TheCurseofTime
Authors Website: https://mjmallon.com
Collaborative blog: https://sistersofthefey.wordpress.com
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time
Facebook Authors/Bloggers Support Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1829166787333493/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjmallonauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmallonauthor/
Tumblr: http://mjmallonauthor.tumblr.com/
To balance out the good with the bad #10thingsIhate here are my #10thingsIlove.
1. Spending time with friends and family. There’s nothing quite like this, I’m definitely a social animal. Love going out for coffee, dinner or just hanging out at home with my family. Friends both on and offline are the best for supporting and encouraging you to pursue your dreams.
2. Eating tasty food. This just had to be on my list! LOL… I love food, any food, but especially spicy meals, as I grew up with a diet of Malaysian fare – my mum is from Kuching, Malaysia.
3. Travelling. Absolutely, would love to travel more. I grew up with a father who had a penchant for travel so this isn’t entirely surprising. Recently, I entered Dan Alatorre’s recent Word Weaver writing competition with the first chapter of my dad’s travelling adventures. Sorry, the competition is now closed, but Dan has a great blog so go follow! I’ve been to many places in the world but there are still many to explore.
4. Going to the Theatre to see drama and dance. Where would we be without the theatre to make our imaginings take form? I adore going to the Edinburgh Festival and try to go every year if I can. The buzz is fantastic.
5. Visiting Edinburgh to see my mum, dad, brother and extended family. Love Edinburgh, it is one of the best cities in the world Edinburgh ranked Second in the World for Quality of Life and is my home from home.
6. Writing prose and poetry, and reading books. Of course, this has to feature here. What has writing done for me? So much, it has given me such confidence, and so much enjoyment. I wish I had started writing decades ago! Reading books and going to Book Festivals ranks pretty highly up there on my favourite things to do. Books make me cry, they make me smile; they delight me. Where would we be without books? I daren’t contemplate such a fate. And book festivals, again, my favourite is the Edinburgh Book Festival
7. Tai Chi. I have been attending classes in Taoist Tai Chi for many years, and I love it. I find it helps me relax, keeps me balanced and gives me a terrific boost. I would recommend it. Start young and you’ll stay fit well into your old age! Start older and it will keep you young! It’s a win, win situation… Recently, we had a Tai Chi intensive at my local branch. Here’s the link to the Facebook page to see photos: Taoist Tai Chi Intensive in Cambridge. What’s a Tai Chi Intensive? It’s a special lesson when a particularly awesome instructor comes along to impart their knowledge to us Tai Chi enthusiasts. We partake of a bring and share lunch and generally have a lovely time.
Here’s the instructor considering what to teach us next:
8. Sea air and sunshine. These two I’ve combined, as I enjoy the seaside best when the weather is nice. If the sun is out, I can swim, (not in the UK!) sunbathe, eat an ice-cream, walk and explore. When it’s cold I still enjoy it, but I have to wrap up in many, many layers!
9. The blogging community. Have been a blast, so helpful, supportive and amazing. Love you! In fact I love you so much that I set up a special community on Facebook for authors/bloggers and bookish souls. Please do investigate and join …. Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club. My fellow administrators of the group are Colleen Chesebro, and Debby Gies.
10. And last but not least, crystals and cats. I collect crystals and write about them too. My current manuscript is entitled: The Curse of Time – The Bloodstone. I intend to release this YA fantasy this summer. Cats, well I like their independence, and cats always seem to like me! Unfortunately, I don’t own one as both my husband and daughter are allergic but I get my fix over at Samantha Murdoch Blog. Samantha and I are good blogging friends and she has kindly been providing me with lots and lots of photos of her cat Lily who looks like the cat Shadow in my book.
Here are the latest photos of Samantha’s lovely cat Lily.
In life, there is always good and bad but it is always nice to end on a high note. There is much more to enthuse about when writing about what I love. The list could have gone on and on…
Bye for now,
My Links:
Wishing you all a very Happy Easter.
I’m still on a bit of a blogging break until my eldest daughter returns to University so will be somewhat scarce in blogging land.
I had a wonderful holiday up in Edinburgh but it was all too short…
Here are some of my photos:
That’s one of me and my daughter Georgina before I had my lunch…. I tend to shrink when I’m hungry! We were at a very nice restaurant called The Railbridge Bistro in South Queensferry which overlooks the bridges and has haggis on the menu!
And here’s my lovely mum and dad… Missing them…
My dad hates the cold, and though the view at South Queensferry is amazing it was bitterly chilly… My mum looks okay, in fact she dares to look a bit amused but poor dad…
Since I’ve been back in Cambridge, I’ve had a lovely time with my eldest daughter who is visiting from University.
Recently we went out to a cafe in Cambridge…
And she approved of my photo… The drink looks like some sort of Dr Who concoction but I believe it is a green tea matcha. Oh, by the way did you see the Dr Who episode last night? If you did I bet you didn’t dare have a shower or bath before bedtime. I love it when Dr Who gets all scary!
Then, there’s me all dressed up as I had work afterwards. Recently, I started working part-time at Ann Summers – which is a strangest job I have ever had! It’s a bit like marmite some days I love it, some days I hate it! Ha ha…. It’s a tricky one for an introvert with extrovert tendencies. Anyway, that plate in front of me is the remains of a very tasty Orange and Polenta cake that we shared at Espresso Library cafe in Cambridge.
Before I go let me say a big thank you to all the contributors to my Facebook Rainbow Support Club in my absence.
