AWARDS

Well, my friends, the time has come

Raise the roof and have some fun

Throw away the work to be done

Let the music play on

Everybody sing, everybody dance

Lose yourself in wild romance, we going to

Parti', karamu', fiesta, forever

Come on and sing along

We're going to parti', karamu', fiesta, forever

Come on and sing along

All night long (all night), all night (all night)

All night long (all night), all night (all night)

All night long (all night), all night (all night)

All night long (all night), ooh yeah (all night)

Down at our local pub, the party is indeed still going on in the upstairs room. I slipped away quietly having imbibed far too many foaming quarts of English ale. 

"The Banner Cross Hotel" was the secret location for the tenth annual Laughing Horse Blogging Awards and I must report that the place was packed. Lady bloggers and blog observers were dressed in their most sparkly gladrags, dancing in clouds of  Christmas gift perfume while the gentlemen wore sober evening suits - apart from blogging  legend John Gray who had arrived as Captain Jack Sparrow - mistakenly believing that this was a fancy dress event.

We enjoyed a fine Yorkshire buffet. Indeed the pub's trestle tables groaned under the weight of the celebratory fayre. A giant steak pie had been prepared by the "Banner Crust" bakery and there were cauldrons of minted mushy peas and rich onion gravy. Homemade scotch eggs were meticulously piled up like a pyramid and there were flaky sausage rolls, generous slices of pork pie, Whitby cod fish fingers and individual rhubarb puddings with fresh creme anglais (i.e. custard).

It was good to meet up with bloggers and blog visitors old and new. Sitting at a keyboard creating blogposts, it is sometimes easy to forget that the people we meet through blogging are real. They breathe, they walk around. They exist.

I danced with Meike Riley for ages. How that girl can shimmy! Then Jennifer Barlow tapped Meike on the shoulder and we in turn danced to "Oops!...I Did it Again" by Britney Spears before her shoulder was similarly tapped by Sue from Lincolnshire. What number did we dance to? Oh yes - it was "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie. See above. I was exhausted and when regular blog visitor Bonnie tried to pull me to my feet I was obliged to decline. 

On the little stage, Red the Canadian sound man was having trouble overcoming feedback problems but finally he got the mike working properly. Nervously, I mounted the stage and asked the disc jockey - Lee "Tamborine"George from Queensland to cut the music. "Okay Yorkie! Your wish is my command!"  It was time to announce the Laughing Horse Blog Award Winners for 2018.

"Get on with it!" yelled Steve Reed who had consumed far too many martinis and had just raced up north in a black cab from Heathrow following his recent Florida drug run.

"Yeah! Get on with it! LOL!" commanded a giggly Briony from Brighton who had a peacock feather fascinator on her bonce. Talk about dog's dinners!

I began, "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I would simply like to welcome you here this evening. The Laughing Horse Awards Committee have instructed me to thank you one and all for your services to blogging but as you know, tonight is all about winners. We have five sub-awards to announce before the name of the overall Blogger of the Year is revealed..."

A buzz of anticipation surged around the room like an electric current.

___________________________________________________

These were the five sub-awards:-

CANADIAN BLOGGER OF THE YEAR

This deserved award goes to Jenny O in Nova Scotia, Canada for "Procrastinating Donkey". Jenny's "Poetry Monday" feature is a nice post to look forward to each week. In general, her blog is upbeat and cheerful and she is also in the habit of leaving interested and supportive comments on other people's blogs. Though her style is honest and true, she prefers to retain an air of anonymity - Jenny O is not her real name. However, Canadians everywhere should rejoice! One of your own has been officially recognised. Congratulations Jenny O!

LONG SERVICE AWARD

This equally deserved award goes to Robert Brague in Canton, Georgia USA for "Rhymes With Plague". Like an old steam train, this blog has been puffing along for eleven years. Bob brings us news of his family, musical reflections and intellectual forays into the mysterious worlds of science and mathematics. He poses many questions and declares in his sidebar that he is "exceedingly handsome, intelligent and thorough".  At 77 years of age, Bob proves that it is both possible and desirable to remain inquisitive even as we enter old age.

BEST BLOG FROM SOUTH CAROLINA

Those of us who have travelled with Jennifer Barlow on her blogging journey have seen her blossom in the past year after at last securing a new job that she really enjoys and more recently a home of her own. Jennifer's blog is called "Sparrow Tree Journal" and characters that figure in it are her husband - The Fish Guy and their dogs George and Ginger. The boss of the house is a parrot called Marco. Jennifer is not a Trump supporter but she is very supportive of  other bloggers that she has attached to. Keep up the good blogging work Jennifer!

LONDON BLOGGER OF THE YEAR
Named "Blogger of the Year" in 2016, Steve Reed in West Hampstead, London continues to impress the judging panel with his erudite and well illustrated blog - "Shadows and Light". His photographs are  often quirky for Steve notices things that most of us would tend to overlook. He must consume plenty of fibre because his blogposts are very regular. It is rare for him to miss a single day. Many of his loyal visitors admire his relationship with his happy, squirrel-crazy dog - Olga. Meantime Dave, Steve's music teacher husband, lurks in the background. 

BLOGGING THROUGH ADVERSITY AWARD 

Is there a more popular blogger in the blogosphere that Mr John Gray from North Wales? He wears his heart on his sleeve and over the last twelve years  his ongoing tale of life's ups and downs has engaged hundreds, nay thousands of visitors  from across the world. However, this year we were all shocked and saddened to learn about his marriage ending and we felt some of John's pain. Yet, he kept going with "Going Gently" - publishing posts regularly and putting on a brave face even when his heart was breaking. That is why Laughing Horse have again acknowledged his services to blogging. Incidentally, he was the overall blogger of the year back in 2010.

_________________________________________________________

OVERALL BLOGGER OF 
THE YEAR FOR 2018
Unfortunately, Mary Moon - author of "Bless our Hearts" was not present in "The Banner Cross Hotel" to receive her prestigious award. She is currently on holiday in Mexico with her husband. The judging panel felt that Mary's blog represents the best in blogging. It is a platform upon which she reveals true tales from her generally happy life in Lloyd, North Florida. Mary has passions and opinions and she is not afraid to reveal them. She has a special way with words. Underpinning it all is her family life, including her grandchildren with whom she is utterly besotted. Mary is not afraid to touch upon her insecurities as well as her strengths. She is both humane and human and in the opinion of the Laughing Horse team, she is living the true American dream - warm and earthy and real - not the plastic fantasy  one that  is often fallaciously suggested in films, glossy magazines and trashy novels. Congratulations Mary Moon!

As you can see The Blogger of The Year - Ms Mary Moon

was overwhelmed with unbridled joy when she received her

award from Lionel Richie who is also currently holidaying 

in Cozumel, Mexico.