The Mystery Blogger Award

15 Nov 2016 9 Comments

Dear dear Sandra! Thank you for this! The same new award twice in as many days. I feel very honoured! 😊😊😊

Graphic for the Mystery Blogger Award

There are blogger I frequently interact with who always make me excited when I see their Gravatar popping up. Excited because I know there will be either a good exchange waiting for me, a link to an interesting post being shared or just a pat on the back waiting for me. Rob is one of those bloggers. Not only do I find great posts on his blog but his comments often lead to many thoughts being shared. Today he surprised me with a blog award. And it’s an award that I have not yet received.

“Mystery Blogger Award”is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging and they do it with so…

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RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #123 Breathe&New

14 Nov 2016 32 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, My Writing, Poems, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #ronovansweeklyhaikuchallenge, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Breathe & new, Challente, Haiku, Ronovanwrites

Lovely Ron’s Haiku prompt this week.

Breathe & New

I went in two different directions today!

baby-1450368_640

The first breath taken
A joyful new beginning
A cry fills the air

Ritu 2016

woman-506120_640

Temperatures raised
Deep breathing quickly shallows
A new climax reached

Ritu 2016

The Mystery Blogger Award

12 Nov 2016 39 Comments

by Ritu in Awards, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Award, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, grateful, The Mystery Blogger Award

“Mystery Blogger Award”is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging and they do it with so much love and passion. – Okoto Enigma

The award was created by Okoto Enigma. Here is the link: http://okotenigma.wordpress.com

A huge thank you to Rob of Art By Rob Goldstein for considering me eligible for this award. It is not one that I have received before!

Rules For The Nominees:

Display the award logo on your blog. √
List the Rules. √
Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog. √
Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well. √
Tell your readers three things about yourself. √
Answer five questions from the nominee. √
Nominate anywhere from ten to twenty bloggers. √
Notify the bloggers by leaving a comment on their blog. √
Ask your nominees any five questions of your choice, including one weird or funny question. √
Share the link to your best post. √

Ok, so three things abut me…

I am a British Indian woman, with a Kenyan background thrown in, thanks to my parents being born there.
I wear many hats… Daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, teacher, blogger, author… I wonder where I have the time to sleep sometimes…
I love to sing! I find a song for all occasions! And if I can’t find one, I’ll make one up!

5 questions to answer…

Would you jump in front of a bus for a complete stranger? I think it depends on the situation. If I was with my children, I couldn’t leave them and put myself in danger. If I was alone, I would.
If a neighbour was a hoarder and lived in unsafe and unhealthy conditions, would you ignore it or take action? If you did, what would it be? It would depend on how well I knew the neighbour.
If you could go back in time and change one day in your life, which day would it be and why? A bad decision I made a good few years back. I can;ty go into details, but that day comes back to haunt me regularly.
What is your favourite word? I can’t have one favourite word, I’m a writer!!!
The weird question: If you knew you could get away with it, would you rob a bank? It would haunt me for the rest of my life, so no!

My nominees…

I know some don’t accept awards, so consider this a thank you for being such amazing writers, inspiring me in many ways!

The same five questions for you to answer, please!

Would you jump in front of a bus for a complete stranger?
If a neighbour was a hoarder and lived in unsafe and unhealthy conditions, would you ignore it or take action? If you did, what would it be?
If you could go back in time and change one day in your life, which day would it be and why?
What is your favourite word?
The weird question: If you knew you could get away with it, would you rob a bank?

The award asks for a link to your best post.

I don’t know what my best post is… maybe it is yet to come… but here is one on family… which is most important to me!

https://butismileanyway.com/2016/04/29/what-is-family/

Ritu’s Healthy Living – Week 14

12 Nov 2016 49 Comments

by Ritu in Health, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #icandothis, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Health, Healthy Living, Weight Loss

Week 14 already!

I have tried to be really good. Maintaining my weight last week was hard, but I was glad. Now to see if I can roll a couple more lbs off!

I have done the usual, a mixture of eating really well, and also a little eating naughty. we went out for lunch to Pizza Express. I tried to be relatively good, but I didn’t skimp either. I am trying to lose weight, yes, but that doesn’t mean that I stop living!

My plan is that I am really sensible during the week, and I weigh in on a Friday morning. This means that I can relax, just a tad, on the weekend. We may have a takeaway, or eat something a little richer at home, but it gives me the week to get back on track, and it has been working so far!

Even Hubby Dearest has been eating some of my creations, or slightly adapted versions!

I still haven’t got on track with exercise, but my bike had been at my in-laws house so my mum-in-law could try it out. I got it back yesterday so I will attempt to get on my bike, so to speak, a couple of times a week, at least! I think I am at the stage where I have reached a little plateau, weight-wise. 10 stone has been my good resting weight the last few years. a weight I can maintain pretty well, if I keep my mind to it. To lose a few more lb’s, to keep them in the weight bank in case of accidental slip ups, I need to try a little more physical activity that is proper exercise, not just the day to day running around!

And well, after my weigh in yesterday, I was awarded with this…

Oh yes!

Another 1lb off!

2016-11-11_07-02-36

That takes my cumulative total to 19lbs! I am secretly amazed, and extremely proud of myself!

#SoCS Nov. 12/16 – Mem

12 Nov 2016 31 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Linda G Hill, Mem, Mem-Sahib, Socs, Thoughts

Linda’s SoCS prompt for this Saturday.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “mem.” Choose a word or words with the letters “mem” in that order and run with it. Enjoy!

Now I could have gone the obvious route here and spoken of Remembrance Day… I thought I would go off piste (as if I ever do that normally ;P). And these are just my off the cuff thoughts, not intended to offend or educate… just what rolls out of my brain, through my fingers, over the keyboard, and onto the screen!

Mem-Sahib

A word used to address a lady in india. Often a lady of the upper classes, a higher stature than those average folk.

It was a mark of respect, like Sir and Madam, we have Sahib and Mem-Sahib.

When the Raj was ruled by The British Empire, every white skinned woman was automatically a Mem-Sahib. Obviously, due to the reason they were there, they demanded that immediate respect from the lowly brown-skinned locals.

Nowadays you here people in our community talking of girls who are overly westernised, calling them Gori-Mem. White woman, it loosely translates as. Those ‘coconuts’ as it were, white on the inside, brown on the outside! Wannabe westerners!

Of course it can also be used as a descriptive phrase to describe a western woman too.

And as a British Asian, when I go to India, I get called Mem-Sahib, or Madam, an awful lot! Because we are foreigners in our own land, essentially. We live out in the western world, that place apparently paved with gold, we seem to wear an aura of wealth, and it garners an automatic response of respect from our Indian counterparts.

But I am no madam, or Mem-Sahib. I’m just me! I’d rather be referred to as Didi (sister) or Masi (aunt) or even Beti (daughter). Not someone who is ‘above’ others. Because I’m not.