Here are just some of the wonderful links that have appeared:
http://marshajustwrites.com/accidental-tourist/
https://dgkayewriter.com/who-has-a-new-book-the-swamp-fairy-colleen-cheseboro/
http://allanhudson.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/4q-interview-and-excerpt-with-guest.html
https://steviet3.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/friday-roundup-on-a-thursday-13th-april/
https://jennyinneverland.com/2017/04/14/bloggers-revealed/
https://scvincent.com/2017/04/12/guest-author-sarah-brentyn-where-i-spin-self-doubt-into-a-post/
https://scvincent.com/2017/04/14/guest-author-d-wallace-peach-room-to-breathe/
All the contributors have done a fabulous job of making the page a fantastic resource of information, help, and collaboration for fellow writers/bloggers.
Do pop over to the club page and take a look, and come give the club some love: Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club.
If you’d like to join the club please do message myself either in the comment below or contact me on my email marjma2014@gmail.com, or chat about it with Colleen Chesebro or Debby Gies, my two fabulous blogging buddies who administer the running of the club with me.
All the best for a lovely Easter.
Do pop over to my Instagram page to see the rest of my photos: My Instagram
For this week’s Thursday doors I’m focusing on my recent day trip to Edinburgh. I’ve been in Glasgow for a few days with my hubby and some friends so I popped over to Edinburgh to see my mum and dad. We went for a Chinese dim sum lunch and then mum and I took the bus to Hollyrood Palace. Here’s a photo of the crags of Arthur’s Seat.
Now for the doors. The Queen’s Gallery – an art gallery at Holyrood Palace complex.
And here it is with a bit of a magic wand makeover… From Prisma.. Using the Gothic touch.
This gateway… leads to the tea room where we had a very royal Cappucino.
Hope you liked my Thursday doors post. If you share your posts on Twitter and Instagram remember to use the #ThursdayDoors hastag. If you’d like to join in Norm’s Thursday doors here’s the link to his blog to do so: Norm’s Thursday Doors
Bye for now,
I’m taking part in Rachel Ritchey’s writing #BlogBattle this week’s theme is Head. Apparently this is Rachel’s 6th month of doing BlogBattles!!!
Week 25 Theme is Head
Date to Post: Tuesday, September 8th, 2015.
http://rachaelritchey.com/blogbattle/
This was the perfect prompt for me as I have been intending to write a short story about a visit I had to The Edinburgh Modern Gallery of Art, where a particular head greets you as you enter the grounds of the gallery. Here’s the link to my post: https://mjmallon.com/2015/08/26/edinburgh-festival-photographs-of-my-art-gallery-visit/
So I wrote this very quickly this morning, rush, rush, rush, so hope it meets with your approval!
Genre: Fantasy
© Marjorie Mallon 2015 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
Rules:
I hope you liked my entry to BlogBattle, and it didn’t alarm you too much! Apologies to the woman and child in the photo I’m sure no harm came to you on your visit to the art gallery!
Do leave a comment I’d love to know what you think of my short story.
Bye for now.
Marje @ Kyrosmagica. xx
I’ve been out of the loop of Haiku challenges for a while as I’ve been up in Edinburgh looking after my mum after her operation. Luckily she’s as fit as a fiddle and bouncing back to health at a miraculous pace. She’s a regular churchgoer and apparently the congregation pray for those who are ill or in hospital, and in her case it seems to have worked, quite amazing, not much pain, just a bit tired as if she’s had a serious case of man flu or something.
So in between helping my mum out I managed to have a bit of a holiday in Edinburgh, taking in the delights of the Edinburgh International Festival, and the Book Festival too, you may have seen some of my recent blog posts.
Now that I’m back in Cambridge, I’m happy to be joining in this week with Ron’s weekly haiku challenge, here’s the link if you’d like to take part: https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-60-bridge-move/
The prompt words this week are bridge and move.
My first haiku is about my experience on the train coming home from Edinburgh. I was sitting opposite a Chinese lady and her son. She was obviously hungry as she rummaged in her bag and pulled out a large chocolate cheesecake, (it looked like it served four people,) and sat there and ate the majority of it all by herself. Her son nibbled on a chocolate and in a short while finished off the last remaining crumbs of that cheesecake before polishing off a packet of crisps. This amused me no end. I know that Chinese people love their food, (my mum’s from Malaysia so I know this without a shadow of a doubt,) but I always thought they prefer savoury to sweet so this astonished me. In fact they were very entertaining to listen to, the lady started telling the people sitting next to her about all her travels in the Far East, so I got my eavesdropping ears on, (an absolute must if you have any aspirations to be a writer,) and had a jolly old-time. It ended up being a very interesting journey home.
So this haiku is an eves-dropping thank you for the Chinese lady on the train, and a celebration of her eating so much chocolate cheesecake in one sitting! I hope she likes cats, didn’t have an upset tummy afterwards, and will forgive me for being such a nosey parker.
Isn’t this picture cute?
And the next one, which I have entitled We’re Finished Lover, well I don’t know where this one came from!
Oh I tell I lie, whilst I was up in Edinburgh at the Book Festival I saw a little haiku book that caught my eye, it’s called Haiku for The Single Girl by Beth Griffenhagen, with wonderful illustrations by Cynthia Vehslage Meyers (Illustrator) so it inspired me to write this haiku:
Hope you enjoy my couple of haiku offerings this week. Haiku always make me smile, I hope they make you smile too.
Bye for now.
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
© Marjorie Mallon 2015 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.